Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

I'd like to reflect on another Christmas hymn that isn't full of smiles and denials. Okay. I'm not trying to say anything negative about joyful Christmas hymns. Really. I love them and enjoy singing them. My only problem with the hymns we usually sing, is that what they evoke from our hearts and our spirits is pretty much the same thing: joy, happiness, and other up-beat sorts of emotions and attitudes. I'm not objecting to that per se, Only to the monotone happy-clappy expectations and experiences of the Advent and Christmas seasons, which too often become a mask for those emotions and attitudes not quite so welcome this time of year.

So here's another hymn that draws out other parts of us as we contemplate the amazing event of the incarnation of Jesus.

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

That's a little different than Joy to the World, or Go Tell it on the Mountain, isn't it? Remember: I've got nothing against those songs and hope we all sing them with gusto! But notice how different it is: keep silence, stand with fear and trembling, stop thinking as earthly minded... As we sing it, the hymn pulls out of things we didn't know we wanted to say until we sang them.

Here's a version of this sung by Fernando Ortega: Click here.

Hymn History

This Christmas hymn wasn't originally a Christmas hymn at all. The lyrics were translated from an ancient Greek and Syrian Orthodox liturgy that traces possibly as far back as James the Lesser, bishop of Jerusalem. The Greek text could be as old as the 2nd Century, though some date it as late as the 5th. Either way, it's a very old song!* Originally, the words were chanted as part of the Eucharist (Lord's Supper) liturgy, and as far as I know, still are in parts of the Orthodox world. This connection is evident in the second stanza (see below).

In 1864 the words were translated (paraphrased really) into English and set to poetic meter (8.7.8.7.8.7), by Gerard Moultrie, It was more than 40 years later that Ralph Vaughan-Williams connected the lyrics of Moultrie with the French tune "Picardy" in 1906, revising the harmony of that tune in the beautiful way we have it today.

Comments on the Hymn

The opening line takes it's cue from Habakkuk 2:20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” The connection to the birth of Jesus is in the fact that when Jesus became incarnate, his body was the temple (John 2:21). He was the place where the presence of God was among His people. 

The fact of the incarnation is such an astounding doctrine, that it would be blasphemy to suggest it, if Scripture did not reveal it to be true. Imagine this: God is born. This truth is so astounding, theologies have been developed which avoided the mind-whirling truth it proclaims. Very early, some began to suggest that Jesus wasn't born Divine, but became Divine through his obedience. Others suggested he wasn't really in the flesh at all, but only seemed to be. Both of those doctrines were challenged and declared heresy by the early church. 

We accept the truth of the incarnation (God made flesh) without pondering it much. Which is one of the reasons I love this hymn: ponder nothing earthly minded as we stand before our incarnate God. Ponder heavenly things. 

Ponder the truth of God made flesh. A God who could be seen with human eyes, be touched with human hands, be heard with human ears (1John 1:1-4). The same God who created the universe (John 1:1-3) emptied himself and took on human form (John 1:14; Philippians 2:6-8). 

John 1:14 hints at something our English versions tend to gloss over in their translations. The first part of that verse literally says "The Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us." If we wanted to use an Old Testament term, we could translate that verse this way "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us." 

That's right. When Jesus was walking around on this planet, he was the tabernacle of God: the place where the presence of God dwelt with His people.

Let me give you the other verses:

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

Let me comment briefly on the Biblical background for these verses:

In the second verse we remember that Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 58), who as incarnate, will give himself for us ultimately on the cross. The third and fourth verses take their cue not only from Luke 2, but also from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, the actual throne-room of God. There angels surround the throne, attend the King of kings and sing constantly in His presence.

We also see in these verses that one of the reasons Jesus came is to destroy the powers of hell (1John 3:8), as the light overcomes the darkness (John 1:5).

The song begins in contemplative silence and ends in  joy-filled, angelic praise! But as it does so, it draws that praise out of us from a deeper place than we often find it. The hymn also pairs joy and adoration in a way rarely found in any hymn, or other song of worship.

I don't know what the wind is blowing through your life during this Advent and Christmas season. Maybe it's the sort of stuff that makes joy easy to find. Maybe not. Either way, stop. Quiet yourself to contemplate until you gasp at the staggering truth of the incarnation: God made flesh. Because when we find our joy in Him, in Who He is and what He has done, rather than our always changing life circumstances, that joy can never be taken from us.

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*If you're interested, the original opening line in Greek is this: Σιγησάτω πᾶσα σάρξ βροτεία (literally: "Let keep silent all flesh mortal").