Mars, Venus, and Jesus (Part 1)

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor." Luke 4:18-19

This is the first of Jesus' mission statements in the Gospel of Luke. In this author's portrait of Jesus, Christ comes to the poor, the prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed. In Africa and around the world, women continue to rank high, if not the highest, among the most oppressed people groups. Does Jesus come to women? The author of Luke answers this question overwhelmingly in the affirmative, and the manner in which Jesus comes to women is shown most clearly in the Gospel of Luke. And women respond to Jesus.

Throughout the book, women are set alongside men in the narrative; however, the most striking contrasts occur at the beginning and end of the story. In chapters 1 and 24 we see women responding in faith to some seemingly impossible news. As a man, I am both humbled and enlightened as I consider the disbelief of the men in the face of the believing women. Let's observe...

First, Luke 1 tells the story of two miraculous conceptions, those of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. The principle players in the story are Zechariah, first, and then Mary. As the story unfolds, the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to tell him that he will have a son with his wife, Elizabeth, both of whom are old and "well along in years" (NIV). Zechariah says flatly, "How can I be sure of this?" He plain doesn't believe it, and Gabriel tells him so, "And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time." And so the story goes.

In the meantime, we the readers are whisked away to Nazareth, where Gabriel appears to Mary to tell her even more impossible news; she will conceive a child in her virginity. Contrast Mary's question to Zechariah's: "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" Gabriel than describes the overwhelming visitation of the Holy Spirit on Mary and instructs her that nothing is impossible for God. And Mary's humble reply, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be done to me as you have said." Make no mistake - Mary was a woman of great faith.

After hearing Gabriel tell of her relative Elizabeth, who has also conceived miraculously, Mary goes to visit Elizabeth in her late pregnancy. Elizabeth blesses Mary, and it is in this blessing where the reader sees the great contrast of the narrative, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished." Bear in mind that Mary has most certainly not even begun to show her pregnancy; perhaps she has not even missed a menstrual cycle yet! She has no evidence of the immaculate conception, but she is blessed for believing it. Zechariah did not believe but wanted proof; what he got was the proverbial "gift" of silence.

Upon hearing Elizabeth's pronouncement of blessing, Mary bursts forth in a song of praise to God. We title this hymn the Magnificat, for magnificent it is. Mary believes and sings praise even though it seems as though nothing yet has happened to validate the angel's message to her. Zechariah also sings a hymn of praise to God; we call this one the Benedictus. Like Mary's song, his is marvelous, describing the faithfulness and wonder of Yahweh God. Notice, though, that he does not sing his praise until after his son is born! Now in all fairness to Zechariah, he couldn't have sung it any earlier - remember, Gabriel had struck him with mute-ness. Still, I am awed by Mary's simple, child-like faith when viewed in comparison to Zechariah, a priest(!), who simply did not believe.