Did Mary Know?

Did Mary Know? We all are familiar with the Christmas Song, Mary Did You Know? This is a well-known Christmas Song during the Christmas Season and even outside of Christmas. I even actually enjoy this song my self. There are many artist who have sung this song.

Did Mary Know?

We often see people always saying “Yes Mary Knew” but I felt this on my heart for a while to dig a little deeper. I came up with this. It is a “Yes and No” answer. Depends on what you are looking at. Some aspects she did know and others she didn’t know or should could have known, but that is just speculation. Again this blog post is just my thinking and what I felt led to share about if Mary knew or not.

This blog post is a little long. I look at Luke 1:26-38 and even the lyrics to the song. Plus, I share a blog post of a pastor friend of mine on Facebook.

Christ’s Birth Announced to Mary

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

²⁹ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. ³⁰ Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. ³² He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³ And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

Did Mary Know? Find out in this blog post looking into if Mary Knew or not. Share on X

³⁴ Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”

³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For with God nothing will be impossible.”

³⁸ Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

She knew she would carry

So as you can see Mary did know she would carry the Messiah and that He would be great and have the Highest Power. Did you know It was a great honor to be called Jesus in the Jewish faith? Jesus is another name for Joshua and there were only two other men in the Bible named Joshua. Even a song This was Heaven’s Child stated “She knew This was heaven’s child.”  The angel even told Mary that Jesus would be great! He also told her he is the Son of God. He also said the kingdom of Christ will have no end. That shows we have eternity with Him.

This also shows the Holy Spirit has been around just like Christ is always around and God too. Gabriel even told her he will have power from the Highest, God. He also told her he is the Holy One. This also shows that God can do anything and nothing is impossible with God. God is the creator of everything.

So Mary did know He was going to be great, had great power and such, but she may have not known the magnitudes and exactly all the miracles that were to happen. Mary knew He is the Son of God and she had faith and knew He could do anything.

Mary knew He is the Son of God and she had faith and knew He could do anything. Share on X

Now let’s look at the Lyrics to Mary Did You Know? …

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’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 the storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God.

Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?..
Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know? 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?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.

Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know? Mary, did you know?..
Mary, did you know?

_{Lyrics from AZLyrics}

As I said Mary knew who was in her womb and the baby to be worn was the Son of God. She even knew His future of His everlasting throne. So I am sure she could have only imaged what He would do, but she may have not know the exact miracles that He would perform.

Walk on Water –

Mary might not have known He could walk on water, but she did know He was the Son of God, so she might have known He was capable of it.

Save our Sons & Daughter –

Mary knew He was the Son of God and His Throne to rein forever. The Jewish people knew about a Messiah coming to save them. So she knew He was the Messiah. So I could only say she did know He came to save us.

Make us New –

Mary might not have known about how Jesus might save us or even how we are a new creation in Him.

Sight to blind man –

Again, she might not have known this was going to happen, but she might have know that He was able to perform miracles. She knew He is the Son of God.

Calm the storm with His hand –

I would have the say the same thing again here. She might not have known this was going to happen, but she might have know that He was able to perform miracles. She knew He is the Son of God.

Walked where Angels of Trod –

This could be applied, but she may or may not have known. But if He is the Son of God and always existed, then I am sure she could have known He has been with Angels and Angels were around Him. After all God sent an Angel to tell Mary that she would give birth the Son of God. So there is some proof she would have known because the Angel trodded with Mary. Trod, is another way of saying walked with or tread.

Kissed the face of God –

Mary knew Jesus was the Son of God. So when she would kiss her son, I am sure she might have known that.

Blind to See, Deaf to Hear, Dead Will Live, Lame to Walk, Dumb to Speak –

These are miracles that I am sure Mary knew was possible for Him perform, but she might not have known when or where or the details of them or even the types of miracles. She knew the basics and she knew she was carrying the Son of God with powers from the Highest, meaning He has powers from God.

Lord of all Creation –

Mary knew God was the creator of all. She also knew she was giving birth to the Son of God. She also knew that His kingdom would last forever. So here I believe she did know.

