“Mary, Did You Know…? ” – IV Luke 1:46-49

(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)

     And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my 
     spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has 
     regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for 
     behold, henceforth all generations shall call me 
     blessed. (Luke 1:46-49).

All generations indeed have called Mary blessed! For God entrusted her to bear the Messiah, Jesus Christ! The lyrics of the modern classic by Mark Lowry, “Mary Did You Know…?” raises questions which Mary may have posed as she looked into the eyes of her newborn infant Jesus!

Here are the lyrics:

     Mary did you know
     That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
     Mary did you know
     That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
     Did you know
     That your baby boy has come to make you new?
     This child that you've delivered
     Will soon deliver you!

     Mary did you know
     That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
     Mary did you know
     That your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
     Did you know
     That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
     And when you kiss your little baby
     You've kissed the face of God!

     Mary, did you know?
     The blind will see!
     The deaf will hear!
     And the dead will live again!
     The lame will leap!
     The dumb will speak
     The praises of the Lamb!

     Mary did you know
     That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
     Mary did you know
     That your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
     Did you know
     That your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
     This sleeping child you're holding
     Is the Great I Am!

     Oh, Mary, did you know?

We are examining the last three lines in the third stanza! The first of these three is…

  • Mary, did you know?…The lame will leap!
The Old Testament prophesy is found in Isaiah 
        35:5 and 6:    

           Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, 
           and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 
           Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and 
           the tongue of the dumb shall sing. For wa-
           ters shall burst forth in the wilderness, 
           and streams in the desert.  

   This prophesy concerns Jesus’ whole miraculous ministry! 
   The third category of miracles mentioned is, “...the 
   lame shall leap like a deer....”  This is the only pro-
   phetic reference of the lame being healed that I could 
   find in the first 39 books of the Bible. But once is 
   enough when it comes to God prophesying of things to 
   come!

   ✞   There are four fulfillments concerning Jesus healing 
       the lame in the gospels:

       ➔   Matthew 11:2 through 6 – When John the Baptist 
            sent his disciples to confirm that Jesus was 
            indeed the Messiah, Jesus answered, “The blind 
            receive their sight...the lame walk...lepers 
            are cleansed...the deaf hear, the dead are 
            raised...the poor [receive] ...the gospel....
            And blessed is he who is not offended because 
            of Me.”

       ➔   Matthew 15:30 – “...great multitudes came to 
            Him having with them those who were lame, 
            blind, mute, maimed, and many others. And 
            they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He 
            healed them.”

       ➔   Luke 13:11 through 13 (Contemporary English 
            Version) – “...a woman...had...an evil spirit 
            for eighteen years. She was completely bent 
            over and could not straighten up....Jesus 
            called her over...‘You are now well.’ He 
            placed his hands on her, and...she stood up 
            straight and praised God.”

       ➔   John 5:2 through 9 – At the pool of Bethesda 
            in Jerusalem, Jesus healed a man who could 
            not walk for thirty-eight years!...Jesus 
            said to him...‘Do you want to be made well? 
            ...Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And 
            immediately the man was made well....And there are three instances of the apostles heal-
       ing the lame through the power of the Holy Spirit!

       ➔   Acts 3:1 through 8 – A lame beggar asked 
            alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. 
            Peter and John saw him, and Peter said, 
            “Look at us....Silver and gold I do not 
            have, but what I do have I give you: In 
            the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 
            rise up and walk.” The man jumped up and 
            walked for the first time in his life!  
            And ...he entered the temple with them 
            — walking, leaping, and praising God.”

       ➔   Acts 9:32 through 35 – Peter went to Joppa 
            on the Mediterranean coast. “There he found
            ...Aeneas...paralyzed...[and] bedridden for 
            eight years....Peter said to him, ‘...Jesus 
            the Christ heals you. Arise....’ Then he 
            arose immediately.”

       ➔   Acts 14:8-10 – Paul and Barnabas, on their 
            first missionary trip to Asia Minor, found 
            at Lystra a man crippled from birth and 
            couldn’t walk. “Paul, observing him intently 
            and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 
            said with a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight 
            on your feet!’ And he leaped and walked.

Yes, Mary, the blind will see!

  • Mary, did you know?…The dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb!
   ✡   That the dumb will speak is prophesied in Isaiah 
        35:5 and 6 (as featured in “Mary Did You Know...” 
        – III):

           The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and 
           the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 
           Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and 
           the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters 
           shall burst forth in the wilderness, and 
           streams in the desert.

   But the most specific part of the  “Mary Did You 
   Know...” lyrics isThe dumb will speak the praises 
   of the Lamb!The more involved Old Testament prophesy about 
        the Lamb concerns the Passover lamb! Here are 
        just some of the prophesies:

       ➔   Exodus 12:3 and 5 – “On the tenth day of 
            this month every man shall take for him-
            self a lamb....Your lamb shall be without 
            blemish, a male of the first year.”

