The Lifting Of The Lowly
The Gospel begins in the lowest lows. Jesus entered the world through a poor, teenage mother in a nowhere town – in an empire committed to the exploitation of her people. And as her story comes into focus, she does something surprising: she sings a protest song – a song about how the mighty will fall and the lowly will be lifted by God.
As we walk through the Christian year together, each season will be accompanied by a guiding question – a question to wrestle with, pray through, and bring to God. During the season of Advent, as we give our attention to our longing for a Savior, we’re asking together: “What are we waiting for?”
What specific actions of God does Mary highlight in this song, and how do they reveal God’s character?
How does Mary describe the “reversal” God brings (lifting the lowly, humbling the proud), and what does this tell us about the values of God’s kingdom?
What does humility look like at ground level, in the everyday stuff of life. How might we get it wrong, and what would it look like to get it right?
How might believing that God “lifts up the lowly” change the way you respond to challenges, insecurity, or pride this week?
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.
Luke 1:39-40 NIV
“Jesus was born to be a marginal person. He was conceived by Mary when she was unwed. […] Thus, while the birth of Jesus to Mary was divinely justified, it was nevertheless socially condemned. Jesus, as well as his parents, was marginalized from the time of his conception.”
— Jung Young Lee, Marginality: The Key to Multicultural Theology
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Luke 1:41-45 NIV
My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
Luke 1:46b-50 NIV
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
Luke 1:51-53 NIV
“We have been enculturated to think of redemption as both (almost exclusively) individual and (almost entirely) spiritual. Not for Mary. Notice how physical and political and national her sense of redemption is. Rulers dethroned, the poor enthroned, the hungry filled with food, and the rich sent packing. This is a ‘political manifesto,’ a prediction that a great reversal happens in the redemption of Mary’s son.”
— Scot McKnight, “The Magnificat: Mary’s Redemption Song in Luke 1”
Mary’s song isn’t about replacing power, but redefining it.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
Isaiah 11:3b-4a
מִישׁוֹר (mîshôr): a level ground
The kingdom of God is not about grasping after power but lifting up the powerless.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
Luke 1:52 NIV
If you’re having trouble finding God, look lower.
“For those who are great and powerful in this world, there are two places where their courage fails them, which terrify them to the very depths of their souls, and which they dearly avoid. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. No one who holds power dares to come near the manger; King Herod also did not dare. For here thrones begin to sway; the powerful fall down, and those who are high are brought low, because God is here with the lowly.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “My Spirit Rejoices,” London, Third Sunday in Advent, December 17, 1933
“Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism beside the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high; whoever looks at the child in the manger and sees the glory of God precisely in his lowliness.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “My Spirit Rejoices,” London, Third Sunday in Advent, December 17, 1933