The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Text: Luke 2:14

Charles Wesley, 1739, et al.

 

  1. Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born king; Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the Triumph of the skies; With th’ angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”  Hark! The Herald Angels sing, “Glory to the new born King!”

 

Luke 2:10 “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.’” (NASB)

 

          Good hymns, including Christmas hymns and carols are based in and sing of a rich theological tradition rooted in the words of the Bible. “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!” is no exception.  It was written by Charles Wesley.  Charles Wesley was a prolific hymn writer. He wrote over 6,000 hymns.

          The opening line of this Christmas hymn echos Luke 2:14, wherein the angels sang,  14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (KJV).

          Wesley does not being this hymn with the Old Testament prophets, as do so many other Advent and Christmas hymns.  He does not start with the Annunciation to Mary, or the journey to Bethlehem, or the search for a room.  He begins in the middle of the action. He begins in exactly the same way Christmas began for the shepherds, with angels heralding the birth of the promised Messiah in the city of David, who is wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

          The hymn immediately establishes the cosmic connection between the heaven and earth, between an angelic chorus and mortal man, the connection between human beings and heavenly creatures that will one day dwell together and sing praises to the Lamb in heaven.  In the more immediate context, it foreshadows the connection between God and man in the Babe of Bethlehem.

  1.   Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born king; Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”

          “Hark” pay attention, listen up, behold the herald angels.  A “herald” is an official messenger who brings news and a person or thing viewed as a sign that something is about to happen.  In other words. Angelic heralds are preachers from heaven bringing the good news that something has happened.  In this case, the new born King has been born to bring “peace, good will toward men.”

          The hymn, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” heralds the theology of the birth of the Christ Child. Namely, that in the person and work of Christ, God and sinner [are] reconciled.” The two, God and mankind are brought back together. The hymn gets to the heart of the matter– the very reason for Christmas.

          Wesley understood Christmas. That was a profound insight on Wesley’s part.  After all, Charles Wesley converted to Christianity 1739.  He wrote this hymn in the same year 1739.  Even as a new Christian, perhaps it was because he was a new Christian, Wesley understood the meaning of Christmas.  No cliches’ here.  No nostalgia. No theology of glory.  No false hope over the human condition. All we have here is a theological proclamation of the value and meaning of the Birth of the Christ– the new born King.

          The lyric “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” is a merger of the angelic proclamation in Luke 2 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

          “Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the Triumph of the skies; Psalm 51:14, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.”  Psalm 66:1 “Shout joyfully to God, all the earth.”

          This line invites all the nations, peoples to join the angels, the Triumph of the skies in praising God for the reconciliation He has given us in Christ.  But the invitation also has in mind Revelation 15:4; “For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

          With th’ angelic host proclaim,“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”  Hark! The Herald Angels sing, “Glory to the new born King!”  “But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David [Bethlehem] there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:10-11).

          “Glory to the new born King!” The wisemen came asking, (Matthew 2:2-3) “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?’”

          They found the Christ Child, entered the house, fell to the ground, and worshiped Him. They presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

 

 

Stanza 2

  1. Christ, by highest heav’n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord;  Ephesians 1:9-11 “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.”

          If one looks with just his or her eyes, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is deceiving.  The natural eye only sees a new born baby boy laying in humble estate. But the angels declare what the eye cannot see. God in flesh, adored by angels and revealed to men. Hebrews 7:26 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.”

          Late in time behold Him come,  Galatians 4:4-5 “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

          Offspring of a virgin’s womb – Isaiah 7:14 “The Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”  When the time was right the angel of the Lord came to the Virgin and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

          Veiled in flesh the God-head see, Hail th’ incarnate Deity!  To look on Christ is to look upon the Godhead. In Christ, “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col 2:9). “He who has seen Me has seen the Father . . . Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” (Luke 14:9,13)

          Pleased as Man with man to dwell; Jesus, our Immanuel! Hark! The Herald Angels sing, “Glory to the new born King!” That’s the name sake of this congregation – Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” The word Immanuel does not mean that God is with us in nostalgic thoughts or ideas. It does not mean God is with us in some pantheistic way. No He in the flesh as the God/Man, born, lived, died, and resurrection, the One who binds Himself to His people in the Word and Sacraments. “Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there I am in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

 

 

Stanza 3

  1. Hail, the heav’nly Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!  Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings.  Mild He leaves His throne on high, 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 new born King!”

          Jesus is the Prince of Peace, just as the prophet Isaiah foresaw. “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace.” (Is 9:6–7) He is the Prince of peace, but this is not the peace that the sinful world longs for.  It is a divine and heavenly peace that lasts for eternity. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27)

          Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!  Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings.  This is a lyric born out of Malachi 4:2: “For you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”

          There is a garment that was worn in the New Testament, still is by orthodox Jews, known as the “Tallit.” The tallit is a shawl-like garment with fringes at the four corners.  It’s common name is the “prayer shawl.”  The corners of the shawl are also known as “wings.”

          In Luke 8 a woman who had suffered from an hemorrhage for 12 years touched the “border of his garment,” perhaps the wings and immediately the power went out of Him and she was healed. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”  The word Shalom by the way means, to be whole and at peace.

          Isaiah 53:4-5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.”

          Mild He leaves His throne on high.  In His first advent, first Christmas the Son of God did not come to us in glory and power.  He did not come to judge the world, but to save it (John 12:47).  1 Timothy 2:5-6 He came humble and lowly, born as a man under the law.

          Born that man no more may die.  “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.”  God and sinner reconciled, not by the work of man, but by the work of the God who became Man. He who believes in that Christ is the resurrection and the life will live with Christ even though he/she dies.  “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25)

          Born to raise the sons of earth; Born to give them second birth.  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God . . . Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:3-6)

          1 Corinthians 15:20 “Now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. . . . 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

 

 

Stanza 4

  1. Come, Desire of nations, come, fix in us Thy humble home; Oh, to all Thyself impart, formed in each believing heart!  Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born king; Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled!”  Hark! The Herald Angels sing, “Glory to the new born King!”

          “Desire of nations” is a reference from Haggai 2:7, “I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”  The desire of nations is the Christ. This is not true in the present.  It will be true when the Last Day comes to pass. Here the nations wage war against the Christ and words of God. But then on the Last Day with the coming of Son of Man and the new heavens and the new earth, the nations, people from every tribe and every tongue will come and the glory/wealth of the nations will flow to the new temple, the Lamb upon the throne.

          Fix in us Thy humble home; Oh, to all Thyself impart, formed in each believing heart!  Romans 10:8-10 “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

          Thyself impart in each believing heart. That’s the “imago Dei,” the image of God.  There’s a phrase used in certain theological circles. “Stamp Thine image in its place,” that is take on the image of God in place of that of sinful Adam.

          Ephesians 1:17-19, “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [of] the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. . . .”

          Sing this Christmas Eve, Sing this Christmas day, With th’ angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem! Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Jesus, our Immanuel!  Born that man no more may die; Born to give them second birth. Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”

Amen

May the peace that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen..

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

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