Mary's Side of the Story

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

This is a portion of the Christmas story as told in Luke 2. It is an awesome place to read of how Christ was born in a lowly estate; yet, His birth was announced by a choir of angels--I never cease to be amazed at the dichotomy between His humility and His glory. But inside of that story, I am always drawn to verse 19:  Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself (The Message).

Here we find a young woman, most likely scorned because of the state of her Child's birth. Humbled by God when the angel, Gabriel, tells her of the plan He has for her in bearing the Savior of all who will believe. Humbled by her betrothed after he, too, is assured by God that this is all a part of His plan, and he does not do as expected and ask for a certificate of divorce. Humbled by her family when her cousin, Elizabeth, blesses Mary when the child in Elizabeth's womb, John the Baptist, leaps with joy at being near his Lord inside of Mary's womb. Mary is humbled by all of these events; yet, she is most likely reassured by them because, from the moment she tells others of Gabriel's message to her, there would be much unbelief and ridicule for her to face.

Then, after delivering the promised Child [aside here:  I have always wondered, "Was this a normal birth with a painful, drawn out labor?" Or was God like, "Well, since you are delivering the Deliverer, I'll give you a break"?], Mary sees her Son's visitors--the shepherds and, later on, the Magi--and is reassured. Not only was it all worth it, but as others worship Jesus, she must have had peace in her heart. As a virgin, she must have been sure of His divinity. But now she knows others are, too. Mary sees all these things and hears the shepherds tell her of the angel's proclamation and the heavenly host. What does she do? She treasures up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

I love Mary for this.

We already know that she is a woman of humility, but here would be her chance to shout out, "Look at me! God chose me, He picked me, and He obviously thinks I'm pretty stinkin' amazing. Where's my angel choir?" This would also be her chance to say, "Okay, God, what now? I've delivered your Son. Answer all of my questions. Now." And I am sure she had plenty of questions. Instead, she holds dear this knowledge of her little one. She treasures the homage that others pay to Him. And she keeps her questions to herself. She reflects on all she has seen and heard, confident, and doubtless repeating what she said to Gabriel in Luke 1, "I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled." Because, as Gabriel said, "No word from God will ever fail."

Here is what Matthew Henry has to say about all of this:

The virgin Mary made them the matter of her private meditation. She said little, but kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19). She laid the evidences together, and kept them in reserve, to be compared with the discoveries that should afterwards be made her. As she had silently left it to God to clear up her virtue, when that was suspected, so she silently leaves it to him to publish her honour, now when it was veiled; and it is satisfaction enough to find that, if no one else takes notice of the birth of her child, angels do. Note:  The truths of Christ are worth keeping; and the way to keep them safe is to ponder them. Meditation is the best help to memory.

I want to follow Mary's example. For one, when I become a mother, I want to treasure up all the things I hear my children say or watch them do, not forgetting what I have had the privilege to observe. And I want to trust their unknown futures to their Father, pondering what He has for them. But, more importantly, I want to treasure what I know about Christ:  why He came to earth, how He lived, how and why He died and rose again, and how His life gives me new life. I want to ponder anew His mercy and His grace. And I want to be an eyewitness of His majesty this Christmas.