THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
A REVOLUTIONARY
NAMED ‘MARY’
Background Scripture:
Luke 1:26-38, 46-55.
Devotional
1 Samuel 2:1-10.
One of the pitfalls into which we may
stumble is the habit of transforming significant witnesses to Christ into what
we want them to be, rather than as what the scriptures present them to be. This
is particularly true of Mary, the mother of Jesus. As painted in pictures,
sculpted in statuary and proclaimed in prose and poetry, Mary is depicted as a
woman so filled with the spirit of God that she soars far above mere human
beings---an accurate depiction, but not the complete image of Mary.
That is why Luke is so important to us: it helps us see Mary in another
light that is all too often neglected. In this passage we call “The
Magnificat,” the tender, righteous virgin appears as Mary the ecstatic
revolutionary prophet and we cannot, must not hear her without recognizing what
a piercing challenge she presents to her world and to ours.
MAGNIFYING THE LORD
Although the words of “The
Magnificat” are uniquely Mary’s own, there is a tone in them that is
reminiscent of the fiery proclamations of another seemingly insignificant
woman: Hannah, the saintly mother of the “miracle” child who, one thousand
years before the birth of Jesus, became Samuel the Prophet of God. In 1 Samuel
2:1-10, the humble Hannah ecstatically announces: “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord”
(2:1). Mary begins much the same: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior” (Lk. 1:46,47).
There is nothing all
that revolutionary in either of those exclamations, but Hannah goes on to exult: “The
bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength…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…He shall guard the feet of his
faithful ones; but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness” (1 Sam.
2:4,7-9). The humble woman who by God’s grace bears a son in her old age, is
suddenly a revolutionary! What God will do runs exactly contrary to popular
values and opinion. She sees her society as God sees it and those who heard her
must have shuddered.
So it is with Mary. Inspired by God’s
messenger, Mary is lifted out of herself and sees the kingdom of God that
Hannah glimpsed and it is certainly not the world as it is: “…he has scattered the proud in the
imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and
exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the
rich he has sent empty away” (Lk. 2:51-53).
A WORLD UPSIDE-DOWN
Luke doesn’t tell us who, beside
In the Magnificat (named for the first word of the passage in Latin), the
greatly blessed and humble Mary was lifted up in an ecstatic experience in
which she revealed the mystery of what God was going to do in and with her: the
birth of her child Jesus would bring both great blessing to his people and
radical judgment. What Mary was for a moment, a revolutionary voice for God,
Jesus would be throughout his life and ministry.
With the marvelous blessings that Jesus brought there would also be God’s
judgment upon the proud and haughty oppressors of the lowly, because that is
how the Lord is magnified! He ignores
the mighty and the proud and speaks through seemingly insignificant, though
receptive and lowly people such as Hannah and Mary---and Jesus!
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
OFTEN IN ERROR
Background Scripture:
Luke 1:5-24, 39-45.
Devotional
Isaiah7:10-14.
Five people are mentioned in Luke
1:5-24, 39-45, only one of whom, King Herod, would have been regarded as
important and well-known. Herod’s recognition rested upon the fear and hatred
he elicited throughout the Mediterranean world. He was not so much famous, as
infamous.
The other four names, according to the standards of the day—and perhaps
ours, too---would have been regarded as insignificant: Zechariah, Elizabeth,
Mary and John. To be sure, Zechariah was a priest of the Jerusalem Temple, but
there were probably 20,000 priests in those days, because every male descendent
of Aaron was recognized as a priest (kohen
in Hebrew: people with the surname “Cohen” today are believed to have come
from Jewish priestly families.)
In fact, there were so many priests that they were divided into 24
divisions, 800 to 1,000 in each, and every division served in the temple one
month every two years. Only a few priests were needed for this service, so lots
were drawn and the possibilities of being chosen were very slim. Thus, when the
turn came for Zechariah’s division and he won the privilege to officiate at the
altar of incense, it was a rare and cherished honor for the priest---but not
the populace as a whole.
BARREN
Zechariah’s wife was
also from a priestly family, a highly desirable but not mandatory requirement
for a priest. Nor would it likely be of any special interest that “they
were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances
of the Lord blameless.” Much
more likely to be noted was that “
It is difficult for us to appreciate just how
humiliating childlessness was in those days, because we do not attach any
particular judgment to a couple without children. But in that day it was held
as a mark of God’s punishment and solely the wife’s fault, although the
husband’s image was also thereby diminished. So strong was this view that
bareness was a valid ground for a man to obtain a divorce.
Although this disdain
of bareness was widely held among the people, this story is strong evidence
against that view. Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were “righteous” and God was
going to respond to their prayers by giving them a son---and not just any son,
but John who would be known as “the Baptist.” (Other Bible stories with a
similar theme: Abraham and Sarah to whom God gave a child, Isaac, in their old
age and Manoah, to whom God gave Samson as a son.)
HUMAN PRECEPTS
Similarly, it is really quite
common for people, including Christians, to hold rigid religious beliefs that
are contrary to the way God works in the world. We know better, but we often
judge a person’s spiritual worth by their obvious material prosperity or lack
of it. Like the “friends” of Job, we often wonder what some persons have done
or not done in order to get themselves into difficulty.
