History teachers love stories. I am no exception. In the midst of my love affair with history, I understand the challenges that come with familiar stories. The stories begin to form into myth, and then the symbolism overwhelms the core of the story. Myths can be powerful, yet misunderstood. Webster defines myth as “a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the worldview of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.” Based on this definition, I am by no means anti-myth. The Christmas story serves as an example of this type of myth: a historical event that has been told in imaginative ways to illustrate its importance. Songs like the “Little Drummer Boy” speak of the importance of the birth of Christ utilizing non-historical characters; hence the misunderstandings that can occur as a result of a myth.
While some songs of Christmas may perpetuate myth, others explore the depths of Truth revealed in the Christmas story, which is the story of our redemption. Often you have to get past the familiar first verse of a Christmas carol to experience the weight of the Truth. Essential to our redemption is the fact of the incarnation. The Creator of the universe wrapped Himself in human flesh, flesh that would be torn by the hands of His creation with the purpose of redeeming man from the result of our sin. “There's no more devastating message than what the cross says about you. There's no more comforting promise than what the cross offers you.” (Paul David Tripp) The hope of the Christmas story is the cross and what Christ purchased on our behalf on that cross. Tripp continues, “If righteousness were in your grasp, there would be no need for the baby in Bethlehem, the cross on Calvary, or the empty tomb.” Listen to the Truth revealed in our songs of the Christmas story:
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n 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
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Thank you, Lord! I love a good story!!
“[Jesus] who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:6-11
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