The bulk of what we know about the events surrounding Jesus’ birth come directly from Mary herself. Before Luke wrote about the birth of Jesus in his gospel, he first interviewed Mary while she lived in Ephesus, where she had moved with the apostle John later in her life.12 It was Mary herself who vividly told Luke about all the miraculous events that he wrote about in the gospel of Luke.13
Mary’s memory of these astounding events is referred to in Luke 2:19, where the Bible says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
The word “kept” in the original Greek means to keep within oneself in order to closely guard or to accurately and carefully preserve. And the word “ponder” means to lay in order, like one who carefully and meticulously chronicles a story. Mary was so impacted by this amazing sequence of events in her life and in the life of Jesus that she chronicled all of it in her heart and carefully preserved her memories of it. Then she vividly related to Luke events that included:
•The miraculous happenings that occurred with Zacharias and Elizabeth and the birth of their son John the Baptist (see Luke 1:5-25).
•That she was a virgin who had never sexually known a man (see Luke 1:27).
•The angel Gabriel’s appearance to her to make the annunciation (see Luke 1:26-38).
•That she was supernaturally impregnated by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1:34-35).
•John the Baptist’s leaping in the womb of her cousin Elizabeth when Mary arrived to greet her, already pregnant with the Christ Child (see Luke 1:39-45).
•Elizabeth’s prophetic confirmation of what the angel Gabriel had privately told Mary at which time Elizabeth also prophesied to her about the Child in her womb (see Luke 1:42-45).
•That Mary sang out a prophetic song of praise, given to her by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 1:46-55).
•That when John the Baptist was born, his father Zechariah’s tongue was supernaturally loosed, and he prophesied that John the Baptist would prepare the way of the Lord (see Luke 1:57-79).
•The worldwide census that took place, requiring her and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem and causing Jesus to be born there “on time” as prophesied (see Luke 2:1-5).
•That when Jesus was miraculously born, she wrapped her Son in “swaddling clothes” and “laid him in a manger” (see Luke 2:7).
•That shepherds came to see the Baby because a heavenly host of angels announced to them that Jesus had been born (see Luke 2:8-18).
•Simeon’s and Anna’s prophetic words spoken over Jesus at His dedication in the Temple (see Luke 2:25-38).
•That they returned to Nazareth as a family of three: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus (see Luke 2:39).