What Did She Know?

Driving in to work this morning, my wife and I heard the Christmas song "Mary Did You Know?" playing on the radio.

In the version that we heard, Kenny Rogers is asking if she knew that the child she was carrying would do many wondrous things.

He asks if she knows that he will 'one day walk on water', 'save our sons and daughters', 'give sight to a blind man', 'calm a storm with his hand', and 'one day rule the nations' among other miraculous actions.

It is a legitimate question to consider: what did Mary know about her child, and when did she know it?

We know from Matthew's Gospel that Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and given certain information.

First, she was told that her child would be a boy, and that she should name him 'Jesus'. She is told by Gabriel that the child will be 'great' and will be 'called Son of the most High'.

But then Gabriel goes further, saying 'the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.'

What Gabriel is telling Mary is that her child shall be the long awaited Messiah.

The Voice Crying Out in the Wilderness

During this Christmas season we are celebrating the imminent arrival on earth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and his birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Over 2,000 years ago that same arrival was anticipated in reality by the man who has become known in some quarters as the 'Precursor', the one who came just before the Christ.

His given name was John, and he has become known to most in the world as 'John the Baptist'. He was born right around the first year A.D., and was a cousin of Jesus Christ, their respective mothers having been first cousins.

John's mother was Elizabeth, and she was married to a priest named Zachary. They were said to be good people, "both just before God" as St. Luke later wrote.

There is a great story about John's birth. Zachary and Elizabeth were elderly and without child, wanted one, and constantly prayed for a child. Zachary even utilized his priestly position for this purpose.

One day an angel appeared to Zachary and told him that they would have a son, that they should name him John, and that the son would be "great before the Lord" as well as a number of other revelations concerning the son. Zachary did not believe, and for his disbelief after praying for this very outcome, he was struck dumb (unable to speak) until the birth of the child.