Throughout the Old Testament, God’s prophets foretold the coming Messiah. Prophets gave the people of Israel hope. Hundreds of years passed between the last Old Testament prophet and the opening words of Luke's Gospel, but God's people did not lose hope. When the angel appeared to Mary, she understood the impact and scale of what was going to happen through the infant she was about to bring into the world, a world run by corrupt rulers and religious leaders fighting for political power as they stepped on and over people like her.
But she said "Yes" to God, and was blessed. Her response in Luke 1:46-55 is the longest set of words spoken by a woman in the New Testament, but it wasn't a sweet, cheerful Christmas carol. So subversive is Mary’s song that it has been banned from being read in public by oppressive governments. It flipped everything people believed about the world and the Messiah. This song of Mary was one of obedience to God no matter what the consequences, and must continue to be the song of Christian believers today. What hard thing is God calling you to, and how will you obey? How will you, the church, turn the world upside-down?
