December 28, 2025 | Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | The Meaning Behind Christmas Hymns
Luke 2:8–17
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 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 among those with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. (ESV)
Jed Gillis walks through Luke 2:8–17 to show how the angels’ announcement to ordinary shepherds is a clear proclamation of the gospel. The message starts with “fear not,” because the good news comes from outside of us, not from something we can pull up from within. The birth is real and historical, in a real city, with a real baby, yet this child is extraordinary: the Savior who rescues sinners from judgment, the Christ who fulfills God’s promises and defeats our enemies, and the Lord whose authority cannot be stopped. The angels’ song of “glory to God” and “peace” is both exclusive and welcoming, since God’s pleasure rests on those who trust Christ. From there, the hymn “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” becomes an invitation to listen again, remember the announcement, and join the heavenly praise with joy and faith in Jesus.
Transcript of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | The Meaning Behind Christmas Hymns
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Jed Gillis: God knows we're here because God has brought us together, and that when we sing, whether we're people who sing together all the time, or people who sing together once a year. And we're people who look to Jesus and our voices are one family, one choir, praising our Lord. I'm grateful that he knows exactly who is here, who is gonna be sick, who is healthy. Our God knows all of those things, and he's brought us here this morning to think about the birth of Jesus. To think about the song as we've been going through different songs, we're gonna think about the song Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, which as it turns out, Charles Wesley, who was writing it, he was basically just preaching when he wrote it, so that's not too hard to talk about the theology in the song.
But I want you to imagine with me that you were one of the shepherds. You've probably done this before, but take a moment and imagine you're a shepherd out in the countryside around Bethlehem, somewhere. You're going about your normal, everyday boring life. I don't know for sure if they thought it was boring, but I know most of us, if we do the same thing every day, we tend to think we're bored at some point.
So you're out there doing the same thing you've always done. You've watched the people stream in and out of Bethlehem with this whole census thing, you've probably complained to your shepherds about how you hope the traffic will just go back to normal.
All these conversations have gone on. Maybe you say, I love the routine. I don't want extra people and I wanna sit out here with my sheep. Maybe you're the kind of shepherd who's like, I just think there's something bigger and better I should do. Doesn't matter. Either way, you're out there in your routine and suddenly to your absolute amazement, this is not like every other night of you being a shepherd.
And an angel shows up and makes an announcement that will change not only your life, but the world and the angel comes and announces it to you, not to Herod, not to those important people downtown, but to you as a shepherd.
Luke 2
Jed Gillis: So the first thing we're gonna do this morning, since the whole song is about the announcement given to the shepherds, is we're gonna look in Luke chapter two, familiar passage. And I want you to take a moment and just think with me about the announcement that is made by these angels.
First, a single angel appears, and we have this statement in Luke two and verse 10. The angel said to them, fear not for behold. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace among those with whom he's pleased.
Fear Not
Jed Gillis: This is the, the message that they heard. It starts with this statement, which makes total sense. Fear not 'cause remember, if you were the shepherd, like if you imagine it's all dark, you're watching the sheep, everything's totally normal, and then all of a sudden nothing is normal. I don't know how that worked. I don't know if they like saw the angel coming or if it was just the angels there. I don't know, but it doesn't really matter.
Also, if you know anything about sheep, they're fairly easily frightened, so probably your sheep here, they're kinda laying, they're relaxed and all of a sudden they are not relaxed. I, I probably wouldn't be either, frankly.
So chaos probably erupts your animals start going everywhere and you as a shepherd, you're like, I don't even care. Because what is that right? Your, you, your mind's already blown. It says they were filled with great fear again. That makes sense. Uh, we can talk about, you know, the, the Christmas cards with the, the cutesy little angels. But if you were out in the countryside in the dark and all of a sudden this angel is there, I don't think you're just thinking, oh, this is cool.
Probably you're thinking, what is wrong with me? That's the first step I would be thinking like, what ha, am I imagining this? But as you realize, no, this is real. The fear makes sense.
I Bring to You Good News of Great Joy
Jed Gillis: The angel comes and the angel announces fear, not. For behold I bring you good news of great joy. I want you stop just at the phrase, I bring this to you.
