Lk. 1:46. And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord,
Lk. 1:47. And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
Lk. 1:48. Because He has looked upon the humility of His Handmaid, for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call Me blessed;
Lk. 1:49. For He that is mighty has done great things for Me, and holy is His name;
Lk. 1:50. And His mercy is unto generations of generations toward those who fear Him.
The Virgin, being completely convinced of the truth of what was foretold to Her, glorifies God, attributing the miracle not to Herself but to Him; for He, She says, looked upon Me, the lowly one, and not I looked upon Him; He showed Me mercy, and not I sought Him out. And "from now on all generations will call Me blessed," not Elizabeth alone, but also the generations of believers. And for what reason will they call Her blessed? Is it for Her virtue? No! But because God has shown His greatness upon Me.
She called Him "Mighty" so that everyone would believe Her words, considering that the Lord is mighty to do this. She called "His Name" "holy" to show that the Most Pure One, being conceived in the womb of a woman, is in no way defiled, but remains Holy. "His mercy" is not upon Me alone, but also upon all who fear Him; for those who do not fear Him, being utterly unworthy, do not receive mercies. Having said that God's mercy is "from generation to generation," She indicated that those who fear God receive mercy both in the present generation, that is, in the present age, and in the future generation, that is, in the endless age; for here too they "receive a hundredfold," and there even more (Matt. 19:29). Observe: first the soul magnifies the Lord, then the spirit rejoices. Or what is the same: he magnifies God who walks worthily of God. You are called a Christian — do not then diminish the dignity and name of Christ through unworthy deeds, but magnify it through the accomplishment of great and heavenly works, and then your spirit too will rejoice, that is, the spiritual gift received by you through great works will leap and prosper, and will not be diminished and, so to speak, put to death. Know also that Scripture, seemingly, simply calls spirit and soul one and the same thing, but properly it distinguishes between them. For it calls the psychical man one who lives according to nature and is guided by human reasoning — for example, when hungry he eats, he hates his enemy, and in general in nothing appears to rise above nature; but it calls spiritual the one who overcomes the laws of nature and sets his mind on nothing human. Such is the distinction in Scripture between soul and spirit (1 Cor. 2:14–15; Gal. 6:8). Perhaps physicians distinguish them differently, but we must attend to Scripture, and let the physicians err.
Lk. 1:51. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
The arm of the Father is the Son; thus God the Father in His Son manifested authority and power over nature, for at the incarnation of the Son nature was overcome: a Virgin gave birth, God became man, and man became God. The Lord "scattered the proud" demons, casting them out of human souls and sending some into the abyss and others into the swine. This can also be understood of the Jews, whom He scattered throughout every land and who remain in dispersion to this day.
Lk. 1:52. He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
That is, the demons, who lorded over people and had thrones in the souls of men, resting in them. But the Pharisees too are the strong ones, as plunderers of what belongs to the poor, and as teachers they have thrones, from which they have been cast down.
Lk. 1:52. and exalted the humble;
people or gentiles, whom sin had humbled; He exalted them, granting them adoption as sons.
Lk. 1:53. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.
He likewise "filled the hungry with good things" — the same ones, that is, the Gentiles (for they had no Scriptures, law, or commandments) — with good things from the Scriptures, while the Jews, who were "rich" in the law and commandments, He sent away outside Jerusalem, both the heavenly and the earthly, deprived of every good thing. For the Jews now have nothing, even though they seem to have something.
Lk. 1:54. He has taken hold of Israel, His servant, remembering mercy,
Lk. 1:55. As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.
"He has helped Israel, His servant." This is said either of the Israelites according to the flesh, for many tens of thousands of them also believed, and the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled, who said to him: "and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3); or it is said of the spiritual Israel, for everyone who sees God is called Israel, since this name means "one who sees God"; thus, He helped these who see God, raising them to the heavenly inheritance.
Lk. 1:56. And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
Mary "remained with Elizabeth about three months," then returned. Since Elizabeth was about to give birth, the Virgin departs because of the multitude of people who would gather for the birth, for it was not fitting for the Virgin to be present under such circumstances. And from the fact that the Virgin returned when the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, it is evident that the Angel came to Mary in the sixth month after the conception of the Forerunner; and Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months; so that is nearly nine months.
The Virgin remained with Elizabeth about three months, perhaps because she was struck by the miracle and needed some consolation, which she could find in staying with Elizabeth; but when the birth drew near, she departed.
Lk. 1:57. Elisabeth's time to give birth arrived, and she bore a son.
It should be noted that concerning sinners it is not said "the time was fulfilled for her to give birth," but this is said only where the one being born is righteous. For the births of sinners are usually imperfect and incomplete, and it would have been better for them if they had not been born.
Lk. 1:58. And the neighbors and relatives of her heard that the Lord had magnified His mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her.
Lk. 1:59. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name him Zacharias, after the name of his father.