12.10.2025

It’s that time of year. 

I was sitting at a restaurant in Athens last week when they emerged from the background noise.  One after another. All 3. In a row. First, Mary Did You Know. Then, Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart (a stinker by George Michael). And finally, So This is Christmas (Paul McCartney’s only lame song). 

It was the triumvirate – the 3 Christmas songs I can’t endure. Now, I understand you will have a different triumvirate, but these are mine. These are the three songs that make me not just  reach for the radio but LEAP for the radio with a sledgehammer. 

For some of you, MDYK is your favorite Christmas song. I understand that. I understand you like the style of the song and how the song makes you think about who Jesus really was. 

But. 

For me, it ignores what the scripture plainly teaches. God chose Mary and sent Gabriel to explain what was going to happen, and in response to the message she said, “Let it be to me according to your word.”  And later she sang a song, the Magnificat, filled with quotes and allusions to Old Testament promises. 

How much did Mary know? Sounds to me like she knew a LOT! 

So, let’s look at the song and compare it to the scriptures:

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water? [She grew up singing Psalm 127 and she probably regularly heard Job 9:8-11, so, if she didn’t know, she shouldn’t have been surprised]

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters? [Yes, because the angel said in Matthew 1:21, “you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”]
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new
And this child that you've delivered will soon deliver you? [Yes, see Matthew 1:21 again]

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man? [She did if she knew Isaiah 35]
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand? [Yes, Psalm 127 again]
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod? [I’m not even sure what this means]
And when you kiss your little baby you've kissed the face of God? [Yes, the angel told her in Luke 1]
Mary, did you know? [it’s looking like she did]

The blind will see, the deaf will hear [Isaiah 35 again]
And the dead will live again [probably not]
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb? [Isaiah 35 again]

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? [Yes, the angel told her]
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations? [Yes, the angel told her]
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb? [probably not the way she thought]
This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am? [Yes, the angel told her]

So . . . when you look at the entire song . . . She knew a lot!

But did she understand everything? No, I doubt she did. She couldn’t have understood the full implications of Who her child was – the disciples who were with Jesus everyday, who witnessed his miracles and heard his teaching, didn’t understand.  

In our Wednesday night Bible study, we recently read Mark 3:20-35, where Mary and the rest of the family didn’t seem to understand at all!  We read, “When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind’ . . . Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him . . .” So at this point, it seems Mary and the rest of the family were thinking Jesus may have gone over the edge a bit!

Of course, the questions asked in MDYK  are all rhetorical questions. And I think the song is more about the singer than it is about Mary. I think the song’s point of view is of someone who is in awe of the Good News. It’s as if the singer has just heard and is asking, “Wow! Mary, did you know all this?” 

So, when you look at it like that, I don’t mind it so much. But don’t think for a second that Mary was clueless. She might have been a poor, first century 13-year-old Jewish girl, but she knew her scripture! 

But I do wish the song ended something like this:

Singer: Mary did you know?
Mary:  Yes, of course, I knew. 

What about you? Are there Christmas songs that get under your skin? I’d love to hear yours! 

Blessings,
Pastor Terry