Mary is not the quaint school girl I would like her to be. She is subversive, rebellious, and prophetic. By the Holy Spirit, she is bursting at the seams with the vision of a world re-imagined. Mary envisions a world turned upside down because of God’s faithfulness to his covenant people Israel.

When the people of Israel would go up to worship the Lord in the Temple, there were a number of songs they would sing. These songs are titled the songs of ascents (Psalms 120-134). These songs were sung on the occasion of the three pilgrim festivals described in the Law of Moses. The songs of ascents tend to be upbeat, hopeful, and full of cheer.An oft-quoted song of ascents is, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go up to the house of the Lord!’” (Psalm 122:1)

What is interesting about Mary’s song in Luke 1 is that it appears that she takes the tradition of the Hebrew ascent song and writes a song of descent. Mary’s prophetic song takes place upon her visit with Elizabeth, who is carrying her son’s forerunner. In a sheer move of the Holy Spirit, Mary exclaims,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.

This is the first subversion of power that Mary notices, the fact that God did not choose a wealthy celebrity to carry his son, but he chose a lowly servant girl to birth the Prince of Peace. God chose to reconstitute the centers of power from the Temple to the womb of a poor teenage girl. God chose to descend into an inexperienced womb, fertile ground for revolution.

In Mary’s re-imagined world, the proud are scattered, princes are dethroned, the humble are exalted, the hungry are full, and the rich are sent away empty-handed.

For Mary, God is not a distant deity unconcerned with an unjust social order. In Mary’s world, God is passionately concerned with the poor, the hungry, the vulnerable, the humble, and the indefensible. For Mary, the God of Israel is ready to shake the world up, setting it to rights. For Mary, this radical shift of power is made possible because of the baby in her belly. This boy is a little embryo who is destined to offer the world a fresh alternative to suicidal systems and seductive power structures.

Mary is powerfully attuned to Israel’s national story. She is familiar with the story of Abraham and the way God promised to birth a great nation from his loins. She is deeply aware of the way Moses led the people of God out of Egypt into the Land of Promise, embarrassing Pharaoh’s empire with illogical signs and wonders. She knows the God who has shown mercy to every generation of his covenant people.

Then the song ends. It ends as abruptly as it began. It ends with the God who makes and keeps his promise with Abraham. But it ends, nonetheless.

And then Mary stays with Elizabeth for three months. I don’t know why she stayed. But I would like to think that Mary and Elizabeth had some amazing praise sessions where they contemplated the cosmic purposes God had wrought in their unsuspecting wombs.

And I can see Zechariah sitting in the middle of it all, not able to say a word.

About Broderick Greer

I'm a student from Texas, getting my undergraduate education in Tennessee. I love learning about and discussing the subversive nature of God's kingdom. Every day, I am privileged to be surprised by the tender mercies of our God. A new world has come, and I want to be a part of it.