Yes, Mary Knew. Please, Stop asking.
I despise this Christmas song. Hear me out…
We are told pretty clearly what Mary knew and didn’t know. Mary, herself, as a prophet and messenger from God, tells us what she knew in Luke 1.
Mary is called the Theotokos in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Tradition - this translates to Mother of God - not Mother of Jesus, mother of son of man - mother of God. Her place should not be discounted. Neither should her words be spoken over with man-splaining rhetoric.
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you.
Let’s dig into it. Mary is told, by the angel Gabriel:
Luke 1: 31 “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
It was commonly held that a Messiah would come from the lineage of David.
2 Samuel 7: 11Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
Keeping these scriptures in mind, In the song Mary is asked a series of questions (I’ve grouped these topically) :
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
This one and “calm the storm with his hand” kind of need to be grouped together. Like God, Jesus has power over the seas (Genesis 1:9-10, 21 - creation; Ex 14:21-22- parting the Red Sea; Isa 43:16, 51:9-10 - referring to the God who parted the sea; Hab 3:15 -churning the sea, referring to when the Egyptians were defeated in the parting of the Red Sea; Ps 77:19 - parted the sea and crossed with no footprints; Job 9:8, 26:11-12- God’s power stilled the sea; and by inference quite a few other places)
Walking on water is not specifically cited, except for maybe in Psalm 77:19, crossing with no footprints, but there are many many scriptural references to God’s power over the waters.
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Psalm 89:9 You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
Yes. She knew.
Mary did you know that your baby boy 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.
We are going to assume that “deliver” and “save” can be used interchangeably in this instance. Jesus’ name lesous in Greek, Yehoshua in Hebrew, mean the Lord saves. Yes, she knew. She literally named him as an affirmation that she knew.
Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
The blind will see.
The deaf will hear.
The lame will leap.
The dumb will speak.
The praises of the lamb.
This one is a little sticky. There is scripture that relates having any illness or disability to having sinned. Numbers 12 tells of when the prophets Miriam and Aaron had spoken against Moses’ and she was cursed with a skin disease - she repented and did 7 days of separation from the people as atonement and was redeemed. The instances of Jesus healing in the Gospels relate this idea of healing and redemption as combined actions. When the disciples are commissioned to continue the work of Jesus, they are also bestowed with the ability to heal as well as baptize new Christians.
Some of the healing stories also echo stories of creation - relating the actions of healing to God’s actions in creation.
Isaiah 35 tells of what will be done for by God for the redeemed:
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
So if we are relating the Messiah as the redeemer then Yes, she knew.
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
This one is not really based in scripture at all. We are given very little information about what angels look like in the bible, they take different forms and perform different actions. Almost always as messengers, they generally have a human form. As far as angels walking in a heavenly realm, we are never told that. Cherabum and Seraphum have different appearances than these messengers. So we can’t really say that angels trod period. That’s not a detail that’s scritural before the time of Jesus, it is probably reflecting a much later idea of what the heavenly realm looks like. No, She didn’t know - because its kind of made up.
The dead will live again.
Ezekiel 37 tells about prophesying to dry bones and they become enfleshed and come alive.
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people.
Mary absolutely knew that giving and taking of life was within the scope of God, so giving life, Yes, She knew.
The resurrection of Jesus personally, that is less clear.
Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God.
Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Without a doubt, Mary knew. These are her words.
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?
So this one gets into penal substation atonement theory, where Jesus is essentially a scapegoat who must be sacrificed for all of humanity’s sins. There are examples of this in Passover, where a lamb is sacrificed and Jesus is said to be the Passover lamb or there are certainly scripture references to that metaphor.
In Isaiah 53 there is talk of a sacrificial lamb:
6All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter
There is also something to be said for this being sort of an anti-Trinitarian element in that Jesus gives willingly from love, not unknowingly bowing to some unchagable process. But that’s probably a discussion for another time. Those details aside, Jesus as the redeemer could be the Lamb of God foretold, Yes, Mary knew.
What does Mary say for herself?
Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
She offers a song of joy and praise after being named blessed by Elizabeth, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Mary’s praise follows a long tradition of women lifting songs to God in thanksgiving. The Prophet Hannah in 1 Samuel offers similar praise. Hannah’s song and Mary’s song are connected to one another by the writers of the Gospels.
2 Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the Lord;
my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies
because I rejoice in your victory.
2 There is no Holy One like the Lord,
no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 Talk no more so very proudly;
let not arrogance come from your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by him actions are weighed.
4 The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
6 The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low; he also exalts.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
and on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
but the wicked will perish in darkness,
for not by might does one prevail.
10 The Lord! His adversaries will be shattered;
the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the power of his anointed.”
Why should we care?
Mary’s words speak for themselves about what she knew. The damage in erasing Mary's witness especially is the direct correlation between Mary's magnificent and that of Hannah in Samuel. Hannah’s prayer is a model for prayer in the Israelite tradition and even in modern Judaism. I think there should be a close examination of the Magnificat as a model for praise like Hannah’s prayer is for praying. Ordinances for praying while sober, moving your mouth in prayer but not speaking audibly - all come from Hannah's prayers. What can we learn about praise from Mary’s song?
The song “Mary Did You Know?,” truncates any further inquiry by painting Mary as a puppet, not a willing participant in God’s plan for redemption. Mary was a prophet, in her own right. She was the first disciple.
Denying this connection by omitting the proclamation of Mary from the story, which the interpretation of the Advent and Christmas events does - omits the steadfastness of God in keeping promises. It omits the message that just as Hannah's song and prayers are upheld as models for prayer, so should Mary's be. That's what the Gospel writer is telling us in using such direct corollaries in language - it’s intentionally there to point those who hid the Word in their hearts right back to Hannah.
Additionally, it omits the witness of prophets in Hannah and Mary.
The song, Mary Did You Know?, exists, and for some reason people like it, it's vaguely about Advent - but that doesn't make it anything close to good theology or an accurate recounting of the events recounted in scripture. Can we please stop asking her? Yes, She knew!
If you’ve made it this far, forward this to a friend!
If you love the song and are annoyed at this level of pedantic argument - please continue loving it!
Maybe, also reflect on the embodied “Yes” that Mary the Mother of God answered first.
