As Josh and I were riding in the car last night, he accidentally poked at the crazy. The song, "Mary Did You Know" had come on the radio and Josh casually mentioned that one of his best friends, K, didn't particularly like this song, probably because it was trendy.
"That's fair. It is trendy, and dumb. Obviously Mary knew."
Josh looked at me somewhat surprised, so I went on.
"I mean, in Luke 1:32-33 the angel, Gabriel, says explicitly to Mary that her son, Jesus, "Will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the House of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Clearly, Mary knew the answer to all the silly questions in the song. I have no idea why the songwriter feels the need to belittle Mary's intelligence to make a point about the birth of Christ."
"Heather, I think the writer is using a rhetorical device to proclaim the good news in song."
"I get that, I just don't see why he had to make Mary look dumb in the process. That's all I'm saying."
"Whoa, Mac! Be careful, your crazy is showing. I feel like maybe you have some other association with this song that makes you hate it so much?"
"I mean, once in my childhood, I heard it sung by someone I didn't really like in church, but I really think most of my aggression towards the song comes from the lyrics."
"Okay..."
I recognize that I may have had a slightly less than reasonable response to this song, and that the author was probably just trying to make a point about Jesus, but if you happen to be looking for Christmas jams that use the questioning and rhetorical question device to play this Christmas season, I would recommend these two for their slightly more accurate telling of the nativity (aka not leaving out the part with Gabriel) and their lack of disrespect to Mary:
How Many Kings by Downhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF952rzG3Yk
Do You Hear what I Hear? (this version by Carrie Underwood):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad7KU9bCTAM
*drops mic and gets off soap box*
"Many Kings" is definitely one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteok, now all of us who have ever sung this in church are going "hmmm is it me Heather doesn't like" LOL
ReplyDeleteI've never thought of it that way! I think they way it has always struck me is: 'Mary did you know' as in...'Mary, do you REALLY understand?' In my New Testament class we've been talking about how even while in Jesus' presence those around Him forgot who He really was. Like when Mary and Joseph left Him in Jerusalem and upon asking why He stayed He said 'I must be about my Father's business,' reminding Mary and Joseph of His true lineage. So of course Mary knew, but I think it's a good reminder to check ourselves, 'Do we REALLY know who the Savior is?' But that's just my take. Thanks for your post :)
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