HYMNS OF ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS  

A GREAT AND MIGHTY WONDER 

A Great and Mighty Wonder is a lesser-known Christmas carol compared to Silent Night or Joy to the World. Yet, it is one of the oldest existing Christian hymns that proclaims Jesus Christ, come in the flesh as Savior of the world. A Greek Christian by the name of St. Germanus I, born in 634, an ordained Priest who eventually became a bishop is the composer of this hymn. He lived to attain the age of 100, wrote few hymns, but A Great and Mighty Wonder continues to be sung in Christian churches everywhere to this day. 

John Mason Neale, ordained in the Church of England in 1842, himself a writer of hymns, and was especially known for translating Greek and Latin hymns into English. He was unique in that He claimed no rights to his texts, pleased to contribute to hymnody as “common property of Christendom.” 

Note how Germanus incorporated the words of John 1:14, “ . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us . . .” and Luke 2:1-20 (the account of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem) into the text of this hymn. Verse 1 draws your attention to the Angels appearing to the Shepherds while they watched their flocks and to the manger in the stable and the virgin birth of the sinless Son of God. Verse 2 adds to this gospel message the words of John 1:14.   

The message of 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time . . .” is found in verse 4 “ . . .Since all He comes to ransom . . .”  

Hebrews 2:14-15 says of Jesus, “Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of Him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” The entire hymn captures these words: 

A great and mighty wonder, A full and holy cure:  
The virgin bears the infant With virgin honor pure!  

Refrain: Proclaim the Savior’s birth:    
To God on high be glory   
And peace to all the earth. 

The Word becomes incarnate And yet remains on high,  
And cherubim sing anthems To shepherds from the sky.  Refrain: 

While thus they sing your Monarch, Those bright angelic bands,  
Rejoice, O vales and mountains, And oceans, clap your hands.  Refrain: 

Since all He comes to ransom, By all be He adored,  
The infant born in Bethl’em, The Savior and the Lord.  Refrain: 

All idols then shall perish And Satan’s lying cease,  
And Christ shall raise His scepter, Decreeing endless peace.  Refrain:

A Great and Mighty Wonder // LSB 383