The Two Songs of Luke's Gospel Chapter One
(Painting of Mary and Elizabeth)
I’ve been thinking about the two songs in the opening chapter of the Gospel of Luke. One is from Mary the mother of Jesus, and the other is from Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. I think that in these two songs we find some key themes that Luke repeats throughout his gospel in his description of the ministry of Jesus. As always, when interpreting the New Testament, I’m trying to focus on how the first century Jewish people living under Roman occupation in Israel would have heard and understood these words. I’m not doing a detailed study here, just a brief sketch. All Scripture passages are from the English Standard Version.
Mary sings her song as a response to being greeted by her relative Elizabeth in the Judean hill country. Both women are pregnant with their firstborn child. Elizabeth, an older woman past the normal age of childbearing, will soon miraculously give birth to John the Baptist. Mary, who is a virgin, will miraculously give birth to Jesus just a few months later. Zechariah is Elizabeth’s husband, and he sings his song when his son John is born.
The Two Songs:
Here is Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55,
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the
Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of
his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations
will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great
things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the
thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their
thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good
things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
And here is Zechariah’s song in Luke 1:67-79:
“And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand
of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on
high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ ”
Some Observations:
We read that Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied his song. There is no mention that Mary is filled with the Holy Spirit when she proclaims her song and there is no mention that it is a prophecy.
Look at the tenses of the verbs in both songs. In Mary’s song they are mostly in the past tense: these are things that God has done. However, reading through them perhaps these are events that will happen in the future as a result of the ministry of Jesus. For example, the phrase in verse 52, “…he has brought down the mighty from their thrones,” implies major political change.
First century Jewish listeners to Mary would have probably thought about Rome’s oppressive rule over Israel and hoped that the coming Messiah would free them by bringing down Ceasar (or at least the Roman Governor in Judea) from his throne.
From our perspective, perhaps this prophecy looks forward to the disarming of spiritual “rulers and authorities” through Jesus’ death on the cross as declared by Paul in his letter to the Colossians 2:13-15:
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Mary’s song also speaks of economic changes in verse 53: “he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.” That certainly had not happened in the recent past history of the people of Israel, most of whom had been living in poverty under Roman occupation since 63 BCE. So again, perhaps this was a prediction of something future happening as a result of the message and life of Jesus. If I was a poor Jewish person living in Israel listening to Mary sing, I would hope for a redistribution of wealth through God’s intervention. All of God’s actions in Mary’s song are connected with God remembering his covenant promises of mercy to Abraham and the Patriarchs (verse 55).
Mary is proclaiming God’s works in her miraculous conception of Jesus and (in my opinion) in the future ministry of Jesus:
- He has looked on her humble estate (past tense)
- He has done great things for her (past tense)
- His mercy is for those who fear him (present tense)
- He has shown strength with his arm (past tense)
o How?
o By scattering the proud in their thoughts
o By bringing down the mighty from their thrones
o By exalting those of humble estate (including Mary)
o By filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich away empty
o By helping His servant – here “servant” refers to the corporate nation of Israel - in remembrance of his covenant mercy to Abraham and his descendants
Let’s move on to Zechariah’s song.
In Zechariah’s song the verbs start in the past tense, then move into the future tense starting in verse 71, “that we should be saved from our enemies.” The verbs continue in the future tense through the remainder of the song.
Zechariah is proclaiming God’s future works in the combined ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah:
- That we should be saved from our enemies
- This is the mercy He promised through the covenant to our forefathers
- The covenant promises that we will be delivered from our enemies so that we can serve him without fear in holiness all of our days.
- This child John will be called the prophet of the Most High
- He will go before the Lord to prepare His ways
- How will he prepare the way for the Lord to travel? By giving the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins (not in the destruction of the Roman oppressors)
- Why? Because the tender mercies of our God
- Bonus: The people of Israel will be visited by the Sunrise from on high
- What will the Sunrise provide for them?
o Light to set us free from darkness and the shadow of death
o Light to guide our feet into the way of peace
Again “salvation/deliverance from enemies is a major theme. If I was a first century Jew listening to Zechariah, I think I would hear “we will be set free from the oppression of Rome!”
However, later in the song when speaking of salvation, he connects it not with the destruction of political enemies but with forgiveness of sins. As a first century Jew I would probably be disappointed.
The language “visited by the Sunrise from on high” implies a Divine visitation – a powerful encounter with God’s power and presence. To me, and perhaps to first century Jews well versed in the law and the prophets, this brings to mind a passage in Malachi, a book in the Jewish Scriptures. Malachi was one the prophets, and he writes about a day that is coming to Israel:
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You should go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:1-3).
So the phrase “Sunrise from on high” could refer back to Malachi’s “Sun of Righteousness rising.” Malachi connects this event with healing. We will come back to this later.
What are the overall themes that are present in these two songs?
1. God’s Covenant Mercy being shown to Israel.
2. God will humble the proud and exalt the humble.
3. God will fill the hungry (poor) with good things and send the rich away empty.
4. God will save the people of Israel from their enemies.
5. God’s salvation will be experienced as forgiveness of sins.
6. God Himself will visit Israel. He will give the light of truth that sets His people free from spiritual bondage. This light of truth will also guide His people into a lifestyle (way) of peace.
Themes from the Songs Present in the Ministry and Message of Jesus:
Luke develops all six of these themes in his version of the life and ministry of Jesus. (I am not suggesting that Mark, Matthew and John do not develop these themes, but they are prominent in Luke’s gospel):
1. Jesus emphasized God’s mercy over the strict keeping of the Jewish Torah emphasized by the Pharisees: (Luke 6:3-5, 9-10, 35-36; 10:36-37; 11:42; 13:15-17; 14:1-6; 15:2)
2. Jesus promised the humble would be exalted and the proud would be humbled: (Luke 10:21; 14:11; 16:15; 18:16-17; 20:45-47; 22:24-27)
3. Jesus declared blessings on the poor (hungry) and woes to the rich: (Luke 4:18; 6:20-26; 12:15,21,33-34; 14:33;18:24-25)
4. Jesus set people free from their spiritual enemies, which were demons (Luke 4:18, 31-36, 41; 6:18; 7:21; 8:2; 8:26-39; 9:1; 9:37-43; 10:17-20; 11:14-26; 13:10-17)
5. Jesus says he came to bring salvation, which was experienced as forgiveness of sins, healing of sicknesses and freedom from demons (Luke 4:18; 5:24; 7:48; 11:4; 24:47) [note there is nothing here about “going to heaven”]
6. Jesus’ teachings provided light (truth) that was intended to lead the Jewish people into a lifestyle of peace. If they had applied Jesus’ teachings on a lifestyle of peace they could have avoided the horrible Jewish War against Rome in AD 66-70. (Luke 6:27-31, 46-49; 19:41-44) In addition, the theme of visitation from God is directly connected with Jesus’ healing ministry (see Luke 7:16).
I want to conclude by giving the full context of Luke 7:16 which shows the connection with God visiting his people through healing miracles, just as Malachi wrote that the Sun of Righteousness would rise with healing in its wings:
“Soon afterward he [Jesus] went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.”
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