“Silent Night” is one of the best-loved carols of the Christmas season. For two hundred years, Franz Gruber’s simple melody has embedded itself in our hearts, echoing our longing for peace and the presence of a sinless Savior.
At the risk of rousing anger and contempt, however, I must disagree with Joseph Mohr, the man who penned the words to that song.
The night was certainly holy because the Holy One took on human form as Divinity descended. But it was not silent by any means.
Childbirth is a noisy affair.
During labor, mothers may cry or yell or perhaps even curse that first mother who brought the curse on womankind. They pant and writhe, squeeze the closest hand, and strain with all their might to bring forth the babe.
Then they listen for the sound that makes it all worthwhile: the baby’s first cry. A voice that will alert the mother’s heart for years to come.
Nothing is silent about childbirth.
The world is noisy.
The world was likely as noisy that night as it always is. Shepherds might have fought off their drowsiness with stories or singing. Some wise men far to the east, where dawn was breaking, prepared for a long, arduous journey, gathering supplies and consulting their documents.
Somewhere men argued or fought.
Countries contemplated war.
Judah seethed with resentment at the Romans who ruled them.
Heaven was silent.
The world was noisy. But it suffered under the silence from heaven.
No word from Yahweh had come in four hundred years.
No warnings, no promises, no vision.
Like the time of Israel’s captivity in Egypt, God’s people longed for a deliverer. They cried for deliverance from their oppressors.
Heaven was silent.
Until Christ came—and the sounds of celebration began.
Silence broken.
A host of angels rejoiced. Shepherds clattered through the streets of Bethlehem, searching for Him.
Later, questions from Eastern visitors threw Herod’s household into an uproar.
Decades later, His presence incited shouts–first “Hosanna” and then “Crucify.”
After His resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit caused a commotion in the upper room, and His disciples earned the reputation of “turning the world upside down.”
Silence broken. The power of sin and death conquered. Emmanuel has come!
Heaven’s call rings across the ages and around the world. “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.”
Have you answered the call?
