December 15, 2025 • 42 mins
This week on The Abidible Podcast, host Kate continues walking slowly through Mary’s Song in Luke 1:51–53 and shows why the kingdom of God doesn’t just comfort us — but flips everything upside down so that we can be right side up again.
In this episode, you will learn what Mary meant when she said God scatters the proud, brings down the mighty, lifts the humble, and fills the hungry. Listen and see how these lines are not poetic exaggeration, but a summary of God’s proven pattern throughout Scripture. Understand why God’s kingdom often feels “upside down” — and how that feeling exposes the values we’ve quietly absorbed. You'll also discover how pride, self-sufficiency, status, and strength subtly shape your faith without you noticing and gain practical clarity on how God’s revolution shows up in everyday life: weakness, waiting, obscurity, hunger, and surrender. Finally, learn how remembering what God has done can steady your faith when obedience feels costly.
Kate connects Mary’s confidence to the larger story of Scripture and brings the passage all the way home, helping listeners recognize where God may be lovingly undoing false power, false fullness, and false security in their own lives. This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered: Why does faith feel backwards sometimes? Why does obedience cost more than expected? Why does God seem to work through weakness instead of strength? This conversation will equip you with biblical categories that help you trust God’s work — even when it feels disorienting — and recognize His mercy in the middle of reversal.
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Episode Transcript
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Kate (00:00):
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're
listening to the AbidiblePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can.
On this show, I help you knowand love God more by abiding in
Him through His Word yourself.
(00:21):
I'm going to prove that to youtoday.
But to do that, we first needto closely look at the Father.
(00:42):
Zoom in on his eternal traitsand unchanging character.
Who is the Father?
Based on who he is, what doeshe then do?
How does he act?
We are in Luke 1.53 today,which says he has filled the
hungry with good things and therich he has sent away empty.
But like I said on the podcastlast week, we have been treating
(01:05):
verses 51 to 53 as a group.
First, we talked about howthese verses demonstrate God's
omnipotence, omnipresence, andomniscience.
Then last week we looked at howMary was able to base her
response to God, the callingthat he was placing on her life,
based on the evidence of who healways had been, rather than
(01:27):
her emotion.
And then I said that this weekwe would look at the specific
examples from ancient times thatMary was likely referencing.
To set the stage and refreshour memory, verses 51 to 53 is
the part of Mary's song whereshe has turned outward.
Remember, she began with whoGod always has been to her
personally, the God who sees,the Holy One, the mighty one, he
(01:51):
who has done great things forme, to who God has always been
to her people.
He has shown strength with hisarm.
He has scattered the proud inthe thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones and exalted
those of humble estate.
He has filled the hungry withgood things and the rich he has
sent away empty.
(02:11):
This is who God has been sincethe beginning, since the ancient
times of her people.
She bases these verses from hersong on everything she'd ever
been taught about Yahweh, theone true God.
What stories do you think shewas referring to specifically
when she recounts all that Godhas done?
(02:32):
We're going to discuss ittoday.
And as promised last week,we're going to discuss the
revolutionary nature of our God,how he has always been on
mission since the fall to setthis upside-down world right
side up.
He's the God of moralrevolution, of social
revolution, and of economicrevolution.
(02:54):
Let's look at the revolutionarynature of God our Father.
But first, real quick, ifyou're a big fan of the Abidible
Podcast, check out the link inthe show description to learn
more about partnering with us bybuying us a coffee.
Alright, so God isrevolutionary.
How so?
Well, first, he brings aboutmoral revolution.
(03:16):
Verse 51 says he has shownstrength with his arm, he has
scattered the proud in thethoughts of their hearts.
This Greek word scattered isconnected to the ancient
agricultural practice ofwinnowing or of separating the
wheat from the chaff.
Grain would be harvested andthen thrown into the air.
The wind would carry off thechaff, and the grain would fall
(03:39):
to the winnowing floor,separated.
Our pregnant expecting Marysings of an all-powerful God who
scatters the proud.
Why?
Because this is an importantpart of his nature.
God has always been a God whocalls his people to be holy, to
be set apart, separate.
(04:00):
Why?
So that they could haverelationship with him, the holy
one, and so that the nationsaround them would know that he
is God.
When they obeyed, he remainedwith them in their midst.
He granted them favor andhonor.
When, not if they failed to doso of their own free will, he
would bring that scattering orseparation to pass.
(04:22):
These judgments would fallcyclically, and God would use
them to separate the wheat fromthe chaff.
He would use it to draw hispeople back to him and to
demonstrate to the nations thathe alone is God.
Moral impurity or moralrelativity or any moral
compromise whatsoever was nevergoing to stand with the God who
(04:43):
has always been on mission toset the world morally right
again.
He will bring about moralrevolution because he is holy,
yes, but also because he is ourgood Father who knows what is
best and right and good for us.
We've only ever fought againsthim in this revolution.
(05:04):
He is the revolutionary, we'rethe rebels to our own
destruction.
So, what was Mary thinkingabout as she sang her song?
He has shown strength with hisarm, he has scattered the proud
in the thoughts of their hearts.
Specifically for this verse, Iimmediately think of the garden.
Adam and Eve walked with God.
(05:24):
Then they chose rebellion andthey were cast out, and a
flaming sword was placed at itsentrance, separation.
Cain kills Abel because of thepride in his heart, and God
declares that Cain would be afugitive and a wanderer all the
days of his life.
Genesis 4, 16 says, Then Cainwent away from the presence of
(05:46):
the Lord.
Separation.
Just six chapters into theBible, and we read, the Lord saw
that the wickedness of man wasgreat in the earth, and that
every intention of the thoughtsof his heart was only evil
continually.
It was so bad, so dark, socorrupt, so vile, and so wicked
(06:07):
that God sent a flood.
Separation.
Then we have Babel.
In the pride of their hearts,they attempted to build a name
for themselves by constructing atower to the heavens, quote,
lest we be dispersed over theface of the whole earth.
God wanted and commanded themto increase in number and to
(06:27):
fill the whole earth.
They didn't want to do that.
Rebellious and filled with thepride of their hearts, they
thought a thought that wasn't anew thought.
Let's be like God.
We'll build a great city andcongregate here to make a name
for ourselves, to get glory forourselves.
As a symbol of our power andmight, we'll build to the
(06:49):
heavens to be like God.
So God confuses their languageand they no longer could
communicate with each other.
And so what do they do?
They scattered.
Those who spoke the samelanguage went together to settle
in other parts of the world.
Diaspora, separation.
Joseph's brothers come againsthim, pridefully plotting for
(07:12):
their brother to be sold intoslavery.
Their plan leads to thedestruction of their father
Jacob's spirit and away from thefavor of God into famine.
Separation.
On and on it goes.
Israel rebels, God withdraws,judgment falls, Israel purifies
itself, relationship isrestored.
(07:32):
Israel forgets, God removes hisprotection and favor.
The tribes are carried off intocaptivity, they turn back to
God, and God redeems, restores,and forgives.
Finally, in the book ofEzekiel, the sin of the people
has so grieved God that theSpirit of God departs from the
temple.
His presence just left, out tothe east over the Mount of
(07:54):
Olives, separation.
And then silence.
Mary sings into that silencebecause though our sin
separates, she knew the evidenceproved that God would be
faithful again, that he alone isthe revolutionary, working all
along to bring about the finalmoral revolution that would
(08:14):
restore us to rightrelationship.
God the Father brings moralrevolution.
Second, God the Father bringssocial revolution.
Verse 52 says he has broughtdown the mighty from their
thrones and exalted those ofhumble estate.
He sets things right side upagain.
What, or more importantly, whowas Mary maybe thinking about as
(08:37):
she sang here?
Who do you think?
My mind goes right to Pharaoh.
He was the epitome of arrogantpower, enslaving Israel and
refusing to let them go.
