RPM, Volume 10, Number 52, December 21 to December 27 2008
The Christmas-Easter Connection:
Meditations on
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today”
Kenneth Taylor
Mr. Taylor’s interests include theology and worship. He, a collector of hymnals and books
of worship, analyzes these volumes for their theological content and in their historical and
sociological contexts. Mr. Taylor, a convert to from The United Methodist Church to The
Episcopal Church, attends St. Gregory the Great Church in Athens, Georgia, where he
sings in the choir and serves as a Lay Eucharistic Minister.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: “Tis dearness that gives everything its value.
Thomas Paine, The Crisis, #1 (December 23, 1776)
A few Christmas Eves ago in Tifton, Georgia, I saw the following arrangement in
a church: a manger placed in front of a high altar, which stood in front of a huge
Christus Rex. (The Christus Rex, or Christ the King, is a cross featuring the
triumphant Jesus wearing a crown and priestly robes). This scene summarized
much of the story of Jesus: birth, sacrifice, and priest-king. It expressed the
Christmas-Easter connection eloquently.1
The earthly story of Jesus, as the canonical Gospel writers told it, began with the
Annunciation and ended with the Ascension, with the promise of the Second
Coming. These authors, writing after the fact of Jesus’ earthly life, included
foreshadowing of the events of Holy Week and Easter in their texts. They must
have considered these details more important than certain others, for they
omitted many matters that might interest modern readers of biographies. What
interesting childhood pranks did Jesus play? We do not know, although the
author of one justly non-canonical work, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, provided
some creative answers to that question in the Second Century of the Common
Era.2 Yet such details did not further the narratives of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
1
Dr. David Emory Stooksbury, University of Georgia professor and Georgia State
Climatologist, informed me that one can sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and
“Christ the Lord is Risen Today” to the same tune. He planted the seed that grew
into this article.
2 I use the terms “Before the Common Era” and “Common Era” because,
according to the “Before Christ/Anno Domini” scale, Jesus could have been born
John, Gospels concerned with greater matters. One example of foreshadowing
occurs in Luke 2:34-35, where Simeon, speaking of the newborn Jesus, told
Mary:
This child is destined to be a sign that will be rejected; and you too will be
pierced to the heart. Many in Israel will stand or fall because of him; and
so the secret thoughts of many will be laid bare.3
Although the narrative events of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany are generally
happy,4 they occur in the shadow of Golgotha, which would have been a dead
end except for the empty tomb. This birth-death-resurrection (B-D-R) sequence
resides in the heart of Christianity. This B-D-R link becomes apparent musically
in The Methodist Hymnal (1965), which provides two tunes for “Hark! The Herald
Angels Sing.” One is “Mendelssohn,” the familiar tune. The other is “Easter
Hymn,” which many churchgoers associate with “Christ the Lord is Risen
Today.”5
no later than 4 B.C. To speak of Jesus being born “Before Christ” seems absurd
to me.
One may read the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in The Lost Books of the Bible and
the Forgotten Books of Eden (World Bible Publishers, 1926-1927; reprint, 1963),
pp. 60-62; Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars
Version (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), 371-379; Willis Barnstone,
ed., The Other Bible (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984; paperback), pp. 399403; and Bart D. Ehrman, Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the
New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 58-62.
The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was one of many works which Holy Mother
Church excluded from the canon, mercifully. This ancient text claims to recount
how young Jesus learned gradually to exercise his divine powers responsibly.
The book tells stories disturbing and fantastic. In one case Jesus caused a
person’s death. In another incident he lengthened a board Joseph had cut too
short. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is, in comic book and superhero terms, an
origin story. While reading it one can imagine Joseph giving Jesus a speech like
one Peter Parker’s uncle delivered to him: “With great power comes great
responsibility.”
3 Luke 2:34-35, The Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1989). The Revised English Bible is a beautifully written and
completely modern English revision of The New English Bible.
4 New life is (or at least should be) joyful. One can imagine the joy Joseph and
Mary felt, as well as the responsibility of raising a newborn child, in this case,
God incarnate. The canonical accounts tell of reverent visitors from near and
far.—certainly positive. These texts also mention the murderous actions of a
mean and emotionally disturbed Roman client king, Herod the Great.
5 The Methodist Church, The Methodist Hymnal: Official Hymnal of The
Methodist Church (Nashville, TN: Methodist Publishing House, 1965), #387-388.
The Methodist Church (1939-1968) merged with the Evangelical United Brethren
Hymns constitute sung theology. With that in mind, consider the following texts:
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, “Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled~”
Joyful, all ye nations rise, Join the Triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th’incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
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.6
Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died, our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!
Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!7
Church (1946-1968) to form The United Methodist Church. Beginning in 1970
reprints of 1965 hymnal bore the label The Book of Hymns. The capitalization of
the definite article in “The United Methodist Church” is correct, according to a
resolution of the 1980 General Conference (The United Methodist Church, The
Book of Resolutions 1996, p. 712).
6 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” quoted in The Methodist Hymnal (1965), #387.
7 “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” quoted in The Methodist Hymnal (1965), #439.
