What Did Mary Know?

‘Tis the season to be snarky, and kids all over the world go to sleep with visions of memes dancing in their heads. Making the meme circuit again this Christmas is a new classic that takes on the almost-30-year-old question: Mary, did you know?

It’s a battle as old as the ’90s and is a threatening schism. On one side, proponents of the song champion its mystery, contemplation, and goosebump-inducing melody. On the other, those proficient with memes sarcastically remind unsuspecting Facebook scrollers that Mary did indeed know because the angel Gabriel told her. There seems to be no peace in sight this Christmas as this debate rages on, so in an attempt at peacemaking, I’ll throw myself in between the two sides.

I do agree that the song is not only goosebump-inducing but also profound in its own way. The song allows the listener to sit with Mary and look ahead to the cross. I’ve always found it odd to hang cross ornaments on a Christmas tree, but connecting the birth of Jesus to the death of Jesus is poetic, moving, tragic, and theologically powerful. Yes, there is an announcement from Gabriel, but did Mary know that salvation would come at the price of the life of the baby she held, nursed, and kissed on the head? It’s a valid question and a moving song.

However, I do agree with the memes’ assertion that Mary knew because Gabriel told her. Specifically: she was favored, God was with her, not to be afraid, she would conceive, she would give birth to a boy whom she would name Jesus, he would be great, he would be called Son of the Most High, God would give him the throne of David, he would reign over Jacob’s house forever, his kingdom would have no end, the Holy Spirit would come upon her, the power of God would overshadow her, Jesus is holy and would be called the Son of God, and P.S., Elizabeth is pregnant too because nothing is impossible with God. That’s what Mary knew. Mic drop.

Yet Mary pondered these things in her heart, as did so many others of her day and for centuries before. Messianic expectations had been around for awhile by this point, and people “knew” a lot about the coming Messiah. However, there was a disconnect between fact and interpretation. On this side of the cross, texts like Gabriel’s announcement in Luke 1 and the suffering servant of Isaiah look pretty clear; but before the birth, life, and death of Jesus, those texts and expectations were contentious, murky, and debatable. Clearly people didn’t really know or they wouldn’t have expected a war lord, destroyer of worlds, someone to call down fire on their enemies, and then feel disappointed with who Jesus grew up to be. Perhaps Mary and everyone else “knew” who Jesus was, but maybe what they knew wasn’t the truth, the whole truth, or nothing but the truth. People often know everything while simultaneously knowing nothing.

To this point, another song was written around the same time as “Mary, Did You Know?” This song, “The Rebel Jesus,” questions what Christians really know about Jesus in a similar manner to how “Mary, Did You Know?” wonders what exactly Mary knew about Jesus. Written by Jackson Browne, the lyrics are as follows:

All the streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around their hearths and tables
Giving thanks for God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

They call him by the "Prince Of Peace"
And they call him by "The Saviour"
And they pray to him upon the sea
And in every bold endeavour
And they fill his churches with their pride and gold
As their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worship in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if anyone of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus

“The Rebel Jesus” begs the question, “Christians, do you know?” while pointing to potential hypocrisy and disconnect between who Jesus is and how we celebrate his birth. Do we know Jesus, or do we know the Jesus we prefer to know? Do we know Gabriel’s announcement, or did we hear what we wanted to hear? Do we know what Jesus is all about, or do we expect Jesus to conform to our own priorities, goals, and worldview? Mary, did you know? Reader, do you know?

I propose, then, that both sides of the debate about what Mary knew can be right. Mary knew what Gabriel told her, but she still could have known more, or more clearly. This is why she pondered these things in her heart. Pondering implies she made the effort to understand what and who Jesus was going to be, rather than assuming she already knew everything there was to know. And so, I stand firmly between the memes and the song and suggest we would all be better off if we assumed Mary’s posture of pondering when it comes to knowing Jesus.