I imagine Mary closing her eyesand remembering Exodus 15.
The enemy said, I will pursue,I will overtake, I will draw my
(08:57):
sword, my hand shall destroythem.
You blew with your wind, thesea covered them, they sank like
lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like you, O Lord, amongthe gods?
Who is like you, majestic inholiness, awesome in glorious
deeds, doing wonders?
I also imagine that Mary wasthinking of the kings of Canaan,
(09:20):
like Adonai, Zedek, Jabin, andthe coalition of 31 kings listed
in Joshua 12 who opposedIsrael's entry into the land, or
maybe of King Balak of Moab,who hired Balaam to curse
Israel, and instead of curses,Balaam was forced to bless
Israel repeatedly.
Maybe of King Og of Bashan andKing Sihon of the Amorites.
(09:43):
These are almighty rulers whowere brought down from their
thrones, like Psalm 33, 10 says,the Lord brings the counsel of
the nations to nothing.
He frustrates the plans of thepeoples.
Just as we might think ofWashington, Sherman, or Grant,
historically leading our peopleto victory, Mary surely is
(10:04):
thinking of her God who fought asocial revolution against the
morally bankrupted rulers ofCanaan, sending hailstones,
making walls fall at the soundof a trumpet, and causing the
sun to stand still in order toexalt his humble, small nation.
The people he had chosen out ofall the people on the earth to
(10:25):
demonstrate his Hasid, hisloving kindness and abundant
mercy.
I think Mary was thinking ofher great-great grandfather,
great, great, great,great-grandfather David,
striking down Goliath with ariver stone, and of God removing
the anointing of King Saulbecause of his proud
disobedience.
(10:45):
And maybe of the 185,000 men ofSennacherib, king of Assyria,
who fell in one night becausethe king mocked the living God
and threatened Hezekiah inJerusalem.
Mary was probably singing andremembering King Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon, who claimed divineauthority until God struck him
with madness, and he lived likean animal for seven periods of
(11:08):
time until he bowed his knee tothe living God.
Mary probably was rememberingKing Belshazzar, who blasphemed
by drinking from the Jerusalemtemple vessels, saw the writing
on the wall, and was killed thatvery night as Persia conquered
Babylon.
Mary would also have known thestory of Darius the Mead, who
persecuted Daniel and whosekingdom's corruption led to the
(11:31):
judgment of his officials.
And surely she would havethought of Esther as she sang,
the queen who was divinelypositioned for such a time as
this by God to destroy thegenocidal plot of Haman against
the Jews by securing the favorof King Xerxes.
Mary sang of a God who turnsthings right side up by bringing
(11:54):
about social revolution.
Mary sang, just as Hannah didin 1 Samuel 2, the bows of the
mighty are broken, but thefeeble bind on strength.
He will guard the feet of hisfaithful ones, but the wicked
shall be cut off in darkness,for not by might shall a man
prevail.
The adversaries of the Lordshall be broken to pieces,
(12:17):
against them he will thunder inheaven.
And third, Mary's God bringseconomic revolution.
She sings in verse 53, He hasfilled the hungry with good
things, and the rich he has sentaway empty.
What stories do you think cameto her mind as these words
poured out of her lips?
Abraham and Sarah, aged andpoor in promise, barren until
(12:41):
they weren't, inconsequentialuntil they received the covenant
blessing, that through them allthe nations of the earth would
be blessed?
Certainly, as Mary sang of thehungry being filled with good
things, she would have thoughtof Joseph in the famine, and she
would have been recalling mannaand quail sent from heaven to
feed her people in thewilderness.
She's also likely thinking ofHannah's song again.
(13:04):
Those who were full have hiredthemselves out for bread, but
those who were hungry haveceased to hunger.
The baron has borne seven, butshe who has many children is
forlorn.
Hannah knew what it was tolack, to see those, quote, rich
in life gloat.
Yet the God of Hannah and theGod of Mary often and
(13:26):
unexpectedly reversed fortunes.
What appeared to be much on thesurface is exposed as pride
that leads to emptiness.
And those who lack, those whoare humble and needy, are the
ones who are filled.
They are the ones who lack nogood thing.
Maybe Mary was thinking aboutElijah, who was fed by ravens in
(13:47):
the desert, and of the widowthat Elijah served, and of King
Ahab that Elijah opposed.
As she sang, Mary wasremembering her God who sent
this holy man, Elijah, to aGentile widow with nothing.
The widow receives miraculous,sustaining, replenishing flour
and oil, while Ahab, the wealthyking of Israel, who rejected
(14:10):
God, became spiritually bankruptand faced judgment.
Was Mary maybe singing aboutRuth, who returns to Bethlehem
with nothing?
Yet God filled her with food,gave her Boaz as a husband to
redeem her status as a widow andto provide for her, and then
gives her a son, Obed, thefather of Jesse, the father of
(14:31):
King David, and thus a place forRuth in the Messiah's
genealogy.
Surely Mary knows this story.
It's from her own family.
She sings he has filled thehungry with good things and the
rich he has sent away empty.
By the way, what's the name ofthe rich kinsman redeemer in the
story who chooses to not redeemRuth?
(14:53):
Right, we don't know his name.
Despite his wealth, he was sentaway empty, with no part in the
best redemptive story inhistory.
And what of the remnant ofIsrael after exile?
Of Ezra and Nehemiah and thosewho rebuilt the temple and were
restored to relationship withGod and filled with joy.
(15:14):
What happened to the rich,proud nations of Babylon and
Persia that conquered Israel?
They crumbled to dust.
They were sent away empty.
Mary is not singing about foodand money.
She's lighting a stick ofdynamite and emphasizing the
radical, revolutionary nature ofthe great reversal that takes
(15:35):
place in God's kingdom.
It's the theme of thescriptures she knows so well.
The humble receive grace, thedesperate are given abundance,
the spiritually hungry are fed,and the rich, those who are
satisfied with themselves, leaveempty-handed.
Mary is singing the love storyof Israel and Israel's God, the
(15:58):
God who brings about socialrevolution, who flips everything
upside down so it can be rightside up.
These have to be some of thestories Mary was singing about
in her song.
These stories that she knew sowell.
He has, he has, he has.
Upon initial observation, theseappear to be past tense
(16:21):
statements, but I learnedsomething in my study.
In these verses, we read, Hehas shown strength, he has
scattered, he has brought.
The ESV study notes say thatLuke is using something called
the prophetic aorist tense here.
This futurist aorist tense isused to describe future events
(16:42):
as if they've already happenedto emphasize their absolute
certainty.
Let me read that again.
The prophetic or futuristicaorist tense is used to describe
future events as if they'vealready happened to emphasize
their absolute certainty.
Now, growing in her womb,likely hearing the words she is
(17:06):
singing, is a baby who will lookjust like his father.
The son of God, who will be thegreatest moral, social, and
economic revolutionary the worldhas ever known, is worthy of
every word of her worship.
Her baby isn't even born yet,but because Mary knows her God,
(17:27):
she exclaims with absolutecertainty, he has done it.
Again, what is her certaintyrooted in?
Not her emotion.
Her certainty is also notdiminished by the 400 years of
silence that her people havebeen living in, and it's not
affected by any sort of fearabout what could happen to her.
(17:49):
Her certainty is simple andstraightforward.
Her baby will look like herfather, her heavenly father.
He will act like her heavenlyfather.
Mary's certainty is establishedby the evidence of who she's
always known God to be.
He's done it before.
He's set things right.
He will do it again, and thistime once and for all.
(18:14):
The whisper all of Mary's lifehas been He's coming.
He's coming.
And I just imagine her standingand singing so quietly,
somewhere alone, tears streamingdown her cheeks, head bowed,
hand on her belly.
You're here.
(18:35):
The rebellion, our rebellion,never once, not for one minute,
did it compromise the mission.
Because the revolutionary wasalways en route.
