When we focus on the many blessings of the Gospel, we seldom consider the one that Mary, the Lord’s mother, mentions in Luke 1. While visiting her cousin Elizabeth, before the birth of Jesus, Mary was moved by the Holy Spirit to joyfully declare:

 “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. … 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” (vv. 46-48, 51-53).

I find it interesting that one of Mary’s other sons, James, picks up this theme in his epistle. In chapter one he writes, “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position [in Christ]. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. The rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business” (vv. 9-11).

To us, the words to the rich man seem strange. Why should he rejoice in the fact that he is fading away like a wild flower? It only makes sense if we consider the nature of God’s kingdom and remember how we enter it. When Jesus told His disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” they were “greatly astonished” (Matthew 19:24-25). Hadn’t their religious teachers always taught that riches were a sign of God’s blessing upon a life? If those blessed by God had trouble entering His kingdom, what chance did they have?

Only by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit would they be able to grasp the spiritual reality behind Jesus’ words. The Gospel could be called the great equalizer, because it has the power to bring the lowly up and take the exalted down. Those who’ve always been underdogs in the eyes of the world can, through redemption, gain every spiritual blessing available, while those who have always enjoyed the privileges of the world can find themselves cut off from them—not because they are rich, but because they trust in their riches rather than God.

Mary was excited about the fact that God had chosen her, a poor and humble servant of no significance in the world, to bear His greatest gift to mankind. Through the eyes of the Spirit she could see beyond her present circumstances and realize that those “without hope in the world” had not been forgotten by God. He was making a way for them to gain eternal riches that would endure, riches that wouldn’t suffer rust or corruption and couldn’t be stolen by thieves. The “last” would suddenly find themselves at the front of the line, and those who had always enjoyed first place in the world would suddenly find themselves at the back of the line.

For those of us who hate injustice and have a hard time watching the poor being abused and ground down by the powerful, this fact of the Gospel is worth rejoicing about—it is truly Good News! For a brief time, the righteous may have to suffer in humble and difficult circumstances, but one day their fortunes will be suddenly reversed. They will find themselves reigning with Christ in His eternal glory and power. These are the “mighty deeds” that Mary refers to in Luke 1:51. She ends her praise song with “He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers” (v. 55).

This reversal of fortune within the covenant of grace was foretold by the Hebrew prophets, but few understood it until Jesus came. When the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds near Bethlehem on the night of His birth, they were terrified because of the glory of the Lord that shone around them. But the angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord ”(Luke 2:10-11).

These are familiar words, and we may gloss over them because of how often we’ve heard them. But don’t miss the implications of the angel’s message: The coming of the Savior was good news for everyone, even the shepherds whose role of watching the lambs that would be slain during Passover was considered one of the lowliest in their society.

The humble, the dispossessed, the outcasts, the poor, those who in the world would never be chosen for anything great or important … these are the ones who would most benefit from the salvation Christ would bring. Our great God would level the ground and reverse the fortunes of many by the cross. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul exclaimed in Romans 11:33 as he wrote about God’s mercy in the Gospel.

How grateful we should be … that we have received such blessing from the sufferings of Jesus Christ. If we have been raised in privileged or comfortable circumstances, we need to thank God for humbling us and showing us our need for the Savior. What a great gift we have been given if we have come to understand that we cannot put our trust in ourselves and our earthly riches—that apart from Him we are spiritually “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” When we can see that and acknowledge its truth, we’re ready to receive true riches from Jesus.

And for those who have not enjoyed much privilege or comfort in this life, they should rejoice in the knowledge that the kindness and love of God our Savior found them. In His great mercy He redeemed them, filled them with His Spirit, adopted them as His own sons and daughters, and made them rich in spiritual blessings. How grateful we all should be for the gift of His Son! “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

During this time of the year, we are more vulnerable to the world’s values, values that always make us feel like we fall short. As we measure ourselves against the rich, the powerful, the successful, the beautiful … the glitter and affluence in the stores and the sumptuous feasts in the magazines … we become convinced that our holiday celebrations are tacky and threadbare by comparison. If we’re not careful, we can begin to feel shortchanged and resentful of our relatively humble circumstances.

Before we even head down that road, let’s remember how rich we are! Like Mary, let’s find our excitement in the wonderful news of the Gospel: It turns everything right side up, exalting the humble and humbling the exalted. It equalizes the effects of the Fall and gives every man the same chance at knowing God and being cleansed from his sin.

We also need to remember how costly this reversal of fortunes was. Jesus gave His all, leaving the riches of heaven and becoming poor, so that we might be made rich. Now, as Paul pointed out in 2 Corinthians 6:10, other people can be made rich in Christ through us if we give ourselves to the work of the Kingdom.

What could be more humbling than God becoming a human baby—born in a dirty stable and welcomed only by his mother and father, some no-count shepherds, and a few dumb animals? Jesus’ beginnings were bad enough, but the end of His earthly life was even worse— falsely accused and convicted of blasphemy, beaten, mocked,  abandoned by His few followers, and tortured on a cruel cross. But following His humiliation came the resurrection—and the highest exaltation possible for the One whose name is above every other name.

In Jesus’ life we see a pattern for how we enter God’s kingdom. We must be brought low, humbled, before we are exalted by the power of the Gospel. The “rich”—those who trust in their own goodness and earthly treasures—will be sent away empty, but those who humble themselves will find salvation by putting their confidence in the Savior.

The prophet Isaiah could see what Mary saw: a time of blessing to come that would be so significant, it would make their present troubles seem as nothing in comparison. “O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago. You have been a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm. … On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples; he will swallow up death forever. … Surely this is our God; we trusted in him and he saved us. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation” (Isaiah 25: 1, 4, 6, 8-9).  Are you rejoicing in Him today? Are you glad in His salvation? Me too!