This is a Christmas carol written by folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles. The carol has its origins in a song fragment collected by Niles on July 16, 1933. This is the story behind the song. In the middle of the summer in 1933, the Morgans, a poor homeless family in Murphy, North Carolina, was trying to scrape together enough money to buy the gas to drive out of town. The people of Murphy had complained about how the Morgans made their home in the middle of the city. They had even hung their laundry out to dry on a monument in the town square. The police were ordered to evict them from their unlikely temporary home in the town center, but they did not have enough money to leave. Mr. Morgan was a preacher and some of the area churches got together to put on a fundraiser.
During this fundraiser, little Annie Morgan came out and sang the first three lines of the first verse of “I Wonder as I Wander.” After hearing the song a few times, Niles had written down the words. Those few words that had impressed him, Niles turned into the full version of “I Wonder as I Wander” that we hear today. Niles performed the full version of the song for the first time on December 19, 1933. The song would be published for the first time in 1944. This song has been recorded more than thirty times over the past sixty years and continues to grow in popularity.
That night more than two-thousand years ago in the little village of Bethlehem caused wonder and amazement for everyone that heard about it. I am sure Mary wondered about all the events that had taken place. If we are truly honest, there are some nagging questions concerning that night in Bethlehem that we wonder about. Today, I would like us to look closely at some of the things about that first Christmas that cause us wonder and amazement.
I. One has to wonder about all the unusual events that took place that night in Bethlehem.
A. The baby being born of a virgin.
1. The virgin birth was prophesied but this sign was so unmistakable that it leaves no doubt that God is involved and this child would be His Son.
2. Since the announcement that she would have a child, Mary has been caught up in a whirlwind.
a. She deals with the idea of being pregnant before she is married.
b. She deals with the idea of the baby being conceived by the Holy Spirit.
3. The wonder and amazement for her continues as she encounters others that God uses to reveal just a little more information about her child.
4. We are told in our text with each new bit of information gained; Mary treasures them up and ponders them in her heart.
5. The Greek word translated treasure means to protect or to hold in one’s memory. So she tucks it away in her memory so she can think about it or ponder it.
B. The baby being born in a stable.
1. The stable is not nearly as important in the narrative as the manger or feeding trough is. This was the sign that would identify the child and let the shepherds know that everything the angels told them was true.
2. Although the manger could be made clean and lined with straw to make it cozy for a baby, this would not be the first choice of any new mother.
3. This manger was the concrete verification of everything the shepherds had been told. Is it any wonder that the shepherds gave Mary more to ponder?
4. Lewis Foster in his commentary on Luke expresses the importance of the manger this way. “Jesus was identified with the most humble, lowly beginning when they laid Him in a manger. Of all the details Luke could have told us about the birth of Christ, he chose this—the manger.”
5. Perhaps the manger allows us to begin to understand how much Jesus left behind in order to come to this world and save us.
C. The information given in regard to the child’s identity.
1. Mary was told that the child was to be great and would be called the Son of God.
2. The Shepherds were given two bits of information about the child’s identity.
a. He would be a Savior.
b. He was the Messiah.
3. In the Jewish culture people pay attention to the significance of names. The name Jesus provides another clue to the child’s identity since it means “Yahweh saves.”
4. As Mary wandered through her life she probably wondered what the Lord had in store next as she continued to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
II. One has to wonder why God chose to announce the birth of His Son to the most common of people.
A. The announcement was one that would impact all people.
1. The angels made it clear that this announcement would be good news to everyone who heard it.
2. The religious elite were the ones that most people would have expected to experience the greatest benefits from the Messiah’s rule.
3. The phrase “all the people” is quite significant. This would include Jews of every class and surprisingly for the Jew it also included the Gentiles.
4. The message that was given to the shepherds was worldwide in scope.
B. An announcement of such importance would normally be given to people of power and influence.
1. Making a significant announcement to people of little importance seems to defy logic.
2. You would expect that the announcement would be given to those who had credibility with the populace and the means to spread the news quickly.
3. Being considered unclean and members of the lowest class in society, the shepherds lacked the credibility and the ability to spread the news quickly.
4. Perhaps the logic behind God choosing the shepherds to receive the news first was that it was the best way to show that Jesus came to be a Savior for everyone from the richest to the poorest and all those in between.
III. One has to wonder why God chose to send His Son to die for people like you and I.
A. God sent His Son to save a world that had turned their back on Him.
1. The greatest mystery surrounding Christmas might be why God chose to send Jesus to save mankind.
a. Man has a track record of disobedience and stubbornness.
b. Man has constantly turned their backs on God and rebelled against Him.
c. When God has forgiven man, he has slapped God in the face by returning to their disobedience.
2. How could God love a group of people who has been nothing but trouble for Him?
3. The mystery deepens when we realize that God sent Jesus knowing full well that the very people He was trying to save would nail Him to a cross.
4. 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17—NIV 2011)
5. Perhaps these words are the best answer to the questions that cause us to wonder why.
B. Jesus came to do for man what we could not do for ourselves.
1. Man proved his inability to reach God’s standard by continuing to fail in efforts to keep God’s Law.
2. Paul provides the best view of man’s condition in Romans 3.
3. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. (Romans 3:10-11—NIV 2011)
4. The bottom line is this: regardless of how hard we try, we cannot measure up to God’s standard and thus save ourselves.
5. The wonder of Christmas lies in the deep love God has for each of us and His willingness to take extreme measures in order to save us.
Closing:
Years ago Harry Reasoner wrote a piece about Christmas for the show “60 Minutes,” in it he said; “the basis for this tremendous burst of buying things and gift giving and parties and near hysteria, is a quiet event that happened a long time ago. You can say that in all societies there has always been a midwinter festival, and that many of the trappings of our Christmas are almost violently pagan, but you come back to the central fact of the day… the birth of God on earth. It leaves you only three ways of accepting Christmas. One is cynically, as a time to make money or endorse the making of it. One is graciously, the appropriate attitude for non-Christians, who wish their fellow citizens all the joys their beliefs entitle them. And the third, of course, is reverently. If this is the anniversary of the appearance of the Lord of the Universe as a helpless babe – it is a very important day. It’s a startling idea that a virgin was selected by God to bear His son as a way of showing his love and concern.
….This story has a magnificent appeal. Almost nobody has seen God, and almost nobody has any real idea of what He is like. But everyone has seen babies, and most people like them. If God wanted to be loved… if God wanted to be intimately a part of our life, he has moved correctly, for the experience of birth and family is our most intimate and precious experience. So if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it. Maybe on some given Christmas, some final quiet morning the touch will take.”