Birth, life, and death are linked. The Easter hymn states, “Love’s redeeming work
is done.” One phase of that work began with the Incarnation, the birth of Jesus.
(a Reformed perspective, of course, the redeeming work has its roots in the
Covenant of Redemption). As the Christmas hymn says, “Born to raise the sons
of earth, Born to give them second birth.” This “second birth” is spiritual renewal,
the sort God imparts and that one might mark by baptism, confirmation, or
reaffirmation of faith. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus make this
renewal possible. “Made like him, like him we rise;/Ours the cross, the grave, the
skies.”8
As the Reverend Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who became an anti-Nazi martyr in 1945
wrote in The Cost of Discipleship, following Jesus requires much of one. Cheap
grace, according to Bonhoeffer, is that which we bestow on ourselves. It requires
intellectual assent to certain propositions yet not spiritual sacrifice. It is an easy
road to travel. However, it costs nothing, and is therefore worth nothing. Costly
grace, in contrast, cost God much and requires obedience (taking up one’s
cross) from the one who follows Jesus. It is the narrow road that leads to true life.
For Bonhoeffer, as for many others, discipleship entailed surrendering physical
life. Those not called to martyrdom have their other sacrifices to make. And so
we should not sing blithely, “Made like him, like him we rise;/Ours the cross, the
grave, the skies.” We should, rather, sing these words cognizant of the profound
truth they contain.9
I invite you to sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” to the tune of “Christ the Lord
is Risen Today” and to ponder the significance of certain lines in this new context
then to reflect theologically. The line that stands out to me most prominently as a
result of this exercise is “God and sinners reconciled,” which I hear afresh to the
tune of an Easter hymn. In A Short History of Christian Thought, Professor
Linwood Urban, late of Swarthmore College, explains three old Christian
understandings of the atonement: penal substitutionary atonement (Jesus took
our places on the cross), the Incarnation (God assuming human form
accomplished the atonement), and the conquest of Satan (Christ’s Incarnation
and resurrection defeated evil). Two of the three understandings—penal
substitutionary atonement and the conquest of Satan-- make the death of Jesus
important. And, indeed, it was, as was the Incarnation. The death and
resurrection of Jesus would not have been possible without his birth, so the first
important statement we can make about Jesus is that he was born. Lacking that,
Lines from “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Christ the Lord is Risen
Today,” quoted in The Methodist Hymnal (1965), #387 and #439.
9 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1959;
paperback, 1963), 37-60. Bonhoeffer opposed Hitler’s regime and its hijacking of
the German church actively. The reverend’s deeds in his cause prompted his
arrest and execution. Thus, Bonhoeffer’s ruminations about the high cost of
following Jesus carry much weight.
8
no other statements about him ring true.10
The divinely-planned reconciliation was a process that included the birth, life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus. Thus, Christmas has meaning only in the
context of what came before and after it. As the Christmas hymn states, “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.” That price for the second birth is high, but
worthwhile.
I propose these thoughts as only the beginning of reflection via these two hymns.
Meditations upon the profound source materials, guided by the Holy Spirit, can
lead to many excellent insights. May they do so.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnstone, Willis, ed. The Other Bible. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984.
Paperback.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. New York: Macmillan, 1959.
Paperback, 1963.
Ehrman, Bart D. Lost Scriptures: Books that Did Not Make It into the New
Testament. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
The Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden. World Bible
Publishers, 1926-1927. Reprint, 1963.
10
Linwood Urban, A Short History of Christian Thought, 2d. Ed. (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1995), 106-110.
Professor Urban quotes Biblical passages proponents (including pre-Nicene
Church Fathers) of each theory of the Atonement have made to support their
case. For the Incarnation as the Atoning act: John 1:14, 18; John 12:46. For
Penal Substitutionary Atonement: Hebrews 13-14, 28; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Romans
3:25; 1 John 2:2. For the Conquest of Satan as the Atoning act: Colossians 1:13;
1 Corinthians 15:24-25; Romans 8:38-39.
Even a casual reading of ancient comparative religion, especially of the mystery
cults that attracted many converts during the Hellenistic Period, reveals many
similarities in claims about Jesus and fictitious figures, such as Mithras, Heracles,
Attis. I tell my World History I students that Jesus was born, lived, and ate dinner
in people’s homes, so claims that he was born of a virgin, saved the world
through his sacrificial death, and was the Son of God—none of which are unique
to Christianity—carried much weight. That much is objectively accurate. As a
Christian I claim that Jesus was and is the real deal and that the competitors
were frauds and figments of fertile imaginations.
The Methodist Church. The Methodist Hymnal: Official Hymnal of The Methodist
Church. Nashville, TN: The Methodist Publishing House, 1965.
Miller, Robert J., ed. The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. San
Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
Paine, Thomas. The Crisis. New York: Penguin, 1995.
The Revised English Bible with the Apocrypha. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1989.
The United Methodist Church. The Book of Resolutions 1996. Nashville, TN: The
United Methodist Publishing House, 1996.
Urban, Linwood. A Short History of Christian Thought. 2d. Ed. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1995.
This article is provided as a ministry of Third Millennium Ministries. If you
have a question about this article, please email our Theological Editor. If you
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