It should continue to fill us with wonder that God the Son humbled Himself to take on our humanity (Jn. 1:14), and that He further allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified by sinful human beings (Jn. 10:17-18). Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Who can be astonished at anything when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross?” Those two stunning events are the pillars of God’s great work of salvation through His Son. They are brought together in a number of texts. For example:
Gal. 4:4-5. “God sent forth His Son, born…to redeem.”
Phil. 2:7-8. “[Christ Jesus] coming in the likeness of men…became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Ponder these amazing truths, and you will likely come upon one more: What an amazing thing that the Lord would do all this to save me!
For many years there has been strife between England and Ireland. For a time, an Irishman named James Montgomery was involved in that conflict. Montgomery (1771-1854) was never much interested in school. He flunked out of college, and worked for awhile as a baker’s helper. By the age of twenty, he was an unemployed drifter. But he did have one passion in life, and that was writing. The editor of a newspaper in Sheffield, England, apparently saw some promise in him, and took him on.
Monument to James Montgomery “the Christian poet, patriot, and philanthropist” (photo courtesy Mick Knapton)
The Sheffield Register was a radical pro-Irish publication, and young Jim learned first-hand about the hatred of his people for British rule. In 1794, the paper’s editor was run out of town for his columns written in support of Irish independence. Suddenly, James Montgomery found himself in charge of publishing the newspaper–a position he was to hold for the next thirty-one years. He changed the name of the paper to the Sheffield Iris, but kept up the strong editorial policy of his predecessor.
The orphaned son of missionary parents, the young editor continued through all these years to study the Scriptures. As his love for the Lord grew, he began expressing the Bible truths he learned as hymns, eventually writing about 400 of them. In honouring Christ he had found a spiritual cause even beyond the social concerns that had stirred his heart in former years. The best of his songs–and perhaps one of the finest hymns in the English language–is one written in 1816 that he called “Good Tidings of Great Joy to All People.” We now know it as “Angels from the Realms of Glory.” (To see the full text, click here: link )
The author carries us through the main features of the Christmas story, and makes a personal application of the event. He begins by noting how the angels that long ago celebrated creation (Job 38:4-7) were called upon to rejoice in the Saviour’s birth: “Angels, from the realms of glory, / Wing your flight o’er all the earth; / Ye who sang creation’s story / Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.” Next, the author turns our attention to the “Shepherds in the field’s abiding,” and to the later visit of the wise men, with “Sages leave your contemplations, / Brighter visions beam afar.” Both of these accounts are a familiar part of the Christmas story (Lk. 2:1-20; Matt. 2:1-11).
But with that the carol makes a personal application to each of us–whether saints or sinners. It addresses “Saints before the altar bending, / Watching long in hope and fear.” Then, in a sobering verse never used today, Montgomery appeals to those outside of Christ. “Sinners, wrung with true repentance, / Doomed for guilt to endless pains, / Justice now revokes the sentence, / Mercy calls you; break your chains.” He is saying what the coming of Christ (and His cross) have accomplished–that through the shed blood of Christ God is able to “be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). Through Christ, sin’s captive is set free.
Finally, the author moves us on to the triumph of Christ’s reign with “Though an Infant now we view Him, / He shall fill His Father’s throne; / Gather all the nations to Him; / Every knee shall then bow down.” Or, as the Bible puts it, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11). In the words of this hymn, we are carried from eternity to eternity. May we at this season join the host of angels and men who, in the words of Montgomery’s refrain, “Worship Christ, the newborn King.”
Away in a Manger was written by…? On occasion, the authorship of an old hymn is unknown. But it is more unusual to find a song whose authorship is seemingly definite, only to have the “facts” of its origin completely rejected later. That is the case with the popular carol, “Away in a Manger.”
From “Dainty Songs…”
In 1887, hymn writer and music publisher James Ramsey Murray (1841-1905) produced a book of children’s music called Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses. “Away in a Manger” was included in the book, under this heading: “Luther’s Cradle Hymn, composed by Martin Luther for his children, and still sung by German mothers to their little ones.” Another author goes even further, saying the hymn “is thought to be written for his small son Hans (John), for a Christmas Eve festival, perhaps in 1530.” It is a touching picture. But it never happened.
To accuse Mr. Murray of lying would be going too far. But wherever he got his information, he was certainly misinformed. Nothing in all of the reformer’s copious writings bears any resemblance to the carol. And the song Luther wrote for his five-year-old son Hans is “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come,” not “Away in a Manger.” In 1945, an American reference librarian named Richard S. Hill wrote a lengthy article called “Not So Far Away in a Manger.” After meticulous research, his conclusion was that the carol in question was likely written around 1883, by an anonymous Lutheran living in Pennsylvania. (Appropriately, 1883 was the four hundredth anniversary of Luther’s birth.)
The carol begins, “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, / The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head. / The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, / The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.” It is a tender description of the birth of Jesus. His humble cradle was a manger because “there was no room for them in the inn” of Bethlehem (Lk. 2:7). Though many have attached a theological significance to this, comparing it to the unbeliever who has no room for the Saviour in his life, in the beginning it was a more practical matter.
