How God’s faithfulness turns the tables (Luke 1:39-56)

Who has not known the feelings of elation when God’s plans come to fruition in our lives? We may have promises that we cling to, hopes that the Lord will come through for us and then we wait and wait, live at times with disappointment, and then one day there is a breakthrough. The money arrives from unexpected sources to do God’s work, we get the job that moves us on into the next phase of God’s will, the right person turns up to fill a need in our church, we make connections with people who expand our horizons and so on. As circumstances align and we recognise the Lord in action, we feel excited and humbled. Who are we that God cares for us in such an amazing way?

Joy and reassurance

I suspect that Mary experienced something like this. The Jews have been waiting for restoration and for Messiah for centuries. When will that Davidic king remove pagan leaders and save from oppression like the ancestors were saved from slavery in Egypt? When will the people have a just ruler who will lead the country in God’s ways? It is mistaken to think that Israel hoped for a purely political-material change. Rather, ‘salvation’ for them meant deliverance and spiritual restoration through the political-material situation. What wonder then that such a high and exalted figure like Messiah will be born to young Mary? Not surprising that she hurries to share with Elizabeth this precious time of their unexpected pregnancies (Luke 1:39-40). Her trust in God is rewarded with further reassurance: John, the forerunner for Jesus, leaps in his mother’s womb and Elizabeth testifies under the Holy Spirit’s influence that Mary’s unborn baby is her Lord (Luke 1:41, 43-44)![1] Their story encourages all believers that they can know the joy that comes to those who trust in God’s promises (Luke 1:45).

God’s mercy – Mary

Mary’s song expresses the wonder of all this. The exalted Lord, the Mighty and Holy One stooped down to the lowly and the humble like her as He did to Sarah, Rebekah, and Hannah (Luke 1:46-49).[2] Indeed, the whole of Scripture witnesses to this paradox.[3] Kings and powerful figures deal with their social equals and rarely have time for common people unless it is for public relations, but God works together and takes note of those who are of no particular significance when they trust and live for Him (Isa 66:2; Luke 1:50). The ‘fear’ mentioned in v.50 is not terror and but awe and respect, an attitude that recognises accountability before God, and seeks to live in godliness and faith.

God’s mercy – Israel, His Servant

The hymn broadens from Mary’s individual experience to God’s dealings with His people and describes in language steeped in the Old Testament the reversals that the Lord brings about. God’s arm and His mighty deeds evoke the exodus, a slave people’s release from the powerful Egyptian empire against all the odds (Luke 1:51; e.g. Deut 5:15). God is the Lord of history who removes rulers like the boastful kings of Assyria and Babylon that took captive Israel and Judah (Luke 1:52; Isa 10:12; 47:1). Filling the hungry with good things recalls the wilderness wanderings and God’s provision (Luke 1:53; Ps 107:9) although none of the language is specific enough to limit it to one historic situation. Rather, it contrasts in general terms the fate of the proud and the self-sufficient (summed up under rulers and the rich) with the humble and needy who look to God for help. God is faithful to His Servant, Israel (Luke 1:54 cf. Isa 41:8-10; 44:21, etc.) and remembers His promises to Abraham and the forefathers (Luke 1:55).

Knowing God’s faithfulness

As we reflect on the Christmas story, we are reminded that God’s character is unchanging. Just as Mary individually and Israel, God’s people, collectively experienced His mercy and faithfulness, so we can trust the Lord today for the situations in our own lives and for that of His Church. Sometimes, like Israel, we have a long period of waiting when it seems nothing is moving forward, God is distant and there is no solution to our dilemmas and struggles. Yet, when we serve the Lord regardless and wait and trust in Him, we will know His faithfulness and the fulfilment of His promises.

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[1] Although kyrios, ‘Lord’ is often used of Israel’s God, Yahweh, it is unlikely that Elizabeth is aware here that Messiah will be God Himself. Rather, she is probably using the word as a term of respect (lord, master) for Messiah, the king who will rule. Nevertheless, as Christians, we hear this added meaning in her testimony.

[2] The Magnificat has many resonances with Hannah’s song in its theme of reversals (1 Sam 2:1-10). Barrenness affected women’s social standing. Note how Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian maidservant despised her mistress when she conceived and Sarah was barren (Gen 16:5). Rebekah’s situation is less well remembered but she, too, was barren (for twenty years; Gen 26:20-21, 26).

[3] The examples are endless. God gives pre-eminence to younger sons in Genesis (Isaac not Ishmael – Gen 17:18-22; Jacob not Esau – Gen 25:23; Joseph [and Judah] not Reuben – Gen 48:21-22; 49:3-4, 8-10, 22-26;  Ephraim not Manasseh – Gen 48:17-19). He chooses Saul as king from the smallest tribe (Benjamin – 1 Sam 9:21), then David, the youngest son of his father (1 Sam 16:11-13). The story of Israel itself is that of the underdog as slaves in Egypt, as a small group coming into the land (Deut 7:7-8, 17-18), as threatened by powerful empires more than once (e.g. 2 Kings 19:20-28).

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