Everything the Father is andwas and did pointed to and
prepared the way for the comingof his one and only Son.
(18:56):
Our rebellion is what causedmoral corruption, social
bankruptcy, and economicinjustice to literally rake the
world.
To set everything wrong thatwas once right, and worst of
all, to separate us from theFather who made us in his image
to look like him, act like him,and live with him.
(19:18):
And in this very moment, asMary repeats, he has, he has, he
has, he has, she's also tellingus what is about to happen.
He will set everything right.
This baby, God my savior, he'sfinally here.
His mercy is for those who fearhim from generation to
(19:40):
generation.
And this is the generation thatwill welcome him into the world
for the whole world.
I love this song, and I've beenlistening to it a lot this
Christmas.
It says, He who was beforethere was light, walked across
the pages of time, he who madeevery Living thing, behold him.
(20:02):
He who heard humanity's cry,left his throne to wake as a
child.
He became like the least of us,behold him.
He who dined with sinners andsaints, healed the blind, the
lost, and the lame, even now heis in our midst, behold him.
(20:24):
He who chose a criminal's end,paid with blood to settle our
debt, buried death as he rose tolife, behold him.
Jesus, Son of God, the Messiah,the lamb, the roaring lion.
Oh be still and behold him.
(20:46):
Jesus, Alpha and Omega, ourGod, the risen Savior.
Oh be still and behold him.
Holy, holy, holy is the LordGod Almighty.
Worthy, worthy, worthy toreceive all praise.
And the first song he receivedafter putting on flesh was the
(21:11):
praise of his mother Mary.
And just like every mother, sheloved him and knew him before
she ever saw him.
And she got every part of hisrevolutionary nature right.
He who heard humanity's cryleft his throne to wake as a
child.
He became like the least of us.
(21:32):
What is the cry of humanity?
What is our cry?
To be rescued from Satan, sinand death, to be delivered from
this upside-down world bysomeone who can make things
right again, by the only one whocan take everything we think we
know and flip it on its head.
In fact, we think Godscattering the proud is just
(21:56):
about them.
But guess what?
It's also about us.
We are the proud of heart,scattered and separated from God
by the proud thoughts of ourhearts.
We are the moral rebels.
We think God bringing themighty down from their thrones
is about those guys out there.
But we are glory thieves.
(22:16):
We try to walk in our own mightand knock God off his throne by
being God of our own lives.
Our incorrect understanding ofthe social structure of God's
kingdom separates us from him.
We are the social rebels.
We think God sending the richaway empty is about other
people, but we struggle withwanting to be elevated in
(22:38):
status, comfortable withmaterial things, and secure
financially.
We think money will buyhappiness and that being filled
with all the delicacies of theworld will satisfy.
Our hedonism and worship ofstuff makes us economic rebels
separated from God.
And we chase all of it.
We always have.
(22:58):
Since Eve saw that the tree wasgood for food and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and thatthe tree was desired to make one
wise, the trap was set.
We bit, and in a second we werecatapulted from life to death.
What we thought we wantedwasn't what we wanted at all,
and it certainly wasn't what weneeded.
And we've been homeless andhomesick ever since.
(23:21):
We know the world is not right,and we know that the world has
nothing to offer us that willtruly satisfy.
John writes about what snaredEve in 1 John 2.
For all that is in the world,the desires of the flesh and the
desires of the eyes and prideof life is not from the Father,
but is from the world.
(23:42):
And the world is passing awayalong with its desires.
Disobedience leads to death,and we were dead men walking up
until the angel visited Mary.
We'll be right back after thismessage.com.
(24:07):
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And now back to the show.
Mary sings, because dead menwalking, the dry bones that were
prophesied about by Ezekiel arenow about to receive the breath
of heaven.
(24:49):
Because of the baby-sized bonesbeing knit together in her
womb, the dry bones of Israeland of the nations would be
blessed back to life.
This baby, who looks just likehis father, will do it.
The revolutionary will reuniterebels to his father through
redemption.
(25:09):
And as always, nothing he doesis as we expect it to be.
He comes, not in riches andglory, to an affluent home and
recognized family, but to a poorvirgin girl and her blue-collar
husband in a town no one knowsand to a region often mocked and
ignored as inconsequential.
He lives a humble life, walkingin obedience to his parents and
(25:33):
sitting under the instructionof local teachers.
He journeys to Jerusalem andspends time in the temple.
And then the baby who leaped inhis mother's womb at his
cousin's approach, John, wholeapt at Jesus in his mother's
womb, gets ready, making apeople prepared because it's
time.
For the next three years,Mary's son, Jesus of Nazareth,
(25:59):
will usher in the kingdom ofheaven.
He will quite literally show usthe Father by looking and
talking and acting exactly likehis father in all that he does.
And just like his father,everything is upside down.
The revolution has begun.
The world's values, everythingwe'd gotten so completely wrong
(26:22):
since the garden, are about tobe overturned.
In his first sermon, hepreaches repentance and God's
kingdom.
He doesn't speak about Rome'skingdom toppling or Israel's
political hopes coming tofruition.
He speaks of the kingdom of Godbeing at hand.
And then he spends timedefining that kingdom.
(26:43):
He exalts the poor in spirit,the meek, the mourning, and the
persecuted.
He touches a leper, lets thebleeding woman touch him, and
reaches out for a dead girl'shand.
In the old world, the uncleanmakes the clean unclean.
The revolutionary is the onlyone who has the power to reverse
(27:04):
purity laws and make theunclean clean.
He eats with sinners and taxcollectors, feasting with all
the wrong people.
He isn't ruined by them, hetransforms them.
He heals on the Sabbath toreveal God's heart and break
down man's fences.
He flips power on its head.
(27:25):
Whoever would be first must beslave of all.
Greatness is found in service.
Leadership is built onsacrifice.
He cuts deep into the heart ofa world running on vengeance by
saying, Love your enemies, prayfor those who persecute you.
The revolutionary says, This ishow you become sons of your
(27:46):
father.
And he tells story after storyafter story that completely
rewires the way we are meant tosee the world.
The Good Samaritan, theprodigal son, the lost sheep,
and the workers in the vineyard.
In every story, the outsidercomes in, the last becomes
first, and grace covers sin.
(28:07):
He doesn't just heal, but heforgives sin.
He pronounces divineforgiveness, and his revolution
is tied to eternity.
And then, in the greatestreversal of all, he defeats evil
not by killing his enemies, butby dying for them.
He wins by losing.
(28:28):
And he reigns from a cross.
When he resurrected, the resultof his revolution was that
God's new creation exploded intothe old world.
Because his garden tomb wasempty, the access we once had to
(28:48):
the garden was restored.
Everything broken startsworking again, and the
upside-down world is made right,and all things rightly begin
running in reverse.
Ordinary fishermen become boldwitnesses.
The weak confound the strong,the humble are lifted, the rich
are taught sacrificialgenerosity, the poor are
(29:09):
honored, the nations arewelcomed, and you and I become
part of the family.
The rebels become the redeemed.
And everything Maryprophetically sang is fulfilled
through her child.
God has, in ancient times, andnow in Jesus, scattered the
proud, brought down the mighty,sent the rich away empty, and
(29:32):
shown his strength by liftingthe lowly and filling the
hungry.
Here's the big idea.
In Mary's son, Jesus, theupside down world becomes the
right side up kingdom of God.
What does this mean for us?
The kingdom of heaven is athand, friend.
(29:53):
We are living in the reality ofthings Mary had just begun to
sing about.
We are on the other side of theresurrection and nearly 2,000
years beyond the early church.
Every day that passes is oneday closer to his return.
And while we wait, we must knowthis.
He is still scattering theproud, still bringing down the
(30:14):
mighty, still sending the richaway empty, and he is still
demonstrating strength with hisarm, exalting those of humble
estate, and filling the hungrywith good things.
