The First Christmas Carol

With the marvelous announcement of the Messiah to be born to her, Mary’s song could not be contained. And it’s far from the secular Christmas tunes you’ll hear piped out at stores or Christmas tree lots. She doesn’t sing of “A Marshmallow World” or about wanting “My Two Front Teeth” for Christmas. Mary’s song is very different.

Hers is a Christmas carol about revolution. Read aloud the ten verses of it in Luke 1. Remember that these are the words spoken by gentle Mary, the very one the Lord chose for this momentous part of His plan.

It’s a song about a world on the threshold of being turned upside down with the fulfillment of God’s promises from centuries ago. She never doubted those promises. She sings of how the poor, the humble, and the dependent will be exalted because of the Messiah. And she turns all the praise to the God of her life, the One who had done great things for her and her people “from generation to generation” (vv. 49-50). Let’s give our praise to the same God who entered into our world and chose to draw near to us.