One of my favorite modern Christmas songs is “Mary Did You
Know?” by Mark Lowry. The words tumble
around in my heart and mind as I wonder – what did Mary know, understand,
wonder at when the angel proclaimed that she would bear the Son of God.
In Luke 1:26 - 38 we understand that Mary knew that the
angel was from God. She knew she was a
virgin, no matter what anyone else said or thought. She knew she was engaged to a godly man. An angel appeared to him too. Soon after Mary heard all that the angel said
to her about her own Baby, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was also
with child. After Elizabeth greeted Mary
and proclaimed that Mary was bearing her LORD, the Messiah, Mary responds with
words like a prophetess of the Old Testament.
Mary was no simple minded, simple faith young woman. She knew and believed the Old Testament
Scriptures and what they said about the promised Messiah.
She knew.
What do we know about Mary?
She was young, a Hebrew girl, engaged.
We know she loved
God by her response to the angel sent to her. Although girls were not formerly educated, we
know Mary knew God’s Word. She was
obedient and humble and willing to do whatever God asked of her. The angel called her “favored one” which
means filled with grace.
As we read the Gospels we know that Mary wondered at and
treasured many things about Jesus: the
visit of the shepherds, their proclamation of God’s glory, their worship. Then the visit and gifts and worship of the
kings from a foreign land. We know too
that two older godly people in the Temple recognized the Baby as their promised
Messiah when He was just 8 days old. It
is written that Mary treasured these things in her heart.
Then 30+ years later, certainly Mary worried about her Son,
a young man traveling around the countryside of Israel preaching and teaching
and making disciples and making “religious” leaders very angry. She knew He forgave sins, healed people, cast
out demons, and children loved Him. Did
she remember the visit of the angel? Did
she hope and pray that Jesus would be kept safe? When did she really understand
that Jesus was her Messiah?
In John 19:25 we find Mary is at the cross when her first
born Son is being crucified. Did she
understand yet that He was choosing to die for her sins and for mine? Very soon after His death and resurrection,
we find Mary with the disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:14). They were about to be filled with the Holy
Spirit of God and go about changing the world forever! Mary knew.
Listen to Mark Lowry’s song again and rejoice!
Spend some time this week reading Matthew 1-2 and Luke
1-2. Thank the Lord for all you know
about Jesus and thank the Lord that Mary was willing and faithful to do all
that God asked of her.
Nita is a graduate of VA Tech, joined Cru staff in 1972, and has served with Cru in New England and several areas of the world as well as with Cru Military. Presently she serves with Cru Valor as a part of the National Leader Team. She loves family, reading, gardening and her dog Lucy.