The announcement the angel makes is not to the shepherds to say you already have the answer to all your problems. The angel comes and says, there is help coming. There's an announcement coming from outside of yourself.
You know, if you look online, if you look at even some of the Christmas cards, you'll find in our world, there's a lot of people telling you whatever problems you have, you already have what you need inside yourself to solve it. That's not the message the angel gives. The angel starts off like fear not I'm bringing something to you. I'm bringing you news that you knew nothing about, about a savior being born that you had nothing to do with him being born.
Remember, this isn't announced to Mary, who obviously had a lot to do with Jesus being born, who's announced to a shepherd who didn't know who Mary was. He says, behold, I bring you. I am bringing help to you. And he describes it as good news of great joy.
At Christmas, we sing joy to the world. We sing these songs about joy. We need to remember that when the angel makes this announcement, really this announcement of the gospel. By the way, even the word that's used here for good news, it's just the Greek word we translate as gospel. If the angel says, I'm coming to give you a gospel of joy, not just a gospel of like relief, here's some hard things, and you're gonna take away some of the hard things, so there's relief. Not just a gospel that says, I have judgment on me, and now I can avoid judgment, although that's wonderful and good, but a gospel of great joy.
When God sent this angel, his point when he talked to these shepherds was that they would have two emotional responses. One, they're not afraid, and two, they're full of joy. The gospel should do the same thing for us every Christmas. It should take us and take some of the fears we have and say, I don't need to be afraid, and it should bring us to great joy.
Good News for All the People
Jed Gillis: So the angel says, I bring you good news of great joy, and he continues with this phrase that will be for all the people. All of them. It's an inclusive message that says, no matter who you are, no matter what your background, this message is for you.
That means you're not too poor or too rich. This message is for you. It was for shepherds and wise men. It was the good news that Herod needed to hear, and it was the good news that the servants needed to hear. For I bring to you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people, that means you're not too good or too bad for this gospel. You're not too smart or too dumb or too successful or too unsuccessful. The angel announced good news which were was for all people. As part of the message that our world needs to hear is that the good news announced at Christmas applies to everyone.
A Real Birth in a Real City
Jed Gillis: So what is the news? The angel continues. Verse 11, for unto you, is born this day in the city of David, a savior. I, this struck me a few years back. I started thinking about unto you, like, really? These shepherds didn't even know who Jesus was. Again, if they were saying to Mary unto you is born, well sure, but it's unto you the shepherd.
That's so encouraging to me because that means if Jesus was born to that shepherd who knew nothing about Mary and nothing about Joseph, and nothing about the manger, yet, that means Jesus was born unto you as well. You have as much connection to Jesus as the shepherds did at this point. In fact, if you're here as a follower of Jesus who believes in him, you have more connection.
Angel says, this is the good news unto you is born this day. And we get these phrases that we could probably quote. Certainly if we didn't have different translations, we could quote it together. For unto you, is born this day and we just, that's just the way we announce Christmas. But stop and think about that when he says unto you, shepherd who knows nothing about it unto you, is born this day, like on this date right now. It's not a mythical story to help you feel better about your life and hope that things work out. When we say unto you is born this day, he's saying at this moment in time, like it's real history. Just as real as your birthday, as this one. Unto you is born this day. And not only the time is real, but in the city of David.
I think we as believers, if you regularly gather with God's people, you regularly hear truths of God's word, it can be easy to start to think of these stories as something like the way we think of Narnia. A useful good story, something that really helps me live a better life. Makes me feel good. Sure. Fine.
This didn't happen in Narnia. This didn't happen in Middle Earth or Narnia or a galaxy far, far away, or anywhere else you wanna come up with. In the city of David. In a city that these guys had walked through time and time again, they knew the houses, they knew the people, they knew the buildings. Like we know that place.
Like some of you would say. I've been downtown Knoxville so long. I've watched it grow up. I've watched the buildings be torn down. I've watched them be built. I've watched businesses move in and move out. I know Knoxville.
If somebody says, Hey, this great thing happened in Knoxville, you'd either say, I don't know anything about that. I'm pretty sure you're wrong. Or you'd go research it, but you wouldn't think they're making something up. This is Narnia. No, you are like, I know Knoxville.