       ➔   Exodus 12:6 – “...the whole...congregation 
            of Israel shall kill it at twilight.”

       ➔   Exodus 12:7 – “And they shall take some of 
            the blood and put it on the two doorposts 
            and on the lintel of the houses where they 
            eat it.”

       ➔   Exodus 12:8 – “...eat the flesh...with un-
            leavened bread....”

       ➔   Exodus 12:46 (Easy-to-Read Version) – “Don’t 
            break any of the lamb’s bones.”

       ➔   Exodus 12:13:

               ...the blood shall be a sign for you 
               on the houses where you are. And when 
               I see the blood, I will pass over you 
               and the plague shall not be on you...
               when I strike the land of Egypt.

   ✡   Another reference that ties Jesus to the Lamb is 
        found in Isaiah 53, that great prophetic chapter 
        describing the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus 
        Christ over 700 years before He was born! In verse 
        7 it is written: 

           He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He 
           opened not His mouth; He was led as a 
           lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep 
           before its shearers is silent, so He 
           opened not His mouth.

   ✞   The fulfillment is clear from what John the Bap-
       tist said in John 1:29: “The next day John saw 
       Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The 
       Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’”

   But there are other New Testament Scriptures of 
       fulfillment. Consider the six prophesies mention-
       ed above concerning the Passover lamb:

       ➔   Exodus 12:3 and 5 – “...without blemish
            ...a male of the first year...,”  ful-
            filled in...

           ❏   I Peter 2:22 – Jesus...committed 
                no sin, nor was guile found in His 
                mouth....He was without blemish!

           ❏   Luke 3:23 (English Standard Version) – 
                “Jesus, when He began His ministry, 
                was about thirty years of age....He was in the prime of life, as a 
                lamb of one year old would be.

       ➔   Exodus 12:6 – The lamb was...killed by 
            the whole congregation at twilight...” 
            fulfilled in...

           ❏   Luke 23:18 and 21 – “And they [the 
                Jews] all cried out...‘Crucify Him
                ...!’”

           ❏   Mark 15:34, 37, 42 through 45 – 
                Although Jesus died “...at the 
                ninth hour...,” about three in 
                the afternoon, His body was not 
                taken off the cross until that 
                evening, when at twilight, Jos-
                eph of Arimathea claimed Jesus’ 
                corpse!

       ➔   Exodus 12:7 – The blood applied to the 
            doorposts and lintel, was fulfilled in 
            the crucifixion, where the stain of 
            Jesus’ blood was on the upright and 
            crossmember of the cross! 

       ➔   Exodus 12:8 – “...eat the flesh...with 
            unleavened bread...,” fulfilled in...

           ❏   John 6:53 – “Jesus said...‘...un-
                less you eat the flesh of the Son 
                of Man and drink His blood, you 
                have no life in you.’”

           ❏   The unleavened bread speaks of His 
                sinlessness!

       ➔   Exodus 12:46 – None of the lamb’s bones were 
            broken, fulfilled in John 19:33. The common 
            practice to hasten crucifixion death was for 
            the Roman soldiers to break the legs of the 
            one crucified, so that he could no longer 
            push up on nailed feet to exhale. “But when 
            they came to Jesus and saw that He was al-
            ready dead, they did not break His legs.”

       ➔   Exodus 12:13 – When the angel of death saw 
            the blood on the doorway, he passed over that 
            house, and did not kill the firstborn, ful-
            filled in Colossians 1:19 through 22:

                ...it pleased the Father that...by 
                Him [Jesus] to reconcile all things 
                to Himself...having made peace 
                through the blood of His cross. And 
                you who once were alienated and en-
                emies in your minds by wicked works, 
                yet now He has reconciled in the body 
                of His flesh through death, to pre-
                sent you holy, and blameless, and 
                irreproachable in His sight....

   The dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb!

       ➔   Matthew 15:30 and 31 (Contemporary English Ver-
            sion):

               Jesus...healed...all...People who had 
               never spoken could now speak. The lame 
               were healed, the crippled could walk, 
               and the blind were able to see. Every-
               one was praising the God of Israel.”

       ➔   Revelation 5:6 – John saw “...in the midst of 
            the throne...stood a Lamb, as though it had 
            been slain....”

       ➔   Revelation 7:9 through 12:

               ...a great multitude...crying out...
               saying, “Salvation belongs to our God
               ...and to the Lamb!...Amen! Blessing 
               and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and 
               honor and power and might, be to our 
               God forever and ever. Amen.”

       ➔   In Revelation 13:8 Jesus is identified as...the Lamb slain from the foundation of 
            the world.

So yes, Mary…even The dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb!