Mary responded, "Oh, how I praise the Lord. [47] How I rejoice in God my Savior! [48] For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed. [49] For he, the Mighty One, is holy, and he has done great things for me. [50] His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear him. [51] His mighty arm does tremendous things! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! [52] He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. [53] He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. [54] And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. [55] For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children—to be merciful to them forever."
Luke 1:46-55
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea…” the story begins. Herod was the local ruler of Israel under Caesar Augustus. He was a brutal ruler. He had one of his sons drowned because he became suspicious that his son wanted his throne. He had his wife executed. He ordered a mass slaughter of many religious leaders over a political disagreement.
Meanwhile, the people of Israel were being heavily taxed to support the Roman army, and people were going into severe debt, losing land and homes. A sense of despair was all over the Jewish people. “If God is so good, why this?” “How long is this going to go on?”
And then an angel comes to a little Jewish teenage girl. “You will have a son, and He will be King and will rule forever.” Her response this muscular, politically charged, beautiful poem claiming a trust in the promise of God’s unfailing love for His people.
Famine, cancer, shame, broken relationships, poverty. May you no longer ask “Why this?” or “How much longer?” May you see that the “Herods” of this world don’t have the last word, but that God is the Good King who is ruling forever.
Luke 1:46-55
“In the days of Herod, king of Judea…” the story begins. Herod was the local ruler of Israel under Caesar Augustus. He was a brutal ruler. He had one of his sons drowned because he became suspicious that his son wanted his throne. He had his wife executed. He ordered a mass slaughter of many religious leaders over a political disagreement.
Meanwhile, the people of Israel were being heavily taxed to support the Roman army, and people were going into severe debt, losing land and homes. A sense of despair was all over the Jewish people. “If God is so good, why this?” “How long is this going to go on?”
And then an angel comes to a little Jewish teenage girl. “You will have a son, and He will be King and will rule forever.” Her response this muscular, politically charged, beautiful poem claiming a trust in the promise of God’s unfailing love for His people.
Famine, cancer, shame, broken relationships, poverty. May you no longer ask “Why this?” or “How much longer?” May you see that the “Herods” of this world don’t have the last word, but that God is the Good King who is ruling forever.
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