Mary’s Song in Caesar’s World

History does not have much kind to say about the Caesars who ruled from Rome.  The emperors were unscrupulous in their quest to maintain power.  They could spend lavishly to gain the favor of the masses and then turn around and rob through taxation, extortion or murderous plunder of faithful subjects.  The powerful did as they pleased and the rest of the world paid for it in every sense.   

Those who lived in close proximity to Caesar were frequently reminded that it was at his pleasure they were allowed to stay alive.  Caligula often remind his wife, or other women he was intimate with, that they had beautiful necks, but he could have those pretty throats slit at any moment. Those who displeased Caesar, with significant reasons or not, were often tortured or killed.  This was true for rivals, but also true for ‘friends’.

 

Living far away did not save you from the long shadow of Rome.  Joseph, Mary and the baby on the way knew what it is to have their life directed by the whim of Caesar thousands of miles away. With the flick of Caesar Augustus’ scribe’s pen in Rome the decree goes out.  The order from thousands of miles away obligates the young couple with no social standing to make their journey.  The ‘reward’ for such a journey was to register as Caesar’s subjects.  Having a good count of your citizens is useful in calculating what kind of tax revenue could be extracted in order to maintain coin flow and power.

 

The world was under the rule of a succession of brutal leaders, but the world was about to change.  Mary’s song, “The Magnificat” was a proclamation of this (Luke 1:46-55).  In the world where Caesars ruled, Mary sings a song that gives witness to the Lord who "brings the powerful down from their thrones and lifts up the lowly" (1:52).  She proclaims this as she holds to the promise from the angel Gabriel, that she would give birth to the one who would rule over a never-ending kingdom. 

 

Mary’s song puts Caesar’s rule on notice.  The new king was not just coming to the poor and lowly; he was literally coming through the lowly.  Jesus was inaugurating a kingdom that would have no limit or end.  He’s the king that would rule from sea to sea (Psalm 72:8).

 

Jesus would affirm Mary’s message in his own words when he says “Now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).  Would those around him have understood this as Tiberius Caesar, the one who ruled at the time Jesus spoke these words?  Or, would they have heard the exorcism phrasing used as a declaration against the powers at work behind every evil tyrant?

 

His first followers would work out the implications of what it meant for Jesus to be resurrected and ruling as Lord….while Caesar was still on his throne.  Paul put it this way, “For he [Jesus] must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Cor 15:25).  The kingdom of God is still in the process of being established in its fullness and it is not unopposed.  But Mary’s song is still true.  He chooses to lift up the lowly and the kingdom of God does not just come to the marginalized, it comes through them.

 

The kingdoms of this world express their power by coercion and violence.  God’s kingdom is different and his expression of power comes in love, through the lowly and unnoticed. 

"His mercy extends to those who fear him,

    from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts...

He has filled the hungry with good things

    but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

    remembering to be merciful"    -  Mary