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The Magnificat, Mary’s Song, is one of the most famous of New Testament poetry. It isn’t, however, the only song like it in the Bible.
All the way back in 1 Samuel 2, Hannah has a similar song. She was a woman unable to have a child for a long time. Her song here is in thanksgiving for her son Samuel, the great prophet who anointed the first two kings of Israel, including David, Jesus’ ancestor.
Mary gives a similar song here in Luke. She is happy at the coming birth of Jesus. This is significant because Jesus’ birth would have put her in danger. Being found pregnant when the child wasn’t her betrothed’s could have led to punishment in her day, even being stoned to death. Yet she still accepted God’s call for her, in spite of the danger.
Mary wasn’t chosen to be the Godbearer in this world because of anything that we would mark as special. She was just a normal teenage girl from a small town and a poor family struggling in Roman-occupied Palestine. But she did trust in the Lord. She was able to rejoice in God’s will, even if it put her at risk of death. She had faith. That is why she is important to us, and that is why we should always follow her example and rejoice and trust in the Lord.