A few weeks ago at South Main Baptist Church, I heard an Advent sermon on songs in Luke—I had never pieced it together before I heard it said this way. Four times in the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, singing breaks out. God reveals himself, and the response to that revelation is a song. I’m struck by how, when overwhelmed by the glory and greatness of God, the response is artistic. Here, creative expression is the only proper response to God’s revelation.
The first we encounter is Mary’s song:
And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
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.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.
The New International Version Lk 1:46–55.
The narrative of Luke has been moving along quickly. In just a few verses, Mary hears from the angel Gabriel that she will have a baby (the Messiah), and she sets off to visit Elizabeth. But then, Luke’s narrative pauses for us to hear and ponder with Mary what all this means—to hear her response in song, praising God and telling us why. There is beauty in this artistic form, packed as it is with parallels and juxtaposed related lines, stretching and expanding the meaning of the words. Her song is her response to the miraculous, a proclamation of the good news: that the new life growing within her is God’s plan for salvation in motion. Mary celebrates the action of God toward humans—God is fulfilling his covenant.
Next, Zechariah’s voice is restored as he names his son John. The first sound from his lips is a song:
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
The New International Version Lk 1:67–79.
Yet again, Luke’s narrative momentum stops for a song. He asks his readers to pause and reflect on all that is happening and what it might mean. Through the Holy Spirit, Zechariah communicates the significance of all that has happened thus far from God’s point of view. He responds to what God has done and is about to do: God has come (v. 68), and God will come again (v. 78). Zechariah reminds us that we are rescued so that we can respond in service (v. 74).
The third song is shorter and divine in origin: the angels burst forth in praise after the good news is told to the shepherds:
Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.
The New International Version Lk 2:14.
This song is cosmic worship, and though the story of salvation isn’t finished yet, enough is clear about what God is doing that responses of joy and praise erupt from the angelic host. The angels join the chorus of voices already lifted in God’s honor, offering a heavenly perspective on the birth of the Messiah. They push the universal significance of these events into more explicit focus: hints of salvation for both Jew and Gentile have already appeared, and now the divine messengers declare that good news is meant “for all the people” (v. 10) and that peace has arrived “on earth” (v. 14).
Finally we hear from Simeon. Like Zechariah, he is a righteous man associated by Luke with the temple, and he too responds in song through the Holy Spirit:
Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.
The New International Version Lk 2:29–32.
Also like Mary, he praises God and then expounds on why. Simeon sees salvation at hand and God’s promises coming to fulfillment.
I marvel that all four of these responses are sung. Words alone would not suffice, and artistic expression completed the message. Luke and these four songs remind us that artistic expression is a natural and powerful response to God’s revelation. These songs are not mere embellishments to Luke’s narrative; he pauses the story to allow us to reflect, worship, and proclaim the good news. When words alone fall short, the creative arts enable us to stop and respond to God with the beauty that His revelation demands.
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Some people wonder whether these four passages were songs or just spoken. I believe they are songs because many respected, recent commentaries call them that, and those theologians are more knowledgeable than me about these things. Also, there are some interesting ideas that these were collective songs, and the reason they are preserved in such clear poetic form for Luke to document is because many people knew the songs and could quote them easily to him. If they just “said” the words, I don’t think their speech would have included all the artistic features they do and that Luke would have set them apart the way he did. And we memorize songs a lot easier than speeches or even poetry. At the very least, even if we can’t say they were sung, we can safely say they are artistic expressions—communication set apart from everyday speech. These are special kinds of communication. We can’t know for sure, but singing is the more reasonable answer based on what we know about that culture and how they communicated.
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