O Little Town of Bethlehem

Scripture makes it crystal-clear that Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:4). That makes Bethlehem important for believers but insignificant among the cities of the world. Even today, it is a small town of approximately 25,000 people.

Bethlehem is located in the Judean mountains on the West Bank. Tourism accounts for 65 percent of the city’s economy (primarily during the Christmas season), and the majority of its residents are Muslim. In the month of December, the temperature ranges between 45 and 57.

Bethlehem is where God became a human being. The incarnation would be awesome regardless of where it occurred, but it happened at Bethlehem.

Most of us will probably hear or sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this Christmas season. Phillips Brooks wrote the lyrics in 1868 almost three years after an extended trip overseas that included the Holy Land during Christmas in 1865. In a letter he wrote about his visit, he said, “We took our horses and rode to Bethlehem. It was only about two hours when we came to the town, situated on an eastern ridge of a range of hills, surrounded by its terraced gardens. Before dark, we rode out of town to the field where they say the shepherds were.” The service that night at the Church of the Nativity lasted five hours, from 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve to 3 a.m. on Christmas morning.

In a letter Brooks wrote from Rome in February 1866, he stated, “I remember especially on Christmas Eve, when I was standing in the old church at Bethlehem, close to the spot where Jesus was born, when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with the splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices that I knew well, telling each other of the ‘Wonderful Night’ of the Savior’s birth.”

Back at his Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1866, he wrote a poem about his visit to Bethlehem. He gave the poem to the organist, Lewis Redner, and asked him to compose a tune for it. On Saturday night before the song was to be sung by the children’s Sunday school choir on Sunday, Redner had not come up with the music. He said, “I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music would live beyond the Christmas of 1868.” It was first sung by six Sunday school teachers and 36 members of the children’s choir.

“It seemed as if I could hear voices that I knew well, telling each other of the ‘Wonderful Night’ of the Savior’s birth.”

The singing of this carol has become a Christmas tradition throughout most of the world. Brooks was one of the most popular preachers of his day, even though the ministry was not his plan. He started his career as a Latin teacher but only lasted one year. He wrote, “I have failed most signally in teaching school.” The Harvard graduate then went to seminary and became a pastor.

“It seemed as if I could hear voices that I knew well, telling each other of the ‘Wonderful Night’ of the Savior’s birth.”

One of his biographers noted that his carol is unusual in that it is not an offering of direct praise or prayer to God until the last verse. It is instead a “meditation in which the singer addresses the little town itself.”

I love the song. Bethlehem will always be a special place. May we all sing with joy “O Little Town of Bethlehem” this Christmas season. However, while it is great to visit where Jesus was born or even sing about the place of His birth, it is even greater to walk with the resurrected Lord today. Merry Christmas!