I'm going to give you eightquick real-world examples of how
this upside-down kingdom can beseen in our lives right now.
These are not merelytheoretical, these are real
(30:37):
places where the revolutionbrought on by the baby Mary
would deliver can stillradically transform every aspect
of how we live our lives as weawait his return.
What Jesus did while he walkedthis earth matters just as much
to us now as it did to those wholived back then.
So here are some examples.
(30:58):
One, when pride andself-reliance feel normal, God's
power shows up in your weaknessby reminding you to surrender.
And here's a real life example.
You feel overwhelmed byparenting or ministry or your
own emotions.
And instead of just grittingyour teeth, you finally confess
(31:19):
your limits to God and maybe afriend, and suddenly you see God
supply the patience, thewisdom, or the courage you never
could have manufactured on yourown.
This is Luke 151 in real life.
He is scattering the proudparts of your heart so he can
fill you with power as you cryout in humility.
(31:40):
2.
When powerful voices intimidateyou and try to get you to give
in where you shouldn't, Godgives courage to do what's
right.
And here's a real life example.
You have a controlling boss, adomineering family member, or
someone who uses theirconfidence to make you feel
small.
They talk to you incondescending ways or try to
(32:01):
steamroll you into doing thingsyou're not comfortable doing.
But instead of shrinking, youstart obeying God quietly and
consistently, and their powerloses its grip on you.
This is Luke 1.52.
God still brings down themighty.
3.
When you're overlooked, Godsees and lifts you.
(32:23):
And here's a real life example.
You serve, you give, you pourinto others, and it seems that
no one notices.
But then God opens a door, aconversation, a ministry moment,
a relationship, a job,something that has his
fingerprints all over it.
Just to let you know that hesees you.
(32:44):
Not because you sought out theaffirmation, but simply because
he loves you and you've beenfaithful.
This is Luke 152 again.
Four, when your soul is hungryand God meets you where you are.
A real life example might bethat you're dry, spiritually
(33:05):
starved, you've lost yourappetite for scripture, but you
open your Bible anyway, andsuddenly one verse completely
breaks you open.
The Holy Spirit comforts,convicts, and strengthens you.
This is Luke 153.
God always meets our needs, butfilling us isn't always about
(33:28):
material things or physicalneeds.
Sometimes he fills you with thevery best he has to offer
himself.
5.
When you feel spiritually richand self-assured, God lovingly
empties you.
A real life example might bethat you've been cruising on
autopilot spiritually, maybedisciplined on the outside, but
(33:50):
disconnected inside.
So God uses exhaustion or aconflict or disappointment or
conviction from scripture toexpose your self-reliance.
It feels like being sent awayempty, but it's actually mercy.
This is Luke 153 as well.
Sometimes he first empties usso that he can feed us.
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6.
When culture says assertyourself, Jesus teaches you to
settle in toward the back of theroom and serve instead.
A real life example might beinstead of clapping back,
defending your reputation, orfighting to be seen, you choose
humility and gentleness.
(34:31):
You choose patience.
You choose to absorb a wrongwith grace.
And you realize this is whatkingdom power looks like.
Humility is the revolution.
Seven, when relationships feelbroken, Jesus flips the script.
A real life example might be acold marriage or strained
(34:52):
friendship.
Maybe you feel tension with achild or a parent.
But instead of matchingcoldness with coldness, Jesus
empowers you to lovesacrificially, generously, and
without waiting for them to movefirst.
That's upside-down kingdomstuff.
That's revolutionary mercy.
And eight, when anxiety aboutthe future dominates, God gives
(35:17):
peace that makes no sense.
And some real life examplesmight be that you look at
finances, health, politics, oryour children's futures, and
anxiety tries to swallow you.
But then the Holy Spiritreminds you, He who is mighty
has done great things for me,and it quiets you.
This is the kingdom reversal offear to trust.
(35:41):
Can you think of other examplesin your life?
Places and times and seasonswhen the Lord has flipped the
upside-down world right side upby the power of God at work in
you?
That is evidence of therevolution that still marches on
today.
Mary's magnific is filled withdynamite, and it's still
(36:03):
exploding on the scene today, inbig ways and in the still
small, quiet ways of oureveryday personal relationships
with him.
Could she ever have imaginedthat the life growing inside her
would be able to do all that?
She knew he had done greatthings, so she knew he would do
(36:24):
great things.
But if a regular child can growup to surprise his parents with
what they accomplish, thencertainly there was much about
Jesus that Mary could never haveimagined.
But just like his father, hewould do exceedingly abundantly
more than Mary could have everasked or imagined.
Starting in the small cornersof our actual lives, we get to
(36:47):
continue the revolution.
The upside-down kingdom Marysings about becomes real today
when we allow God to break ourpride, lift us in our weakness,
empty us of ourself-sufficiency, feed our
spiritual hunger, give uscourage to do what's right,
teach us to serve instead ofgrasp for power, fill us with
(37:09):
peace and anxiety, empower us tolove difficult people, and
remind us that he works throughthe humble, like Mary, his
humble servant, like Jesus, thesuffering servant, who, though
he was in the form of God, didnot count a quality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptiedhimself by taking the form of a
(37:32):
servant, being born in thelikeness of men.
Philippians 2 continues, andbeing found in human form, he
humbled himself by becomingobedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
This is how he turns the worldright side up again, and how we
join him on that mission byemptying ourselves.
(37:53):
When we lay down our desire tobe impressive and best and first
and most, we become co-laborerswith him, exploding like sticks
of dynamite.
We carry the kingdom of his newcreation into this old, dead,
dying, upside-down world.
In short, we become right sideup, redeemed revolutionaries.
(38:17):
What else would we rather be?
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who wouldbe blessed by what you just
heard, please share the Abidiblepodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
(38:39):
buying us a coffee one time, byjoining our Women's Abbidable
Plus membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a
monthly supporter.
For those of you followingalong in the workbook, go ahead
and begin working on our finaltwo verses in this series, Luke
1, 54 and 55, on pages 54 to 57in your study workbook.
(39:01):
Ideally, you would have thissection done before you listen
to the next episode, number 78.
In this episode, we will closeout our passage from Mary's
song, and then the followingweek will be our big final recap
podcast episode on our entireseries.
The verses next week, again,are Luke 1, 54 to 55, and they
(39:23):
say, He has helped his servantIsrael in remembrance of his
mercy as he spoke to ourfathers, to Abraham, and to his
offspring forever.
As we step into these finallines of Mary's song, we'll
focus on Mary's repeated themeof God's sweeping faithfulness
across generations.
This is her fourth timementioning generations or
(39:46):
offspring.
So it's a theme we want toclose with.
She draws our attention to itbecause of how important
generations are to God.
Next week, we'll get to see howthe promises made to Abraham
are still the promises.
God keeps for his people today.
It's a beautiful reminder thatour God is not only mighty and
merciful, He is consistent.
(40:08):
He always finishes what Hestarts.
And that's probably a messageeach of us needs to hear this
Christmas.
I can't wait to wrap up thispassage with you.
I'll pray for us and then closeus out with our memory work for
Luke 1.53.
Father, we praise you for themighty way you work, scattering
the proud, toppling theself-exalted, and lifting up
(40:31):
those who know they need you.
Thank you for filling thehungry with good things, not
only with daily bread, but withthe deeper nourishment of your
word, your presence, and yoursteadfast mercy.
Lord, would you make thesetruths real in us today?
Where pride has crept in,humble us.
(40:51):
Where fear has taken root,steady us.
Where we feel empty, fill uswith what only you can give.
Shape our imagination so we cansee our lives through the lens
of your kingdom, not theworld's.
Help us to trust that you arestill turning things right side
up, still rescuing, stillproviding, and still lifting the
(41:14):
lowly.
Make us a people who daily liveas if all that Mary sang in her
song is true, because it is.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Let's close by doing our memorywork together.
I'm going to repeat Luke 153five times.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself.