A Roman census that year required citizens to return to the town of their family origin to register. For Mary and Joseph, that was Bethlehem (Lk. 2:1-5). Because she was heavily pregnant, and could possibly give birth at any time, their trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was no doubt slowed. They arrived to find the inn packed to capacity. Far from meanly turning them away, the harried inn keeper likely sought to provide the best shelter he could.
The original carol had only two stanzas. The last was written around 1905 by a Methodist clergyman named John Thomas MacFarland (1851-1913). He made a worthy addition to the song, providing children with the prayer: “Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay / Close by me forever, and love me, I pray; / Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, / And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.” This makes the hymn more than simply a verbal manger scene. It implies the continuing presence of a living Lord Jesus with a concern for little children–something we know was evident during His years of earthly ministry (Mk. 10:13-16).
Much remains a mystery with regard to today’s carol. And there are still unknowns concerning the birth of Christ as well. What we do know is that with this momentous event God the Son entered human history, incarnated by a miracle of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary (Lk. 1:31, 34-35). The infinite condescension involved in this is beyond imagining. But we know why He did it. He came “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). His pathway led from the manger to the cross, where “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3). That is the heart of the Christmas story.
As with other hymns, the origins of our familiar Christmas carols are varied and sometimes quite interesting. But no other has such an unusual history as this selection.It began as one single word!
Simeon in the temple
On occasion I have asked a congregation what they thought that word might be. Guesses such as: Jesus, birth, manger, Mary, and so on, have been offered. But all are incorrect.
The carol in question is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” To trace the origins of the song we have to go back about fourteen centuries, to the beginning of the Middle Ages. Each day during the week before Christmas, it was the practice in the church of that era to read the “Magificat,” Mary’s song of praise recorded in Luke 1:46-55.
Before and after the reading an antiphon would be sung, with choral groups answering back and forth “antiphonally.” The antiphon anticipating the advent of Christ consisted of a single word–a long, drawn-out “O!” Called “The Great O of Advent,” it was intended to express a deep sense of yearning for the coming of the Saviour.
That spiritual hunger among the people of God was evident in Israel before Jesus was born. Although in many of our Bibles we simply need to turn a page or two to get from Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, to Matthew, the first in the New, a great deal of time passed between them. Malachi prophesied concerning the work of John the Baptist (Mal. 3:1; cf. Matt. 11:10), but it was four centuries before he came on the scene. Sometimes those are called “the Four Hundred Silent Years,” since no inspired prophecy came from the Lord during that time.
No doubt that silence awakened a growing sense of anticipation among the saints. When would the Messiah come? When would the Lord fulfil the promises He made so long ago? Two who wondered and hoped were elderly Simeon and Anna. The Bible says Simeon was “waiting for the Consolation [the Consoler] of Israel.” And when he saw the baby Jesus he confessed that he could “depart in peace” because “My eyes have seen Your salvation” (Lk. 2:25, 29-30).
Widowed Anna lived in the temple complex, giving herself to “fastings and prayers.” When she saw the Infant, she “spoke of Him to all those who were looking for redemption in Israel” (Lk. 2:37-38). Possibly she whispered, with some excitement, “He’s come! He’s come!”
The faithful in Israel were waiting for His coming, and looking for it. And that zealous devotion was later given voice in the Great O of Advent. One hymn historian describes it as almost “a cry of distress,” an urgent plea for deliverance from on high.
As time went by, other words were added to that “O,” different ones for each of the seven days the Antiphon of Advent was used. Each became a unique prayer, incorporating a description of the Lord Jesus. There was, “O Key of David, unlock the prison house,” one day. And “O Dayspring, come and give us light,” on another. Finally, someone thought of combining the antiphons into a single Latin hymn.
In 1851, John Mason Neale (1818-1856) translated the words into English and gave us the carol “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Neale’s great gift to the Christian church was his translation work. He brought to English-speaking Christians some of the treasury of Greek and Latin hymns from long ago.
This one anticipates the Christmas season, saying in one stanza, “O Come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free / Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; / From depths of hell Thy people save / And give them victory o’er the grave.” And the Lord Jesus did just that! Through faith in His work on Calvary we can be saved eternally. As the Bible declares, “O Death, where is your sting?…Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (I Cor. 15:57).
Question: Andrew asks, “What does ‘excelsis Deo’ mean in [the carol] ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’?”
Answer: The four words, “Gloria in excelsis Deo” form a Latin phrase meaning “Glory to God [Deo] in the highest,” quoting the angels’ words of praise from Luke 2:14.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
After the wall of Jerusalem was completed in Nehemiah’s time, we read, “They…rejoiced …for God had made them rejoice with great joy” (Neh. 12:43). It was a spiritual joy coming from an inner appreciation of the blessing of God, a joy generated in their hearts by God Himself, not an emotion worked up by outward manipulation in what someone described to me recently (with approval) as “happy-clappy” church services.
The Jews found, as have many others, that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). What does that mean? Perhaps it is a call to rejoice in the Lord who is our strength. Or it promises that rejoicing in the Lord will strengthen us. Both would seem to be true.
