Reading the Benedictus with the Magnificat
For those following the Revised Mutual Lectionary, this year will let u.s.a. to focus on Luke's gospel. Information technology is often claimed that Luke emphasises the gospel for the poor, or that he focusses on women and their roles, in detail the contribution of the wealthy women in Luke viii.ane who contribute to the fiscal underwriting of the ministry of Jesus and his entourage.
In fact, Luke is rather more subtle than that. Felix Just offers this helpful table of parallel stories of men and women in Luke'south gospel. They are listed as a pair in the order the they occur, rather than putting the stories and texts near men in one column and the stories and texts most women in the other, so we tin can see that sometimes the men come up showtime, whilst at others the women come first. In the pairing of Mary and Zechariah, in that location is a kind of chiasm, in that the narrative of Zechariah comes before the story of Mary, only Mary'due south anthem of praise comes earlier Zechariah's.
| Affections Gabriel appears to Zechariah (1:8-23 – L) | Affections Gabriel appears to Mary (1:26-38 – L) |
| Canticle of Mary (Magnificat; one:46-55 – L) | Anthem of Zechariah (Benedictus; 1:68-79 – Fifty) |
| Simeon encounters the infant Jesus & his parents in the Jerusalem Temple (2:25-35 – L) | Anna thanks God & prophesies about Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple (two:36-38 – 50) |
| Widow of Zarephat & Israelite widows (iv:25-26 – Fifty) | Naaman the Syrian & Israelite lepers (4:27 – 50) |
| Exorcism of a Demoniac at Capernaum (four:31-37 – Mk) | Healing of Simon's mother-in-law at Capernaum (4:38-39 – Mk) |
| Centurion'south slave is healed (7:ane-10 – Q) | Widow of Nain's son raised from the expressionless (7:xi-17 – L) |
| Naming of the twelve apostles of Jesus (6:12-16 – Mk) | Naming of women who accompanied Jesus (viii:1-3 – Fifty) |
| Jairus' daughter is raised to life (eight:41-42, 49-56 – Mk) | Bleeding woman is healed (8:43-46 – Mk) |
| Parable of the Proficient Samaritan (10:25-37 – Fifty) | Examples of Martha and Mary (10:38-42 – L) |
| A neighbour asks for staff of life at midnight (11:five-8 – L) | A widow asks for justice persistently (18:ane-eleven – L) |
| A woman in a crowd shouts out to Jesus, "Blessed is the womb that bore you…" (11:27 – 50) | A human being at a dinner tells Jesus, "Blessed is anyone who volition eat bread in the kingdom of God!" (14:15 – L) |
| The Queen of the Southward (11:31 – Q) | The Ninevites (11:32 – Q) |
| A crippled woman is healed (13:ten-17 – Fifty) | A lame human is healed (14:1-half-dozen – Fifty) |
| "Girl of Abraham" reference (xiii:xvi – L) | "Son of Abraham" reference (xix:9 – L) |
| Parable of a man planting a mustard seed (13:18-19 – Mk) | Parable of a adult female mixing yeast & flour (thirteen:20-21 – Q) |
| Parable of a shepherd looking for a lost sheep (15:iii-7 – Q) | Parable of a woman looking for a lost coin (15:8-10 – Fifty) |
| Example of two men together asleep (17:34 – Q) | Example of two women grinding meal (17:35 – Q) |
| A retainer daughter questions Peter (22:56-57 – Mk) | 2 men also question Peter (22:58+59 – Mk/L) |
| Simon of Cyrene carries Jesus' cross (23:26 – Mk) | Jesus meets women on the way to Calvary (23:27-29 – L) |
| Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus' body (23:50-53 – Mk) | Women see where Jesus is buried (23:55-56 – Mk) |
| Women find Jesus' tomb empty (24:1-11 – Mk) | 2 disciples journey to Emmaus (24:13-35 – L) |
Literary Sources: Fifty = only in Luke; Q = Luke and Matthew, but not Mark;Mk = from Mark (and usually as well in Matthew)
Just more noteworthy is the fact that, of these 21 paired stories, nine have both halves unique to Luke (designated by an 'L'), and a further 7 take one half unique to Luke, making a total of xvi. Of the remaining five, three are pairs of stories also found in Mark, and the other two are combinations of Marking, Luke and Matthew. In other words, nigh of this 'pairing' miracle is distinctive to Luke and (nosotros may infer) part of his deliberate system of his source textile gathered from his research (Luke one.1).
This certainly means that, when reading or preaching on these stories, nosotros should look for the connections with the other one-half of the pair, and explore either points of commonality or points of difference between the two. And it means that for Luke the gospel isn't 'merely' for the poor, the woman, the marginal—it is for rich and poor alike, for women and men alike, for the marginal and the primal alike, and for the religiously respectable and religiously scandalous alike. This is a both/and gospel, and not an either/or gospel.
