Luke - pages 1-6
One of the things that grabbed me in this passage was the whole "Mary" topic. She has been such a polarizing personality in the Bible due to these brief descriptions and responses in Luke. So much has been made out of so little, because there is so little revealed about her in the Scriptures. Luke seems to say more than anyone, and it's still precious little.
I was struck by the phrase "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!" This was the utterance of Elizabeth when the two met up in the middle of their pregnancies. The baby (John the Baptist) leapt in Elizabeth's womb in the presence of baby Jesus, tucked silently in the uterus of his mother, Mary.
After this encounter, Mary sang a song from which ancient religion has unfortunately immortalized and deified her making her a co-redemptive agent of salvation. A gross misinterpretation of this brief text--this short refrain in a simple song.
Mary exclaimed that she "glorified the Lord...for he had been mindful of the humble state of his servant (Mary)" and said that "all generations would call her blessed for the Mighty One had done great things for her".
Her response shows where she sees herself in the "immaculate conception". She views herself as humbly blessed, not "bless-ed". And she agrees with Elizabeth that the fruit of her womb (Jesus) is "bless-ed", not "blessed". Another way of saying it in modern vernacular is that she was lucky to be Jesus' mother, Jesus was not lucky to be her son. She was blessed; He was bless-ed.
She was the humble servant, he was the mighty one. She glorified the Lord, and felt honored/humbled that he was "mindful" of her, that he chose her of all women. It was immaculate alright, and he was the central reason why. She knew it and bent low under the overshadowed brooding of God's life-giving Spirit.
She was grateful; Jesus was great. Case closed.
I was struck by the phrase "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!" This was the utterance of Elizabeth when the two met up in the middle of their pregnancies. The baby (John the Baptist) leapt in Elizabeth's womb in the presence of baby Jesus, tucked silently in the uterus of his mother, Mary.
After this encounter, Mary sang a song from which ancient religion has unfortunately immortalized and deified her making her a co-redemptive agent of salvation. A gross misinterpretation of this brief text--this short refrain in a simple song.
Mary exclaimed that she "glorified the Lord...for he had been mindful of the humble state of his servant (Mary)" and said that "all generations would call her blessed for the Mighty One had done great things for her".
Her response shows where she sees herself in the "immaculate conception". She views herself as humbly blessed, not "bless-ed". And she agrees with Elizabeth that the fruit of her womb (Jesus) is "bless-ed", not "blessed". Another way of saying it in modern vernacular is that she was lucky to be Jesus' mother, Jesus was not lucky to be her son. She was blessed; He was bless-ed.
She was the humble servant, he was the mighty one. She glorified the Lord, and felt honored/humbled that he was "mindful" of her, that he chose her of all women. It was immaculate alright, and he was the central reason why. She knew it and bent low under the overshadowed brooding of God's life-giving Spirit.
She was grateful; Jesus was great. Case closed.
Comments
Let's not domesticate the great things the Mighty One wants to do, not only for Mary, but for us!