Silent Night

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child.
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

(Josef Mohr,c. 1816-1818. Retrieved January 2, 2010, from http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/i/silntnit.htm)

I have to disagree with Herr Mohr on at least one point. The night that Jesus was born may very well have begun as a silent night, but it certainly did not stay that way for long.

On a hillside not far from Bethlehem were a band of shepherds who were caring for a flock of sheep. Their job was to protect the sheep from predators and to guard them from injuring themselves. In order for these men to do this, they had to stay awake. It would not be at all surprising for them to talk about various topics or tell each other stories or to sing. On that hillside, it was likely not silent.

The silence was further broken when an angel appeared before them and announced the birth of the King of kings. This angel was soon joined by a host of angels who all sang the first Christmas carol - "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace goodwill to men." It was not a silent night on that hillside.

Once the angels left, the silence resumed for a moment while the shepherds recovered from the initial shock. Soon, though, I can imagine they began talking at once saying such things as "Did you see that?" "Were they real?" "Did you hear what they said?" "Let's go and see this newborn King." I can imagine their words overlapping. Imagine, for a moment, being in the midst of a crowd who are all talking at once. Perhaps that is how it sounded on that hill that night. It was not a silent night on that hillside.

When they decided to go to Bethlehem, it is possible that they ran all that way and as they did so, they would possibly have continued talking about what they had seen and heard. It was not a silent night on the way from the hillside to Bethlehem.

After arriving in Bethlehem and to the stable where Jesus lay, silence resumed as they gazed in awe and wonder at this newborn baby boy. When they left, though, the silence would have been broken as they told everyone about everything they had seen and heard that night. It was not a silent night in Bethlehem.

When the shepherds began their journey back to that hillside from whence they came, they were probably talking about all that they had seen and heard that night. It was not a silent night on the way from Bethlehem to the hillside.

In this one phrase, silent night, I disagree with Herr Mohr. I do agree, though, that it was a holy night.