Fairest Lord Jesus
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given...And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
This hymn came from Roman Catholic Jesuits in Germany and originally had six verses. It first appeared in 1677 in a Jesuit hymnbook titled Munster Gesangbuch, but the text of the hymn was in existence at least fifteen years earlier, for it had been found in a manuscript dating back to 1662. Yet the origin of the words remains a mystery.
Who translated in into English? That, too, is largely a mystery. The first three stanzas are the work of an anonymous translator. The fourth stanza was by Joseph A. Seiss, and it first appeared in a Lutheran Sunday School book in 1873.
How appropriate that no human author draws attention from the greatest theme of this song. There's no source to distract from the subject, no story to detract from the Savior.
This hymn emphasizes the beauty and wonder of Christ, and it alludes to His dual nature, that He was both human and divine, God made flesh, the God-Man: O Thou of God and man the Son...Son of God and Son of Man...
It brings to mind one of the greatest observations ever made about Christ, uttered by teh "Golden-mouthed" preacher of Antioch, John Chrysostom, in a fourth-century sermon: "I do not think of Christ as God alone, or man alone, but both together. For I know He was hungry, and I know that with five loaves He fed five thousand. I know He was thirsty, and I know that He turned water into wine. I know He was carried in a ship, and I know that He walked on the sea. I know that He died, and I know that He raised the dead. I know that He was set before Pilate, and I know that He sits with the Father on His throne. I know that He was worshiped by angels, and I know that He was stoned by the Jews. And truly some of these I ascribe to the human, and others to the divine nature. For by reason of this He is said to have been both God and man.
Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations! Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and forever more be Thine.
Excerpt from "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J. Morgan
Thomas Nelson Publishers
Nashville |
|
|
