Luke 1:39-56: The video, "An Unexpected Christmas," [produced in 2012 by St. Paul’s Church in Auckland, New Zealand, a church with a ministry called St. Paul’s Arts and Kids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM1XusYVqNY.] captures precisely what Luke intended in the first two chapters of his gospel, in the story of Elizabeth and Mary and in the Christmas story. “Brilliant! They won’t be expecting that!” Luke’s version is much edgier. Luke gives center stage to these two women, ordinary women chosen by God and unhindered by men. Luke has God sending the rich away empty, and bringing down the powerful from their thrones; you can imagine how well that goes over. There have been times and places when the Magnificat was been banned from public reading. Luke’s Christmas story names Augustus Caesar and Quirinius, governor of Syria, for a reason. It’s kind of like one of those long pan shots in a movie. In the Christmas story, the opening shot includes the whole Roman Empire, and the camera zooms into the little stable in Bethlehem because Luke wants us to see the contrast between the power of the Roman Empire and the power of God through Christ. What people wanted was a king like David who would unify the nation, rally the troops, and drive out the occupying forces. That’s what a Messiah is supposed to do, right? That’s what they were expecting. But the power of God does not look like the power of Rome.
