But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
After the angels left and the light faded from the hills, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem, found Mary and Joseph with the baby lying in a manger as they had been told, and went out with great joy telling what they had seen and heard before returning glorifying God. What Mary kept and turned over deeply in her heart was their report of the angel's announcement, the radiance and glory of the heavenly host, their songs of praise, and their finding of the infant Redeemer wrapped in swaddling clothes exactly as foretold. While all who heard the shepherds merely wondered and the shepherds themselves spread the tidings with joy, amazement, love and gratitude, Mary quietly treasured all she heard as one who received the announcement and thought on its meaning. The birth joined majesty with lowliness, with divine glory veiled in humanity just as prophecy had declared, yet the learned and powerful were unaware while Jerusalem with its priests and teachers remained indifferent, unprepared and untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven. Mary was among the few who were longing to behold the Unseen, and she continued for thirty years to treasure up evidences that Jesus was the Son of God and the promised Saviour, holding assurance of who He was even through perplexing doubts after Joseph died.
Bethlehem Night Witnessed
The verse stands at the moment when the angels had left the hills of Bethlehem and the light had faded, and the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, then left with great joy telling what they had seen and heard and at last returned glorifying and praising God. What Mary kept and pondered was the shepherds' report itself, their account of the angel's announcement, the radiance and glory of the heavenly host, the celestial praises, and their finding of the infant Redeemer wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger exactly as told. While all who heard wondered at the telling, the shepherds were filled with joy, amazement, love and gratitude for God's condescension, spreading the glad tidings everywhere and keeping in memory the brightest picture ever seen by human eyes.
Angels announced to humble shepherds where the child could be found, and the shepherds believed, received, and went joyfully to worship the newborn King, making the glad tidings known everywhere. His birth was in humility, with divine glory veiled by humanity and majesty and lowliness combined in an infant of days of poor parentage, just as prophecy had declared he would come, yet the learned and powerful were unaware of it. To willing ones heaven sent its embassy with veiled glory and a chorus of hosannas over the hills of Bethlehem to the newborn King.
Though the nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ would be born of Abraham's seed and David's line, though the daily morning and evening temple sacrifice pointed to the Lamb of God, and though the nearness of his coming had been announced to Zacharias as he ministered before the altar and the birth and mission of the forerunner had been spread abroad, Jerusalem with its priests, teachers, and people was indifferent and unprepared. They rehearsed meaningless prayers and performed rites to be seen by men, and in strife for riches and worldly honor their selfish and world-engrossed hearts were untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven and knew not that his coming was now at hand. The shepherds' report reached Jerusalem, but the religious leaders treated it as unworthy of notice. Many who should have welcomed Jesus failed to recognize him because he did not fit their hope for a temporal prince, and that delusive hope led to misapplication of Scripture, so they continued in the false path they had entered and became unteachable, self-righteous, self-sufficient, and convinced they possessed true light.
God revealed Christ to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem in a direct way fitted to them, different from the way he revealed Christ to the Magi through a wonderful star, showing that he works in every place in the manner by which he can best reach the people.
Mary's Treasuring Response
Mary was among the few who were longing to behold the Unseen while Jerusalem with its priests and teachers and the land of Israel were indifferent and unprepared for the Redeemer's coming. Though the nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ would be born of Abraham's seed and David's line, though the morning and evening temple sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God, though the nearness of His coming had been announced to Zacharias as he ministered before the altar and the birth and mission of the forerunner had been spread abroad, leaders and people did not know His coming was at hand. They rehearsed meaningless prayers and performed rites to be seen by men, and in strife for riches and worldly honor their selfish, world-engrossed hearts were untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven. To those willing to receive the heavenly Guest, heaven sent its embassy with glory veiled, and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem with hosannas to the newborn King, who came as an infant of days of poor parentage with divinity clothed in humanity and majesty and lowliness combined, just as prophecy had declared He would come. The humble shepherds believed Him, received Him, and worshiped Him, but those who ought first to have welcomed Jesus did not discern Him because delusive hope for a temporal prince led them to misapply Scripture, and since He was not the one their ambitious hopes desired they continued in their false path and became unteachable, self-righteous and self-sufficient, fancying they possessed true light.
After the angels left the hills of Bethlehem and the light faded, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. They kept the brightest picture ever seen by human eyes in memory and left with great joy making known what they had seen and heard, then returned glorifying and praising God. All who heard wondered at the shepherds' telling, but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, quietly treasuring what she heard and thinking on it deeply as one who received the announcement. What she kept and pondered was their full report — the angel's announcement, the radiance and glory of the heavenly host, the celestial praises, and their finding of the infant Redeemer wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger exactly as told. The shepherds themselves were filled with joy, amazement, love and gratitude for God's condescension, spreading the glad tidings everywhere.
Mary also kept in her heart and pondered the meaning of Jesus' words about being occupied with His Father's business, understanding them in large measure and learning from them. For thirty years she kept and treasured up evidences that Jesus was the Son of God and the promised Saviour of the world. After Joseph died she had no one in whom to confide the cherished thoughts of her heart. She fluctuated between hope and perplexing doubts, yet always kept more or less assurance that her son was indeed the Promised One.
Pondering Principle Applied
Pondering means holding matters in the heart for careful reflection. It gives a pattern for weighing troubling impressions and words through prayer before deciding how to act, while staying willing to obey the Spirit of God. The same keeping and pondering in the heart can follow a child's private reproof when it is given kindly yet firmly. The child may think about it afterward, feel the parent's influence even when the parent is absent, and grow into a settled principle of doing right.
