More on the Magnificat

Mary proclaimed that Jesus would bring rulers down from their throne.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:51-53).

The rulers are brought down from their thrones and the humble are raised up. Mary did not say that the humble would be raised up onto the thrones.

The reason is that humble people cannot sit on thrones. Being a ruler requires a fair degree of arrogance. You have be very proud to sit on a throne. You have to believe that your ideas are better than other people’s. You have to believe that you know best how people should live. You have to believe that you are so good, that other people should be forced to obey your decrees. I presume that most kings and politicians believe this.

Humble people cannot sit on a throne, because they do not believe that they have the greatest wisdom. They do want to force other people to accept their ideas. They do not even want to force other people to accept what they think are God’s ideas. A humble ruler is a contradiction in terms. The Magnificat announced the ends of thrones, the end of human governments.

Mary said that the humble would be raised up. They will no longer be trampled by do-gooder kings and politicians. Instead, they will be free to govern themselves under the guidance of the spirit and in obedience to God’s word.

The scriptures teach that all believers are kings and priests.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen (Rev 1:5,6).

We are all priests, so we can all hear directly from God. We do not need a priest or king to mediate between us and God. We are all kings, so we are able to govern our own lives, so we do not need kings to tell us how to live. Children need parents to nurture them. Adults, who are free in Christ, do not need kings to tell them how to live.

During the reformation, Christians rediscovered the priesthood of all believers. We have yet to rediscover the kingship of all believers.

Mary's Prophecy

In the Magnificat, Mary prophesied what God would do through Jesus.

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:51-53).

Mary did not prophesy that kings would be replaced by constitutional democracies. She did not say that Herod would establish a department of social welfare or start providing food stamps. She warned that rulers would be brought down from their thrones and the ordinary people would be able to govern themselves. She said that the poor would be able to provide themselves with food through God’s blessings on their own endeavours.

If kings are brought down from their thrones, kingdoms must go too. They do not get replaced by nation states or parliaments, but by communities networked in the Kingdom of God.

God kept his word and destroyed Herod’s power in AD 70. Then he destroyed the Roman Empire. The Church missed the point, and tried to prop up the Roman empire, by establishing the Holy Roman empire.

The Church has been trying to maintain the power of the state ever since. We have been fighting against Mary’s prophecy, because we do not understand the Kingdom of God. If Jesus is King, then parliament is not.

When Jesus is enthroned,
human governments are dethroned.