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What is the general thought about the song “Mary did you know?” 1) Did she know all those things 2) Is there a theological problem with saying that she has not been redeemed yet in the song?
First, listen to the lyrics of the song in the above video.
Mary is the Mother of God (in Greek, the Theotokos, which means God-Bearer, the source of Christ’s human nature, and the one who bore the Eternal God.) Eastern Orthodox Christians appropriately honor Mary as first among saints.
The song is very well done but seems to allude that Mary was unaware and uninformed in the event that she was participating in. Mary shared the Presence of the Creator of all, a limitation for us to even comprehend. She, in turn, became full of grace and illumined by God, becoming the vessel of Christ’s entrance into His creation. “He was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man” (from the Nicene Creed 325 AD).
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we sing the hymn “It Is Truly Right” which expresses Mary’s unique place and honor in the Incarnation. The two links below offer unique arrangements. Traditionally Orthodox music caters to the soul, rather than the body.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn891kFeKE Modern day arrangement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRY8Bjc-Kw8 Ancient Greek arrangement
Here are the lyrics to the hymn Axion Estin (pure or worthy maiden):
“It is truly right to bless you, Theotokos, ever-blessed,
Most pure, and Mother of our God. More honorable than
the Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than
the Seraphim, you incorruptibly gave birth to God the Word.
We magnify you, the true Theotokos!”
History of Mary’s Life
The Protoevangelion of James, also sometimes known as the Gospel of James or the Infancy Gospel of James, is dated to the 2nd century AD. It is a gospel that was widely read but never accepted into the New Testament Canon.
The attested author is James the Just, the step-brother of Jesus and Bishop of Jerusalem, and who presided over the Apostles at the first Council of Jerusalem (Acts of the Apostles). There are over 140 Greek manuscripts containing this Gospel of James have been discovered, and they pertain to the birth and life of Mary.
In these writings, Mary was dedicated to the temple at about the age of three. The Theotokos dwelt in the temple for nine years until reaching an age for marriage. She then was taken from the temple by the priests and elders and entrusted to Joseph as the guardian of her virginity. Joseph was a widower, with four older children, at the time that Mary was entrusted to his care.
Mary’s father, St. Joachim, was of the tribe of Judah and therefore, a descendant of King David. Mary’s mother, St. Anna, was a descendant from the tribe of Levi and her father was the high priest Nathan. Mary’s lineage was of royal Davidic and Levitical priestly heritage.
When the archangel Gabriel addressed Mary, “Rejoice, highly favored one (χαριτωμένη), the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.” (Luke 1:28). “Highly favored” in the ancient Greek is translated “full of grace.” Grace, for Eastern Orthodox Christians, is the uncreated Trinitarian energies of God that come to dwell in an individual. This action is God forgiving and spiritual healing, not a created substance or a commodity of any kind.
The archangel Gabriel continued with “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus…” (Luke 1:30).
The incarnation took place when Mary obediently consented to the will of God. Thus, through God’s intervention into His creation, He began to make all of it anew and redeem mankind. Eastern Orthodox Christians appropriately honor Mary as first among saints. We as EOC ask her to intercede with her Son for us. We venerate her (give honor), but do not worship her, for worship belongs to God alone.
Did Mary know all those things?
Some interesting points:
And by the Presence of the God within her, she was inspired by the Holy Spirit to predict the honor that would be paid to her throughout history. “For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). How else could she have known without the enlightenment of the Eternal God residing in her? Did she know? Absolutely, maybe not details, but in a mystical way.
The question of did she know that Christ would walk on water is NOT the important question. The important question is, did she believe that God can do anything? Mary knew that nothing is impossible for God growing up in the temple and especially when He resided in her womb.
The redemption of all of mankind by His precious cross destroyed the record of our sins, triumphing over the source and power of darkness, death, and sin, and is the beginning of the new creation, making everything anew, and restoring our relationship with Him.
Mary is considered the first prototype of all Christians, the model of what we all should strive for, was unconditionally obediently to God. Mary was the first person to receive Christ. A precursor in the reunion of God and man when the Holy Spirit of God brought Christ into the womb of the Theotokos so does the Holy Spirit of God also brings Christ to reside in us.
Saint Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Mary and Joseph, descendants of King David, traveled to Bethlehem (Bethlehem in Hebrew means “House of Bread”), the City of David. Everyone had to go to the town of their family’s origin to register for the census that was ordered by Caesar Augustus. Coming to the “House of Bread” Bethlehem, the Bread that came down from Heaven, Old Testament manna, and to finally become the Bread, New Testament Christ, that is meant to satisfy the deepest and truest hunger every human has ever had!
Is there a theological problem with saying that she has not been redeemed yet in the song?
We as Eastern Orthodox Christians are always in the process of repentance and redemption. Apostolic teaching understands salvation in three tenses: (1) past: we have been saved in baptism, an external sign of an inward transformation; (2) present: we are being saved by inviting Christ to live in us; (3) future: we shall be saved at the judgment.
Heaven and Earth proclaim “Christ is born, Glorify Him.” Christ enters His creation not only to reunite man with God, but God became man so that man could become through God’s grace and mercy what God is by nature. Blessings to all.
Beautiful songy, but I heard someone described the lyrics as “mansplaining” to Mary.
As someone who believes that even Jesus himself had his own
identity gradually revealed to him throughout his earthly ministry, I am very
much inclined to believe that Mary may have known little about who Jesus was to
become and what that would look like and how she would experience his life and
death and resurrection. Certainly if one accepts the traditional view that his
was, in fact, a virgin birth, then -obviously- she would have known that she
was giving birth to an extraordinary human being, but in what ways he was to be
extraordinary she may have had little clarity at first. And, as to “a
theological problem” with saying she was not redeemed at the Nativity, if one
sees Christ’s atoning work on the Cross as being salvific for “all persons everywhere,”
then wouldn’t she be one of them? What is the rationale for claiming that she
was sinless and therefore not in need of his saving work on the Cross?
Do you think it was really a Virgin Birth? Is it true that there were several ‘virgin birth’ claims around the time period?
According to the gospels of Mark and John, no. The gospels of Matthew and Luke? Yes. Other such births? Yes.