Mary Taught Jesus About Economic Justice

Luke 1:46-56

We have been observing in the Magnificat where Mary speaks freely about her passions and her beliefs. It would be logical to posit that the words she expresses here constitute, at least to some extent, the way she raised Jesus. We have considered her emphasis on: a) praise and obedience to God, b) moral justice, and c) social justice. In this post we will look briefly at economic justice.

Economic Justice (v. 53)

One of the most revolutionary economic laws ever written was the Year of Jubilee that cancelled debt and redistributed the land. Every fiftieth year all land was to be returned to the descendants of its original owners. No families or clans were to be allowed to accumulate great fortunes over time. There is no place in the Scriptures where this law was practiced. Mary’s world was not only dominated by a small group of wealthy families, being wealthy was considered to be proof of God’s smile of approval. Jubilee had not been implemented. The rest of the people remained permanently poor.

She might have said to Jesus as He was growing up, “Remember Jesus, Yahweh loves the poor, and gives them beautiful and valuable things, but the rich He sends away empty. Hold a special place in your heart for the poor. God will never absolve a nation that is content to allow a few to have too much, while others have too little.”

There are many examples of how Mary’s teaching is expressed in Jesus’ ministry. One that stands out occurs during Passion Week as Jesus was standing outside the entrance to the Temple.

Lk 20:45—21:4, ^“While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. I tell you the truth, he said, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

It’s entirely possible that the widow who put her last two copper coins into the offering knew that her poverty was attributable to the exploitation of the powerful “teachers of the law,” Jesus had just described.

This possibility suggests that the most significant thing here is not that she gave everything. Jesus seems to be pointing to a deeper issue. In spite of the great economic injury she had suffered at the hands of the people who run the Temple, she still gave everything she had in the offering. This powerless widow understood the principle of giving. She was not giving to the Temple or the “teachers of the law,” she was giving to God. She was determined to be faithful to God, in spite of the injustice she had experienced and the hypocrisy around her.

Ron Sider tells the story about how, one Saturday morning, he was preparing a lecture on poverty; a poor man came into his office and asked for five dollars. “He was drinking. He had no food, no job, and no home. The Christ of the poor confronted me in this man. But I didn’t have the time. I had to prepare a lecture on the Christian view of poverty. I gave him a couple of dollars, but that wasn’t what he needed. He needed someone to talk to, someone to love him. He needed my time. He needed me. But I was too busy.” “Inasmuch as you did it not to the least of these, you did it not unto me.”

It seems to be human nature to ascribe higher value to people of means and to tend to devalue those who have less. The Scriptures are unequivocal; God loves and protects the poor.

Where are we?

What should the Evangelical Church’s attitude toward the poor be?

 

Mary Taught Jesus About Social Justice

Luke 1:46-56

We are looking at what Mary taught Jesus. And we are basing our thoughts on Magnificat where Mary speaks freely about her passions and her beliefs. It would be reasonable to assume that God would pick someone to be the mother of His Son, whose heart, soul, mind, and spirit, were compatible with His own.

E. Stanley Jones, the great Methodist missionary to India in the last century has called the Magnificat “the most revolutionary document in the world.” The third thing Mary taught Jesus was about,

Social Justice (v. 52)

This remarkable teen-aged young woman had not had the privilege of an education. Yet, she was acutely aware of God’s activity in the history of Israel. She knew how God had elevated a young shepherd boy to the throne of Israel, and also allowed foreign rulers to bring down the people and kings of Israel who had neglected the poor, the widows, and the orphans.

Also, toward the end of the Southern Kingdom, Jeremiah told the Israelites time and again that they would be judged if they continued to flaunt their riches and neglect the poor. But they ignored his warnings. When Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and took the Judeans into captivity to Babylon, his general Nebuzaradan left many of the poor behind, and gave them the land to farm. God used Nebuzaradan to create justice for the poor at the expense of those who had exploited them.

She would say to Jesus, “remember son, God will judge injustice in the land, and the use of privilege to exploit the poor is a road to disaster. Remember the prophets spoke against a callous attitude toward the disenfranchised.”

As Jesus rode down from the crest of the Mount of Olives on the day of the Triumphal Entry, the crowds were cheering, palm fronds and coats were thrown onto the ground before Him. When he rounded the corner bringing the city into full view, Jesus began to weep. He realized that His Father would judge them for maintaining perpetual injustice in the land, and rejecting Him.

In late 18^th century France, stark disparity between rich and poor resulted in Revolution; rulers were brought down from their thrones. Fifty years later, in England, similar conditions reigned. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Europe. People were moving from their farms into the cities, looking to make a living, only to fall prey to the industrial machine. A few robber barons became unimaginably wealthy, but the masses descended into poverty. However, the Methodist movement begun through John Wesley’s ministry championed the education of the poor, passed labor laws, worked to abolish slavery, and historians tell us a bloody revolution was averted.

Today we are in the first stages of a new economic shift from the industry-based economy to an information-based economy. Many people in our country have become unimaginably wealthy, while the poor and middle-class are becoming poorer. This shift will likely deepen before it reverses, and it will probably take a decade or more before it evens out.

In the Nazareth synagogue, Jesus delivered his mission statement as he quoted Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” As followers of Christ, we need to spend more time thinking and praying about the implications of our role in our society.

How will we live our lives?

What role should the Church take on in our societal transition?

How can the Church add value to the community in which it ministers?