Luke 2:19
But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
I love Mary.
The word translated here as treasured is used only two other times in the Bible. In Matthew 9:17 the same word is translated as preserved. In Mark 6:20 it’s translated as protected.
The shepherds are telling everyone the good news that the angel entrusted to them. Can’t you just imagine them stopping every passerby they meet, gesturing wildly with their work-worn hands, and excitedly describing this baby, lying in a manger!?!, who isn’t just any old baby, but is actually the Messiah?!?!?
And all who hear the news announced by the shepherds are amazed. Amazement seems to me like a pretty typical response, an expected response. I imagine the people were amazed on several levels: 1) that an angel appeared to the shepherds (why them?!?), 2) that the long-awaited Messiah had finally come, 3) that he came as a baby, sleeping in a manger of all places!
Throughout the gospel of Luke, all manner of people are described as amazed. The people of Jesus’ hometown are amazed at the words that Jesus speaks; the disciples are amazed when Jesus calms the storm; the crowds are amazed in response to the healing Jesus performs; Jesus is amazed at the faith of the centurion; and even Mary and Joseph are described as amazed at what Simeon had to say about their child.
But here in Bethlehem, with awe-struck shepherds arriving to see her son and declaring him to be the Savior, Mary is not amazed. Luke clearly contrasts her response to that of the others around her: But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
Mary treasures the words. She pulls them close to her and protects them. She shelters them in her heart. She preserves them in her memory.
She, too, was visited by an angel, so even without the testimony of the shepherds she knows who her baby has been born to be. But then, it was just a small circle who knew–Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth. Now strangers know. Now she’s already having to share this beloved one with the world.
What will it cost him to be the world’s Savior?
What will it cost her?
So, for now, this new mother treasures the Word made flesh. She pulls the Word close to her and protects the baby in her warm embrace. She shelters the Word in her heart, wishing already that she could spare him the pain that he will surely endure. She preserves the Word in her memory, this moment when he is still hers.
Come, Jesus, come. With Mary, we treasure You, the Word that lives among us, full of grace and truth. Amen.
Today’s accompanying song is It’s Always Love by Carrie Newcomer.