Mary

Mary Did You Know?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will some day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when your kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Oh Mary did you know

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

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am

          Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
                 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
                The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail….”

                At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice, she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.  Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1: 29-37 & 39-45)

                 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
               The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
                 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:28-33)

          There’s a lot more claimed about Mary than was ever said in Scripture. Some people claim that she remained a virgin all her life, that she was sinless, that she was assumed into Heaven. I prefer to stick with the simplest explanation of what Scripture says, that Jesus had brothers and sisters who were the children of Joseph and Mary, that she was a sinner like the rest of us (otherwise, there would be no need for Jesus to have come) and that she died, probably in Ephesus. Some people also have problems with the song I’m including today. I can’t recall the details, but they seem to think that Mary couldn’t have known anything about Jesus prior to the events of His ministry.
     What might Mary have known? She knew His conception was from God, not from man. She knew He would be called the Son of the Most High and the Son of God. She knew He would take David’s throne and rule over Israel forever. She knew that Elizabeth considered Him to be her Lord even before He was born. She was told that He would be God’s salvation, that He would generate turmoil, and that something would cause Mary great pain and possibly great harm. 
         So, she probably didn’t know that He would walk on water, or heal a blind man, or calm a storm, but she knew those things were possible because she knew He was the Son of God. If God divided the waters at the Red Sea, and at the Jordan for Joshua and later for Elijah and Elisha, what would make it so hard for Him to walk on it? Did she take the small step to understand that the Son of God was the great I am? Wouldn’t it be possible for the God who brought the dead to life, and both blinded and restored sight to a man (Elijah and Elisha’s stories again) to heal the blind, the leper, the paralytic? I don’t know if she could wrap her mind around that, but it’s possible. Every impression is that she was a good Jewish girl, and even if she hadn’t known Scripture beforehand, I’ll bet that she and Joseph scoured the Scriptures after the angel gave her the news. 
          Yes, I think Mary was aware of at least these possibilities. The question for us is, are we? Do we believe what the angel, or Elizabeth, or Simeon said? Do we recognize Him as the great I Am?