An Ordinary Birth: A Human Baby
Jed Gillis: The shepherds unto you is born this day, this time in the city of David in a real place. There's a real baby, and he goes on to describe the sign there, a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
Now, the manger part's unusual. The swaddling clothes isn't. Right? But they say, well, sure that's what you do with babies. You swaddle them. Of course. Maybe the manger peaks their interest. They're like, tell me more about that part.
But the, the angel starts with this announcement that in one sense is very ordinary. There are babies born every day in the city of David. If somebody said, Hey, there was this baby born in Knoxville, you'd be like, well, whoop-dee-do. Of course. He starts with this very basic announcement other than it's unto you. Unto you is born this day. Yes. Okay. Today in the city of David, yes, Bethlehem a baby.
An Extraordinary Birth: A Savior Who is Christ, the Lord
Jed Gillis: But now he describes the second half of that, which is anything but normal, A savior who is Christ the Lord. So take these, these three statements, savior, Christ, and Lord.
Who is a Savior
Jed Gillis: A Savior. We needed someone to save us from something that's implied by Savior. We hit all sin. Romans three says, all of sin and fallen short of the glory of God. We have failed to honor God as he deserves. And so we all rightly faced judgment. We failed to obey the creator. We rightly faced his judgment, so we needed someone to save us. We had a problem that we couldn't handle ourselves. We had no way to save ourselves. From the beginning of scripture, Adam and Eve, when they fell, they needed someone to come along and save them. They couldn't do it themselves.
And if you have that kind of problem, one that you can't solve, you need someone else outside of you to come and deliver you. To free you to save you.
Now think about these shepherds. Maybe they got that reference right off. Maybe they didn't. Maybe they said, what do you mean a savior? Like, I don't, I don't know, did I need one? Maybe that's how you feel. Maybe you say, I'm not sure. Is it good news of great joy that a savior was born?
But if scripture is true, when it says that you have this kind of problem that you can't solve yourself, then yes, it's good news of great joy that there's a savior. There's one who can solve that problem.
Who is Christ
Jed Gillis: A savior who is Christ, we're familiar with that word. It means anointed one or Messiah. It comes from the, the Hebrew word that means Messiah. And we use this term in other contexts today, much lesser context today, when you know your football team drafts the really great quarterback, and every once in a while it'll float through, someone will say, oh, they're the Messiah who's gonna save the franchise.
Now, obviously that's far less than what scripture means. There's a piece that helps us. What they mean is this is a dire situation. The team is not in good shape and this one person's gonna fix it. You don't use it that way. If you're saying, well, this is a third string wide receiver, I think he's gonna help the team out. Well, nobody ever calls him a messiah 'cause they know it's not just him. Right?
When we talk about a Messiah, even in a modern context, what we're saying is there's a, there's some hopes that we have, and this guy's gonna lead us to them. Not a group of people, not maybe he'll help us along the way. He's the one. Messiah.
And in ancient times, especially take it out of football in ancient times especially, they would look at people like the Roman Empire who oppressed them and they would say, this leader is going to free us. They're, he's going to defeat our enemies. We look to him 'cause he can do it. That's what they labeled as Anointed Ones or Messiahs.
So when you look at this term, who is Christ? That's not just his name, right? That's saying this is the one who can fulfill all of our hopes. At the risk of sounding a little bit Disney, the way you talk about a Messiah saying he can make our dreams come true. That's true. That was what Messiah meant. Not our sinful dreams. Maybe some of the dreams we should dream that we don't know about, but he could fulfill all our hopes and single-handedly defeat all our enemies. That's what a Messiah did.
So when the shepherds here unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who will solve the problem that you're under judgment, who is the Messiah who can fulfill all your hopes and defeat all your enemies.
Who is the Lord
Jed Gillis: And then he's Christ the Lord, the master, the ruler. That means that there is no one who could stop him. That means that he is the, the self existent one, the absolute ruler of everything. He's the Lord. You say he's the baby. He's not born into, you know, Roman rulership. What do you mean? This Angel announces no, he is the master. No one will stop him.
