Just A Word Or Two

Last night we went to the Christmas concert for our daughter's choir. She sings in a middle school girls choir, and so there were 15 girls, ages 10-14 singing a variety of Christmas songs. The program also included a few songs by an adult quartet, and a few songs by a soloist.

The songs, by all the different groups, were a mix of what the soloist referred to as "sacred and secular." That meant that some were of a explicitly religious nature, like Angels We Have Heard On High, while others were not, such as White Christmas.

At one point the girls and the soloist sang together, with a medley that included Go Tell It On The Mountain. Do you know that song? It starts with the chorus, which is:

"Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Go, tell it on the mountain
that Jesus Christ is born."

Except that wasn't what was sung. The soloist sang this part, and the words he sang were these:

"Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills and everywhere.
Go, tell it on the mountain
that a little baby is born."

Did you catch the difference? "Jesus Christ" was changed to "little baby."  Just a two-word change, but it makes all the difference in the meaning of the song.

There is virtually no end to the little babies that have come into the world. I was a little baby. You were a little baby. My kids were little babies. Everyone I see on Facebook was a little baby. Everyone who ever lived in the history of the world started as a little baby.

We can get excited about babies, particularly those we are close to for one reason or another. But for the most part there is little particular reason that a broad group of people should get excited over any particular baby.

But the author of the song had one particular baby in mind, the baby Jesus. He was the baby whose life made a singular difference in the world. No other baby grew into an adult and left a mark on the world like Jesus did.

This week I'm preaching from John 6:60-71, where in verses 68-69 Peter responds to a question from Jesus by saying:

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 

I don’t know who made the change in the lyrics for the concert. The arranger of the song, the soloist, the choir director, or someone else. But I do know that the name of Jesus Christ is one that makes a difference in the world, a difference unlike any other.

May this Christmas season be one where, if you already have faith in Jesus, that you treasure his name. And if you don’t have faith may this be the time in which you learn who he truly is and the receive the love that he has waiting for you.

A little baby is nice, but there has never been, and never will be, a baby like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.