Benjamin R. Hanby

7 December 2024

Christmas Song #7: Tears and Triumph

When Who is He in Yonder Stall? was first published, every verse was a couplet of its own, making 10 verses, almost all starting with “Who is He”. 90 years later, in 1956, in the Worship and Service Hymnal, Donald Hustad combined two couplets for each stanza, giving the song the form it has today.

My Dad found the song rather repetitive, and gave this suggestion for congregational singing:

To relieve the monotony, you might try having part of the congregation sing one line of a stanza, and another part of the congregation respond with the other. Then all could join in singing the chorus. It would also work to have two soloists sing the stanzas, and the congregation answer with the refrain.
Robert Cottrill

This change in the form of the song is worth remembering, because the two couplets are not necessarily meant to come as a pair. Nevertheless, here’s the next section that we’re looking at –

Who is He that stands and weeps
At the grave where Lazarus sleeps?
Who is He the gathering throng
Greet with loud triumphant song?

The resurrection of Lazarus was, of course, one reason for the crowds that came to see Jesus at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. People had come to Lazarus’ home out of curiosity (in Bethany – John 12:9) and continued to talk about the event in Jerusalem (John 12:17).

Jesus’ compassion is on display again at the tomb of Lazarus, both in His tears and in His power to bring life. The story has been a comfort to believers ever since, because it’s a sign pointing to the future resurrection of all believers.

Last time we talked about Hanby’s famous song Darling Nelly Gray. Nelly was a real person.

Benjamin Hanby’s father was involved in the Underground Railroad, a network aiming to secretly get slaves to freedom in Canada. One former slave passed through the Hanby household – a man named Joseph Selby. Selby told the story of his lost love (Nelly), and his desire to go to Canada to earn enough to buy her freedom.

Nelly Gray - George Brenneman — *1892 edition of Nelly Gray, illustrated by George Brenneman*

Benjamin’s father went into action to try to raise money for Selby. But, sadly, the escaping slave soon died of pneumonia, without ever seeing his love again. Nelly’s fate is unknown.

In this song, the resurrection of Lazarus is not mentioned – just Jesus’ tears. The real triumph of Christ comes later in the song. But in this verse – and in many ways still today – Jesus is as often misunderstood as He is praised.

And yet, Jesus is present in the suffering. The King is there by the grave. And we wait for a better day.

The slave in Hanby’s song looks forward to something better too:

Oh! my darling Nelly Gray, up in heaven there they say,
That they’ll never take you from me any more,
I’m a-coming — coming — coming, as the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore.

Whatever the current circumstance, however long we must wait for perfect justice and peace, Jesus’ identity is the same, as the chorus always reminds us. There is no doubt that the better day is coming, because of who Jesus is.

’Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
’Tis the Lord! the King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall,
Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!

23 November 2024

Christmas Song #7: What is Christmas All About?

Jim Devotional and Bible 0

Benjamin was 33 years old when he wrote this song. By this time he was probably living in Chicago, but he had moved there from his home state of Ohio.

Although it could be argued that this song is not a Christmas song, it is often sung at Christmas. It fits into a category of songs that go through the life of Christ, such as “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem”.

But two years earlier, Benjamin had written a Christmas song.

His actual Christmas song revived when it hit the charts in 2005, sung by Kimberley Locke. But it was popular long before that, and is still well known today. And it holds the historic distinction of being the first modern song about – Santa Claus!

42 years earlier, the modern age of Santa was born with the poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (also called “The Night Before Christmas”). This work had a huge impact on the celebration of Christmas in the United States and around the world. Varied traditions about Saint Nicholas were common. But the tradition that he arrived on Christmas Eve? The names of the reindeer? These ideas, and even the popularity of gift-giving and a focus on children took off like Santa’s sleigh.

Although the poem has been set to music (brilliantly by Ken Darby, featured in a recording by Fred Waring and The Pennsylvanians, and further popularized on the popular radio show – Fibber McGee and Molly), it was not put to music in time to be the first modern Santa song. Benjamin Hanby’s song won out – “Up on the Housetop” (here’s a famous recording from Gene Autry in 1953, but this is the original):

Upon the house, no delay, no pause
Clatter the steeds of Santa Claus;
Down thro’ the chimney with loads of toys
Ho for the little ones, Christmas joys.

O! O! O! Who wouldn’t go.
O! O! O! Who wouldn’t go,
Upon the housetop, click! click! click!
Down thro’ the chimney with good St. Nick.

The most disturbing verse is about “Lazy Jim”, whose stockings are filled with bran, and a new “rattan” – a stalk used for spanking! Why, Ben, did you have to use the name “Jim”?

Anyway, two years after writing his song popularizing the identity of Santa Claus, he wrote a song about the identity of Someone else. St. Nick could not compare with the Baby in the manger. The song began:

Who is He in yonder stall
At whose feet the shepherds fall?

And that’s the only part about Christmas, as the story continues:

Who is He in deep distress,
Fasting in the wilderness?

Who indeed? Then the praise breaks out in the chorus:

’Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
’Tis the Lord! the King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall,
Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!

What fictional story could compare with the True Story – the Lord! The King of Glory!

Our worldly perspective misses the truth. The rulers of the first century did not truly realize what they were doing when they put Jesus to death, as Paul explains:

…we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages to our glory, which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8

Paul explains that the natural man – the unsaved, unregenerate – cannot understand spiritual truths, “because they are spiritually examined” (1 Corinthians 2:14). They come from the Spirit, through the Apostles, to the Church. The revelation from God can never be reached by building a stepladder to heaven – God had to reveal the big picture to us.

