This song has faced its fair share of negative feedback over the years. Comments like, “I disliked that song the first time I heard it, and I've avoided it ever since.” Or, “Horrible song! Mary KNEW right from the start.” [These are real comments taken from Facebook]
Many people have claimed that Luke 1:26-35 tells us that Mary knew exactly who Jesus was and all that he would accomplish. I’d like to take a moment to reconsider that idea.
It’s obvious this song employs the literary device known as the rhetorical question—questions that are asked without expecting an answer. The questions within this song are asked not to receive answers, but to encourage deeper reflection from the hearer.
But even if we were going to literally answer these rhetorical questions, then we must admit that Mary most likely did not know some, if not most, of these things :: Scripture does not tell us that Mary knew Jesus would walk on water. Nowhere are we told that Mary knew Jesus would calm a storm. She may not have known that Jesus would heal a man’s blindness or raise the dead with just a few words. She could assume great things were in store based on the angel’s announcement to her in Luke 1:26-35, but the angel does not mention any specific details. So, based on Luke 1, no, Mary did not know of the incredible actions mentioned throughout the song.
The beauty of “Mary, Did You Know?” is that it is filled with a great variety of faithful biblical imagery that many other less contentious Christmas songs do not contain.
How can you not be moved to worship when you hear:
“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”
Now, if you feel the song is overplayed or that there are better songs out there, that’s another story. But let’s not despise the song just because it’s the popular thing to do. And let’s not jump to the false assumption that Mary understood everything there was to know about Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. Sure, she knew that Jesus was special—that he was the Son of God. But, did she really know that he was going to walk on water? I mean, come on, who saw THAT coming?
Based on Luke 1:26-35, there were potentially a lot of unanswered questions left swirling around in Mary’s mind. But praise be to God for her response: “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (1:38); “My soul magnifies the Lord” (1:46).
May our response to God be the same.
—Steven Brooks
Devotional Exercise:
A good devotional exercise would be to take each question and write down the scripture reference in which it is inferring. For instance:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water? = Matthew 14:22–33