Mary Did You Know?

Mary, Did You Know? has to be my all-time favorite Christian Christmas song. Every time I hear it I get "choked up" thinking about a major player in the Christmas story that most of my life I forgot about or looked at as a minor role. In truth, she is probably the second most important character of that night, second only to her child, Jesus.

The song questions Mary as to if she really realized who this child was & what it would mean not only to her but the whole world throughout all time. Really, who could understand that? Even knowing what we know now, we have a difficult time comprehending it. The complexity & the simplicity that it is at the same time. We are human & will probably never understand until we are in the physical presence of our Holy Father.

So, do you think Mary really understood what was happening? I think she had a pretty good idea. The Jewish people had been studying the prophecies of the coming Messiah for centuries. This religion was not a Sunday morning type commitment like many "religious" people live their spiritual lives now-a-days. This was a daily, hourly, constant commitment. This was a lifestyle. People immersed themselves in the scripture & considered the messages constantly. They had been taught about The Messiah. There were different theories on what He would do & be like, but all the same, this was not some new idea. So, in a way, I think Mary & Joseph had some sort of idea as to what might be happening. I don't think either one of them had any idea of the things He would do or what would happen to him.

I imagine they were more than a little nervous as to how they should raise such a child. Should they reprimand him? If they do will he "strike them down?" Can you imagine the stress? Most parents wonder if they will completely screw up their kids, can you imagine if your child was the Son of God, the one sent to save all man-kind from their sins? Yikes. There aren't enough antacids on the planet.

Anyway, this was meant to be a short post sending you to another blog entry in which the author, Linda Williams, gives the lyrics to the song & discusses what she gets from the song. I totally agree with what she says. Don't worry, her entry is much shorter than mine. :)