Upon Mary’s arrival, both Elizabeth and her unborn child respond with divinely inspired expressions of joy. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit, and Gabriel has already pronounced the same concerning her child “even before his birth” (1:15). The repetitions between verses 39 and 45 underscore the intensity of the emotions: Mary’s greeting (1:41, 44), the leaping of the child in Elizabeth’s womb (1:41, 44), and the blessing of Mary are all mentioned twice (1:42, 45).37 The sense of joy, implicit in Elizabeth’s loud cry and John’s leaping, is carried from the anticipation of John’s birth to that of Jesus (1:14, 44). More rejoicing will take place when each baby arrives (1:58; 2:10).
Whether it is Elizabeth blessing Mary or John greeting Jesus with his joyful jolt, the elder is acknowledging the younger. Mary has yet to tell Elizabeth the purpose of her visit, let alone the angel’s message, but the latter is already blessing “the fruit of [her] womb” (1:42; cf. Deut 28:4). We suppose the filling of the Holy Spirit has resulted in Elizabeth’s prophetic utterances. Elizabeth blesses Mary, not only for her role as the mother of Israel’s Messiah, but especially for her trust in God’s fulfillment of everything the angel has said about her and the destiny of her child (1:45). Noteworthy is Elizabeth’s humility. Being much older and married, her social status is higher than that of Mary, a teenager living under her father’s roof. Yet Elizabeth deems herself unworthy to receive a visit from “the mother of [her] Lord” (1:43). Even before his birth, Jesus is called “Lord,”38 a title used of God himself in the OT. By addressing Jesus with an elevated title, Elizabeth trades places with Mary, lifting the latter’s status above her own.
Mary appropriately attributes the honor bestowed upon her to God’s benevolence. The Song of Mary is poetic in form with its requisite parallelism and chiasm. While Moses, Miriam, Deborah, and Asaph all sang of God’s mighty deeds,39 in content Mary’s Song is more reminiscent of that of Hannah, who praised God for answering her prayer for a child (1 Sam 2:1–10). This song is a collage of themes and phrases found in various Psalms and other OT passages, which articulate Israel’s experience and understanding of YHWH as mighty savior and promise keeper.
Although Mary begins the song with her personal blessedness (1:46–49), in the second half she expands the recipients of God’s goodness to all Israel (1:50–55). She testifies to the favor that God has bestowed upon her, not for self-elevation but to declare what God has done and will do for his people as he has for her. God is the main actor in this song and the subject of the active verbs: “he has looked . . . has done . . . has shown strength . . . has scattered the proud . . . has brought down the powerful . . . [has] lifted up the lowly . . . has filled the hungry . . . [has] sent the rich away . . . has helped” (1:48, 49, 51–54). God saves by enabling a reversal of conditions, for God is merciful, God remembers, and God is powerful.
First, God is merciful toward those who fear and revere him. Given the covenantal relationship between Israel and the almighty God, this fear engenders respect and faithfulness on Israel’s part. Second, because God remembers his promise to Israel’s ancestors, his mercy is a sustaining grace that stretches from generation to generation. Despite Israel’s sufferings and faithlessness then and now, the people continue to trust that YHWH remembers them and his promises to them (1:54–55). Third, God has the power to save. The exodus is the paradigmatic event of God’s deliverance of his people. Through the time of the judges, the kings, the exile, and the post-exilic period, Israel continued to experience God’s help when their enemies came upon them. Israel was lowly, oppressed, afflicted, and weak, but God always came through. God’s past acts of deliverance form the basis of Israel’s hope for future salvation.
Mary depicts God as the divine warrior who shows strength with his arm (1:49, 51), exercising justice as he extends mercy (Exod 6:6; cf. Deut 4:34; Ps 77:15). He liberates those who need deliverance and punishes those who deserve condemnation. On the one hand, the lowly, the poor, the oppressed, and the underprivileged are lifted up. On the other hand, the proud, the rich, the arrogant, and the powerful are brought down.40 The reversal levels the playing field. While the historical backdrop of the song comprised actual wars that God fought for Israel, Mary is expressing a hope that transcends nationalism and militarism (1:51–52). She envisions a subversion of socio-economic power structures toward mutuality and equality, as expressed in the chiastic arrangement of verses 52 and 53:
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
But that is not all. The polarities between power and lowliness, hungry and rich, and so on, have a spiritual dimension. The lowly ones who earnestly seek after God will enter the kingdom, and those with power and an inflated sense of self-righteousness will be denied (cf. 5:29–32; 6:20–25; 18:9–14). The theme of reversal will continue to play out in the mission, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Mary and Elizabeth are poised at the cusp of change. Their supernatural conceptions testify that God is setting in motion his final act of salvation by sending the Davidic Messiah and his forerunner. Not only does this song provide assurance, it engenders hope that defies even the uncontested power of Rome.
The scene ends with a statement that moves the timeline toward the next important event, the birth of John. If Mary remains with Elizabeth for another three months, it is possible that she stays long enough to be present at the next scene (1:56a). Then Mary returns to her father’s house (1:56b), still a virgin betrothed to Joseph, bearing the Son of God in her womb. How heavy a responsibility that is for a young maiden to carry!
Song of Zechariah (1:57–80)
The announcement of John’s birth takes us back to Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah (1:57–58). Gabriel’s prophecy that Elizabeth “will bear a son” (gennēsei huion, 1:13) is now fulfilled. Luke uses near-identical language here: “she bore a son” (egennēsen huion, 1:57). Gabriel predicted that Zechariah “will have joy (chara) and gladness, and many will rejoice (charēsontai) at [his son’s] birth” (1:14), and here the neighbors and relatives “rejoiced (synechairon) with her” (1:58). The theme of joy, already echoed in John’s leaping in his mother’s womb (1:44), will appear in the birth of Jesus as well (2:10). But for now, Zechariah will have more to say about the future role of his son, which sets the stage for the coming of the Messiah.
Customarily, Jewish male babies were circumcised on the eighth day (Gen 21:4; Acts 7:8). The rite of circumcision was a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham, and stood at the core of Jewish identity and self-understanding as God’s chosen people (Gen 17:9–14; Lev 12:3). Naming a child at circumcision was a departure from traditional practices.41 Traditionally, a child was given a name at birth (Gen 25:25–26). Greeks, however, named their children seven to ten days after birth. That John is named on the day of his circumcision may reflect an adoption of a popular Hellenistic practice in first-century Palestine.
At this joyous occasion, neighbors and relatives function as well-wishers and witnesses to the parents’ obedience to the law. When a dispute arises over the naming of the child, the spectators turn from being witnesses to challengers. Their expectation that the baby be named after Zechariah does not stem from any specific custom that must