ニューイングランドの母校からアドヴェントカレンダー 12月19日（金）

Day 20
Pablo Polischuk
Luke 1:46–55

Of all New Testament writers, Luke the physician had a grasp of what could be the experience of a young woman who, having conceived, would feel the sensations of a life growing in her own body. It is simply hard to imagine what Mary—the blessed one among all women—experienced in gestating the body of God’s own Son in her own body. Luke’s account deals with just such an unusual, parthenogenetic event, unique in human history. The hope of Israel, the light to the Gentiles, would be born of the Holy Spirit, infused into Mary as a chosen instrument, so that God’s Son would become flesh and dwell among us!

In voicing Mary’s song, Luke conveys God’s eternal, transcending order as intruding into the temporal and trivial aspects under the sun, bringing salvation to those who would believe. Mary’s Magnificat conveys a series of reversals, interpreting the con-temporary events taking place in Israel, casting them in poetic parallelisms: the proud are superseded by those of low estate, the mighty by those who are weak and the rich by those who are poor and hungry. The song ascribes praise to God, proclaiming his greatness, and exudes delight in him who sent his Son to be born out of a virgin in order to be our substitute, to die and resurrect for us and to ascend back to the Father to become our Mediator.

Christmas is a wonderful occasion to ponder over Mary’s exultation, directing our attention to the Savior who has redefined the meaning of reality, and provided us a sense of purpose in the here and now…and eternal fellowship with the Father.