As they rejoiced in what God had done in restoring their ruined city, He strengthened their faith and gave them, in Isaiah’s phrase, “The oil of joy for mourning” (Isa. 61:3). “Oil” often meant olive oil in that day, used for light, for grooming, and as a medication. Isaiah likely means the Spirit of God will heal wounded broken spirits and replace sadness with the joy of the Lord when we trust in Him.
Charles Spurgeon however thought of another application of oil–as a lubricant. He comments, “When the wheels of the machine are well oiled, the whole machine goes easily; and when the man has the oil of joy, then his business and his family, the wheels of his nature glide along sweetly and harmoniously.” The joy of the Lord lubricates our lives, making things run more smoothly. Interesting thought!
Ezekiel Chapter 13 provides a graphic description of false prophets and their evil work. A parallel can be see with those who erroneously claim this gift today, and with false teachers as well. God’s severe judgment (vs. 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 23) will fall upon them for the following reasons.
They prophesy out of their own hearts–i.e. their prognostications come from their own minds and imaginations (vs. 2). They follow their own spirit rather than God’s Spirit (vs. 3). They have seen nothing–i.e. nothing of divine revelation and inspired truth. They have rejected God, fitting the biblical definition of a fool (cf. Ps. 14:1; Matt. 7:21-23).
They are spiritual destroyers. The roll of a true prophet is implied in vs. 5. He is to be a restorer of God’s people through his ministry. The false prophets are not restoring the ruins (vs. 4, cf. the NIV).
They have a false hope. In contrast with the true, the false prophets’ divinations are lies, their visions false (vs. 6). Yet they may be self-deceived, hoping that what they say will come to pass.
They tailor their message to what people want to hear–a seductive message of peace, when God has promised judgment (vs. 10; 16; cf. I Thess. 5:3). They are lying to people who swallow their lies (vs. 19).
They use (or claim) occult powers and magic to “receive” their false messages (vs. 18, 20, 21).
They are mercenary, prophesying for their own gain (vs. 19; cf. Matt. 7:15).
Their prophecies may please the wicked, but they sadden the righteous, those who know better (vs. 22).
A similar indictment is found in Ezekiel 22:23-31 (see also 34:1-10), where God says he “sought for a man among them [among the leaders of the people] who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land…but I found no one” (vs. 30). If we take the reverse of the negative picture we are given in this latter passage, it suggests some qualities the Lord wants to see in today’s church leaders.
Spiritual discernment, to protect what is sacred and reject what is profane, rather than the opposite (vs. 26; cf. Lev. 10:1-2, 9-10).
Sacrificial love for others, which seeks their good and blessing, their encouragement and edification, rather than manipulating them and taking selfish advantage (vs. 27, 29).
Scriptural authority to teach and train, not basing teaching on the erroneous notions of men or on false spiritual visions (vs. 28).
The Lord Jesus issues a tender loving summons, “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). How have you answered His call?
In these gracious words, there is first of all A Presupposed Crisis of some sort, a significant personal need. Those to whom Jesus speaks are weary with life’s trials, weighed down and burdened to the point of exhaustion.
To them there is A Presented Call. “Come to Me,” Jesus says, and the word “Me” is emphatic in the original Greek of the text. There is no one who can help us but Jesus only. Other remedies perhaps have been tried, but they have failed, or will do so.
Finally, there is A Promised Cure. The Lord Jesus assures us that we will find in Him exactly what we need: rest. The word signifies soul refreshment, comfort and calmness, a release from pressures and tensions. Spiritual renewal is found in Him.
The Wilkinson & Boa Bible Handbook claims to be “A practical guide to help you get more out of the Bible.” (It was published in 1983, by Thomas Nelson Publishers.) The volume contains Bible book introductions and outlines, and some helpful comments and analysis.
But it is too broad and general for most study. Most of the material is available in a good study Bible–which gives you more immediate access to the information.
The public reading of the Word of God must not be abandoned in our church services. (Responsive Bible readings have their place too, but that is for another post.) We have all sat through stumbling renditions of the Word that are difficult to follow, and capture little of the impact. Conversely, there have been times when I at least have felt God speaking directly to me through a thoughtful reading. Clarity of diction, appropriate pauses and expression can make a passage come alive.
What about having a Bible reading contest? Select a passage (and a Bible version) to be used. (Acts 19:23-41 gives plenty of opportunity for dramatic expression.) If you will be having various ages involved, you might want to have a simpler, or shorter, passage for the younger ones. Give some basic tips, and encourage as many as possible to participate. Select those who will be judges of the event. If many are going to take part, you may wish to have some preliminary rounds to choose the top few. The final readings should be done before the congregation. You can consider offering suitable prizes–perhaps a Bible, or another good Christian book.
Yes, folks will be hearing the same passage read several times. (The downside of this is…?) Those who participate will learn a valuable skill. And because they will be reading, rather than speaking extemporaneously, most will not find this too difficult. The end result could be that you will be able to identify a number who can assist ably in reading God’s Word in the services.
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