For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11
Every Christmas season we receive a flyer from a local real estate business. It’s the same design (the star of David) year after year with the same sentiment, “Sending good thoughts your way for the holiday season and the new year.” Within the star are various words that most people, even the very religious would use to describe the meaning of Christmas or the holidays. Sharing, generosity, good will, optimism and tolerance are just a few of the many beliefs about the season we hear so often. While these are wonderful attributes for all of us to aspire to, unless we understand the source of these claims we will still fall far short in grasping the essence of Christmas.
O Holy Night challenges us as well as the rest of the world about our concepts the season.
Here is one stanza to this beloved carol:
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
There you have it, the gospel!
If you listen to all the words, the progression of the song is nothing more than God reconciling you and me to Himself through Jesus. It begins with a description of the sinful world in need of a Savior within the first verse:
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
From the initial fall of man to Sodom and Gomorrah to the rebellion of the Israelites, the need for a Savior was pressing. And so God sent His Son to bear the burdens of those who would rebel against Him, for the rest of history.
The second verse speaks to some of the attributes of Christ – the friendship He offers, and His ability to identify with us, as He was God wrapped in flesh.
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus can relate to us! He came not only as fully God, but fully man. He faced temptation, rejection, and endured physical pain on the cross. This truth is worthy of intentional meditation always not just during the Christmas season.
The third verse charges us to live in a way that is holy and pleasing to God. This is also an interesting part of the song, historically, given the era in which it was penned. Slavery was running rampant during the mid 1800s.
Truly he taught us to love one another,
His law is love and his gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Slavery was a horrible time in the history of humanity! Thank God for the men and women who fought tirelessly to end such atrocities on our fellow-man. When Christ came into this world He showed a love that reached out to every race, creed and color. The heart of God for every human being was fleshed out in His Son. But let’s also never forget that there was another slavery that held eternal chains of which no one could break except for our victorious Savior. The slavery of sin, the oppression and the bondage of humanity who rejected God is why Christ came and through Him alone we would be set free, and made whole.
Let’s take time to fall on our knee’s this Christmas for that “O Holy Night” a night like no other, when Christ was born!
