Daily Bible Reading 14th March 2026 // Luke 1:46-56
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
When we look at Mary's Song in this way, it becomes marvellously illuminative, for we see at once the significance of its central thought and theme; that of visitation - visitation, moreover as the culmination of the ages of divine preparation. She recognized that the fullness of the times had come and that now God had visited and redeemed His people. This is how she construed what the angel had said to her in 32, 33. And we should note the language she uses in this connection in 48 and 50, in the phrases 'from henceforth' and 'from generation to generation'. Not only does she look back over the generations at what God has done among His people (51-53), but also she looks back to the beginning of His dealings with His people, to the promise made to Abraham (55), and sees, in what has happened to her, the fulfilment of that promise, and that, therefore, all the future is conditioned by it. That is how big and significant her understanding of the situation is! She had a grasp of the entire meaning of all her people's history, and of the fact that in the birth-to-be of her Son, the promise made to Abraham - nay, to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) - was fulfilled, and that the seed of the woman was to bruise the head of the serpent, and all the woe of the world healed. What Hannah's experience had but faintly adumbrated had now come to pass in her.