After all, who could have believed that this newborn Baby, who relied on His mother to be fed, who did not even have a proper bed – who could have guessed that this Baby was the Lord of glory?

His fame is worldwide, and has endured for more than 2000 years. And so we are right to ask – who is He?

He is the One deserving the crown of the universe.

But Benjamin is not leaving us at the manger for long. Now Jesus is a grown man, not far off the age of the song’s author. He is fasting, praying, facing temptation in the wilderness. This doesn’t seem to be a great beginning for the Lord of all. But the story isn’t over. Let’s take a closer look over the next few weeks.

24 December 2008

Who is He in Yonder Stall?

Jim Devotional and Bible 0

It’s been happening for 2000 years. But it seems like the voices have been coming from more and more directions lately. The voices are trying to convince us – almost obsessively – that the baby in the manger was not really God. More specifically, that this idea came later on in the history of the Church.

Maybe one of the most famous voices is Dan Brown, in his bestseller The Da Vinci Code. His book was fictional, but Brown claimed it was entirely based on historic fact. The diety of Jesus, according to Brown, was voted into existence for political reasons:

"Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicea."
"Hold on. You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote?"
"A relatively close vote at that. Nonetheless, establishing Christ’s divinity was critical to the further unification of the Roman Empire…"

The Council of Nicea was held in 325AD. Of course, if the Church went for 3 centuries without believing Jesus was God, one would have to question whether the doctrine is important or even with any basis in reality!

Brown may be one of the more famous voices in recent years, but he’s not alone. People have assured us that Jesus never claimed to be God. The apostles never claimed He was God. That the Scripture was later twisted into saying this. That it was centuries before the doctrine was ever accepted, and that the huge political infrastucture that was the Church took a good teacher and used him for their own purposes.

So was the baby in the manger just another boy child?

Let’s take a look at the decades and centuries after Jesus was born. Did people believe He was God?

In a short post it’s impossible to give a full overview, but let’s look at just a few examples.

We won’t get into the Old Testament, which has a lot to say about who the Christ would be. We also won’t get into what Jesus said about Himself. Of course a lot has been written about that, and I think it’s clear that Jesus equated Himself with the God of the Jews.

What about the apostles – the people who lived with Jesus, ate with Him, heard Him teach?

Even before you’re out of the Gospels, you see Jesus’ followers talking about His diety. Upon seeing Christ after His resurrection, Thomas cried,"My Lord and My God!" (Joh 20:28). Of course, John himself gives a clear message in the first chapter of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Joh 1:1)

Most scholars suggest that John was written somewhere between 60 and 100AD, putting it close enough to Jesus ministry on earth that people who knew Him would have read it.

Over and over the apostles continued to ascribe diety to Jesus. Paul used terms like "the form of God" and "our God and Saviour Jesus Christ" (Phil 2:6; Tit 2:13). The writer of the book of Hebrews uses Old Testament descriptions of God for Jesus (Heb 1:8).

Frequently the apostles don’t seem to care if they mix around Jesus and God in their writing. For example, we hear Jesus and God both calling themselves by the same title in Revelation – The Beginning and the End (Rev 1:8; Rev 22:13)

But even if Jesus claimed to be God, and his apostles claimed He was God, did others accept this belief?

The answer is an overwhelming yes. Take for example Irenaeus, a bishop of Lugdunum (in modern day France) who lived around 130-202AD. Iranaeus said that the apostles proclaimed "the one Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was enfleshed for our Salvation." Then he called Jesus "our Lord and God, Saviour and King". A disciple of Irenaeus, Hippolytus, said that "Christ is God above all."

Ignatius, a Bishop of Antioch who died around 98-117AD, may have been a disciple of John. He wrote,"Mary then did truly conceive a body which had God inhabiting it. And God the Word was truly born of the Virgin, having clothed Himself with a body of like passions with our own."

Others could be mentioned, but suffice to say the doctrine of Jesus’ diety was known to the Church right from the start, and continued to be accepted 100 and 200 years after His ascension. It wasn’t much of a secret.

The Council of Nicea was indeed, in part, a fight to maintain this belief that Jesus was God, a belief that had been affirmed and re-affirmed many times in the past 300 years. But in the end, His diety was reaffirmed. But it wasn’t a close vote as Brown suggested. Two voted against. About 218-316 voted for.

Photo courtesy of mtsofan

People who knew Jesus claimed He was God. The early Church fathers frequently defended the belief that He was God. All through the first 300 years of the Church, and to this day, the Church affirms that God lived among us as Jesus. This was not "proposed" in 325AD – it was accepted by the Church from the start.

Who is He in yonder stall? God in the flesh. Of course, there are many more reasons why we know this, but it’s important to realize that the bluster about His diety being a later invention doesn’t stand up to a closer look. This belief alone has a remarkable history – could it be that Jesus was more than just another baby?

The title is from the song by Benjamin R. Hanby:

Who is He in yonder stall
At Whose feet the shepherds fall?
‘Tis the Lord! O wondrous story!
‘Tis the Lord! the King of glory!
At His feet we humbly fall,
Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!
For more on Dan Brown’s claims, read THE DA VINCI CODE: A Critique of Dan Brown’s Novel by Robert Cottrill. For more on the historic belief in the diety of Christ, I highly recommend For Us and for Our Salvation by Stephen J. Nichols.