Luke 1:51-53
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.

The arm of God is used in the Old Testament to describe God’s strength and power. Mary pictured God’s strength being revealed to the sinful world as He scatters the proud, brings down the powerful, and sends the rich away empty. By contrast, God’s power shows in His mercy lifting up the lowly and filling the hungry with good things.

The tense of these verbs indicates Mary was speaking prophetically of these events which were so certain to occur they could be spoken of as having already happened.

Mary’s song shows what is seen is not all it seems.

God Himself would come to earth and face rejection by the proud, the powerful, and the rich. He would lift the lowly and fill the hungry.

God continues to do that today. God is mighty and merciful, ruthless against pride and injustice but sensitive to individual needs.

God knows humanity’s sinful, stubborn nature, and He sent His Son to redeem sinful human beings.

Mary exhibited a large vision of God, a sense of God’s grand purpose, and the heart of God for oppressed people.

This message of salvation continues throughout Luke’s Gospel, but takes on a different sense than what all of Israel was expecting. Instead of salvation bringing deliverance from Roman oppression, Jesus’ salvation brings deliverance from the oppressions of sin, sickness, and materialism; all of which are greater enemies to humanity’s soul than a foreign political power.

God takes the world’s values and expectations and turns them upside down.

How does this message relate to today’s world with all of its political strife?