Luke 1:39-56

The Flowering of Israel (1) – Mary’s Song

Luke 1:39-56 - Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹ At that time, Mary got moving

and went with haste to a town in Judea in the hill country.

⁴⁰ She entered the home of Zechariah

and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,

the infant in her womb quickened;

and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

She raised her voice in a loud cry, and said,

“How blessed among women you are!

And how blessed is the fruit of your womb!

⁴³ How could this happen to me

that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

⁴⁴ For look, just as the sound of your greeting reached my ears,

the infant in my womb leapt with joy.

⁴⁵ How blessed you are!

You believed that the words spoken to you

from the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Luke was interested in conveying

a mood of intense joy, a characteristic response to the presence of God’s Spirit.
John recognised and rejoiced at the presence of the Christ in the womb of Mary. John would always be subordinate to Jesus. (Luke was concerned that the relationship be clear.)
Elizabeth, filled with the Spirit, spoke of the blessedness of both Mary and the child she was bearing.
Elizabeth added another title to Jesus. He was her Lord (Lord had become the preferred title of Jesus in the Christian community by the time Luke was writing. It was almost certainly not used of Jesus during his lifetime.)
Elizabeth connected Mary’s blessedness with her readiness to believe the word of God. (Later in the narrative, Jesus would himself declare blessed those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Mary was well ahead of all others.)

⁴⁶ Then Mary said, “My heart declares how great is the Lord!

⁴⁷ My spirit is filled with joy at God my Saviour!

⁴⁸ He has taken notice of me in all my lowliness,

and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

⁴⁹ The Powerful One has done great things in me,

and his Name is holy.

⁵⁰ His mercy towards those who reverence him

lasts from age to age.

⁵¹ He has shown the strength of his arm.

He has scattered the self-regarding arrogant.

⁵² He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

⁵³ He has satisfied the hungry

and sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴ He has come to the help of Israel his child,

mindful of his mercy,

⁵⁵ just as he said to our ancestors,

to Abraham and his descendants for ever.”

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with her for the three months,

and then returned to her own home.

In putting this song on the lips of Mary, Luke was effectively putting into words the spirituality of the “model disciple”. Though many of the phrases were drawn simply from the Jewish scriptures, they were developed and connected masterfully. They particularly echo the song of the once-sterile Hannah, mother of Samuel (whom she and her husband Elkanah had conceived with the assistance of God).

“My heart exults in the LORD;

my strength is exalted in my God.

My mouth derides my enemies,

because I rejoice in my victory.

“There is no Holy One like the LORD,

no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

Talk no more so very proudly,

let not arrogance come from your mouth;

for the LORD is a God of knowledge,

and by him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty are broken,

but the feeble gird on strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.

The barren has borne seven,

but she who has many children is forlorn.

The LORD kills and brings to life;

he brings down to Sheol and raises up.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich;

he brings low, he also exalts.

He raises up the poor from the dust;

he lifts the needy from the ash heap,

to make them sit with princes

and inherit a seat of honor.” (1 Samuel 2:1-8)

In many ways, the spirituality of faithful Israel was little different from the spirituality of any true disciple. For Luke, Mary’s song was to be the song of all who follow the way of Jesus.

Luke mentioned

the lowliness of Mary, her virginal emptiness
her attitude to God: her heart - her “aliveness” - showed forth the greatness of God
her deepest response was joy in the saving action of God
she saw God as Saviour, the Powerful One, the holy one
she praised the mercy of God
she exulted in the values of this God who sided definitively with the lowly, the hungry, those who fear God; and who had scattered the self-regarding arrogant, cast down the mighty and sent the rich away
God alone was the source of her greatness: God had made the virgin to be life-bearer.
God was the faithful one, faithful to an often faithless Israel, the God of mercy, ready to forgive.

The themes mentioned would recur again and again in the rest of the Gospel narrative.

Next >> Luke 1:57-80