O Little Town of Bethlehem (arr. Mark Hayes)
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14
Originally penned as a Christmas poem for children, this carol helps both young and old to reflect on the “hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee to-night.” Since Genesis 3:15 when God promised the serpent that the offspring of Eve would conquer and crush Satan, and throughout the Old Testament when it was told again and again that He would send a Saviour to come redeem the people (such as in Micah and Isaiah quoted above), the people stood in hope and expectation that God would do as He said he would do, and awaited the coming (advent) of their Saviour. This – that this Redeemer would be the once and for all sacrificial Lamb (ending temple sacrifice) to redeem God’s people – is the hope described in this carol. The fear described in the carol was the fear that the people would be without the presence of God, cast out, exiled, forgotten, and rejected – because of their sin. But with the advent (arrival) of, perfect life, death, and resurrection of Christ, He overturned all of these fears. As Paul wrote, through Jesus, we have been so loved by God that nothing in creation can separate us from Him (Rom. 8:39). Matthew 6:33 assures us that our material needs will be met, and 1 Corinthians 15:54 confirms that Christ conquered death so that we no longer need fear it. The people who awaited the coming of a Saviour feared judgment before God, but in His grace, He sent Jesus to bear that judgment for us so that when we trust in His ability to reconcile us to God, He looks upon us as if we never sinned. All of our hopes and fears have been met in Christ. As for the final verse, the Bible makes clear that Christ’s coming and sacrifice paid the ransom for us once and for all, so He need not be reborn, nor need we be reborn in Him once we trust Him. The incarnation was a once for all event, and we have but glory to give in gratitude.
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth!
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given;
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His Heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray!
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels,
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!