Christ is All Three
Jed Gillis: Now, this announcement that the angels make, it's not really fear canceling, astonishing good news if you take away any piece of what he's saying. For example, if he's not really the master, the Lord, well then he might have good intentions of saving you. He might have good intentions of defeating your enemies and fulfilling hopes and dreams, but if he's not the, uh, the one with all authority, someone might stop him. If he is not the Messiah, then he might solve the judgment we're under, but he can't really bring us all the way to glory. He can't fulfill those hopes and those dreams. He may not defeat our enemies if he's Lord and Messiah, but he's not a savior. Then he might offer you this wonderful hope, but you're still under judgment. In theory, this hope is great, but you can't get there if he's not a savior. And if he was all of those things, if he was a savior, who is Christ the Lord, and he was born for Mary, but not for you. Then it's like you're standing on the outside of the window looking in at something wonderful that you can't get to.
It's not good news of great joy. Not for me, unless the whole announcement is true for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. That's the good news. That's the good news of the gospel.
This is actually sometimes people talk about, well, what's your favorite announcement of the gospel? Like if you're gonna say, here's the gospel portrayed, what's the best announcement? And we'll go places. Like Paul says, I delivered unto you what I received. Christ died and was buried and was raised. And other places we go to John three 16. It's a great announcement.
I think this is my favorite announcement of the gospel actually. Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. And if you know what he's really saying in all of those steps, it's the gospel.
The Celebration of an Army of Angels
Jed Gillis: That means the angel says, in real space and time, there's one Who is born who can take away your guilt, fulfill your hopes, and defeat every enemy. That's what the angel announced and it was sufficient. It was enough for one angel to announce that that was clear, but it wasn't sufficient for one angel to celebrate it.
So you get to verse 13, and there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host saying what we sang in Latin earlier, Gloria in excelsis deo. Gloria in the highest. Glory to God and the highest and on earth peace.
The picture here when he says a multitude, a huge number, and he says, of the heavenly hosts that word's used for armies. So what you have is it's almost like a glorious, heavenly army, but they're not lined up to come fight. They're lined up to praise.
We do this in, in pop culture, in in movies. We have pictures like this at the end of Star Wars when they're going to hang medals around the heroes, the army's lined up. At the end of Lord of the Rings, the armies gather the battles done, and they're celebrating the king, and they're celebrating the hobbits and the armies are all lined up to give praise to the king.
That's the picture. It's the army of heaven that's lined up not for battle, but for peace and for praise.
With Whom He is Pleased: Is That Still Inclusive?
Jed Gillis: And their response is glory to God and peace on earth among those with whom he is pleased.
Now maybe you pause there, like, wait, first off, I've heard that translated a lot of different ways, and second off, I thought you said this was inclusive. Like this is for all people. That sounds like we've gotta make sure somehow God's pleased with us first, and then we can get peace.
Okay. Well, as you look at scripture as a whole, and as we've been going through Galatians, we say, what is grace? Grace is favor that I have not earned. Undeserved unmerited favor to me. That means if God is gonna be pleased with me through faith, if he's gonna have grace towards me, it's not because I earned it by being good enough. It's not because I was smart enough to figure it out. It's not because I was rich enough or successful enough or anything like that.
Instead, scripture says the way God is pleased is he's pleased with those who trust him. That's it. Nothing else. He's pleased with those who trust him.
So in one sense, this announcement is exclusive. The message of scripture is that you don't have peace with God unless God's pleasure is on you. That's the message of scripture. That means no matter how sincere somebody else is following something else, if they don't come to the Father, through Jesus, Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father, but through me. If they try to reach God some other way, they can't 'cause Jesus is the way. So in one sense, the gospel is exclusive. You must come through Jesus. There is peace on earth for those with whom God is pleased.
But in another sense, it is radically inclusive because the only requirement is to trust Christ. Nothing else. No performance, no measuring up, no good works outweighing my bad works, but rest in the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Which means that when you read this phrase and you say, among those with whom he is pleased, is that me? Is your trust in Jesus? That's the only question you need to ask if one is totally dependent on Christ to forgive their sin, fulfill their hope and their joy to defeat their enemies, then God is pleased with you and you have peace. Romans said this, therefore, having been justified by grace, we have peace with God.
His favor rests on you. Then when you read this and say, on earth, peace among those with whom he is pleased. If your trust is in Christ, you say, that's me. You don't have to ask more questions about it. That's me.
