Pastor's Pen: Carols, Crying, and Christmas

‘Tis the season, and the music of the season is already in the air. You certainly hear it in worship, but you might also hear it on the radio and in the mall. The Christian carols compete these days with Frosty and Rudolf, but if you listen carefully, you still can hear what happened in Bethlehem so long ago.

Interestingly, those carols shape how we hear the story even more than the Scriptures do. According to the Gospel of Luke, the angels responded to Jesus’ birth by proclaiming praise to God. However, most of us, remembering the carol, believe that the herald angels not only speak but sang their announcement. According to the gospel of Matthew, an unspecified number of magi came from the East to offer presents to the newborn. From the carol, we know that there were three, and moreover, they were kings. Those discrepancies don’t bother me as long as we keep checking the Scriptures for correction and clarification. However, there is one carol that annoys me. I sing it only under protest.

In the third verse of “Away in a Manger,” we sing

“The cattle are lowing

The poor Baby wakes

But little Lord Jesus

No crying He makes”

The Gospels do not mention whether Jesus, as a baby, cried. I assume that the author of the carol wanted to emphasize that Jesus was somehow different from other babies, and the assumption is that “good” little babies don’t cry.

Unfortunately, I disagree. I believe that Jesus was fully divine. However, Jesus was not like Clark Kent, hiding his superpowers under a pair of glasses. Jesus was fully human. He got hungry like other babies. He wet himself like other babies. He belched and spit up like other babies. He cried like other babies. The Scriptures say that Jesus “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself…” (Philippians 2:6-7).

Frankly, I am grateful that Jesus knows my humanity in its fullness, especially my weakness. Crying is a part of our human life. At the death of his friend Lazarus, we read, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). To face my challenges, I want to know that even my hunger, pain, and sorrow have been redeemed by what Jesus Christ has done.

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, love divine;

Love was born at Christmas,

Star and angels gave the sign.

Merry Christmas,

James Hodsden

This devotional originally appeared in the December 2018 edition of "The Messenger."