Bible Groups - Digests of Bible Commentaries

Gospel of Luke - Chapter 1:39-56 - Visitation

Having been told of her cousin’s marvellous pregnancy by the angel, Mary immediately hurries on a 3 or 4 day journey to celebrate with and congratulate her - and to be with her during the final 3-4 months, linking the 2 parallel birth narratives. It would have been a worrying time for the elderly Elizabeth. But notice that Mary is also doing what all believers should do: hearing the word of God, she immediately seeks to spread the good news.
41-45
Now that Mary has conceived, Jesus can begin his work of salvation: the infant John receives the Holy Spirit in sheer joy and leaps in ecstasy (likes lambs!) to greet the coming saviour. His “joy” suggests the joy of the people of God in the presence of the long-awaited Messiah. The Spirit fills the elderly Elizabeth and - in spite of young Mary’s unmarried state - she can interpret the sign (John’s leap) (ie prophesy) and confirm the reason for Mary’s blessedness: “Blessed are you who believed ... “, and so made the incarnation possible. And she tells us (a) that Mary is now pregnant, and (b) that Mary’s child is “her Lord” - both giving information to the reader, and confirming prophecies that have been fulfilled, and will be in the future.
This is the first use of “Lord” for Jesus by Luke, and indicates the growing belief of the early Christians that Jesus was divine. In Mark “Lord” is used of Jesus only by people addressing Him, and only in the sense of “Sir”. Matthew uses “Lord” of Jesus only at the empty tomb (Mt 28:6). By Luke’s time “Lord” is used indiscriminately of both God and Jesus. So Elizabeth’s use here is significant. We also note Luke’s frequent reminders that the Spirit is guiding everything.
In contrast to the jealousy between Sarah and Hagar, Elizabeth and Mary are in harmony. Elizabeth praises Mary, while Mary praises God for the salvation that will come through these events. Mary has responded with faith and is able to praise God; Zechariah did not believe, his praise comes later.
Elizabeth’s question recalls that of David: “”How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” (2 Sam 6:9). The ark symbolised the presence of the God of Israel. Mary’s visit sanctifies Elizabeth’s house with the presence of the Lord.
46-56
Mary expresses in glorious song her joy at approaching motherhood, and at what God is doing in her, in the Magnificat. Closely modelled on the song by Samuel’s mother, Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10). It also anticipates the Beatitudes (Lk 5:20-26). Probably a well-known Jewish hymn, probably adopted by Christians - and now part of every evening prayer in the Latin church. Note that no part of it is specifically Christian, nor limited to the context of Mary meeting Elizabeth. Any devout Jew could utter this prayer without difficulty - almost all its phrases can be found in the OT. But it is rich in OT imagery in response to what God has done, as He promised (Gen 17:1-8). It is widened out to include not just what God is doing for Mary, but “for all who fear Him” in every age.
The hymn moves in stages: reversing Mary’s condition from lowliness to exaltation; God’s mercy to “all who fear Him”; past and present reversals (53-55) - picked up by Jesus in the Beatitudes (6:20-26); God’s mercy now being shown to Israel, fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham. Mary is almost the personification of Israel, and especially of its “remnant”, the believing poor who were increasingly oppressed by Rome and by the richer members of Jewish society, but who continued to hope that God would act to save His people..
Attributes given to God - Lord, holy, saviour - have also been given, or shortly will be, to Mary’s child.
The hymn celebrates and describes God, who is to be seen in this Gospel as powerfully shaping events: His faithful love; using His might for the weak; upsetting human order and power but keeping promises; God is a God not of anger but of generous and enduring forgiveness.
Mary’s kindness reminds us that the Church’s first duty is to be Church - to demonstrate to the world by the way members deal with each other what social relations directed towards God are. Not by seeking directly to change human social structures. Mary’s song reflects confidence that God’s will will prevail.
So what is going on - did Mary really stand outside Elizabeth’s house singing this song? Or did Elizabeth sing it, as some ms say: she was the one “humiliated” by her barrenness. The first of 4 songs in Luke’s infancy narrative. It was a common Greek literary technique: to insert a speech at an important moment saying in more thought out language what might have been said at the time.
What really matters is Luke’s objective - to link the Baptist and Jesus firmly into the story of Jewish history, as told in the OT. John is the last of the OT prophets, pointing the way to the Messiah, who has now come into the world. Jesus is the Messiah long expected by the Jews and always part of God’s plan. We should not think that God made a mistake, and sent His Son to put matters right. We must look for a deeper meaning. The Incarnation was always part of God’s plan.
So Luke is both emphasising that Jesus was truly human, and anchoring Him in Jewish history. Jesus was born a Jew, spent His whole life within Judaism. Everything He said and did was as a Jew - so we cannot expect Him to have commented on issues unknown to Him, such as global warming! It is important not to look in the NT for explicit answers to current issues. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church can develop responses to current issues in ways which are consistent with what Jesus said and did during His life on earth.
We also need to remember that Luke, writing 40-50 years after Jesus died, is using material from the apostolic preachers, based BOTH on their eye-witness accounts, AND on their greater understanding of Jesus after the Resurrection. In Mark’s gospel no human being understood or believed in Jesus until the Crucifixion - and then it was a Gentile, the centurion. Luke allows greater understanding to appear in his gospel account - like Matthew he realises that the lessons need spelling out. Presumably during these decades a greater understanding of Mary’s role has developed - that she was the first disciple. So Luke writes an infancy narrative that shows this.
Finally, after staying about 3 (lunar) months with her cousin, Mary goes back home - in Nazareth. Elizabeth’s baby would be due about 4 weeks later, so we assume Mary was not there to help at the birth.