Mary Did Know

“Mary Did You Know?” has always been a favorite Christmas song of mine.  It is beautifully poetic as it expresses any mother’s fears about her newborn baby and her desire for him as a mother (tears always spring to my eyes at the words “This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you”). The bridge never fails to bring tears of joy its hopeful refrain of the Gospel message of Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer resonating in a delightful crescendo.  This Christmas season I have found myself really drawn to Mary’s acceptance of God’s will for her life and my desire to mirror her words found in Luke 1:46 when she says “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  And then as the Lord’s story for her life unfolds, her peaceful meditation as it says several times throughout the life of Jesus that Mary “pondered these things in her heart”.

In Luke 2 we read about the birth of Christ-beginning with Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem to be registered for the census-the hard journey being near the end of Mary’s pregnancy-on those long, dusty, hot roads: riding on the back of a donkey or walking when she got tired of riding and needed to stretch her legs.  Then vs. 6: “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.”  Whoa!  Did Mary know she might give birth so soon?  Moms usually have a pretty good instinct of knowing when they’re getting close to deliver.  Did she know about the prophecy of Jesus being born in Bethlehem?  Was she nervous being without the familiarity and security of her family?  Instead her midwife was her betrothed?  They were only engaged yet he delivered her baby.  Talk about unconventional!  Vs. 7:  “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths (she had nothing else?) and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” .  If Mary knew about the prophecy was she upset because God had not provided a place for them in an inn, for the Son of God no less?!

Did she realize the weight of the words the angels declared to the shepherds keeping watch in their fields by night, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” It doesn’t say how soon those shepherds came to visit them, but imagine!  A mother who delivered her baby in a manger, wrapped him in some rags and laid him down to sleep in an animal’s feeding trough, then visited by a bunch of shepherds with their smelly sheep-strangers.  Yet vs. 19 says “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart”.  Did she recall the words of Gabriel when he first visited her with earth shattering news of the baby to come with the promise “For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37).  Although we don’t know for sure, I imagine Mary did know.

After all, her response to God’s plan for her life was “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. (Luke 1:38).  She knew that she was a servant to God and that if she loved him she had to trust and obey him.  Mary did know that if she was carrying the Savior of the world than surely God would work out all the details-she saw his faithfulness to provide a friend to share her secret with in Elizabeth, spending 3 months with her. Mary did know mercy when God gave her safety on the long, exhausting journey.  And she knew God’s provision when He provided a place for her to deliver her baby and then to lie his head down and sleep.  The shepherds may have been strangers (and smelly) but they were all united in worship and awe as sweet baby Jesus, God in the form of a baby, Savior of the world, lay sweetly sleeping.  Later when the 3 kings visited her, she may not have know how exactly but she knew God was keeping His promise as Jesus grew.  

This Christmas season, amidst the hustle and bustle of traditions and celebrations, let us not forget to be aware of what God wants to do in each of our lives.  Let us take the time to praise God for His faithfulness in our lives-“magnify the Lord, let your spirit rejoice in God your Savior for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant” (Mary’s song of praise in Luke 1:46-55).  He has saved you by His grace!  In what ways can your soul truly magnify Him this season?  How can you make much of our God?  

“He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”  What great things has God done for you?  Tell him!  Sing praises to Him.  Tell others the things God has done for you.

Thank God for his mercy that he shows “for those who fear him from generation to generation”.  Ask Him how you can show mercy to others.

“He has shown strength with his arm”-He is mighty to save.  

“He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.”  Beg the Lord to take away our pride and give you faith like a child to receive all He wants for you-to increase your faith in Him.

“He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty”.  As our world is ripped apart by war, disease, hate, famine…remember that God hears the cry of his children and He will give them justice.  Pray for those around the world who are living in this present reality.  Pray that God would give them hope and peace in their hearts to rest in Him and in His timing.  Beg the Lord to show you how you can help be a part of the solution.

“He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”  Hundreds of years later-the Lord had kept his promise in sending a seed to strike the head of Satan.  Jesus Christ, our Savior, who would one day become a man who would take the sins of the world on his shoulders, die in our place, rise again and sit at the right hand of God.  Jesus Christ, who is alive and well today is at work here on earth-“The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.  The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb!” Rest assured He is coming again-our King!  May we share this message with boldness this Christmas season to a world who is broken, bleeding, and dying.  Jesus is the answer and as Mary did know the faithfulness of God-treasuring and pondering His power in her heart-so must we.