Hymns for the Nativity: XI

Hymn XI of Charles Wesley's 'Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord':

1. Light of those whose dreary Dwelling
Borders on the Shades of Death,
Come, and by thy Love's revealing
Dissipate the Clouds beneath:
The new Heaven and Earth's Creator,
In our deepest Darkness rise,
Scattering all the Night of Nature,
Pouring Eye-sight on our Eyes.

2. Still we wait for thy Appearing,
Life and Joy thy Beams impart,
Chasing all our Fears, and cheering
Every poor benighted Heart.
Come, and manifest the Favour
GOD hath for our ransom'd Race;
Come, thou universal Saviour,
Come, and bring the Gospel-Grace.

3. Save us in thy great Compassion,
O Thou mild, pacific Prince,
Give the Knowledge of Salvation,
Give the Pardon of our Sins;
By thine all-restoring Merit,
Every burden'd Soul release,
Every weary wandring Spirit
Guide into thy perfect Peace.

Textual note: in stanza 3, the 1st ed. (1745) read "By thine all-redeeming Merit." The one above reflects the 2nd ed. (1788). The language of that line is strikingly similar to one in Hymn X, which reads "By thine all-sufficient merit." Really, any of these terms makes good theological sense. Redemption connotes the purchase that Christ made for us. In many places in the Wesleys' writings it's about liberty from something, namely the grips of Satan and evil. Restoration is more about a return to something, namely the favor and/or image of God: the former indicating the doctrine of justification; the latter the doctrine of sanctification.

Much of this hymn is about the imagery of light and darkness (esp. stanza 1). It's really a beautiful picture, again, of the connection between the first and second comings of Christ. The language of restoring our eyesight is vivid. The union of God & man in the person of Jesus has a "revealing" quality. Hence, revelation/restoration of sight has a significant role in reconciliation it seems. I want to propose something. I haven't seen this suggested anywhere directly, but I am thinking of the passage in the middle of Mark's gospel where Jesus touched the blind man twice in order to bring full restoration. Mark 8.22-25: "And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked, 'Do you see anything?' And he looked up and said, 'I see men, but they look like trees, walking.' Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly."

There are many levels of significance here, not the least of which is its placement in the gospel as where the disciples are "getting" that Jesus is the Messiah but don't quite see clearly enough to understand what the Messiah was really going to do (suffer, die, and be raised again). It would take the remaining part of this gospel (and of Jesus' life) for them to be touched a second time, as it were, so that they could truly understand Jesus' identity. But I want to propose this as a rich passage for Advent: the tying together of the first and second appearances of Christ. Though Charles isn't elaborating on this Markan passage here, I think he would get the connection. By the first "touch," Jesus brings a restoration of sight, initially. The blind man began to see and could partly use his eyes, but things were still "cloudy" (stanza 1, line 4) and he needed full "eye-sight" (stanza 1, line 8). This full restoration will come in the new heaven and earth, whereby what began in Christ's first coming will be consummated in the fulfillment of this marriage. Call me an allegorist, but could it be that the "spit" has some sort of connection with baptism? In any case, Christ actually touched the man's eyes on two occasions. Christ touched humanity by becoming one of us. We can now see something, but things are still murky: "For now we see in a mirror dimly...Now I know in part..." We await that second (coming) touch, where we will see clearly: "...but then face to face...then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

Much more could be said about this hymn, but I want to at least mention the comfort and humility I sense when reading that God, in Christ, is "chasing all our fears, and cheering every poor benighted heart." God is cheering us on! In all the fan-dome we see in sports today, think upon and live in this: God is your biggest fan, cheering you out of darkness into his marvelous light!