A Christmas Homily
A Bit of History
Originally penned by Charles Wesely in 1739. The song did not include the
“chorus” at the end, repeating the first line of the song. The first line was slightly
different from what we are used to. It proclaimed that the firmament rang with
glory to the King of Kings. There was no direct reference to angels in the original.
In 1754, George Whitefield modified it, changing the first line to the version with
which we are familiar. In 1782, the chorus was adopted in an English hymnal.
It wasn’t until 1855, that William Cummings mated the lyrics to a cantata
composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840, giving us the hymn that we know today.
The version we sang this morning was the Cummings song in its full form, from
the Cantus Christi. Commonly, a shorter version with only three of the five verses
is used, as it appears in many other hymnals.
The Song and Christian Theology
We will follow Wesely’s 10 stanzas and see how he develops the story of the
incarnation as a statement of theology.
First, the purpose of the Incarnation was to satisfy Divine wrath and restore men
to God’s favor. This is expressed in the words from the first stanza:
Peace on Earth, and Mercy mild
God and Sinners reconciled
From the second stanza:
Joyful all ye Nations rise
Join the Triumph of the Skies
Universal Nature say,
Christ the LORD is born today!
And from the sixth stanza:
Mild he lays his Glory by
Born – that Man no more may die
Born – to raise the Sons of Earth
Born – to give them Second Birth
This purpose is central to the Christian understanding of Christmastide. It is
not merely that God gave us a gift; what is important is what that gift
represents: our only path to God and His righteousness. We are reconciled
to God by Jesus Christ.
Second, we celebrate the Eternality of the Son of God in the third & fourth
stanzas:
CHRIST, by highest heaven adored
CHRIST, the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see
Hail the Incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with men to dwell
JESUS, our Immanuel here!
Notice the clear Chalcedonian statement of the hypostatic union. Jesus the
man is Christ the everlasting God. His deity is veiled in flesh, not
transformed into flesh.
Third, Wesely calls attention to the resurrection. The incarnation would be
without effect if Jesus is not raised from the dead. This is brought out in the fifth
& sixth stanzas:
Light and Life to all he brings
Risen with Healing in his Wings
Mild he lays his glory by
Born – that Man no more may die
Born – to raise the Sons of Earth
Born – to give them Second Birth
We can no more separate the resurrection from the birth of Jesus than we
can separate our own resurrection from that of Jesus. One depends on the
other.
Fourth, we proclaim the Victory of Christ & His Church, in the seventh & eighth
stanzas:
Rise, the Woman’s Conquering Seed
Bruise in us the Serpent’s head (cf. Rom 16:20)
Now display Thy saving Power
Ruined Nature now restore
Now in Mystic Union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine
Finally, the song makes a plea for the Church’s sanctification. This is the message
of stanzas nine and ten:
Adam’s likeness, LORD, efface
Stamp Thy image in its place
Second Adam from above
Reinstate us in thy Love
Let us Thee, though lost, regain
Thee, the Life, the Inner Man:
Oh! to all Thyself impart
Formed in each Believing Heart
Conclusion
The Eternal Son of God Incarnate to redeem mankind from bondage to sin
The centrality of the resurrection in the Christian message
Total victory of heaven over earth, & the church’s participation in that conquest.
The necessity of the Church reflecting the image of Christ, of being drawn into
Him.
This is the message of Christmas, brought to us by Chas. Wesely’s great hymn.
This document is available to download as a pdf.