Mary Did You Know?

A string of questions addressed straight to Mary drives the lyric. Each verse asks whether she knew what her "baby boy" would do: walk on water, give sight to a blind man, calm a storm "with his hand." The questions stack up until the child in her arms and the Lord of creation are the same person.

Two turns give the song its weight. One is the line that the child "you've delivered / Will soon deliver you," which makes Mary herself a recipient of the salvation he brings. The other is the bridge, where the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap and the dead live again, ending on "the praises of the lamb."

The last verse moves from miracles to identity: "Lord of all creation," ruler of nations, heaven's "perfect Lamb," and finally "the great I am." Luke 1:31 anchors the announcement of the birth, Isaiah 35:5 foretells the opened eyes and ears, and John 8:58 supplies the "I am" claim the closing line borrows. The repeated "Did you know?" at the end leaves the question hanging.