Mary Did You Know?

​My favorite song, often sung around Christmas time but is very appropriate during the entire year, is the song called “Mary Did You Know?” The lyrics ask Mary if she knew her baby boy would one day walk on water, heal the sick, cause blind men to see, bring the dead back to life, and most importantly, deliver her and all of us from sin.

Mary was an obedient woman. She was a virgin woman, engaged to be married to Joseph, and knowing anything was possible with God, was grateful to submit to God's command.
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​We can read about Mary’s obedience in Luke 1:28-38--

28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

The story of Mary’s obedience brings to light the idea that our only objective in life should be to be obedient to God because extraordinary goodness comes from serving and obeying.
 
The lyrics include a stanza that says, “When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God.” Sit and ponder that for a moment!
 
Mary was very aware that she was giving birth to the Messiah. I can’t possibly compare how Mary felt giving birth to her baby boy to how I felt giving birth to my baby girls. I know I was the happiest mother in the world, holding them, loving them, kissing their faces. They were precious to me then, and they are dear to me now. I am a very proud mother. My children have accomplished great things in their lives, and I am as proud as a mother could be.

I AM
The final line in the song puts the entire piece in perspective.

​And, now, as I think out loud about how Mary must have felt about the accomplishments of her child, baby Jesus and the man He had become, I am overwhelmed when I hear the final line in the song, “That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM!”

I think about the time when Moses asks God what to tell the people God’s name was, God says for the first time, His name, "I AM."
 
Exodus 3:14 --

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I SAY I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Our God is all-encompassing and self-sufficient. God’s name is the name above names. God is infinite. He is sovereign over our lives. The truth is, He Is Who He Is. And, there is nothing more to be said about it. He is the great I AM.
 
Merry Christmas!
As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, let us remember the love our Father sent to us in giving to us Our Savior, the one who would lead us to eternal life in the goodness of our Father.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Or, as a dear friend prefers to say, “Happy Advent Season!”

“Advent” derives its meaning from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming.” The Advent season is a four-week period before Christmas that celebrates the anticipation and coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Whatever way you remember this time of year, remember Jesus is the reason for the season! ​

​© Bertrand 2020