Mary’s song sounds loudly among those of Moses, Miriam, Hannah, Deborah, and David. Its melody is harmonized by the songs of Zechariah, the angels, and Simeon. In this text, in its literature, content, and context, we see balance. Held in tension are celebration and solemnity, the spiritual and the physical, blessing and emptiness, the past, present, and future, might and mercy, the particular and the universal, poverty and plenty, and promise and fulfillment. Out of this moment of musical suspension and faithful praise, a single note sounds and a resolution is enjoyed. This resolution is none other than the revolution of the Incarnation. Mary’s Magnificat offers a prelude to a song that is lodged in our brains like a good tune, the song of salvation.
This is the final post about Mary's Magnificat. I hope you enjoyed it. There were some quotes included throughout, so rather than bog the individual posts down with footnotes, endnotes, and a bibliography, here are the sources I used in writing:
The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim.
Luke: Bible Study Commentary by Virtus E. Gideon.
A Commentary on The Gospel of St. Luke, Vol. I by Frederic Louis Godet.
Gospel Interpretation: Narrative-Critical & Social-Scientific Approaches by Jack Dean Kingsbury, editor.
Commentary on Luke by I. Howard Marshall.
The Gospel According to Luke by G. Campbell Morgan.
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