Dr. Mike Murphy
December 23, 2022
Christmas! A time of year that brings us together with familiar faces, often in the most comforting of places. But on December 24, 1944, a group of young men found themselves spending Christmas without the familiar faces of family and loved ones. They found themselves far from the comforts of home, in unfamiliar surroundings in an unfamiliar land.
A company of American soldiers found themselves pinned down in a forest, several miles outside of the Belgian city of Bastogne that Christmas Eve night. They gathered around the foxholes they had dug, hoping to enjoy a moment of silence that night. That day had brought some of the most intense warfare they had experienced in Europe. They were greatly outnumbered and encircled by the German infantry and two divisions of German Panzer tanks. They had watched a day of horror, as artillery fell all around them. Many reported that bombs and artillery had fallen on them so much that day, it was as if the earth would not stop shaken. They had clung to their foxholes just hoping to survive, watching all the while as their companions and fellow soldiers were being carried from the battlefield.
The silence of that night brought a much welcomed peace. But with the silence, also brought word that the Germans were planning an all out assault to overtake their position as day would break.
Many had come to accept that this may be their last few hours of freedom, or even worse, the last few hours they would experience here on earth. One by one they gathered, telling each other about their family, their lives before the war, and their faith. A calm fell over many as they relied on their faith to carry them through these most trying of times.
One by one they shared, until they came to one young soldier who found it hard to speak. His story also included his loved ones and family, but also the fact that he was Jewish. The horrors of how the Nazis had treated the Jewish people had reached the battlefields, and he fully knew what his capture would bring.
As each of those in his company began to realize what their friend and companion might soon face, they unanimously came to one decision. They would all remove their dog tags and bury them in a pile together so that they would never be found. The dog tag was a large part of the soldier’s life line, carrying information about his identification, rank, medical history, and yes, his faith. Your dog tag might save your life, or could be the only way of knowing the soldier had fallen in battle so that his family might be notified. With this in mind, no soldier was ever without his dog tags.
Every soldier also knew that the enemy used the dog tags of a soldier as well. It was also well known that the Germans were extremely harsh to any Jewish soldier they captured on the field. They were taken to special work camps, imprisoned in conditions that no man could ever begin to imagine. It was also known that the body of a Jewish soldier found on the battlefield was often brutalized and mutilated, with the dog tags taken so that the family of the soldier would never know what happened to their son.
So in the peace of that night, this company of soldiers decided what would be the fate of one, would be the fate of all. They were willing to lay down their lives for their friend and companion, if that was what was asked of them in the day to come.
In the silence of that night, as they reflected on their fate and the day ahead, I have to believe they sang Christmas carols as so many of our soldiers did around the world that night. One of the most popular carols of that day was The First Noel. You have to imagine with the reality that would surround the coming day, just how such a moving song would bring them all together on the importance of what that night had once brought so many years ago.
The First Noel is one of the most amazing songs we sing each Christmas season. Despite the fact that most know its’ words by heart, little is known about how the song came to be. Even less is known how the main word in its’ title came to be. Most just know the word Noel as the French word for Christmas, but the origins behind it are far different!
The origins of the word have been traced to many different sources, but none can be confirmed. Ask ten linguist, and you will get fourteen different answers! Some say it is of French origin, meaning “shout of joy”. Many say it comes from the Latin word “natalis”, meaning “birth”. They say it originated from events describing the birth of Christ. Others trace it to the Latin word “novella”, meaning “news”. They link it back to the angels announcing the Good News to the world of Christ birth(Luke 2:10). Even more claim the origin of the word is Old English, going back to the original spelling of the word as “nowell”. Just as over time the phrase “God be with you”, was shortened to the word we know now as “goodbye”, the word “nowell” was shortened from the popular greeting most used to embrace others at Christmas, “now all is well”.
My personal favorite of all these goes back to a Biblical language expert who said they all had it right. He said that no single word could describe the meaning behind the word “Noel”. That Noel encompassed all the events and meaning that first Christmas had to offer. It was a word impossible to capture the meaning of on a piece of paper, it was best understood by the simple phrase, “we know it when we see it”!
So you may ask, what does a Christmas song, a group of soldiers in the field, and the events of that miraculous night over two thousand years ago all have in common? Everything!
When we hear this popular Christmas song, or see it performed, it often touches our heart and connects to us in ways that words cannot describe. But we know it when we hear it or see it. As that company of soldiers sat in their foxholes facing what daylight would bring, their faith guided them in ways words could not simply explain. It brought them to act in honor beyond words. But I can promise, those that witnessed it that night understood it because they saw it. And as the shepherds sat in the field that night so many years ago, I am sure they did not have the words to capture the events they witnessed firsthand. They watched as God came in human form, so that He could one day offer His life so that each of us may live. Each that night had to have realized the world had changed forever, although I am sure they did not have the simple words to explain what they were seeing. But they knew it when they saw it!
This Christmas as we hear the song, remember our history, and reflect back on that remarkable night, I hope each of you will say this simple prayer. Ask the Lord to use your life in ways words cannot easily describe. But without words needed, those around you will know it when they see it!
To each of you, I wish Noel! 