Mary's Baby wants a Revolution (Luke 1:46-56)

So what do two women (one old and one young) both miraculously pregnant (one with John the Baptist and one with Jesus) have to talk about?

Luke 1:46-56 ⁴⁶ And Mary said:

I'm bursting with God-news;
      I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
      God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
      I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
   What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
      the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
   His mercy flows in wave after wave
      on those who are in awe before him.
   He bared his arm and showed his strength,
      scattered the bluffing braggarts.
   He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
      pulled victims out of the mud.
   The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
      the callous rich were left out in the cold.
   He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
      he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
   It's exactly what he promised,
      beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

⁵⁶ And Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home.

Well... Luke records that Mary begins this three month conversation with Elizabeth with what appears to be a song.  (At first, I smile as I picture scenes from the musical "Momma Mia" and wonder if Luke is intending to write his own musical!)  But the song flows out of another ancient song - Hannah's Song - a song that another miracle mother sings at her son's dedication.  A song that Mary would have memorized as a child.  Now I wonder if Mary hasn't added a final verse to Hannah's Song?  Maybe she composed the words as she traveled to Elizabeth's house?  I wonder if Mary played an instrument as she taught Elizabeth the verses?

I love that scripture describes moms singing over their children!  How appropriate and holy! But unlike modern nursery rhymes and lullabies, these songs are not frivolous nor particularly soothing.  They contain important and significant prophesies.  Hannah, hundreds of years earlier, sings to her son of a Messiah who is to come.  And now Mary sings to the Messiah she is carrying who will fulfill the prophesies in Hannah's song.

Both women recognize that Mary's child is going to be a revolutionary - turning the world on its ear.  Their words indicate that his kingdom will bring about radical social change in a first century world that is all about religion (knowing the right rules and keeping them).  But into this rule oriented world, Jesus brings a new covenant.  He will teach us a new way to live. A way that is just as applicable for us as it was for them.  And just as hard.

I wonder if I can possibly follow this radical way of Jesus?  Then I hear Mary singing, "His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him" and I remember that we will have some supernatural help.  So let us live today as the follower of a revolutionary looking for ways to help him turn the world upside down!

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