| Matthew 8:27 – “What kind of man is this” |
When I was in the fourth grade, we had a Christmas program, something that was perfectly allowable 65 years ago.
I remember it for one event.
I had a classmate named David. David’s voice had not yet changed. He sang songs for family functions, and he had a voice made of crystal.
The song he sang was one I had not experienced before.
Sung to the tune of a 500-year-old English song, the words expressed the shepherds as they kneeled to see a newborn in a barn.
William Dix penned the words. He did not set off to write a Christmas anthem. He was an insurance salesman in Glasgow, Scotland.
But at age 29, an illness felled him, and he was confined to bed. As days passed, depression descended on the young man.
All he could do is pray. And the prayers lifted the fog. He said that the moments of prayer let him meet Jesus as he never had before.
He wrote many hymns still sung today by church audiences. But it was this song that hung over the season like tinsel on a tree.
What Child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?
Why lies He in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding? Good Christian, fear—for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh—come, rich and poor, 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.
While the words apply to a single event, don’t miss the message.
When the storm broke out at midnight on Galilee, it threatened to take the disciples to the bottom of the lake.
They shook Jesus awake perturbed and frightened. He came to the deck, looked at the winds and waves and said, “Peace be still.”
In awe, the disciples could only say, “What kind of man is this?”
What kind of exclamation do you make of Jesus?
How has he helped you in this year? How has he made a difference? How have you changed because Jesus is the Lord and Savior?
The shepherds saw only a baby in a manger. But you and I have a more complete picture.
So who is Jesus? And how, in every day, not just in a season, can you keep the exclamation of “What man is this?”
–Robert G. Taylor
robertgtaylor.com
