In Reality, Mary Didn’t Know What She Didn’t Know

What’s your favorite Christmas carol? “O Little Town of Bethlehem”? “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”? “The First Noel?” “O Come All Ye Faithful”? “Silent Night”?

 

The latter has long been my favorite, for many reasons. But lately I’ve found myself captivated by “Mary, Did You Know?” written by Mark Lowry. This beautiful tune is heard everywhere now, covered by singers ranging from Carrie Underwood and Dolly Parton to Pentatonix and CeeLo Green. 

 If you’re not familiar with it (maybe you’ve been vacationing in Fiji trying to escape COVID and the relentless election advertising?), “Mary, Did You Know?” poses an intriguing question about how the earthly mother of Jesus responded to what her child, conceived by the Holy Spirit, would do, culminating with His crucifixion and resurrection. Here’s a portion of the lyrics:

 

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
… would 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?
… calm a storm with his hand?
… When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God…

Mary did you know? 

 

I’ll not venture into how Christian traditions regard Mary differently, but can you imagine? A young woman, probably still in her mid-teens, entrusted with the responsibility of parenting the Son of God – God incarnate? Especially when so many teenagers these days can’t even be entrusted with the task of cleaning up their rooms.

 

It's recorded in Luke 1:26-38 how the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, who was betrothed to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. When the angel said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” In response, it says, “Mary was greatly troubled with his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.” Can we blame her? Here she was, looking forward to her wedding, and suddenly an angel appears with a very special message, one she never could have anticipated. 

 

Then came the big news: The angel declared, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” Wow! Not words she was expecting to hear.

 

Humbly she asked, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Sounds like a reasonable question to me. The angel didn’t beat around the bush. He replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon 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.” Then, sensing Mary might have been thinking, “Say what?” the angel added, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

 

Never before – or after – has anything like this happened. Probably overwhelmed with awe, wonder, and a bit of confusion, Mary humbly answered, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left, leaving her to sort through a range of thoughts and emotions we can only imagine.

 

Obviously, most of the details weren’t addressed in this divine encounter. The angel didn’t tell about the many miracles Jesus would perform, or the profound and unparalleled teachings He would present. The persecution He would face, or how she would witness His horrific, sacrificial death on the cross, fulfilling His destiny to save His people from their sins. Or His resurrection, declaring once and for all God’s victory over death.

 

So Mark Lowry aptly asks in his wonderful song, “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?...that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?”

Surely Mary could not have known any of this, or many other things that to this day challenge our understanding. We’re told that as more was revealed to her, from the lowly shepherds, the Magi, John the Baptist and many others, “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). We would be wise to do the same.

Terrifying News for a Young Woman

Can you imagine what it must have been like for young Mary, probably barely a teenager, to carry the unfathomable, incomprehensible burden of being chosen to become the earthly mother of the incarnate Christ? She had recently been betrothed, and suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared to her to announce, “”Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). 

The Scriptures don’t record Mary’s response, but I suspect her first thought was, “Uh, okay?” They do inform us she was “greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be” (verse 29). Ya think? Then the angel dumped the whole load: 

“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:30-32).

Again, the passage doesn’t offer her immediate response, but I bet it was the Hebrew equivalent of, “Say what?!” It does tell us she asked an obvious question: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (verse 34). Can you blame her for asking? After briefly describing the divine process that would soon come about, Gabriel finished by declaring, “For nothing is impossible with God” (verse 37).

To her credit, Mary didn’t prolong the discussion, asking if the angel could repeat what he had just told her. She simply responded, “I am the Lord’s servant…. May it be to me as you have said” (verse 38). Then Gabriel, as you might say, left the building.

I don’t mean to make light of this holy moment, but the Bible is nothing if not a very honest, very human book – yet divinely inspired. This definitely wasn’t what Mary had in mind in beginning preparations for her wedding. Who to invite? Yes. What kind of meal to serve? Probably. But the prospect of carrying the Son of God – God in the flesh – in her virgin womb? Not a chance.

Keep in mind that, unlike today when hardly anyone blinks anymore if we hear of a woman having a baby out of wedlock, it was a shameful state in Mary’s time. Women typically were regarded as second-class citizens, even property, in those days. They were expected to toe the line in laws and customs. This was why the Bible tells us her fiancé, Joseph, upon learning the news, “had in mind to divorce her quietly” (Matthew 1:19), being a righteous man, despite his feelings of embarrassment. 

Then an angel of the Lord, perhaps Gabriel, also appeared to Joseph and interceded: “…do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save the people from their sins” (Luke 1:20-21). Also a man of great faith, Joseph did as the angel instructed.

So can you understand the conundrum, the exciting yet terrifying news that first Mary, and then Joseph, had to absorb and deal with?

I think about this because, in one respect, it seems a biblical statement about abortion. I don’t know if abortion was even practiced in the days of Jesus, but surely being unwed and pregnant was more than an inconvenience for Mary. What would people think? What would they do? Thank the Lord her betrothed husband was willing to follow through on his marriage commitment.

Do you think Mary even for a moment might have thought, “How can I get rid of this baby? I didn’t volunteer for this!” And yet, the massive, world-changing Christmas story we’re soon to celebrate found its inception in the lives of these two young people.

Fast-forwarding to today, we find many in the “pro-choice” abortion camp declaring “it’s a woman’s body,” and “it’s about women’s reproductive health.” I know, being a male, I’m not supposed to know about such things. But my wife has borne five children, and together we have 12 grandchildren and soon, six great-grandkids. So I do know at least a little about women getting pregnant, having babies and starting to raise them in this world.

At its heart, a decision to have an abortion is not just a “personal choice.” It affects far more than an individual woman troubled by a tiny, growing human being in her tummy. It’s a decision that affects many people, perhaps countless. How many lives have been touched – and changed – by the life of Jesus Christ through the centuries?

In our family, we are the beneficiaries of three women who made truly courageous, unselfish decisions not to terminate their pregnancies. One, more than 50 years ago, gave birth to a baby boy in times when being pregnant while not married was still regarded as a taboo. Today, he employs about 60 people in a thriving small business that’s making a difference in his community, and many customers benefit from the services his company provides.

Best of all, a few years ago, he was reunited with his birth mother and soon afterward met siblings he never knew existed. What an image to see him, his birth mom, and his loving, adoptive mother who raised him from infancy getting together for the first time!

We also have two adopted grandsons, wonderful, engaging little boys whose impact on our entire family is beyond measure. In both cases, their birth mothers courageously chose to go through the trials and challenges of pregnancy to give them life – and surrender them to a loving home that was ready to care for and nurture them, when they were not.

Recently, a brief segment during a college football game told about a young woman about 20 years ago who initially went to a facility to have an abortion, but then left and chose to give birth to her baby and raise him. Today, he is a stellar athlete and a young man of great character. Countless millions have enjoyed his athletic prowess and will continue to do so for years to come.

So to say that abortion should be solely a woman’s choice is wrong, when in fact it’s taking the life of a little human who is not yet ready for life outside the womb. Each new life, famous or not, has the potential for influencing and having an impact on the lives of countless others.

I get it. Having an unwanted pregnancy is a daunting, even terrifying prospect, as it was for Mary some 2,000 years ago. But in God’s sight, no life is without reason or without purpose. As Psalm 139:13-16 tells us:

“For [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well…. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

As you contemplate Mary and the Christ Child this Christmas season, please think about that.