How much did Mary know?
Luke 2:19
I can scarcely imagine what was going through Mary’s mind the night Jesus was born and the shepherds came to see her miracle baby. The story they told of the glorious angelic messenger who urged them to go and see a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, and even more of a mighty host of heaven who were praising God with loud voices, must have been overwhelming. As if simply giving birth weren’t enough… not to mention the unique circumstances of their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and of the crowded conditions in the city resulting in her needing to give birth in a stable. And nothing compares with the absolute certainty of her pure status as a virgin mother, and of the incarnate Son of God now nestled in her arms.
First-time mothers holding their newborn infants cannot stop staring at the child’s face. They beam with pleasure, basking in the delight that the baby they have awaited and yearned for is finally here. That is normal. And Mary must have done a lot of that, to be sure. But the deeper issues of this baby’s identity and purpose would take a lifetime—indeed, an eternity—to fathom. Mary had already begun that process of reflection, of marveling, of wondering. “In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:3) That was the treasure Mary was holding in her arms that holy night. He is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” (Heb. 1:3) That was Mary’s treasure.
“But the deeper issues of this baby’s identity and purpose would take a lifetime—indeed, an eternity—to fathom.”
When that baby was grown up, he challenged the chief priests’ and Pharisees’ contemporary conception of the Messiah with a question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They answered, “The son of David.” And so he was… see his genealogy in Matthew 1:1. But Jesus probed with a stunning insight from Psalm 110: “How is it, then, that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord?’ For he said, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,” how can he be his son?” (Mt. 22:42-45) At that time, they were stunned into silence. But if they had pressed on in working out what Jesus was really saying, they would have asked Jesus, “Are you claiming to be David’s Lord?” And Jesus could have answered, “I am.”
In the same way, Mary might have begun to realize that night, “I am holding my son and my Lord.” She could have gone deeper and said… “And my Creator, and my Redeemer, and my glory, and my reward.” Were all these things clear to her that night as she cuddled her newborn son and touched his soft face? Certainly not. But they are immeasurably clearer to her now, and they will continue to grow in immensity for all eternity.
That was what Mary was beginning to treasure up in her heart that amazing night!
