The Greatest Christmas Carol
12/20/23
Many of the Christmas carols we sing are theologically rich, but “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” may take the cake as the top contender. Here are the words:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled:
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
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 Emmanuel:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
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:
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
This beautiful hymn was written by Charles Wesley, brother to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.
While John was the preacher, Charles wrote over 6,000 hymns, more than any other male writer in history. Only Fanny Crosby beats him—she wrote 8,000 hymns!
His goal in writing hymns was to teach the poor and illiterate sound doctrine. Did you catch that?
He knew that music was a powerful vehicle for teaching truth, which is why we’re careful to check out the lyrics in the songs we sing. Many are fine, while some can contain false and misleading messages about Christ, Christianity, and Biblical truth.
John Wesley, who himself was a famous theologian, said that Charles’ hymnal was the best theological book in existence. What a compliment!
So how did Hark the Herald Angels Sing come about?
Well, while walking to church one Christmas Day, Charles was inspired by the beautiful sounds of London church bells. So he wrote the “Hark” poem about a year after his conversion so that it could be read on Christmas Day.
The poem first appeared in a volume called Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739.
Then in 1753, George Whitefield, the future torch of the Great Awakening, at the time a student and friend of Wesley’s, adapted the poem into the song we now know today. It was Whitefield who penned the phrase “newborn King.”
So let’s unpack this powerful hymn a bit and see what it teaches about Jesus:
“Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King;”
The opening stanza rightly identifies Jesus as a King born amongst us:
John 1:49 “Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
John 12:15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”—a quote from Isaiah 40:9
1 Tim. 6:15 Paul calls Jesus “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,”
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And why did He come?
“Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled”
Jesus came to reconcile us to God!
2 Cor. 5:19 “That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
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And then the hymn informs us of where He was born:
“With the angelic host proclaim,
Christ is born in Bethlehem”
This was the fulfillment of many prophecies like the one in Micah 5:2 “O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!”
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The hymn then proclaims:
“Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb!”
This rightly identifies Jesus as the everlasting Lord, from eternity past to eternity future, he has always been and always will be.
And He was born the offspring of a virgin!
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Next the hymn goes where few pulpits any longer do:
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate Deity!”
Charles is honoring the clear teaching of Scripture regarding who Jesus truly was—God the Son, very incarnate Deity!
As Colossians says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;”—Col. 2:9
And then more truth—Jesus became a man so that He could dwell among us:
“Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel:”
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Next, the hymn gives more wonderful descriptives of Jesus:
“Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings;”
The designations of Prince of Peace and Sun of Righteousness are plucked straight out of Isaiah and Malachi’s prophecies of the coming Christ.
They also predicted that He would be a light to those in darkness and that healing would accompany His ministry!
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And next Charles lays down even more wonderful Christology:
“Mild, he lays his glory by,”
Amen! Jesus laid aside His glory, He gave up His royal privileges:
Philippians 2:6-7 “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.”
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And then we’re given 3 key reasons Jesus came:
“Born that man no more may die,”
This is why He came to earth—to banish death and give us eternal life!
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But that’s not the only reason he was born:
“Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth:”
He came to one day raise his church up from the grave!
John 5:25 “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.”
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And He came so that we could have a second birth—be born again!
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”—2 Cor. 5:17
So let’s stand together and sing this powerful hymn in closing!