(41:36):
He has filled the hungry withgood things, and the rich he has
sent away empty.
He has filled the hungry withgood things, and the rich he has
sent away empty.
He has filled the hungry withgood things, and the rich he has
(42:09):
sent away empty.
Luke 1 53.
Remember, you are able to abidein the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidible.com, and you're
listening to the AbidiblePodcast.
I'm just a regular wife and momwho's had my life transformed
by learning to study the Bibleon my own.
If I can, you can.
On this show, I help you knowand love God more by abiding in
Him through His Word yourself.
(00:21):
I'm going to prove that to youtoday.
But to do that, we first needto closely look at the Father.
(00:42):
Zoom in on his eternal traitsand unchanging character.
Who is the Father?
Based on who he is, what doeshe then do?
How does he act?
We are in Luke 1.53 today,which says he has filled the
hungry with good things and therich he has sent away empty.
But like I said on the podcastlast week, we have been treating
(01:05):
verses 51 to 53 as a group.
First, we talked about howthese verses demonstrate God's
omnipotence, omnipresence, andomniscience.
Then last week we looked at howMary was able to base her
response to God, the callingthat he was placing on her life,
based on the evidence of who healways had been, rather than
(01:27):
her emotion.
And then I said that this weekwe would look at the specific
examples from ancient times thatMary was likely referencing.
To set the stage and refreshour memory, verses 51 to 53 is
the part of Mary's song whereshe has turned outward.
Remember, she began with whoGod always has been to her
personally, the God who sees,the Holy One, the mighty one, he
(01:51):
who has done great things forme, to who God has always been
to her people.
He has shown strength with hisarm.
He has scattered the proud inthe thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the mightyfrom their thrones and exalted
those of humble estate.
He has filled the hungry withgood things and the rich he has
sent away empty.
(02:11):
This is who God has been sincethe beginning, since the ancient
times of her people.
She bases these verses from hersong on everything she'd ever
been taught about Yahweh, theone true God.
What stories do you think shewas referring to specifically
when she recounts all that Godhas done?
(02:32):
We're going to discuss ittoday.
And as promised last week,we're going to discuss the
revolutionary nature of our God,how he has always been on
mission since the fall to setthis upside-down world right
side up.
He's the God of moralrevolution, of social
revolution, and of economicrevolution.
(02:54):
Let's look at the revolutionarynature of God our Father.
But first, real quick, ifyou're a big fan of the Abidible
Podcast, check out the link inthe show description to learn
more about partnering with us bybuying us a coffee.
Alright, so God isrevolutionary.
How so?
Well, first, he brings aboutmoral revolution.
(03:16):
Verse 51 says he has shownstrength with his arm, he has
scattered the proud in thethoughts of their hearts.
This Greek word scattered isconnected to the ancient
agricultural practice ofwinnowing or of separating the
wheat from the chaff.
Grain would be harvested andthen thrown into the air.
The wind would carry off thechaff, and the grain would fall
(03:39):
to the winnowing floor,separated.
Our pregnant expecting Marysings of an all-powerful God who
scatters the proud.
Why?
Because this is an importantpart of his nature.
God has always been a God whocalls his people to be holy, to
be set apart, separate.
(04:00):
Why?
So that they could haverelationship with him, the holy
one, and so that the nationsaround them would know that he
is God.
When they obeyed, he remainedwith them in their midst.
He granted them favor andhonor.
When, not if they failed to doso of their own free will, he
would bring that scattering orseparation to pass.
(04:22):
These judgments would fallcyclically, and God would use
them to separate the wheat fromthe chaff.
He would use it to draw hispeople back to him and to
demonstrate to the nations thathe alone is God.
Moral impurity or moralrelativity or any moral
compromise whatsoever was nevergoing to stand with the God who
(04:43):
has always been on mission toset the world morally right
again.
He will bring about moralrevolution because he is holy,
yes, but also because he is ourgood Father who knows what is
best and right and good for us.
We've only ever fought againsthim in this revolution.
(05:04):
He is the revolutionary, we'rethe rebels to our own
destruction.
So, what was Mary thinkingabout as she sang her song?
He has shown strength with hisarm, he has scattered the proud
in the thoughts of their hearts.
Specifically for this verse, Iimmediately think of the garden.
Adam and Eve walked with God.
(05:24):
Then they chose rebellion andthey were cast out, and a
flaming sword was placed at itsentrance, separation.
Cain kills Abel because of thepride in his heart, and God
declares that Cain would be afugitive and a wanderer all the
days of his life.
Genesis 4, 16 says, Then Cainwent away from the presence of
(05:46):
the Lord.
Separation.
Just six chapters into theBible, and we read, the Lord saw
that the wickedness of man wasgreat in the earth, and that
every intention of the thoughtsof his heart was only evil
continually.
It was so bad, so dark, socorrupt, so vile, and so wicked
(06:07):
that God sent a flood.
Separation.
Then we have Babel.
In the pride of their hearts,they attempted to build a name
for themselves by constructing atower to the heavens, quote,
lest we be dispersed over theface of the whole earth.
God wanted and commanded themto increase in number and to
(06:27):
fill the whole earth.
They didn't want to do that.
Rebellious and filled with thepride of their hearts, they
thought a thought that wasn't anew thought.
Let's be like God.
We'll build a great city andcongregate here to make a name
for ourselves, to get glory forourselves.
As a symbol of our power andmight, we'll build to the
(06:49):
heavens to be like God.
So God confuses their languageand they no longer could
communicate with each other.
And so what do they do?
They scattered.
Those who spoke the samelanguage went together to settle
in other parts of the world.
Diaspora, separation.
Joseph's brothers come againsthim, pridefully plotting for
(07:12):
their brother to be sold intoslavery.
Their plan leads to thedestruction of their father
Jacob's spirit and away from thefavor of God into famine.
Separation.
On and on it goes.
Israel rebels, God withdraws,judgment falls, Israel purifies
itself, relationship isrestored.
(07:32):
Israel forgets, God removes hisprotection and favor.
The tribes are carried off intocaptivity, they turn back to
God, and God redeems, restores,and forgives.
Finally, in the book ofEzekiel, the sin of the people
has so grieved God that theSpirit of God departs from the
temple.
His presence just left, out tothe east over the Mount of
(07:54):
Olives, separation.
And then silence.
Mary sings into that silencebecause though our sin
separates, she knew the evidenceproved that God would be
faithful again, that he alone isthe revolutionary, working all
along to bring about the finalmoral revolution that would
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restore us to rightrelationship.
God the Father brings moralrevolution.
Second, God the Father bringssocial revolution.
Verse 52 says he has broughtdown the mighty from their
thrones and exalted those ofhumble estate.
He sets things right side upagain.
What, or more importantly, whowas Mary maybe thinking about as
(08:37):
she sang here?
Who do you think?
My mind goes right to Pharaoh.
He was the epitome of arrogantpower, enslaving Israel and
refusing to let them go.
I imagine Mary closing her eyesand remembering Exodus 15.
The enemy said, I will pursue,I will overtake, I will draw my
(08:57):
sword, my hand shall destroythem.
You blew with your wind, thesea covered them, they sank like
lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like you, O Lord, amongthe gods?
Who is like you, majestic inholiness, awesome in glorious
deeds, doing wonders?
I also imagine that Mary wasthinking of the kings of Canaan,
(09:20):
like Adonai, Zedek, Jabin, andthe coalition of 31 kings listed
in Joshua 12 who opposedIsrael's entry into the land, or
maybe of King Balak of Moab,who hired Balaam to curse
Israel, and instead of curses,Balaam was forced to bless
Israel repeatedly.
Maybe of King Og of Bashan andKing Sihon of the Amorites.
(09:43):
These are almighty rulers whowere brought down from their
thrones, like Psalm 33, 10 says,the Lord brings the counsel of
the nations to nothing.