And this is the way God has designed his salvation so that it always works like this. Glory to God and peace on earth. Glory to God and peace for us. Glory to God and good for his people. They always work together in scripture.
Trust in The Savior
Jed Gillis: So I invite you if, if you've never come to God through Jesus, I don't want to assume that everybody has in a room this size. Probably some haven't. I wanna invite you, the announcement from the Angels is there for you to say, I don't want to rely on myself. I don't wanna trust my own ways to find peace and joy without him. I've seen they don't work. But instead to trust in the Savior who is Christ the Lord who was born for us, and that we celebrate at Christmas.
If you haven't done that, I invite you to do that today. It's not complicated, but it is hard. Because to trust in Christ, I have to let go of trusting myself. That makes it difficult, but it is good news of great joy that's available to every one of us.
A Look at the Song: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Jed Gillis: Now in one sense, that's background, all of that to talk about Hark, the Herald Angels sing, because that's the message that Charles Wesley was thinking when he wrote is him. He was thinking about what did this angel say?
Hark!
Jed Gillis: So I want you to imagine again. You aren't the shepherd who's sitting there, right where the angel comes and talks. Imagine you're the child of that shepherd and you weren't out there. You didn't see the angels, but the shepherd is now telling you, maybe it's for the 300th time. 'cause I'm sure you'd tell this story over and over, right? I would all the time. So maybe it's the 300th time you've heard this story. As a, I don't know, 8-year-old, you're captured by what dad's saying happened to him.
And he says, you need to pay attention. Listen to this message that this angel spoke to me and, and my buddy who you know, and all these other shepherds, right? Listen to the message. Okay?
Now, in, in old language, that's what hark means. Listen. Sometimes we get it punctuated differently depending on which version you look at. But really it's the, the song is Hark. Listen, the Herald Angels sing, right? We kind of boil 'em all together and like, what's hark have to do with anything?
Right? But he's saying, hark, listen, pay attention. Here's the message that the angels sang to the shepherds that night. It, it's like saying, you know how you hear a noise that you didn't expect? All of a sudden you pay attention.
This happened the other night. Uh, in the middle of the night my wife and I kind of woke up and heard this strange sound. I'm like, what is that? And it's this scratching sound and like, we have cats, so I'm like, probably cats are doing something. Sure enough, they decided to attack the little Christmas tree that we had, and they drug it all around and like ripped stuff off of it. Who knows what else, but you know, you wake up and you pay attention. When you hear that sound, you go, oh wait, I, this is an important sound.
Or maybe as as parents, if you're with other parents and the kids are around and there's all the chaos, and then all of a sudden there's silence. We all listen to that silence, don't we? Right. Because there's a sound that is deserving of attention. You know why you need to pay attention to it, and you go, I want to hear this.
Hark. You could try that if you want to. Parents, next time you're in that conversation and somebody's talking, you just go hark. Like you'll see what they do. Um, it'll be fun. That's what this song starts with. Hark, The herald or the messenger angels are singing and think about these words in light of what we just talked about from Luke chapter two.
First Verse
Jed Gillis: The song says, glory to the newborn King. Peace on earth and mercy, mild God and sinners reconciled. That's his poetic way of saying unto you, is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. That's his way of saying glory to God and the highest and on earth, peace, God, and sinners reconciled, brought together in peace.
Wesley, the writer of this hymn, Charles Wesley, he invites you and all of us to join that message. Joyful. All you nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies with the angelic hosts, the angelic armies that are lined up to celebrate with the angelic hosts. Proclaim Christ is born in Bethlehem.
And then the chorus says again, hark. Listen, pay attention. The Herald Angels sing Glory to the newborn King.
He invites you to come alongside the armies of heaven and to sing the same message, and I think this would've been so important for the shepherds. Can you imagine six months after this happened, if you're a shepherd and you go, that was the most insane night you've ever experienced in your life. Then you're back sitting in the countryside watching the sheep go by.
Now again, maybe you're like, whew, I don't want any more chaos, depending on your personality. Or you might be like, this is boring. Like, God, you got another one of those angel messages that was good. We go back and forth, right? Can you imagine though, here they are six months later, a year later, watching the sheep.
