Today is the 4th Sunday of Advent. So far, during these weeks of Advent, as we anticipate the celebration of Jesus’ birth, we have talked about HOPE, JOY, & PEACE. Today we look at LOVE. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to us in His overall plan to provide for us the gift of salvation. As I thought about the topic of LOVE, I thought about the love that Mary must have had for her baby.
Jeremy just shared with us the beautiful song “Mary, Did You Know.”
The message title this morning is “I Wonder if she Knew.” I had Mary, the mother of Jesus, in mind as I thought about Christmas from a different perspective. I wonder if Mary realized, if she really realized, what she held in her arms as she held her baby boy, Jesus.
We never know what God’s plan is for our children. As we look at our children, our grandchildren, the children of this church, did it ever occur to you that God might have a magnificent plan for one or more of them?
I wonder if Manu Ginoboli’s mom ever thought that her son would turn out to be a professional basketball star. I wonder if Cindy Crawford’s mother ever dreamed that her child would become a famous model. I bet not. You see, we need to pay close attention to our children because we never know what God has predestined for them. We should never slight our children. We need to see the world through their eyes. We might have a totally different perspective of things if we did.
Surely Mary knew something was different about this baby boy. Only God could produce a child within her while she remained a virgin. And then there’s the angel that spoke to her. Let’s just read about it.
Luke 1: 26-38 – “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”
******** 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to 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 him the throne of his father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.” 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?”
********35 The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.
******** 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.”
So surely Mary must have known that this child would be extraordinary. She must have known that he was destined for greatness. But, then again, most mothers feel that way about their newborn baby. But I wonder if Mary really knew.
I guess these were the thoughts of Mark Lowry, the Christian comedian and songwriter. I have referenced him several times throughout the years. He’s very funny and can really be a clown on stage. But he must be a godly man, because God inspired him to pen the words to one of the most beautiful Christmas songs of our day. “Mary Did You Know?”
So, I’d like you to come along with me this morning as we take a closer look at the words of this song and imagine what was going through Mary’s mind. We say, “Surely Mary knew.” But I wonder.
I wonder if Mary knew that one day her baby boy would walk on water. One evening, after the five thousand were fed with five loaves and two fish, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of the lake. Actually, it was the Sea of Galilee, but the Sea of Galilee is actually a fresh water lake. After going up on a mountain to pray by Himself, Jesus decided to join His disciples. They had gotten a long distance from the land, but Jesus went out to them walking on the water. I wonder if Mary ever imagined that Jesus had that power.
One of the required courses at seminary is Systematic Theology, the study of God. You learn that God is omnipotent. Here we see omnipotence in full view when Jesus walks on water. Jesus is the Son of God, not just Mary’s little lamb. He is all powerful, He never met a problem he couldn’t solve, never met a mountain he couldn’t move and never met a devil he couldn’t whip.
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I wonder if Mary knew that her baby boy would be able to calm a storm with His hand. Just like his walking on water, we again see His power over nature. On another occasion the disciples and Jesus were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a storm came up. Jesus was asleep as the storm grew more violent. The wind and waves threatened to turn the boat over. The disciples could have been drowned. They awoke Jesus. Jesus stood and with the wave of His hand, the winds subsided and the waves became calm.
As Mary held her baby child, I wonder if she knew that Jesus would do that. I wonder if she realized His calming of the seas was only a small part of His power. I wonder if she realized that one day:
• her son would also calm the stormy soul,
• that He would calm the life that is confused,
• that He would calm the troubled heart and wipe away the tears.
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I wonder if Mary knew that one day her son would be able to heal anyone who was suffering—the various diseases and pains, the epileptics, the paralytics. I wonder if she knew that at the sound of the voice of her son, demons obeyed and left the bodies of the tormented souls.
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I wonder if Mary knew that one day her son would spit in the dirt and make a paste to place over the eyes of a blind man, and then tell him to go and wash it off and he would be able to see. And that was not the only blind man that Jesus healed. Jesus was not only Savior, but prophet, priest and King. In His many miracles He displayed His prophetic calling, but also His great compassion for the hurting, shows that He was love.
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I wonder if Mary knew that the day would come when all Jesus would have to do is speak the words and leprosy would leave the infected. At
just His touch, the deaf would be able to hear.
And then, there was the centurion’s slave that Jesus performed—a long-distance healing, so to speak. That centurion came to Jesus in faith that He could heal his servant, but as Jesus was making His way to the centurion’s house, the centurion said he wasn’t even worthy of having Jesus under his roof, so Jesus healed the man without even being there.
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I wonder if Mary, while she sat holding her baby boy, ever knew that her son would speak to the dead and they would live again. Sure, we already know about Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb. But that was not the only dead person that Jesus spoke back to life.
As Jesus came to the city of Nain one day, He saw a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. He felt compassion and touched the coffin. The carriers of the coffin stopped. Jesus spoke to the dead man and he sat up and began to speak.
And let’s not forget Jairus, the synagogue official whose daughter had died. Jesus arrived at his house and people were weeping and mourning. Jesus told them she was only asleep. They laughed at Jesus until He took the girl by the hand and spoke to her saying, “Talitha kum!” (Which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) and she lived again.
