His disciples at times didn't understand … His brothers and sisters didn't know or understand until after His death and resurrection … did Mary know? Did she understand that the baby she delivered would one day deliver her and us all from our sins? That when she held her Son in her arms she held the infinite God?
As a mother, I well remember the moment when I held my newborn. It is a most sacred and beautiful time, one that lives on in our memories long after our children have grown. As mothers in that first moment we look on our babes and often wonder what they will become: their personality, character, gifts, and quirks, are still to be uncovered.
Mary had been told by the angel that her Son would deliver His people from their sins … that He had been conceived by the Holy Spirit … she had more reason than any other mother to gaze with awe on her firstborn … but did she know? Did she understand?
And do we know? Do we understand?
Do we consider the cradle and forget the cross?
Both brought forth with blood and sweat and tears, the fulfilment of God's promise through history, and yet we often gaze at the manger and ignore the cross. We see the beauty in the new life in the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes but forget the beauty of the old rugged cross and the tomb.
The song asks of Mary: do you know … this sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM?
Do you know?
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