He frustrates the plans of thepeoples.
Just as we might think ofWashington, Sherman, or Grant,
historically leading our peopleto victory, Mary surely is
(10:04):
thinking of her God who fought asocial revolution against the
morally bankrupted rulers ofCanaan, sending hailstones,
making walls fall at the soundof a trumpet, and causing the
sun to stand still in order toexalt his humble, small nation.
The people he had chosen out ofall the people on the earth to
(10:25):
demonstrate his Hasid, hisloving kindness and abundant
mercy.
I think Mary was thinking ofher great-great grandfather,
great, great, great,great-grandfather David,
striking down Goliath with ariver stone, and of God removing
the anointing of King Saulbecause of his proud
disobedience.
(10:45):
And maybe of the 185,000 men ofSennacherib, king of Assyria,
who fell in one night becausethe king mocked the living God
and threatened Hezekiah inJerusalem.
Mary was probably singing andremembering King Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon, who claimed divineauthority until God struck him
with madness, and he lived likean animal for seven periods of
(11:08):
time until he bowed his knee tothe living God.
Mary probably was rememberingKing Belshazzar, who blasphemed
by drinking from the Jerusalemtemple vessels, saw the writing
on the wall, and was killed thatvery night as Persia conquered
Babylon.
Mary would also have known thestory of Darius the Mead, who
persecuted Daniel and whosekingdom's corruption led to the
(11:31):
judgment of his officials.
And surely she would havethought of Esther as she sang,
the queen who was divinelypositioned for such a time as
this by God to destroy thegenocidal plot of Haman against
the Jews by securing the favorof King Xerxes.
Mary sang of a God who turnsthings right side up by bringing
(11:54):
about social revolution.
Mary sang, just as Hannah didin 1 Samuel 2, the bows of the
mighty are broken, but thefeeble bind on strength.
He will guard the feet of hisfaithful ones, but the wicked
shall be cut off in darkness,for not by might shall a man
prevail.
The adversaries of the Lordshall be broken to pieces,
(12:17):
against them he will thunder inheaven.
And third, Mary's God bringseconomic revolution.
She sings in verse 53, He hasfilled the hungry with good
things, and the rich he has sentaway empty.
What stories do you think cameto her mind as these words
poured out of her lips?
Abraham and Sarah, aged andpoor in promise, barren until
(12:41):
they weren't, inconsequentialuntil they received the covenant
blessing, that through them allthe nations of the earth would
be blessed?
Certainly, as Mary sang of thehungry being filled with good
things, she would have thoughtof Joseph in the famine, and she
would have been recalling mannaand quail sent from heaven to
feed her people in thewilderness.
She's also likely thinking ofHannah's song again.
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Those who were full have hiredthemselves out for bread, but
those who were hungry haveceased to hunger.
The baron has borne seven, butshe who has many children is
forlorn.
Hannah knew what it was tolack, to see those, quote, rich
in life gloat.
Yet the God of Hannah and theGod of Mary often and
(13:26):
unexpectedly reversed fortunes.
What appeared to be much on thesurface is exposed as pride
that leads to emptiness.
And those who lack, those whoare humble and needy, are the
ones who are filled.
They are the ones who lack nogood thing.
Maybe Mary was thinking aboutElijah, who was fed by ravens in
(13:47):
the desert, and of the widowthat Elijah served, and of King
Ahab that Elijah opposed.
As she sang, Mary wasremembering her God who sent
this holy man, Elijah, to aGentile widow with nothing.
The widow receives miraculous,sustaining, replenishing flour
and oil, while Ahab, the wealthyking of Israel, who rejected
(14:10):
God, became spiritually bankruptand faced judgment.
Was Mary maybe singing aboutRuth, who returns to Bethlehem
with nothing?
Yet God filled her with food,gave her Boaz as a husband to
redeem her status as a widow andto provide for her, and then
gives her a son, Obed, thefather of Jesse, the father of
(14:31):
King David, and thus a place forRuth in the Messiah's
genealogy.
Surely Mary knows this story.
It's from her own family.
She sings he has filled thehungry with good things and the
rich he has sent away empty.
By the way, what's the name ofthe rich kinsman redeemer in the
story who chooses to not redeemRuth?
(14:53):
Right, we don't know his name.
Despite his wealth, he was sentaway empty, with no part in the
best redemptive story inhistory.
And what of the remnant ofIsrael after exile?
Of Ezra and Nehemiah and thosewho rebuilt the temple and were
restored to relationship withGod and filled with joy.
(15:14):
What happened to the rich,proud nations of Babylon and
Persia that conquered Israel?
They crumbled to dust.
They were sent away empty.
Mary is not singing about foodand money.
She's lighting a stick ofdynamite and emphasizing the
radical, revolutionary nature ofthe great reversal that takes
(15:35):
place in God's kingdom.
It's the theme of thescriptures she knows so well.
The humble receive grace, thedesperate are given abundance,
the spiritually hungry are fed,and the rich, those who are
satisfied with themselves, leaveempty-handed.
Mary is singing the love storyof Israel and Israel's God, the
(15:58):
God who brings about socialrevolution, who flips everything
upside down so it can be rightside up.
These have to be some of thestories Mary was singing about
in her song.
These stories that she knew sowell.
He has, he has, he has.
Upon initial observation, theseappear to be past tense
(16:21):
statements, but I learnedsomething in my study.
In these verses, we read, Hehas shown strength, he has
scattered, he has brought.
The ESV study notes say thatLuke is using something called
the prophetic aorist tense here.
This futurist aorist tense isused to describe future events
(16:42):
as if they've already happenedto emphasize their absolute
certainty.
Let me read that again.
The prophetic or futuristicaorist tense is used to describe
future events as if they'vealready happened to emphasize
their absolute certainty.
Now, growing in her womb,likely hearing the words she is
(17:06):
singing, is a baby who will lookjust like his father.
The son of God, who will be thegreatest moral, social, and
economic revolutionary the worldhas ever known, is worthy of
every word of her worship.
Her baby isn't even born yet,but because Mary knows her God,
(17:27):
she exclaims with absolutecertainty, he has done it.
Again, what is her certaintyrooted in?
Not her emotion.
Her certainty is also notdiminished by the 400 years of
silence that her people havebeen living in, and it's not
affected by any sort of fearabout what could happen to her.
(17:49):
Her certainty is simple andstraightforward.
Her baby will look like herfather, her heavenly father.
He will act like her heavenlyfather.
Mary's certainty is establishedby the evidence of who she's
always known God to be.
He's done it before.
He's set things right.
He will do it again, and thistime once and for all.
(18:14):
The whisper all of Mary's lifehas been He's coming.
He's coming.
And I just imagine her standingand singing so quietly,
somewhere alone, tears streamingdown her cheeks, head bowed,
hand on her belly.
You're here.
(18:35):
The rebellion, our rebellion,never once, not for one minute,
did it compromise the mission.
Because the revolutionary wasalways en route.
Everything the Father is andwas and did pointed to and
prepared the way for the comingof his one and only Son.
(18:56):
Our rebellion is what causedmoral corruption, social
bankruptcy, and economicinjustice to literally rake the
world.
To set everything wrong thatwas once right, and worst of
all, to separate us from theFather who made us in his image
to look like him, act like him,and live with him.
(19:18):
And in this very moment, asMary repeats, he has, he has, he
has, he has, she's also tellingus what is about to happen.
He will set everything right.
This baby, God my savior, he'sfinally here.
His mercy is for those who fearhim from generation to
(19:40):
generation.
And this is the generation thatwill welcome him into the world
for the whole world.
I love this song, and I've beenlistening to it a lot this
Christmas.
It says, He who was beforethere was light, walked across
the pages of time, he who madeevery Living thing, behold him.
(20:02):
He who heard humanity's cry,left his throne to wake as a
child.
He became like the least of us,behold him.
