Magnificat: Song of the Revolution

This Sunday we’ll continue reading Luke’s gospel, and we’ll cover v39-56 of chapter 1.

What gets you really excited…so much so that you do odd things like jump up and down or scream or break into song?  For a lot of us, (especially men who are normally very subdued) sporting events have that effect on us.  When Bill Belichick decided to go for it in his now famous game losing decision, I stood in stunned silence.  When the Colts scored the winning touchdown moments later, I was a full bore lunatic.

There is a lot of that kind of “bouncing off the walls crazy” that comes through in our story so far.  And why not.  The Savior is about to break in on this world.  The REVOLUTION is about to begin!  The Hope of Israel is at hand.  If you were an Israelite, suffering for 500 years under one tyrannical empire after another…waiting for God to restore the golden age of David, and you heard that someone you were related to was CARRYING the Messiah in pregnancy…I think you’d whoop it up a bit too.

Mary goes to visit Cousin Beth, and finds the sign to be true…she’s pregnant.  Confirmation of what the angel told her was going to happen to her.  She also has Cousin Beth speak prophetically about what’s happening, without her even saying a word.  More confirmation that she hadn’t been hallucinating that day.  Mary gets so stoked, she breaks into a freestyle rap…or something.  She probably wrote it down later in her “secret pillow Hanna Montana” diary (what?…she’s just a kid remember)….and many years later she gives it to Luke as he’s compiling his narrative.  It could’ve happened that way…who knows?

Her song talks about herself…and God’s coming revolution on earth.  What does she say about herself, and her interaction with God?  From verses 51-56, how does she describe the things God is going to do in the world?  How do they help us understand what God will be doing through US?

We’ll talk about it more on Sunday.

3 responses to “Magnificat: Song of the Revolution”

  1. Ha! Great Busey allusion!

    The second half of Mary’s song had some terms I didn’t quite understand (“he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts”), so I referred to The Message:

    He bared his arm and showed his strength,
    scattered the bluffing braggarts.
    He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
    pulled victims out of the mud.
    The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
    the callous rich were left out in the cold.
    He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
    he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
    It’s exactly what he promised,
    beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

    To me, it sounds like the trumpets announcing the arrival of the story’s main character.

  2. I was discussing something related to this passage last night with someone.

    They commented how most teaching on the birth of Jesus are portrayed as the “Super Bowl”. The littleness of the people involved is rarely if ever mentioned, and little people do not get a ticket to the “Super Bowl” Most of us just watch it on tv, and wish we could be there. We surmised that those who get to go to the “Super Bowl” are the good christians and the leaders of the churches. Can you say pharisees?

    As a result, is it any wonder who is being glorified these days.

    Until I read the bible, I assumed that I would have to get a whole lot better than I am for God to love me, forget about using me in anyway. But God did not chose anybody great, nobody. When I accepted that, my song of praise changed as well

    By the way, this passage occurred along time ago, and it is likely the secret diary is Haley Mills and not Hannah Montana.

  3. This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Mary was so overwhelmed with joy that God chose her to be the way God would fulfill His promise of sending The Messiah. How could He choose her? How could He love her so much? The Jewish chosen children of God would finally have their prayers answered, just like God promised! This story is so personal and loving and I see just how much God loves me when I read these verses. I can trust Him because of this love.

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