Down to Earth: A Christmas Devotional JourneySample

Day 14: The Rescued

Reflection

This song of joy leaps off the page (or screen). Known as the Magnificat, it reads in some ways like a manifesto of who Jesus will be and what He will do. He is a Rescuer. But who is He here to rescue? Well, according to the Magnificat – the humble and the hungry.

The rich and the proud are sent away, and it is the overlooked who are to be lifted up. This doesn’t mean that anyone over a certain bank balance is denied rescue (although there are real challenges for some rich individuals – see Matthew 19:24). But just as John the Baptist used Isaiah’s prophecy of valleys being filled in and mountains being made flat to indicate something revolutionary was about to happen, so Mary’s song points to a dramatically reordered society. The old way of understanding the world, where some have too much and some have too little, is fading away. The humble and the hungry will receive The Rescue promised through the generations since Abraham.

It isn’t the rescue the 1st-Century Judeans expected. It isn’t really the one they wanted. But it is the one they needed. And it’s The Rescue we all need, The Rescue that changes everything today and every day, as we reach out to the Rescuer – Jesus.

Prayer

God of The Rescue, I glorify you this Christmas just as Mary did. Thank You for The Rescue I have received. Help me live in light of it, and project Your Glory into the world.