Myers

In 1984, Mark Lowry wrote the lyrics for the song “Mary Did You Know?”

The music was composed by Buddy Greene in 1991. There is no way Mark could have known how popular and powerful that song would become. Almost 40 years later, that song has been recorded by numerous artists of all styles and genres and will be played a countless number of times throughout the Christmas season. The song is a modern classic, to be sure.

The song wonders aloud, as the title indicates, “Mary, did you know?” It highlights many of the miracles Jesus would perform and takes a deep dive into the salvation that Jesus would bring about through his life, death and resurrection.

It goes on further to explore the divinity of Jesus, the reality of God made flesh. If you take a moment to slow down and really consider the words being sung, you realize these are not simple questions. The singer is asking a young teen-age girl, who has just given birth, if she has considered and comprehends the full weight of the baby sleeping in her arms.

Over the years, the song has had its critics. I myself have struggled with the theme of the song and have at times found myself yelling at the radio, that “Yes, Mary did know. Gabriel told her.”

This year, though, I find myself singing a different tune. As I’ve read through the story of the birth of Jesus, I can’t help but wonder “What did Mary know?”

In Luke 1:26-38, we find “The Annunciation.” This is when the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she, though a virgin, will give birth to a son by the power of God’s spirit. That news in and of itself would have been hard to handle. And if we look at Mary’s responses, it does seem to be where most of her attention was focused.

While we celebrate the virgin birth today, most of us would have struggled to believe it, were we alive at the time. But what did Gabriel actually tell Mary about her baby to be? He told her she was to call him Jesus, that he would be great, that he would be called “Son of the most high,” that God would give him the throne of David and his reign and kingdom would never end.

If we continue on to Mary’s song, “The Magnificat,” in Luke 1:46-55, it really doesn’t give any new information. It is more of a look back at what God had done in the past than what Jesus would do in the future.

Let’s assume that Joseph, following his angelic dream in Matthew 1:18-23, shared what he had heard with Mary. His encounter also was primarily focused on the whole virgin birth portion of things. The angel does clarify, though, that the name Jesus is to be given because “He will save his people from their sins.” The name Jesus means “Yahweh saves,” which they probably knew, but saving them from their sins might have been news.

Matthew 1:22-23 appears to be editorial comments added by the author, so it’s uncertain if that was known by Mary at the time, but we’ll give it to her.

Back to the question at hand, “Mary, did you know?” Some of it, yes. Much of it, no. How could she have known? Who would even think to dream their child would walk on water?

Had Jesus not done it, I doubt it would jump into our minds today. The prophecies concerning the Messiah do indicate he would heal the blind, the deaf, the dumb and the lame, and given the miraculous nature of the virgin birth and the encounter with angels, perhaps she did have some inkling of the miracles to come.

But do we really believe she wasn’t surprised when it actually happened? We can be fairly certain she struggled to believe Jesus would rise from the dead. She was on her way to mourn him and prepare his body on the morning of the resurrection, and Jesus had explicitly and on several occasions stated he would rise again on the third day.

I don’t mean to demean or disparage Mary, but I do think it’s important we realize she was still human. She was still a young girl who was being called to a monumental task of incredible depth and complexity. If the greatest theological minds of the time struggled to fully understand, isn’t it reasonable to believe this young girl would, as well?

On the whole, though, the questions in the song really aren’t for Mary, are they? They are questions for our consideration. As we contemplate the coming of Jesus, the Christ, do we know whom that baby in the manger was/is? Do we understand the immensity of the moment of his birth and the implications of what was to come?

The baby born to Mary was more than a cultural icon. He was and remains Immanuel, God with us. He is the creator come down to us as creation. He is the eternal made accessible. He would grow to become a man, would do amazing and miraculous things and would demonstrate his supremacy through the greatest gift of self-sacrifice ever and in the process provide our salvation.

We have the benefit of hindsight. If we don’t know, we should, and we should seek to help others know, as well.