After the angels left and the light faded from the hills, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem, found Mary and Joseph with the baby lying in a manger as they had been told, and went out with great joy telling what they had seen and heard before returning glorifying God. What Mary kept and turned over deeply in her heart was their report of the angel's announcement, the radiance and glory of the heavenly host, their songs of praise, and their finding of the infant Redeemer wrapped in swaddling clothes exactly as foretold. While all who heard the shepherds merely wondered and the shepherds themselves spread the tidings with joy, amazement, love and gratitude, Mary quietly treasured all she heard as one who received the announcement and thought on its meaning. The birth joined majesty with lowliness, with divine glory veiled in humanity just as prophecy had declared, yet the learned and powerful were unaware while Jerusalem with its priests and teachers remained indifferent, unprepared and untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven. Mary was among the few who were longing to behold the Unseen, and she continued for thirty years to treasure up evidences that Jesus was the Son of God and the promised Saviour, holding assurance of who He was even through perplexing doubts after Joseph died.
Bethlehem Night Witnessed
The verse stands at the moment when the angels had left the hills of Bethlehem and the light had faded, and the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger, then left with great joy telling what they had seen and heard and at last returned glorifying and praising God. What Mary kept and pondered was the shepherds' report itself, their account of the angel's announcement, the radiance and glory of the heavenly host, the celestial praises, and their finding of the infant Redeemer wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger exactly as told. While all who heard wondered at the telling, the shepherds were filled with joy, amazement, love and gratitude for God's condescension, spreading the glad tidings everywhere and keeping in memory the brightest picture ever seen by human eyes.
Angels announced to humble shepherds where the child could be found, and the shepherds believed, received, and went joyfully to worship the newborn King, making the glad tidings known everywhere. His birth was in humility, with divine glory veiled by humanity and majesty and lowliness combined in an infant of days of poor parentage, just as prophecy had declared he would come, yet the learned and powerful were unaware of it. To willing ones heaven sent its embassy with veiled glory and a chorus of hosannas over the hills of Bethlehem to the newborn King.
Though the nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ would be born of Abraham's seed and David's line, though the daily morning and evening temple sacrifice pointed to the Lamb of God, and though the nearness of his coming had been announced to Zacharias as he ministered before the altar and the birth and mission of the forerunner had been spread abroad, Jerusalem with its priests, teachers, and people was indifferent and unprepared. They rehearsed meaningless prayers and performed rites to be seen by men, and in strife for riches and worldly honor their selfish and world-engrossed hearts were untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven and knew not that his coming was now at hand. The shepherds' report reached Jerusalem, but the religious leaders treated it as unworthy of notice. Many who should have welcomed Jesus failed to recognize him because he did not fit their hope for a temporal prince, and that delusive hope led to misapplication of Scripture, so they continued in the false path they had entered and became unteachable, self-righteous, self-sufficient, and convinced they possessed true light.
God revealed Christ to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem in a direct way fitted to them, different from the way he revealed Christ to the Magi through a wonderful star, showing that he works in every place in the manner by which he can best reach the people.
Mary's Treasuring Response
Mary was among the few who were longing to behold the Unseen while Jerusalem with its priests and teachers and the land of Israel were indifferent and unprepared for the Redeemer's coming. Though the nation had been preserved as a witness that Christ would be born of Abraham's seed and David's line, though the morning and evening temple sacrifice daily pointed to the Lamb of God, though the nearness of His coming had been announced to Zacharias as he ministered before the altar and the birth and mission of the forerunner had been spread abroad, leaders and people did not know His coming was at hand. They rehearsed meaningless prayers and performed rites to be seen by men, and in strife for riches and worldly honor their selfish, world-engrossed hearts were untouched by the joy that thrilled heaven. To those willing to receive the heavenly Guest, heaven sent its embassy with glory veiled, and the heavenly chorus rang over the hills of Bethlehem with hosannas to the newborn King, who came as an infant of days of poor parentage with divinity clothed in humanity and majesty and lowliness combined, just as prophecy had declared He would come. The humble shepherds believed Him, received Him, and worshiped Him, but those who ought first to have welcomed Jesus did not discern Him because delusive hope for a temporal prince led them to misapply Scripture, and since He was not the one their ambitious hopes desired they continued in their false path and became unteachable, self-righteous and self-sufficient, fancying they possessed true light.
After the angels left the hills of Bethlehem and the light faded, the shepherds hurried to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. They kept the brightest picture ever seen by human eyes in memory and left with great joy making known what they had seen and heard, then returned glorifying and praising God. All who heard wondered at the shepherds' telling, but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart, quietly treasuring what she heard and thinking on it deeply as one who received the announcement. What she kept and pondered was their full report — the angel's announcement, the radiance and glory of the heavenly host, the celestial praises, and their finding of the infant Redeemer wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger exactly as told. The shepherds themselves were filled with joy, amazement, love and gratitude for God's condescension, spreading the glad tidings everywhere.
Mary also kept in her heart and pondered the meaning of Jesus' words about being occupied with His Father's business, understanding them in large measure and learning from them. For thirty years she kept and treasured up evidences that Jesus was the Son of God and the promised Saviour of the world. After Joseph died she had no one in whom to confide the cherished thoughts of her heart. She fluctuated between hope and perplexing doubts, yet always kept more or less assurance that her son was indeed the Promised One.
Pondering Principle Applied
Pondering means holding matters in the heart for careful reflection. It gives a pattern for weighing troubling impressions and words through prayer before deciding how to act, while staying willing to obey the Spirit of God. The same keeping and pondering in the heart can follow a child's private reproof when it is given kindly yet firmly. The child may think about it afterward, feel the parent's influence even when the parent is absent, and grow into a settled principle of doing right.