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I wonder if Mary knew that one day large crowds would come to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and lay them at His feet and He would heal them. I wonder if Mary knew. As already mentioned, we have Jesus the prophet doing many miracles. Jesus even said, “If you don’t believe in me, believe me for the works that I do.”
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I wonder if Mary ever thought about the fact that her baby boy had walked where angels trod. The pre-existent Christ is a deep theological study. But one thing is very simple and very sure, before Abraham, before Moses, before Adam, I am. When God used the plural pronouns “Us” and “Our” in the very first chapter of Genesis, he was telling us that Jesus was there.
Jesus left the splendor of heaven, to walk where we walk so that we will not be asked to go through anything that God himself has not gone through. When we say, no one knows, he comes and says, “I do.”
Matthew 2:23 & Isaiah 7:14 - “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, God with Us.”
I wonder if when Mary kissed her baby boy that she knew she was kissing the face of God.
Three very important names are used for Jesus:
• Son of David–His royal lineage,
• Son of Man–that he was flesh, born of a woman.
• Son of God–Deity.
Mary, your little baby boy is God. You gave birth to Him, but He gave birth to the entire human race. Peter, by the Spirit, declared while others said he was just a great teacher, prophet or even John the Baptist back from the dead. That Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.
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I wonder if Mary knew that her son was Lord of all creation. John wrote and told us,
John 1:1 & 1:14 - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . .Jesus being the Word of God that dwells among us, and we behold His glory.”
All of creation was the spoken Word of God. Mary did you know, in Him we live and move and have our being. In Him, by Him and through Him do all things exist.
I wonder, as Mary looked into the eyes of her baby boy, if she knew that one day He would rule all nations. Of course, this has not yet come to pass. But the book of Revelation tells us that after the battle of Armageddon, Jesus will set up his thousand year rule from Jerusalem. We will reign with Him, and it will be a time of perfect peace. The wolf will lay down with the lamb.
And speaking of lambs, I wonder if Mary knew that Jesus was Heaven’s perfect lamb. I wonder if she had any idea that one day her baby boy would be led like a lamb to the slaughter, to be nailed to a cross to die for our sins.
I wonder if Mary knew that her Baby boy would save us and our sons and daughters. One of the first things you learn in a Christian home or Sunday school, is that Jesus is the Savior of the world. There is no other name by which we must be saved, His name shall be called Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.
Matthew 1:21 – “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
I wonder if Mary knew that her Baby boy had come to make all new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Old things are passed away, behold all things become new.”
This is the story of transformation. Jesus not only saves your soul, but gives you a brand new life. He removes your sin as far as the east is from the west, He washes you as white as snow, you are a new creation, a brand new person.
I wonder if Mary knew that this Baby she delivered, would one day deliver her. The message of deliverance may be foreign to some, but Jesus comes as the deliverer. He comes to set us free from sin, set us free from the flesh life to walk in the new life. I have a feeling that Mary didn’t know that at the time.
I wonder if Mary knew that she had given birth to the Great I Am. God revealed Himself to Moses as the I Am. Jesus comes to us as the Great I Am. Are you aware that Jesus is the great I am? It was Jesus that proclaimed: I AM: The Messiah, The bread of life, The living bread, The light of the world, Not of this world, The door, The good shepherd, I am the father, The Son of God, The resurrection and the life, The true vine, The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Jesus was, and is, the great I AM.
I’m sure that Mary knew all of this back at the manger. And she might not have fully understood it all in her entire life. We know about these things of Jesus because we read about it. But I wonder if people really know Jesus. Sure, you are sitting here this morning and you say, “Sure, I know who Jesus is.” But I ask, “Do you know Jesus personally?” Is the Bible just another book that you read or do you read it and allow God to speak to your heart. Do you really know my Jesus? That’s our challenge this morning.
Sure, we read about all these things Jesus did, but do we really believe it. Do we really understand why Jesus did these things? I tell you this; We will all understand it when Jesus is the light of the city. When Jesus wipes away all tears. When every knee bows, and every tongue confesses, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
All those whom Jesus helped gave praise to the lamb. John the Baptist declared Jesus to be the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. We praise Jesus as the Lamb of God, because he offered his blood as a sacrifice and God accepted it, and the seals to the book of life will be opened, and everyone whose name appears in the Lamb’s book of life will be saved.
I’ve asked over and over again this morning, “I wonder if Mary knew.”
Now I ask, I wonder if you really know Jesus. If not, we are giving you the chance to become a child of the King by accepting Jesus Christ personally right now. Ask Him to be Lord and Savior of your life.
If you have a storm, He can calm it, if you have a need He can meet it, He still gives a peace that surpasses understanding.
By the way, there was another I am statement that Jesus made.
John 14:6 – “He said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.’”
That tells me that there will be one of two decisions made before we leave this sanctuary this morning. And every one of us will make one of these two decisions. Some will choose to accept Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life in heaven. The rest will choose hell because Christ has just told us that the only way to see the Father in heaven is through His Son Jesus Christ. What will be your choice?
When you think of the baby Jesus in the manger this Christmas, remember who He was. Remember all that He did for you and for me. So, as we offer you the invitation to accept Christ as your very own, and we ask “Mary, did you know?” ask yourself if you really know Jesus in a life changing way.
