Luke 1.39-56.
When I teach from the gospels, it tends to throw people. Y’see, most of the interpretations we hear in American churches are based on
Starting with why Mary went to visit her relative Elizabeth. I kid you not: I’ve heard it preached Mary went to Elizabeth because she wanted to hide her pregnancy. ’Cause that’s what women did in the past when they got pregnant outside of marriage: They went to “visit relatives” for a while… then came back with a new “baby sister” or “cousin.” (Or, if they aborted or gave up the baby, nothing.) Supposedly this is what Mary did: Hid.
Baloney.
I know; people claim Mary had no doubts whatsoever, and totally believed Gabriel. But that’s not consistent with the scriptures. Why would she then rush to see Elizabeth?
Yeah, let’s check out that passage.
Luke 1.39-45 KWL - 39 At that time Mary quickly went to a city in the Judean highlands.
- 40 She entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.
- 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the fetus in her womb jumped.
- Elizabeth was Holy Spirit-filled, 42 and exclaimed loudly,
- “You’re blessed above all women; the fruit of your womb is blessed!
- 43 How is it the mother of my Master might come to me?
- 44 Look: When I heard the sound of your greeting, the fetus in my womb jumped for joy.
- 45 How awesome for she who believes the things the Lord told her will be fulfilled!”
If Mary had any doubts, this took care of that. Elizabeth was pregnant, just as Gabriel told her; and Elizabeth herself prophesied about what was happening to Mary.
The prophet Elizabeth.
Again, the way this passage is often taught, Elizabeth’s prophecy was a fluke; she wasn’t ordinarily a prophet. But when John jumped, the Holy Spirit in John also jumped—jumped her, threw her into an ecstatic (or hysterical) mindset, and worked her like a ventriloquist works his dummy. Seriously, that’s how people teach Old Testament prophets worked. They didn’t speak by the
There’s not just ignorance in this interpretation; there’s a certain amount of sexism too. But I won’t go there today.
When you translate
This touches upon another naïve assumption of people who know nothing about prophecy: They assume when they hear prophecy, they’ll “just know” it’s prophecy. They’ll “know in their knower,” is the way it’s described. They’ll know like a Mormon just knows God is real; like a child just knows there’s a Santa Claus. One of the things about prophecy, they insist, is that God’s true followers—real Christians like them—know real prophecy, whereas other folks doubt or reject it, or question it and make God angry. Where they get these ideas, I dunno. I’m guessing naïveté, wishful thinking, or fear. They sure don’t come from bible.
No; Mary took Elizabeth’s prophecy seriously for two good reasons: It confirmed what the angel had told her; and Elizabeth already had a reputation for hearing from God. Elizabeth had been filled with the Holy Spirit for quite a while before this meeting. God hadn’t picked just anyone to be the mother of his Messiah’s prophet: He picked another prophet. Someone who could raise him and encourage him in his gift. Someone who wouldn’t be freaked out or alienated by the Spirit’s power working through her boy, because she was plenty familiar with it in her own life.
She and her husband, as we’ll see when we get to
The Magnificat.
And here we discover Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John aren’t the only prophets in the nativity stories. ’Cause Mary’s response to Elizabeth wasn’t merely, “Oh good; this confirms what the angel told me.” Mary also began to prophesy. Yep; God hadn’t only picked prophets as his forerunner’s parents. He likewise picked prophets as his own parents.
Mary’s prophecy is called the Magnificat |man'ji.fi.kat| from the first word of its Latin translation, magnificat anima mea Dominum/“my life magnifies the Lord.” Goes like so.
Luke 1.46-56 KWL - 46 Mary said, “My life knows how great the Lord is.
- 47 My spirit rejoices over the God who saves me,
- 48 because he looked at the lowness of his slave.
- Look: From now on, every woman will call me awesome,
- 49 because the Almighty did a great thing to me. His name is holy.
- 50 His mercy, to those who fear him, lasts for generations.
- 51 His arm performed powerful things.
- He scattered those who were overconfident in their thinking.
- 52 He pulled dynasties from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
- 53 He filled the hungry with good things.
- He sent the wealthy away empty.
- 54 He supported his child Israel, remembering mercy
- 55 as he spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and his perpetual descendants.”
- 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months, and returned to her house.
The Magnificat is also called a poem, ’cause it is:
What bible references? Glad you asked. These.
| MARY | OLD TESTAMENT |
|---|---|
| Mary said, “My life knows how great the Lord is.” |
“My heart is happy in the L |
| “My spirit rejoices over the God who saves me […]” |
My life exults in the L He sent the ransom for his people: He instructed his child in his holy covenant. His name is respected. |
| “His mercy, to those who fear him, lasts for generations.” |
“For I’m your L |
| “His arm performed powerful things. He scattered those who were overconfident in their thinking. He pulled dynasties from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.” |
“The L |
| “He filled the hungry with good things. He sent the wealthy away empty.” |
“The experts’ bows are cracked. The stumblers are belted with courage. The well-fed have hired themselves out for bread. The hungry have stopped being hungry.” The prowling life is satisfied. He’s filled the starving life with goodness. |
| “He supported his child Israel, remembering mercy as he spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and his perpetual descendants.” |
“You’ll give Jacob the truth. You’ll show love to Abraham. You swore these things to our ancestors long ago.” |
The reason there’s so much from the other scriptures in the Magnificat is because Mary did know her bible, and the Spirit took what was already in her, inspired and empowered her, and as a result she made this poem of it. Turns out Mary was a poet. Maybe even a musician. Maybe untrained, but with strong natural talents God put in her long before she said this. Then again maybe someone had trained her; we don’t know. All we have is her poem.
In any event, you can see why I find the Christmas song “Mary Did You Know?” to be irritatingly condescending.
Far from uneducated.
Yeah, in the past people didn’t see men and women as equal. (Also too often true of the present.) So boys would get an education, and girls would not. Jewish boys would be sent to Pharisee schools, or
The Magnificat demonstrates Mary had learned: She knew her bible. She knew how God was described in
Mary began by pointing out how her life and spirit—the immaterial parts of her, which moderns refer to as our “consciousness”—recognize God’s greatness. Partly in comparison with her position, “the lowness of his slave,” because it’s how she thought of herself. Partly because she realized she’s now part of salvation history: She referred to “the God who saves me,” for Jews recognized the whole point of Messiah is salvation. Her son’s name Jesus means “the L
Much too much emphasis is made on how Mary birthed Jesus, and not enough on how she raised Jesus. Probably ’cause Christians unconsciously think
Mary appreciated all God had done for her, the honor he’d given her, and said “His mercy, to those who fear him, lasts for generations,” loosely quoting Exodus. She knew God likes to use the lowly, who recognize God’s might better than the mighty do. The lowly appreciate him more. God scatters the overconfident, knocks down dynasties, fills the hungry and empties the wealthy, and looks out for Israel—an occupied vassal state of the mighty Roman Empire—because it was founded on God’s relationship with their trusting ancestor Abraham.
Yep, Mary understood better than most how God worked. It’s why she was particularly well-equipped to raise him.