The shepherd's out there going, I blew it this week. I sinned against God, who I love, I messed up. And what's he need to remember unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, and if he leaves it back at that night and doesn't remember the message of the gospel, what good's it going to do him, he needs to remember, this is what was announced over and over and over again.
I'm sure it replayed in their minds, I need a savior. I need forgiveness. Well, I have one. The angel told me I need a Messiah because this world is broken and there's things that don't work out well, and there's things that hurt. And I want somebody to gimme a time when there's no tears and there's no sickness and no more death. And he says, oh, unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ. He's the Messiah who will do that.
Or they said, here's enemies against me or against my country, or whatever it is. I need someone who can help with these enemies who can do it. The one the angel announced, or maybe they say, there's so much that seems wrong and evil. I wonder if God can even fix that.
He's a savior who is Christ the Lord, ultimately authoritative, one whose purposes cannot be thwarted. This life-changing moment happened, and they needed to remember it over and over and over again, and Charles Wesley thought we did too, which is why he wrote the song. Hark. The message of the angels is this, glory to the newborn King. You can have peace with God.
Second Verse
Jed Gillis: Verse two. Wesley still going in this same section, and he draws us beyond the historic point of here's the baby being born to talk about some of the theological point of what's going on.
So it starts Christ by highest heaven, adored by the angels who were singing, right? Christ the Everlasting Lord, we've already talked about that. A savior who is Christ the Lord. See how he's just taking those phrases? He's just putting them in a way that rhymes in English.
Then he says late in time, behold him come offspring of a virgin's womb. We looked at Galatians chapter four not too many weeks ago. This is the passage that Wesley was referencing. It says, when the fullness of time had come, that's what late in time means. It doesn't mean that he was running late, right? It just means that here we have the time was right. It was the perfect time. Everything was established exactly the way God wanted it to happen, so that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.
This was another way Wesley could say, this is good news of great joy. Those who were under the law, who felt life with God as slavery could be redeemed, could have adoption as sons.
Then he writes, veiled in flesh, the Godhead sea hail the incarnate deity. If you're with us on Christmas Eve, we looked at John chapter one and verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory. Glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth.
That's what Wesley was thinking about. He said, Christ by highest heaven adored the everlasting Lord. And he starts thinking that was God sent his son and it was God himself wrapped in human form.
Pleased as man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel. Wesley was thinking about this, saying, God with us, we could see him, we could touch him, we could hold him. He's going to say in the next verse, born that man no more may die. He's pointing to the fact that Jesus died so that we don't have to experience that death.
You think about Jesus had to have a body, he had to become incarnate in order to die. When that baby, when Mary held her baby, that baby had a head in part so that a crown of thorns could be on it because before that, the son had existed, but he wasn't human. He didn't have a back that could be whipped. He didn't have blood that could flow.
When we see the incarnate deity, God in flesh, why did that happen? So we could see him, so we could know him. So we could see his grace and truth in a new and different way, but also so that he had a body that one day would die on the cross for his people.
Wesley uses this phrase pleased as man with men to dwell. And I started, I was looking at it, I thought like, where's he get that from? Because it doesn't say it quite directly like that in at least most of our Christmas passages, but it does say for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. And I think if he can say the cross he endured for joy, then the whole incarnation was for joy.
It also says earlier in the book of Hebrews, Jesus is not ashamed to call us brothers. He's not ashamed to say, I'm human like you.
Wesley ends that verse to say, Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with us.
Third Verse
Jed Gillis: As he goes into the next verse, Wesley makes other Old Testament references. He's, he goes beyond just Luke at this point, but some of them are familiar, like he says, hail the heaven born prince of peace.
This time of year we often quote Isaiah 9, 6, For unto us, a child is born. That sounds like what the angels said. For unto us a child is born. To us, a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called, say it with me. Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. That's what Wesley looked at. He said, hail the heaven born prince of peace.
Hail the sun of righteousness, son, SUN, that kind of Sun. That comes from Malachi chapter four, the last chapter in the Old Testament. The last chapter before then we read in Matthew, one of, of the genealogy of Jesus. You get this statement. It's describing really judgment to start with. The first section of the chapter is.
It says, behold the day is coming burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evil doers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Real encouraging Christmas passage, right?
