Tell Me The Story of Jesus

Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word.
Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.
Tell how the angels in chorus, Sang as they welcomed His birth.
“Glory to God in the highest! Peace and good tidings to earth.”

Fasting alone in the desert, Tell of the days that are past.
How for our sins He was tempted, Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of His labor, Tell of the sorrow He bore.
He was despised and afflicted, Homeless, rejected and poor.

Tell of the cross where they nailed Him, Writhing in anguish and pain.
Tell of the grave where they laid Him, Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender, Clearer than ever I see.
Stay, let me weep while you whisper, Love paid the ransom for me.

Chorus
Tell me the story of Jesus, Write on my heart every word.
Tell me the story most precious, Sweetest that ever was heard.

I am going to do something a little different this week with the hymn.  I would like you to use your imagination as you read the words of this week’s hymn.  The hymn is “Tell me the story of Jesus.”  What I would like for you to do as you read it is think about a child asking to be told about different parts of Jesus’ life – stories that the child has heard in Sunday School.  In the first verse, think about the excitement of a child at Christmas time, and how they can hardly sit still as they ask about certain parts of the Christmas story.  Picture in your mind an adult telling the Christmas story with lots of animation and excitement in their voice as the child asked to be told “More about Jesus.”  As you read the second verse, the excitement of the child starts to wane, but the child is still wanting to hear about other aspects of Christ’s life.  Picture the adult sitting down next to the child, and continuing to highlight important events in the life of Christ. While reading the last verse, picture the child climbing into the adult’s lap with a little bit of fear and uneasiness as the adult, speaking in a hushed, reverent tone of voice, purposefully communicates the importance of Christ’s work on the Cross. In the final two lines, I hope you can share a little of the emotion that the child is feeling as he personalizes the story of Jesus. 

I like the title of this hymn because it communicates a subtlety that you may or may not have caught.  Although there is a hymn entitled “Tell me the stories of Jesus” (which I will probably include in a hymn of the week someday), I like the fact that the author entitled this hymn “Tell me the Story of Jesus.”  I love the story of Christmas, and my family has a tradition of reading out the different parts of the story found in Scripture every Christmas Eve.  We try to channel some of the excitement of the kids into acting out different parts of the story.  Grace makes a great angel, Maddie loves to be Baby Jesus, and Tyler smells like a shepherd.  But the story of Jesus is incomplete if Christmas (Christ’s birth) is all we focus on.  Understand that I am not discounting any part of the Christmas story whatsoever.  The story of how Jesus came and fulfilled the Messianic prophecies is powerful and is fundamental to our theology.  Some of the Christmas hymns that we sing at Christmas are filled with deep theology.  But if we don’t connect the birth of Christ with His sacrifice and death on the Cross, we aren’t getting the full story.  To me, this hymn is a good one in that it transitions us from His Birth, to His Life and then to His Death and His Resurrection, and finishes with a  personal connection to each one of us.  In the last line of this song, the realization that “Love paid the ransom for me” is a powerful truth, and something should cause us to “weep.” 

Most people outside the church love this time of year.  Although they don’t completely understand all of the theological and prophetical facts about the Christmas story, they seem to enjoy this season.  For some, however, there is no connection between the infant that we see in the manger scenes, and the Christ we see pictured on the cross.  The Christmas story is a little more “palatable” in their minds.  Angels, Baby, Gifts, etc.  What is not to like about Christmas?  The Cross, however, is a “stumbling block” for many of them.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish is foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.“

So I challenge you this season.  As you share in the excitement of the season and remember your favorite part of the Christmas story, I hope that you also remember Passion week and the Easter season.  I hope you smile and sing “Glory to God in the Highest” as you hear songs playing at the mall, but I also hope that you “weep” remembering what Christ did for you on the Cross.  The story of Jesus is incomplete without both.  Finally, I hope you have the opportunity to tell the story of Jesus.  This time of year people may be more receptive to listening to the Gospel message.  Take their interest in Christ’s birth as an opportunity to tell them, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story.”