The Christmas season has inspired a wide and diverse collection of music over the years. Some of the songs of Christmas are just playful parodies, such as “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth.” Others are for children, such as “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” However, some of the greatest classical works were composed for the Christmas season, including “The Nutcracker” by Tchaikovsky, “Messiah” by Handel, and “Christmas Eve Suite” by Rimsky-Korsakov. The most popular Christmas song, “White Christmas,” was written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish composer.
Our church songbook includes several songs of Christmas. Some are instructive and teach us meaningful lessons. “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” reminds us that a herald is “an official messenger bringing news.” Verse 2 uses the word “incarnate,” meaning “embodied in flesh.” It reflects John 1:14, which states, “the Word (Christ) was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Also in verse 2, we see the name “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us,” which appears in Matthew 1:23 and was prophesied hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah 7:14. In verse 3, we find the phrase ”healing in His wings,” which comes from Malachi 4:2, referring to Christ’s resurrection which allows us to “mount with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31).
Some songs of Christmas are steeped in human traditions and views. “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” is one example. Angels do not need golden harps (verse 1) and do not have wings (verse 2). The reference to Babel in the second verse alludes to the confusion of voices on Earth, but the fourth verse talks about the “age of gold,” when peace will extend “over all the Earth.” The author, Edmund Sears, was a Unitarian minister who believed that peace would come to the current Earth rather than the new heavens and new earth described in Revelation.
In “The First Noel,” verse 1 describes the shepherds in the field “on a cold winter’s night.” Luke 2:9 states that the shepherds were in the fields, but they would not have been there during the cold winter months. The second and third verses mention the star and “wise men,” but they arrived at least months later, when Jesus was in a house, not the stable. Although these songs are cherished classics, they are not entirely biblically accurate.
We enjoy the songs of Christmas. The Christmas season is a time of joy and giving, and it certainly has economic significance, but it is not biblical or commanded by God. A better song to reflect Christian faith is “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love,” which embodies what Jesus urges us to do. (See John 13:34-35, 15:9-10, and 1 John chapter 3).
— John N. Clayton © 2025