A Song of Reversals

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. – Luke 1:52-53

Mary’s song is a song of reversals. Mary sings about God bringing down rulers, but lifting up the humble; filling the hungry, but sending away the rich empty. Mary knew God well, because that is the way God works. God always does things in a different way then we might expect.

The Christmas story is filled with reversals. Jesus came to earth not as a mighty ruler, but as a lowly infant laid in a manger. Jesus was born not in a politically powerfully city like Rome, or an important religious city like Jerusalem, or a large city of commerce like Alexandria; Jesus was born in a small out of the way town of Bethlehem. The angels did not announce Jesus’ birth to powerful political or religious leaders, but to common shepherds out in the fields.

It is important for us to understand how God works through reversals, because when God brought salvation through Jesus Christ he did not do it in a way we might expect. Jesus, a man without sin, took the sin of the world upon himself and died on the cross, giving his life so that we might have life! It was by God’s reversal that we are saved!

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the many wonderful ways that you work in history and in my life. Sometimes I do not understand the ways in which you work, so help me to trust in your ways and not lean on my own ways and understanding. Amen.

Faith tip: Try a reversal today. Do something in a way that you wouldn’t normally do, in order to bring the love of Christ to someone today. It might surprise that person and it might just surprise you.

Written by Pastor Aaron Anderson