Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Manger Throne."

A few years later the first three stanzas of that poem were set to the music of an

English traditional folk song called "Greensleeves" that soon became known as the beloved

Christmas carol "What Child Is This?"

This combination of poetry and music first was published in

the United Kingdom in 1871 as a new song when it debuted in a prestigious compilation of Christmas

music called Christmas Carols Old and New.

For close to a century and a half the question found in

the title of this carol has become an annual reminder that something significant happened on that

night in Bethlehem as someone significant lay wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger.

This child

would change the world forever; but what child is this?

In 1865, an Englishman named William Chatterton Dix penned the words to a poem entitled "The Manger Throne."

A few years later the first three stanzas of that poem were set to the music of an English traditional folk song called "Greensleeves" that soon became known as the beloved Christmas carol "What Child Is This?"

Shepherds

What Child Is This? - Shepherds

Tension

Manger Throne."

A few years later the first three stanzas of that poem were set to the music of an

English traditional folk song called "Greensleeves" that soon became known as the beloved

In 1865, an Englishman named William Chatterton Dix penned the words to a poem entitled "The Manger Throne."

A few years later the first three stanzas of that poem were set to the music of an English traditional folk song called "Greensleeves" that soon became known as the beloved Christmas carol "What Child Is This?"

Christmas carol "What Child Is This?"

This combination of poetry and music first was published in

the United Kingdom in 1871 as a new song when it debuted in a prestigious compilation of Christmas

This combination of poetry and music first was published in the United Kingdom in 1871 as a new song when it debuted in a prestigious compilation of Christmas music called Christmas Carols Old and New.

Sounds like a Pandora Channel that we might dial in at this time of year.

For the past 150 years, the question found in the title of this carol has become this annual reminder that something significant happened on that night in Bethlehem as someone significant lay wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger.

music called Christmas Carols Old and New.

For close to a century and a half the question found in

the title of this carol has become an annual reminder that something significant happened on that

night in Bethlehem as someone significant lay wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger.

This child

would change the world forever; but what child is this?

For our Christmas series this year we are going to be tackling the question from this well known Carol and the first people in the carol that we find asking this question is the Shepherds.

must have asked on the night they visited the baby Jesus.

After their angelic encounter and

receiving the startling news while they tended their sheep on the outskirts of Bethlehem, their heads

must have been spinning rapidly.

They tried to comprehend all they experienced on that first

Christmas night.

Luke's Gospel records the scene in chapter 2:8-18.

"And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock

by night.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around

What Child Is This? - Shepherds Video

them, and they were filled with great fear.

And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I

bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For unto you is born this day in

the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a

Tension

ad to make sense of all that happened to them on that first Christmas Night.

Luke's Gospel records the scene in chapter 2:8-18.

baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.'

And suddenly there was with the

angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest,

"Glory to God in the highest,

Can you even imagine what it would have been like to have been there with the Shepherds that night.

I can imagine that an encounter like that would “awaken” an old soul.

Their heads must have been spinning after their encounter with the angles.

They were simply tending their sheep on the outskirts of Bethlehem like they did the night before and the night before that when it all happened all of a sudden, and they somehow were able to make sense of it all.

Let me read to you the story as Luke lays it out for us:

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us

go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known

to us.'

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this

child.

And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them."

My guess is that these words are familiar to you, maybe it brings you back to the tradition of having someone special read the story in your home each Christmas.

Another tradition that many Christian families have is to set up a nativity somewhere in their house to remind them of the importance of this story.

While no nativity scene is complete without the shepherds' presence, subsequently, the answer to this Christmas Carol's question also would be only partial without the description of "shepherd."

I remember as a kid my parents had this large light up nativity that they would set up on the rooftops of the two porches of our home.

And for some reason, of all the characters in the scene I was always partial to the shepherd.

I even named him “Harry”, seemed like a good name for a Shepherd.

And every year I would make sure that “Harry” had found his place in the nativity scene.

this Christmas Carol's question also would be only partial without the description of "shepherd."

Transitional Statement

a Shepherd.

And every year I would make sure that “Harry” had found his place in the nativity scene.

We all know that no nativity scene would be complete without the the presence of the shepherds' …what we might not know, is that the answer to our question of “What Child Is This” would also be incomplete without the description of a “shepherd”.

We all know that no nativity scene would be complete without the the presence of the shepherds' …what we might not often think about however, is that the answer to our question of “What Child Is This” would also be incomplete without the description of a “shepherd”.

What Child Is This?

He is a shepherd.

told what a good shepherd does and who a good shepherd is in John's Gospel, chapter 10:11.

Now we have no record of Jesus growing up to sleep on a hillside as he watches over a flock of wool bearing animals, but we do find Jesus described as a shepherd.

In fact, in the Gospel of John chapter 10, Jesus calls himself a shepherd”

"I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

There is something of Jesus that is reflected in the life and role of a Shepherd.

This is a summary statement of what this child in the manger came to be for all people.

He is the one who came to lay His life down for all of humanity just as a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

There is something of Jesus that is reflected in the role of a Shepherd.

This is a summary statement of what this child in the manger came to be for all people.

He is the one who came to lay His life down for all of humanity just as a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

While at times the shepherds in the Christmas story have been labeled as the ones who were a bit rough around the edges and living on the lowest rung of society's ladder, Jesus describes Himself as being a shepherd who has great responsibility.