Rule all the Nations –

Just like I have mentioned already, she did know His Kingdom would last forever. So may not have know His Kingdom would be the final kingdom where everyone that is saved would dwell. But proficiency the Jewish Nation did know about a person who would rule the Nations. They didn’t think Jesus was Him because He didn’t come in strong. The Jewish Nation is still looking. What Christians believe is the Second Coming is what the Jewish People believe is the Coming of the Messiah.

Heaven’s Perfect Lamb –

Mary might not have know that Jesus would replace the sacrificial system of the unblemished lamb. She might not have known how He would save us all, she did know a Messiah was to be born and he would save the lost according to prophesy. Maybe later as Jesus was growing up, He shared with His family the purpose of our Heavenly Father.

The Great I Am –

If Mary remembered history, she would have remembered that “I Am” delivered the people to the promise land. So if she remembered that, she would know that the Jesus is the Son of “I Am” making Jesus “I Am”. Remember God told Moses tell them, “I Am” Sent you.

Not every detail

We may not exactly have know every detail that Mary knew, but Mary knew the basics. She knew who Jesus is. The Son of God. She was carrying the child of God. So she could have only knew He was able to perform many miracles and that He did come to save us. If she was familiar with prophecies in scripture a lot of what Jesus went through and did was for told before Jesus was to even come walk on the Earth.

I also believe that God doesn’t give us all the details at once. God wants us to take the baby steps and once we take that step He reveals the next part of His plan and purpose.  It was different with Jesus, Jesus knew from the beginning the Will of the Father for Him.

The Old Testament all pointed to the coming Messiah, Jesus. The New Testament shares the fulfillment of the Messiah coming. It also shares with us the Second Coming of Christ.

We may not exactly have know every detail that Mary knew, but Mary knew the basics. Share on X

Yea she knew by Chris Canuel

I like what Chris Canuel,  a pastor friend said on Facebook. See quote below. (Used with permission)

… I’m already seeing the meme and reading posts about the song this year, so I’ve decided to post it again:

It seems to be the cool thing this year to trash the song “Mary Did You Know?” and say, “Yes she knew, Gabriel told her…” or “Look at Matthew 1-2, or Luke 1-2, etc…

But honestly, look at the lyrics of the song, then go back and read through what the Scripture teaches. What did Mary really know? Did she know something miraculous was about to/had happened? Absolutely. Did she know the baby in her womb was special? Definitely. Did she know he would save his people? Yes. Did she know he was a ruler? Yes…

But, did she really “get” it? Even though I think we can safely say she knew this baby, Jesus, was a fulfillment of prophecy, and was the fulfillment of God’s promises to his people, and the promises to Abraham and David…even the Messiah…Did she fully grasp it? Did she know the miracles he would perform? Did she understand he was the incarnate Word of God…God made flesh? Did she understand the extent of the deliverance he would bring? I don’t think so. For Pete’s sake, John the Baptist who baptized Jesus and saw the Spirit of God descend on Him and heard the voice of God didn’t fully “get” it…if he had he wouldn’t have asked whether or not he should expect someone else when he was in prison…The disciples who spent 3 years side by side with Jesus didn’t fully get it until after seeing him resurrected.

It’s not my job to defend the theology of a particular Christmas song … and in the grand scheme it probably isn’t that big a deal … Nor do I wish to start a debate about a Christmas song … But I happen to think it’s a powerful song with rich imagery that for a few minutes puts us in the place of this young girl whom would bear the Son of God, and I quite enjoy it (especially when Ramona Hinson Canady sings it), and I personally don’t find it theologically questionable in the least.

I think Canuel makes a great point in what he posted.

Yes! Mary knew some things, but Mary didn’t know it all. 

I believe Canuel summed it up in his Facebook post.Yes I agree, Mary knew some things, maybe even things she couldn’t grasp or understand it. So Yes, Mary knew some things and other things she either didn’t know or maybe knew could be possible. But we will truly not know. Knowing if Mary knew or not is not relevant. As knowing if she knew or not doesn’t save us. Only Jesus can save us.

Check out Ramona Hinson Canady version of the song Mary Did You Know.

Mary Did You Know? (Ramona)

First published December 22, 2016. Last updated or republished December 3, 2020.

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