1 particular case is the first in this listing, the pairing of Zechariah and Mary. Information technology is not uncommon to hear exposition of the contrasts, which flow naturally out of the mutual verbal response to Gabriel 'How can I exist sure of this/How can this be?' (Luke 1.18, 34) which turns out to be a argument of doubt for Zechariah but a statement of organized religion for Mary. But it is less common to compare the Magnificat (from at present on referred to as One thousand) with the Benedictus (referred to as B), to encounter whatever points in common and whatsoever contrasts of focus. Given Luke's concern with pairings, surely this is a good thought. (I am not aware of any other comparative studies of the two canticles; do let me know in comments if you lot have come across one.)
Information technology is first worth noting the things that the 2 canticles have in mutual. The about obvious is the language of 'remembering' and the mention of Abraham. Both canticles as well draw extensively on Old Testament texts and ideas, though in rather different means. Joel Green (in his NIGTC p 101) notes the links in the Magnificat with the Songs of Moses (Ex fifteen.i–18), Miriam (Ex 15.nineteen–21), Deborah (Judges 5.ane–31), Asaph (one Chron sixteen.eight–36) and specially Hannah (1 Sam 2.1–10). 'As others accept noted, Mary's song is a virtual collage of biblical texts'. Come across here a listing of the echoes of scripture in the Benedictus—though this analysis doesn't notation thedifferences introduced (like the 'forgiveness of sins') and and so presses the text too much into a political framework. And clearly the Benedictus is not simply making a collage in the style that the Magnificat is.
And now we begin to run into some of the differences. At start sight, M is much more personal, focusing on what God has washed for Mary as an individual. To this extent, it echoes the language of the personal psalms of victory and celebration, and repeatedly follows their structure of first articulating praise and then going on to give the reason for that praise ('My soul glorifies…for he has…'). Past contrast, B focusses on what God is doing for his people Israel, and to that extent is more corporate and more formal in its celebration. The contrast is not quite and so simple though: Yard does atomic number 82 from the personal to the corporate, ending with a celebration of what God has done for Israel; and B moves in the reverse direction, in the (widely recognised) 2nd one-half moving to what God will achieve through the particular private John, Zechariah's promised son.
This leads to ii farther observations well-nigh the difference. We echo the One thousand so oftentimes that we might not realise the strangeness of the tenses: all of the action is set in the aorist (past) tense, and is a celebration ofwhat God has already done. If you lot don't think that is odd, only remember where in the wider narrative of Luke this comes! Strictly speaking, God hasn't yet done very much! Jesus has non yet been built-in, and in a context of high baby bloodshed, this is no mere detail! In her song, Mary's understanding of God's deliverance is highly realised, and she sees the pattern of God's redemption as already predictable in his gracious dealing with her. Information technology is rather startling that (in dissimilarity to B) there is absolutely no mention of what this promised kid will do. Mary here becomes less of a ways of God's saving activity, and instead a pattern and a model for it. By contrast, B is largely focussed on the future; God has washed something ('raised up for the states a horn of salvation/mighty saviour') merely this is with the intention of enacting conservancy, which has non nevertheless happened. The second half, focussing on John, is all in the hereafter tense. So God'due south action here is less apattern of salvation and more ameans by which salvation volition come up.
The second thing flowing from this bones deviation in orientation is the different focus. Chiliad takes up a frequent theme in the psalms and the wisdom literature, that of justice in Israel and God's reversal of the current order of rich and poor. Although in that location is 'help [for] his servant State of israel], that 'help' is all well-nigh the reforming and reneweal of the people; the focus is internal. But in B, the focus is outward; salvation comes to give Israel security from those who threaten and oppress her, to permit the nation to worship God in peace. In that location is a shared focus on God'due south strength, and both draw on the theological tradition of God as warrior. But in M God is a warriorin Israel on behalf of the poor and opposing the oppressor within the nation; in B God is a warriorfor Israel, rescuing her from her external enemies. Both canticles include the idea of covenant renewal, but they have quite distinct elements of that covenant in view.
Finally, both include themes that will exist picked up and elucidated further in Luke's gospel. Mary'due south theme of reversal occurs well-nigh notable in Luke's version of the Beatitudes (Luke 6.20–26), and the theme of feeding the hungry with skillful things and sending the rich away empty is nigh dramatically illustrated in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16.19–31). The connections in B are harder to spot but equally important: the language about God 'coming' to his people and the dawn from on high 'coming' to the states both use the verbepiskeptomai 'to visit'. This visitation brings approving if received—but judgement if refused. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem in Luke 19.44 considering the people 'did not recognise the time of God's visitation (episkope)'.
So, in this 'both/and' gospel, salvation is both personal and corporate. It renews God's people in justice and righteousness, and it saves them from their enemies. It is both realised and notwithstanding to come up, both incorporating and adapting God's promises from of old. It brings both grace and (if that grace is refused) judgement, focussing both on God's own initiative and the invitation to respond. And it is recognised past an former, priestly man and a young lay adult female. Let u.s.a. celebrate all of these this Christmas.
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