1:51,52
The converse of God looking after the humble is that He opposes the proud. We need to remind ourselves of this, for often, sometimes even in churches, it is the proud and boastful who seem to prosper. Pushing yourself forward seems to be the way to success. But God actively opposes the proud. In Acts one of the many Herods was struck dead by God because of his pride (Acts 12:23). By the way, never call a child Herod, all the Herod’s in the Bible seem to be evil. If you see someone who is proud you see someone who is heading for a fall. This is why we should be on our guard against pride in our own lives. If we spot it we need to get rid of it.
Mary has praised God for His acts of power. He brings down rulers. No empire has lasted forever. Again and again pride will take hold and the empire will then be heading for collapse.
1:53-55
We need to be careful in interpreting verses like 53. Clearly, there are still many hungry people in the world. But God works to feed the hungry, and He does so through people. When God moves by His Spirit in the church one of the effects will be an increased and active concern for the poor. This verse can also be taken spiritually, ie referring to those who know their need of God. It is important that we recognise that we need to take it both ways, not one or the other. The Bible repeatedly states that God has a concern for the poor. The rich here means those who think they have no need of God. A person may think he has no need of God because he is rich materially and thinks he is therefore self-sufficient. Or he may be very religious and confident of his own righteousness. In either case, such a person will receive nothing from God until and unless they humble themselves.
In sending Christ God was helping His servant Israel, and Abraham’s descendants.
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