It is that wonderful time of the year again, when Christmas decorations are being put up in homes, snow is on the ground (in some places in the country!) and the familiar Christmas carols are being sung again. Carols that bring back memories for people, get people in the Christmas spirit, and remind us of the true meaning of Christmas and why Jesus came- at least, that is what they are intended to do. It is often all too easy to sing these hymns year after year and never stop to think of the message they contain that is so important for all mankind. A lot of Christmas carols take us back to when Jesus came to earth, God becoming man, and was born to a virgin and laid in a manger. But some of these incredible hymns have messages that take us to the most important event in history, Jesus’ death on the cross that saved this world of sinners. One such hymn is the familiar “What Child is This?” It not only has powerful words that have been lost in our modern version of the song, but it also has an impactful story behind the writing of it.
William Chatterton Dix was the son of a surgeon in Bristol England. He lived in Glasgow, Scotland and worked as a manager at an insurance company. In 1865 William became ill with a life-threatening disease that caused him to be bed-ridden and depressed. He was healed from the illness, and during his recovery his faith was reignited. He became a strong Christian and an avid reader of the Bible. He wrote many hymns, including the familiar carol, “What Child is This?” He later incorporated into it the tune of Greensleeves, which was an already popular romantic ballad that had become associated with Christmas.
A lot of us are familiar with the three stanzas of “What Child is This?” along with the chorus that is repeated after each verse, but there are some words that have somehow been removed in our modern version of the song. The words that have been removed after verse two, instead of the repeated “chorus,’ are especially powerful. They read:
Good Chrsitian, fear;
for sinners here
the silent Word is pleading
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through
The cross he bore for me, for you
Hail, hail the Word made flesh
The babe the Son of Mary.
You can imagine what it was like for Dix to be so close to death, but then to be delivered from that. He not only was grateful for the earthly salvation that God brought him, but more so for the spiritual salvation that Jesus delivered on the cross to save him from his sin.
Dr. Ligon Duncan, a host of the podcast, “Hymns of the Faith,” comments on this stanza of the song. He says, “[Dix] relates what Jesus is doing, even in his deprivation in his infancy, to his work on behalf of sinners. And then…he takes you right to the cross.”
Jesus, God made flesh, came to this earth to be born in a stable, laid in a manger, with ox and ass and all kinds of animals surrounding him. He was born in the lowliest of places, to later grow up and die the worst of deaths, so that he could save you and me. May that cause us to say this Christmas:
So bring him incense, gold and myrrh
Come peasant, king to own Him
The King of Kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone him
This, this is Christ the King
whom shepherds guard and angels sing.
Haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe the Son of Mary!
Written by NBB Alumna: Victoria Hoverson
