“ With all my heart I glorify the Lord!47 In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
48 He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
49 because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
50 He shows mercy to everyone,
from one generation to the next,
who honors him as God.
51 He has shown strength with his arm.
He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
52 He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty-handed.
54 He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
remembering his mercy,
55 just as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever. ”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her home.
- Luke 1.46-56, Common English Bible (CEB)
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Today is the Feast of the Visitation. We read about it in Luke 1.39-57. Luke's gospel is a subversive one. The late venerable Geervarghese Mar Osthathios (+ 2012), Archbishop of the Indian Orthodox Church, said that the Magnificat is a song of "high revolution." Indeed, the Magnificat, which is sung by Mary in the pericope of the Visitation, announces a dramatic reversal of fortunes: "He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty-handed." These words echo Hannah's song in 1 Samuel 2.1-10 (Old Testament Lesson) and Psalm 113 (Today's Psalm). God will lift the "needy out of the ash heap." God does not merely lift up the poor, but turns away the rich- a revolutionary sentiment expressed elsewhere in the Bible (e.g., James 5.1-4) which Christians often ignore.
In the gospel of Luke, we see the Holy Spirit of God instigating revolution. Earlier in the chapter, in the story of the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel tells Mary that the Messiah will be born of her, and that "The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the one who is to be born will be holy. He will be called God’s Son." Mary is a tabernacle of the Holy Spirit, like the Ark of the Covenant. God begins the revolution by becoming incarnate in Mary's womb.
Mary, now filled with the Holy Spirit, and carrying the Messiah, the God-Man within her womb, visits "the house of Zechariah," the gospel tells us. But she greets Elizabeth. When Elizabeth hears her greeting, she too, is filled with the Holy Spirit. We also read that the pre-born John the Baptist, in Elizabeth's womb, leaped at the sound of Mary's greeting.
The commentary for Visitation in The Wesley Study Bible notes that "In keeping with the Lukan emphasis upon women, Mary greets only Elizabeth within the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth (v.39). Mary's prayer of thanksgiving (the Magnificat) contains many of the themes emphasized in Luke's Gospel, particularly God's concern for the lowly, hungry, and disadvantaged, and God's judgment on the self-indulgent. Wesley numbers Mary among the prophets by noting she spoke under a 'prophetic impulse.'" (pg. 1239, Wesley Study Bible).
Indeed, Zechariah, a symbol of male and priestly-caste power, is silenced by the same angel Gabriel in Luke 1.19,20. It is the women who are being filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesying at this point in the narrative.
The poor, the hungry, women, other marginalized and outcast people in the Bible- are lifted up by God. The powerful are put in their place by God.
Luke will continue to bear witness to Holy Spirit-led revolution. In the book of Acts, we read on the day of Pentecost barriers between ethnic groups and nations broken down through the gift of tongues (Acts 2.1-21). We read that the ancient church shared all things in common, and distributed to each according to their need (Acts 2.44, 4.32). This was not lost on Marx's collaborator, Frederich Engels, who noted in his writing this ancient form of communism in the Church. Tertullian would say of the ancient Church, "We hold all things in common but our wives."
The gospel is bursting with liberation and revolution, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. The narrative of the Visitation is an invitation for us to hear and proclaim the prophetic Word, be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, and take part in God's revolution.
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A Word About The Bible Translation Used For This Post
As a sidebar, I want to note the lovely language of the Common English Bible for this passage. Luke 1.47,48,50 reads: "With all my heart I glorify the Lord! In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior. He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant...Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored. He shows mercy to everyone, from one generation to the next, who honors him as God."
Very well expressed, I will say. I love the phrases "With all my heart I glorify the Lord!," and "In the depths of who I am," "has looked in favor on the low status of his servant" and "who honors him as God."
The Common English Bible is a brilliant fresh new translation. It is a nice companion to the New Revised Standard Version for mainline Christians. The CEB represents the popular version, and the NRSV, the scholarly version. But both are reliable and based on solid scholarship.
- Lance
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