Mary, Did You Know? Series

The title for our message comes from a song written by the Christian comedian Mark Lowry, and originally sung by the Christian vocalist Michael English; and the song is entitled, “Mary, Did You Know?” One stanza of the song says:

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that you baby boy would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

That this child that you delivered, would soon deliver you?

These are some intriguing questions posed in this song. First of all, as the song suggested, was Mary in need of deliverance and salvation, although she bore the holy Christ child? Secondly, “did Mary know” as the song asks? Did she ever know why the child that she delivered had come into the world? These are some interesting things to ask, and this morning we are going to try to answer the question of “Mary, did you know?” We will begin with Luke 1:26-29.

Mary Was Troubled (Luke 1:26-29)

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.

Verse 29 is the one we’re going to focus on at this moment. We see that Mary was troubled at the angel’s saying, and she considered what manner of salutation it was. The first question we might have is “why was she troubled?” Gabriel had just called Mary “favored” and “blessed.” Well, Mary likely would have been troubled at these statements, because of her own humility. Mary worshipped the Lord and was humble before Him, and she realized her state of unrighteousness before a holy God; and she couldn’t figure out why an angel would appear to her and call her favored and blessed.

The reason why Mary was favored and blessed is not just that she would be the one to carry and give birth to the Son of God, but that she had received the revelation concerning whom the Savior is; and I want to stop here and make a crucial and tremendous point: “Jesus Christ is the Savior of all who know and understand who He is, and who accept Him as their personal Savior and Lord.”

If you look down in verses 30-33, Mary was told that her child would be named Jesus, that He would receive the throne of David, and that His kingdom would have no end. She was being let in on the fact that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, the coming King, and Savior. Mary thought to herself, “How can this be?” (v. 34); and therefore, she considered deeply what she had been told. Beginning with verse 45, and continuing through what is called the Song of Mary, we see that Mary had faith to believe; but as we will come to see, she never stopped pondering the things she had been told.

The New King James Version says that Mary “considered” the greeting and the news that she heard. The New American Standard Bible says that she “kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.” She “pondered” what she had been told. In other words, she did not forget what had been shared with her, but she kept replaying the words over and over again in her mind. These words would stick in her mind until the day that she would eventually see them unfold as reality.

Mary believed in faith that what she had heard would come to pass, but she clung to those words through the years, as she tried to piece them together, as different parts of the prophecy came true. Mary wanted to see her faith become reality. She wanted to understand more about what she had heard.

Mary Kept the Words (Luke 2:15-19)

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.