He who dined with sinners andsaints, healed the blind, the
lost, and the lame, even now heis in our midst, behold him.
(20:24):
He who chose a criminal's end,paid with blood to settle our
debt, buried death as he rose tolife, behold him.
Jesus, Son of God, the Messiah,the lamb, the roaring lion.
Oh be still and behold him.
(20:46):
Jesus, Alpha and Omega, ourGod, the risen Savior.
Oh be still and behold him.
Holy, holy, holy is the LordGod Almighty.
Worthy, worthy, worthy toreceive all praise.
And the first song he receivedafter putting on flesh was the
(21:11):
praise of his mother Mary.
And just like every mother, sheloved him and knew him before
she ever saw him.
And she got every part of hisrevolutionary nature right.
He who heard humanity's cryleft his throne to wake as a
child.
He became like the least of us.
(21:32):
What is the cry of humanity?
What is our cry?
To be rescued from Satan, sinand death, to be delivered from
this upside-down world bysomeone who can make things
right again, by the only one whocan take everything we think we
know and flip it on its head.
In fact, we think Godscattering the proud is just
(21:56):
about them.
But guess what?
It's also about us.
We are the proud of heart,scattered and separated from God
by the proud thoughts of ourhearts.
We are the moral rebels.
We think God bringing themighty down from their thrones
is about those guys out there.
But we are glory thieves.
(22:16):
We try to walk in our own mightand knock God off his throne by
being God of our own lives.
Our incorrect understanding ofthe social structure of God's
kingdom separates us from him.
We are the social rebels.
We think God sending the richaway empty is about other
people, but we struggle withwanting to be elevated in
(22:38):
status, comfortable withmaterial things, and secure
financially.
We think money will buyhappiness and that being filled
with all the delicacies of theworld will satisfy.
Our hedonism and worship ofstuff makes us economic rebels
separated from God.
And we chase all of it.
We always have.
(22:58):
Since Eve saw that the tree wasgood for food and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and thatthe tree was desired to make one
wise, the trap was set.
We bit, and in a second we werecatapulted from life to death.
What we thought we wantedwasn't what we wanted at all,
and it certainly wasn't what weneeded.
And we've been homeless andhomesick ever since.
(23:21):
We know the world is not right,and we know that the world has
nothing to offer us that willtruly satisfy.
John writes about what snaredEve in 1 John 2.
For all that is in the world,the desires of the flesh and the
desires of the eyes and prideof life is not from the Father,
but is from the world.
(23:42):
And the world is passing awayalong with its desires.
Disobedience leads to death,and we were dead men walking up
until the angel visited Mary.
We'll be right back after thismessage.com.
(24:07):
While the sale may be over,these items are here to stay,
and they aren't just cute merch.
Every piece was intentionallycreated to help you know and
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Tools and reminders that tiedirectly into what we're
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song collection.
They're meaningful, purposeful,and available right now.
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Head to Abidible.com and take apeek.
I think you're gonna love whatyou see.
And now back to the show.
Mary sings, because dead menwalking, the dry bones that were
prophesied about by Ezekiel arenow about to receive the breath
of heaven.
(24:49):
Because of the baby-sized bonesbeing knit together in her
womb, the dry bones of Israeland of the nations would be
blessed back to life.
This baby, who looks just likehis father, will do it.
The revolutionary will reuniterebels to his father through
redemption.
(25:09):
And as always, nothing he doesis as we expect it to be.
He comes, not in riches andglory, to an affluent home and
recognized family, but to a poorvirgin girl and her blue-collar
husband in a town no one knowsand to a region often mocked and
ignored as inconsequential.
He lives a humble life, walkingin obedience to his parents and
(25:33):
sitting under the instructionof local teachers.
He journeys to Jerusalem andspends time in the temple.
And then the baby who leaped inhis mother's womb at his
cousin's approach, John, wholeapt at Jesus in his mother's
womb, gets ready, making apeople prepared because it's
time.
For the next three years,Mary's son, Jesus of Nazareth,
(25:59):
will usher in the kingdom ofheaven.
He will quite literally show usthe Father by looking and
talking and acting exactly likehis father in all that he does.
And just like his father,everything is upside down.
The revolution has begun.
The world's values, everythingwe'd gotten so completely wrong
(26:22):
since the garden, are about tobe overturned.
In his first sermon, hepreaches repentance and God's
kingdom.
He doesn't speak about Rome'skingdom toppling or Israel's
political hopes coming tofruition.
He speaks of the kingdom of Godbeing at hand.
And then he spends timedefining that kingdom.
(26:43):
He exalts the poor in spirit,the meek, the mourning, and the
persecuted.
He touches a leper, lets thebleeding woman touch him, and
reaches out for a dead girl'shand.
In the old world, the uncleanmakes the clean unclean.
The revolutionary is the onlyone who has the power to reverse
(27:04):
purity laws and make theunclean clean.
He eats with sinners and taxcollectors, feasting with all
the wrong people.
He isn't ruined by them, hetransforms them.
He heals on the Sabbath toreveal God's heart and break
down man's fences.
He flips power on its head.
(27:25):
Whoever would be first must beslave of all.
Greatness is found in service.
Leadership is built onsacrifice.
He cuts deep into the heart ofa world running on vengeance by
saying, Love your enemies, prayfor those who persecute you.
The revolutionary says, This ishow you become sons of your
(27:46):
father.
And he tells story after storyafter story that completely
rewires the way we are meant tosee the world.
The Good Samaritan, theprodigal son, the lost sheep,
and the workers in the vineyard.
In every story, the outsidercomes in, the last becomes
first, and grace covers sin.
(28:07):
He doesn't just heal, but heforgives sin.
He pronounces divineforgiveness, and his revolution
is tied to eternity.
And then, in the greatestreversal of all, he defeats evil
not by killing his enemies, butby dying for them.
He wins by losing.
(28:28):
And he reigns from a cross.
When he resurrected, the resultof his revolution was that
God's new creation exploded intothe old world.
Because his garden tomb wasempty, the access we once had to
(28:48):
the garden was restored.
Everything broken startsworking again, and the
upside-down world is made right,and all things rightly begin
running in reverse.
Ordinary fishermen become boldwitnesses.
The weak confound the strong,the humble are lifted, the rich
are taught sacrificialgenerosity, the poor are
(29:09):
honored, the nations arewelcomed, and you and I become
part of the family.
The rebels become the redeemed.
And everything Maryprophetically sang is fulfilled
through her child.
God has, in ancient times, andnow in Jesus, scattered the
proud, brought down the mighty,sent the rich away empty, and
(29:32):
shown his strength by liftingthe lowly and filling the
hungry.
Here's the big idea.
In Mary's son, Jesus, theupside down world becomes the
right side up kingdom of God.
What does this mean for us?
The kingdom of heaven is athand, friend.
(29:53):
We are living in the reality ofthings Mary had just begun to
sing about.
We are on the other side of theresurrection and nearly 2,000
years beyond the early church.
Every day that passes is oneday closer to his return.
And while we wait, we must knowthis.
He is still scattering theproud, still bringing down the
(30:14):
mighty, still sending the richaway empty, and he is still
demonstrating strength with hisarm, exalting those of humble
estate, and filling the hungrywith good things.
I'm going to give you eightquick real-world examples of how
this upside-down kingdom can beseen in our lives right now.
These are not merelytheoretical, these are real
(30:37):
places where the revolutionbrought on by the baby Mary
would deliver can stillradically transform every aspect
of how we live our lives as weawait his return.
What Jesus did while he walkedthis earth matters just as much
to us now as it did to those wholived back then.
So here are some examples.
(30:58):
One, when pride andself-reliance feel normal, God's
power shows up in your weaknessby reminding you to surrender.
And here's a real life example.
You feel overwhelmed byparenting or ministry or your
own emotions.