Throughout Christian history there have been
imposed standards regarded as mandatory originating, not in the expressed will
of God, but in the prejudices and imaginations of those who are often in error,
but never in doubt. Earlier in my life that included dancing, attending the
theater, playing cards, and so forth.
As Jesus is quoted in
Matthew and Mark: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Isaiah 29:13; Mt. 25:8,9; Mk. 7:6,7).
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
THE ROAD
FROM
Background Scripture:
Luke 2:1-20.
Devotional
Psalms 107:1-15.
My
earliest Christmas memory is based upon an experience when I was four or five
years old. It was a cold Christmas Eve and, for some reason that I didn’t know,
we drove about five miles into the countryside to a church that was not our
own. As we entered the candlelit church, a sense of great awe and mystery swept
over me as I came into the presence of One whom later I would call “God.”
Although
I probably knew it was Christmas, I had little idea what it was all about.
Nevertheless, when we left that church, I took something with me, something
only vaguely remembered, but never forgotten: that night I was in the awesome
presence of Something or Someone truly wonderful.
Most of my Christmases
since then have been lit by that unquenchable memory. I regret that I never
questioned my parents about it. A few times when I have returned to the place
of my birth and youth, I have tried to find that church, but with no success.
But, of course, neither the place nor the church are really important. It is
what I took with me when the service was over---and still have!
CHRISTMAS LET-DOWN?
I
know that, while Christmas is probably the most celebrated religious holiday in
the world---although for many it has little or no religious meaning---it is
probably the most disappointing holiday as well. This is because many have
nothing to take with them when the celebration is over. Christmas without
Christ cannot possibly fulfill our expectations.
We know the nativity
story so well that we forget its revolutionary significance. Jesus was born to
two “unimportant” people---“lower class” types. When they arrived in
Well, you say, at
least the Holy Family was visited by a band of shepherds. But shepherds were
among the lowest occupants of the social ladder. Long days and nights in the
fields kept the shepherds from observing the finer points of law. They were
despised by “good” Jews who scrupulously kept the law.
SHEPHERDS AND ANGELS
William Barclay tells
us that there were two customs normally observed at the time of birth. Family,
friends and neighbors would descend upon the house of the newborn to
congratulate the parents. And, very often, local musicians would arrive to
serenade the newborn and parents. But, when Jesus was born, there were lowly
shepherds who visited the newborn Jesus and a heavenly choir of angels.
Despite
their low estate and rustic spirituality, it was the shepherds
who responded to the heavenly messengers and
set off for
As important as it is
to tread the way to
THE BIBLE SPEAKS
By
WHAT SHALL
WE DO?
Background Scripture:
Luke 3:1-20.
Devotional
Psalms 51:10-19
Some might be tempted to skip over or rush through the first two verses
of Luke 3. In case you haven’t noticed, Luke is very careful to set his
narrative in an exact time-frame. In other words, he wants us to know that this
is not just a once-upon-a-time tale taking place in never-never time.
It is in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign over the
Roman Empire, during Pontius Pilate’s rule of
Now the irony is that, with the possible exception of Tiberius Caesar,
none of these “important” names are known today to the average reader. In
John’s day, however, the Baptist was virtually unknown to the recorders of
human events. Today, the tables are turned and it is he who is recognized as
“important.”
FITTING-IN
This is just one more example of
how God upsets the human scheme of things, a none-too-gentle reminder that when
the gospel was let loose in the world, it didn’t fit in nicely with the way
things were. It was stone in the Roman sandal, an irritant in Jewish society
and a scandal to the Hebrew religion. Those of who think that our society and
faith are quite compatible do not understand either. The conflict between
physical and spiritual power is not simply reconciled.
So
we must realize that the message of John the Baptist was not that of a
“Prosperity with Jesus” evangelist. No one who ever heard John preach or
prophesy came away saying, “That was a nice message.” John’s message was not
meant to soothe, but to ruffle and disturb---and it did: You brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Lk. 3:7).
Keep in mind he was talking to the
average Jew, (like the average person who today identifies him or herself as “A
Christian”), not the known and labeled sinners. I say that because Luke tells
us these are the kind of people who thought of themselves as God’s devoted
children: “…and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our
father’; for I tell you, God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Even now
the axe is laid to the root of trees; every tree therefore that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (3:8,9). Getting right
with God does not mean belonging to the right race, nation or group; it is a
matter of bearing “fruits that befit repentance.”
GOOD PEOPLE, REPENT!
John
is calling for repentance from the “good” religious people of his day---and
ours—but what does “repentance” mean for “good” people? And “the
multitudes asked him, ‘What then shall we do?’” When one lives by all
or most of the rules, why do we need to repent? From what do we need
repentance?
So John gives them a
plain answer: “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who
has food, let him do likewise.” To the tax collectors he said, “Collect
no more than is appointed to you” (3:10-13). There are some things in
the Gospels hard to understand, but John’s answers are almost too
understandable. (Take a lined tablet and number the lines “1” through “10.” At
the top, write, “What Shall I Do? God
will suggest some answers!)
Do any of us really have to ask that
question?