Kingdom Prayer: The Gospel of Luke With N.T. WrightSample

Luke emphasises God’s surprising activity by giving the reader two highly unexpected pregnancies to ponder. What’s more, both Mary’s and Elizabeth’s pregnancy is tied to the story of Hannah in the Old Testament. Elizabeth’s circumstances mirror Hannah’s, and Mary’s song mirrors Hannah’s song.

First Samuel begins with a scene in the shrine at Shiloh. Hannah has no sons, though her husband’s other wife does. As an aging, seemingly barren woman, this would be like a curse. She comes to the Lord in her distress, apparently so passionate that the priest, Eli, thinks she’s drunk. He blesses her, and she ends up having a son, Samuel, who she then brings back and dedicates to the Lord. Samuel becomes the great prophet of the era, who eventually anoints David as King over Israel. This circumstantial mirroring sets up John the Baptist’s later baptismal anointing of Jesus as the new Davidic king.

This prophetic vocation (and Luke’s pairing of these three births) tells us everything we need to know about what he thinks is going on. The message of the prophets is, time and again, a difficult message of warning.

Reflection:

Compare Hannah’s song to Mary’s. What similarities and differences do you see? Does one speak to you more than the other? Why?