And instead of just grittingyour teeth, you finally confess
(31:19):
your limits to God and maybe afriend, and suddenly you see God
supply the patience, thewisdom, or the courage you never
could have manufactured on yourown.
This is Luke 151 in real life.
He is scattering the proudparts of your heart so he can
fill you with power as you cryout in humility.
(31:40):
2.
When powerful voices intimidateyou and try to get you to give
in where you shouldn't, Godgives courage to do what's
right.
And here's a real life example.
You have a controlling boss, adomineering family member, or
someone who uses theirconfidence to make you feel
small.
They talk to you incondescending ways or try to
(32:01):
steamroll you into doing thingsyou're not comfortable doing.
But instead of shrinking, youstart obeying God quietly and
consistently, and their powerloses its grip on you.
This is Luke 1.52.
God still brings down themighty.
3.
When you're overlooked, Godsees and lifts you.
(32:23):
And here's a real life example.
You serve, you give, you pourinto others, and it seems that
no one notices.
But then God opens a door, aconversation, a ministry moment,
a relationship, a job,something that has his
fingerprints all over it.
Just to let you know that hesees you.
(32:44):
Not because you sought out theaffirmation, but simply because
he loves you and you've beenfaithful.
This is Luke 152 again.
Four, when your soul is hungryand God meets you where you are.
A real life example might bethat you're dry, spiritually
(33:05):
starved, you've lost yourappetite for scripture, but you
open your Bible anyway, andsuddenly one verse completely
breaks you open.
The Holy Spirit comforts,convicts, and strengthens you.
This is Luke 153.
God always meets our needs, butfilling us isn't always about
(33:28):
material things or physicalneeds.
Sometimes he fills you with thevery best he has to offer
himself.
5.
When you feel spiritually richand self-assured, God lovingly
empties you.
A real life example might bethat you've been cruising on
autopilot spiritually, maybedisciplined on the outside, but
(33:50):
disconnected inside.
So God uses exhaustion or aconflict or disappointment or
conviction from scripture toexpose your self-reliance.
It feels like being sent awayempty, but it's actually mercy.
This is Luke 153 as well.
Sometimes he first empties usso that he can feed us.
(34:10):
6.
When culture says assertyourself, Jesus teaches you to
settle in toward the back of theroom and serve instead.
A real life example might beinstead of clapping back,
defending your reputation, orfighting to be seen, you choose
humility and gentleness.
(34:31):
You choose patience.
You choose to absorb a wrongwith grace.
And you realize this is whatkingdom power looks like.
Humility is the revolution.
Seven, when relationships feelbroken, Jesus flips the script.
A real life example might be acold marriage or strained
(34:52):
friendship.
Maybe you feel tension with achild or a parent.
But instead of matchingcoldness with coldness, Jesus
empowers you to lovesacrificially, generously, and
without waiting for them to movefirst.
That's upside-down kingdomstuff.
That's revolutionary mercy.
And eight, when anxiety aboutthe future dominates, God gives
(35:17):
peace that makes no sense.
And some real life examplesmight be that you look at
finances, health, politics, oryour children's futures, and
anxiety tries to swallow you.
But then the Holy Spiritreminds you, He who is mighty
has done great things for me,and it quiets you.
This is the kingdom reversal offear to trust.
(35:41):
Can you think of other examplesin your life?
Places and times and seasonswhen the Lord has flipped the
upside-down world right side upby the power of God at work in
you?
That is evidence of therevolution that still marches on
today.
Mary's magnific is filled withdynamite, and it's still
(36:03):
exploding on the scene today, inbig ways and in the still
small, quiet ways of oureveryday personal relationships
with him.
Could she ever have imaginedthat the life growing inside her
would be able to do all that?
She knew he had done greatthings, so she knew he would do
(36:24):
great things.
But if a regular child can growup to surprise his parents with
what they accomplish, thencertainly there was much about
Jesus that Mary could never haveimagined.
But just like his father, hewould do exceedingly abundantly
more than Mary could have everasked or imagined.
Starting in the small cornersof our actual lives, we get to
(36:47):
continue the revolution.
The upside-down kingdom Marysings about becomes real today
when we allow God to break ourpride, lift us in our weakness,
empty us of ourself-sufficiency, feed our
spiritual hunger, give uscourage to do what's right,
teach us to serve instead ofgrasp for power, fill us with
(37:09):
peace and anxiety, empower us tolove difficult people, and
remind us that he works throughthe humble, like Mary, his
humble servant, like Jesus, thesuffering servant, who, though
he was in the form of God, didnot count a quality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptiedhimself by taking the form of a
(37:32):
servant, being born in thelikeness of men.
Philippians 2 continues, andbeing found in human form, he
humbled himself by becomingobedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
This is how he turns the worldright side up again, and how we
join him on that mission byemptying ourselves.
(37:53):
When we lay down our desire tobe impressive and best and first
and most, we become co-laborerswith him, exploding like sticks
of dynamite.
We carry the kingdom of his newcreation into this old, dead,
dying, upside-down world.
In short, we become right sideup, redeemed revolutionaries.
(38:17):
What else would we rather be?
And that's it for this episode.
If you know someone who wouldbe blessed by what you just
heard, please share the Abidiblepodcast with them.
Keep spreading the word so wecan make much of the word.
Drop us a review, tell us whatyou love and what you're
learning.
Check out the link to learnmore about partnering with us by
(38:39):
buying us a coffee one time, byjoining our Women's Abbidable
Plus membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a
monthly supporter.
For those of you followingalong in the workbook, go ahead
and begin working on our finaltwo verses in this series, Luke
1, 54 and 55, on pages 54 to 57in your study workbook.
(39:01):
Ideally, you would have thissection done before you listen
to the next episode, number 78.
In this episode, we will closeout our passage from Mary's
song, and then the followingweek will be our big final recap
podcast episode on our entireseries.
The verses next week, again,are Luke 1, 54 to 55, and they
(39:23):
say, He has helped his servantIsrael in remembrance of his
mercy as he spoke to ourfathers, to Abraham, and to his
offspring forever.
As we step into these finallines of Mary's song, we'll
focus on Mary's repeated themeof God's sweeping faithfulness
across generations.
This is her fourth timementioning generations or
(39:46):
offspring.
So it's a theme we want toclose with.
She draws our attention to itbecause of how important
generations are to God.
Next week, we'll get to see howthe promises made to Abraham
are still the promises.
God keeps for his people today.
It's a beautiful reminder thatour God is not only mighty and
merciful, He is consistent.
(40:08):
He always finishes what Hestarts.
And that's probably a messageeach of us needs to hear this
Christmas.
I can't wait to wrap up thispassage with you.
I'll pray for us and then closeus out with our memory work for
Luke 1.53.
Father, we praise you for themighty way you work, scattering
the proud, toppling theself-exalted, and lifting up
(40:31):
those who know they need you.
Thank you for filling thehungry with good things, not
only with daily bread, but withthe deeper nourishment of your
word, your presence, and yoursteadfast mercy.
Lord, would you make thesetruths real in us today?
Where pride has crept in,humble us.
(40:51):
Where fear has taken root,steady us.
Where we feel empty, fill uswith what only you can give.
Shape our imagination so we cansee our lives through the lens
of your kingdom, not theworld's.
Help us to trust that you arestill turning things right side
up, still rescuing, stillproviding, and still lifting the
(41:14):
lowly.
Make us a people who daily liveas if all that Mary sang in her
song is true, because it is.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Let's close by doing our memorywork together.
I'm going to repeat Luke 153five times.
Say it out loud with me orquietly to yourself.
(41:36):
He has filled the hungry withgood things, and the rich he has
sent away empty.
He has filled the hungry withgood things, and the rich he has
sent away empty.
He has filled the hungry withgood things, and the rich he has
(42:09):
sent away empty.
Luke 1 53.
Remember, you are able to abidein the Bible.
We'll see you next time.
Until then, let's abide.
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