What Mary Knew

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.  Luke 1:26-38

Dear People of St. David’s,

One of the hottest gifts this year in our staff white elephant gift exchange was a plain white t-shirt, with two large words printed on it in Christmas-y red: “Mary knew.” The phrase refers to the often-heard Christmas song, “Mary Did You Know.” The song asks Mary if she knew that her baby would grow up to be Jesus, savior of the world. The implication is that she couldn’t have known! Who could have guessed it?

There is a lot of cheeky talk amongst St. David’s staff about this song. Some of us hate it, some of us love it, and all of us are laughing hard. Put me down for team hate—though I will admit through my giggles that I find the tune haunting.

But here’s the thing: like the t-shirt says, Mary knew. In some of the most poetic and lovely language of all of Holy Scripture, the very verses that give us the prayer called the “Hail Mary,” we learn that Mary was given the grace and the choice to bear Jesus. The angel told her what would happen to her and told her what Jesus would mean to the world. Then, he waited for her to say yes, and praise be to God, she did.

There’s a pop song about that, too! “Let it be!” said Mary. In that moment, God showed us again how very much we are loved, because with God there is always more. God showed us that God wants us to participate in the grand, divine desire to save the world—to bring us all into life in God—the life that never ends.

In the next chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Mary hears what the angels tell the shepherds, and she “treasured all their words and pondered them in her heart” (2:19).  A few verses later, we read the story of the boy Jesus teaching in the Temple. Mary and Joseph thought he was lost, and when they find him, he seems surprised that they wouldn’t know that he was “in my father’s house” (2:49). Again, Luke tells us, “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (2:51).

Mary knew. She spent her whole life pondering, praying, and treasuring her knowledge of God in her son Jesus. That must be what gave her the courage to stand at the foot of the cross on that terrible day that we call “Good,” and to continue to serve the church after Jesus’ resurrection.  Today, as we get ready for our yearly celebration of the birth of Mary’s baby, let us thank God for His mother, strong, loving, and knowing.

Blessings,

The Rev. Nancy Webb Stroud
Priest Associate

Featured Image: The Annunciation, 1898 by Henry Ossawa Tanner. Located at Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Learn more video: “The Annunciation” by Henry Ossawa Tanner