Read: Luke 1:39-56
When life throws you a curve ball do you go visit the relatives?
After the shocking visit from the angel, Mary goes to visit her older relative Elizabeth. The Bible is unclear how they are related but there appears to be a large age gap between them, as Elizabeth was barren and Mary was a young girl. But as family goes, they seemed to know each other well. I picture it as a loving and close aunt/niece relationship. Mary travels two days from Galilee to Judea to see her aunt and perhaps to see if the angel was telling the truth about Elizabeth’s surprise pregnancy. This could also serve to ground her own heart in the truth of what God had called her to do.
Mary receives more than just friendly encouragement! As soon as she gets near, Elizabeth rushes out to meet her and begins to prophecy about how blessed Mary is and how her baby will be the Lord of all. Clearly this is a prophecy because Elizabeth could not have known about Mary’s baby unless the Holy Spirit revealed it to her. Another divine encouragement that reinforces very blessed she is! Mary will be blessed if she has faith and believes God.
Mary’s response for all that God has shown her is to sing. Her song has been called the Magnificat, or the Song of Mary. It has been set to music and sung throughout history. Here we get a picture of what Mary’s spiritual life looks like. She rejoices in who God is and in his mighty promises to her. She admits that she needs a savior like the rest of us and repeatedly praises God for the great things he has done.
There is also a foreshadowing of Jesus’ upside down kingdom as God ‘scatters the proud’ and dethrones the mighty so that he might raise up the humble. He will bless the poor and hungry and reject the rich and powerful. In this way God will show mercy to those who trust and fear him.
Questions for Reflection
• Do you have an older mentor in your life that you can go to for prayer and encouragement?
• Do you believe that you will be blessed if you have faith and believe God?
• Mary’s response to God is to sing. Do you find yourself about to respond to God in this way?
• Often we criticize God when things in our life go wrong and take the credit for ourselves when things go well for us. Mary does exactly the opposite. How can this be an example for us?
• Compare Mary’s Song with Hanna’s Song (Hanna is the mother of the prophet Samuel who prayed earnestly for a baby) in 1 Sam 2:1-10. What do you notice?
On deck: Day 4 - Someone famous is born....
He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap
ReplyDeleteHe has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate;
Both of the songs talk about God taking down the proud and raising up the humble
I also found that the songs have a lot less "me" and "my" compared to contemporary worship songs which seem to be mostly about "us".
P.S I love the title.....PREGO PARTY hahah
E.Moffat