Did he know, that what he wrote would be debated? Mark Lowry was just writing some script for a Christmas play, and he thought about questions that he might have posed to Mary, if he’d had the opportunity to interview her. “Mary, Did You Know?”, he wondered aloud. It would have been something, to have been one of her close friends or family members when she was carrying Jesus, or to see her years later during episodes with that special son. Was Jesus tame, or instead provocative? You cannot read much of your bible and not know that answer. And so, a song about the mother of this unique God-Son, and what she knew about Him, might naturally also give some people difficulty. A young girl can know some things, because she is told by God’s messenger. But can she really know, in detail? Perhaps that’s what Mark Lowry was asking.
It was the 1984 Christmas season, and 26-year-old Mark Lowry was thinking about some ways to personalize a play, with lots of questions that ask the listener to put him- or herself in Mary’s shoes. Critics have complained that Mark’s questions are illogical or otherwise off the mark, especially since scripture (including Luke chapters 1 and 2) does tell us of her encounter with the angel, and that she actually ‘treasured…and pondered them (the related facts about Him) in her heart.’ Yes, she knew of His identity, and evidently spent some mental energy on that fact. Synonyms for the word ‘ponder’, according to this blogger’s WORD application, include ‘muse’, ‘deliberate’, ‘consider’, contemplate’, ‘wonder about’. Those synonyms do not include ‘completely comprehend’, or even ‘understand’. If Mary had understood everything, why would she have been weeping at the foot of His cross? And so, Mark Lowry had a number of questions that sought answers. Or, maybe some of the questions were in fact merely rhetorical. Mary had been told He was the Messiah, the Son of God, so why ask if she knew He was ‘the Great I Am’? Or how about that He ’would rule the nations’, or was the ‘Lord of creation’? She did know, at least to some degree, but even certainty can nevertheless prompt extended periods of mental searching. ‘What does all His identity mean?’, must have crossed Mary’s mind many times. Perhaps it did also for Mark Lowry, for he says that even after the lyrics were written, it took several more years for accompanying music to gestate in a friend (Buddy Greene). How about those other details of His life – ‘walking on water’, ‘saving all people’, ‘making even Mary new’ (v.1)? Still more stunning details that Jesus would reveal about Himself included ‘healing the blind’ and ‘calming a storm’ (v.2). ‘Mary, did you know?’, might more accurately have been phrased as ‘Mary, how could you have totally appreciated all that Jesus was and is’?
Mark Lowry wasn’t trying to be a theologian when he asked so many questions of Mary. Human-to-human was Mark’s approach. It is astonishing that God blessed this teenager in this way, no doubt. But she was human, just like you and me. And, so was Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, Elizabeth (Mary’s relative), Paul, and many others to whom God gave a mission. Just read what one writer had to say about such people as these (Hebrews 11). They all had questions, and all were imperfect, and that was OK. If God’s not stunning, and making you ask questions, are you really listening? He’s ready to use you and me, flawed as we are. Just try not asking questions. That’s the impossible part of relating to Him.
See biography of the author here, and a brief account of the song story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lowry
Information about the song: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Did_You_Know%3F
Complete interview with the author, explaining the origin of the song: https://blog.sheetmusicdirect.com/2017/09/how-well-do-you-know-mary-did-you-know.html
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