Then Wesley grabs this next verse and says, but for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings and you will go out leaping like calves from the stall. In the middle of judgment, there's this statement, you who fear my name. You'll have not only deliverance, but joy. 'cause the sun of righteousness has come. So Wesley writes Hail the sun of righteousness.
He says, light and life to all he brings. That comes from John chapter one. In him was life. And that life was the light of men. When the word became flesh. That's what he brought. Light and life.
And Wesley's next phrase is risen with healing in his wings. At this point, Wesley's just pulling different phrases from the New Testament as he meditates on who Christ is and what he does, he brings light life healing.
The next phrase is mild he lays his glory by. Maybe that throws your mind to Philippians chapter two. He was in the form of God. He was equal with God, but he took on himself the form of a servant. And that's exactly what he did as a baby. Not only a servant, but an infant servant.
Mild he lays his glory by. You think about all of the glory that Christ rightly deserved and experienced in heaven. All the praise. And he left that we sing. He left his throne right? He, he left that glory, laid it aside to come and be a baby lying on his back that can't roll over. To cry and need a teenage mother to come help him.
Mild, he lays his glory by born that man no more may die. Jesus said in, in John 11, I'm the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
Born to raise us from the earth. Jesus was the one who Hebrew says, brings many sons to glory. You know, it's not enough. Jesus didn't just come. He wasn't just born to keep us from facing hell. He was born to bring us all the way to glory.
Born to raise us from the Earth born to give us second birth verse, Peter says, according to his great mercy, he's caused us to be born again through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And the only way he could be resurrected was that he had a body that could die. From the very beginning when he became human, these purposes were there. He was born. That man no more may die. Born to raise us from the earth. Born to give us second birth.
Join The Angels in Singing, Glory to the Newborn King
Jed Gillis: So Wesley concludes with the chorus, hark. Listen, pay attention. Remember the messenger angels are singing. Glory to the newborn King.
Today, our invitation is to join them. Our invitation is to join the angels, to join in their emotion, not fear, but joy, to join in their, their focus, not themselves, but unto you, is born a savior who is Christ the Lord, and to join in their praise. Glory to God and the highest and peace on earth.
That's the way the gospel came to the shepherds, and it's the way the gospel always comes. The gospel comes not to give fear, but to give joy. The gospel comes as help from outside of you, not something inside of you that you work up. The gospel, the good news comes as an invitation that changes us. The gospel doesn't just come to somebody out there somewhere. It comes to you.
It comes as an announcement that Jesus saves you from every internal problem. Jesus defeats every enemy out there, and Jesus can fulfill your wildest hopes for paradise with him forever. That's what the gospel comes to us, and it reminds us that he has absolute power to do all of it.
Today. Maybe you've heard the gospel a million times. The angel's message for you and Wesley's message for you is to hark. Remember, pay attention to the power, the transforming power of the gospel.
Maybe it's the first time you've heard the gospel, and if so, I would invite you with the angels to say, this is the best news of the greatest joy that's ever been given.
So I'll ask you just to take a moment to bow your heads to respond in prayer, in praise, and after that we'll sing together. Hark The Herald Angels Sing.
Father, in our lives, we face struggles inside us. We face battles. We face sicknesses and challenges in this world. We face enemies. We face discouragements when there are hopes that we can't seem to get to.
You announced this great news to shepherds and you announced it to us through your word this morning. So I pray that you would remind us again and again of the power of this gospel, of the truth of what we have in Jesus Christ who was truly a baby, but didn't stay there. He grew your word, says in favor and stature and wisdom. He lived the perfect life that we don't live. He carried his obedience and his perfection all the way through to the cross for the joy set before him, and you have exalted him to your right hand.
God, we want to go where Jesus went. We want to follow Him in his death and in his life, in his resurrection. We want to go to glory to His throne with him, and we thank you that you have made it possible.
Help us to rejoice with the angels. And I don't know if they sing glory to the newborn king right now if they sing Peace on Earth, but I know there was a day when they did sing that truth. And we want to add our voices to theirs, help us to do so, not just with words we've heard a lot of times, but with understanding and with hearts that are full of worship.
It's in the name of Jesus the Savior who is Christ the Lord that we pray. Amen.