O Come All Ye Faithful

-December 18, 2021-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

(Luke 2:20).

The shepherds who went to see the baby Jesus were not disappointed. They were faithful to the mission of finding and seeing Jesus. Anyone who is faithful will long to come to the Savior. The angels were faithful in announcing His birth to these ordinary, humble men.

The hymn, O Come All Ye Faithful, was a Latin hymn, translated into English by Frederick Oakeley in the 1800’s. It is one of my favorite Christmas hymns. The first line of the hymn says, “O Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; come and behold Him, born the King of angels.” The chorus exclaims, “O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord. Amen. O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Amen.”

What struck me is the phrase to describe Christ as, “The King of angels.” It is not found in the Scriptures, but it is so true. Jesus the Son of God created the angels and rules over them. They are perfectly obedient to Him and they worship Him. Hebrews 1:4 says of Jesus, “having become better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” As great as they are, they cannot compare to Jesus, the Son of God.

When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, He was weakened in His body have gone 40 days with no food. Three times the devil tempted Him, and three times, He refused and rejected him. He quoted the Scriptures each time. After it was over, it says in Mark 2:13 says, “And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.” Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, we see an angel coming to strengthen Him, leading up to the cross. Luke 21:43 says, “Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.”

Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 26:53, when He was arrested, “Or do you not think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” In the time of Jesus, a standard Roman legion consisted of about 6,000 men. Twelve legions would be 72,000 angels!

In Hebrews 2:9, in referring to His death on the cross it says, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” In His humanity, and in particular in His position of suffering and dying in our place on the cross, He was a little lower than the angels, but now is crowned with glory and honor.

Yes, Jesus is the King of the angels, King of the Jews, and the King of kings, and Lord of lords. God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name which is above every name. One day every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Have a blessed day praising Jesus Christ our Lord, the King of angels. Christmas is just one week from today. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean