Because Christmas is coming, I’ve decided to take a break from my daily review of modern worship songs and focus on Christmas hymns for a month. I’ve started with Advent.
Advent hymns emphasize waiting, longing, and preparation, while Christmas hymns celebrate fulfilment, joy, and Christ’s birth.
Today’s hymn is On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry. It’s title refers to the preaching of John the Baptist on the banks of the River Jordan.
It’s not a hymn that I ever remember singing either as a Roman Catholic or as a Baptist. But I did sing it over the last few years when I attended a special Advent service at Saint Mary’s Church of Ireland cathedral here in Limerick.
It was written in Latin in 1736 by Charles Coffin, Rector of the University of Paris and a noted hymn writer. I never heard of Charles Coffin. It’s said that though he was a Roman Catholic, due to his opposition to the papal bull Unigenitus (1713), he was denied last rites and a Christian burial. That’s something that I must look into. He has a strange name too. If he was a priest, he didn’t need to get married. But it would be tough finding a girlfriend with a name like Mr Coffin 😄.
Anyway, let’s focus on the hymn. Advent hymns generally focus on the birth of Jesus, the second coming of Jesus, or Jesus coming into our lives. This is an interesting hymn because the title focuses on the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, which is where the gospels of Mark and John begin. Then, it applies the message of John the Baptist to us all.
The story of the birth of John the Baptist is told at the beginning of Luke’s Gospel. He was a truly amazing character, naturally overshadowed by the Saviour himself. When I was asked to preach my first sermon in Cork Baptist Church back in 1982, I chose to speak on John the Baptist. Here are some New Testament verses associated with him:
Luke 1:13-15
13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.
Matthew 3:11
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
John 1:29
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
John 3:30 (John referring to Jesus)
“He must become greater; I must become less.”
The hymn, though written by a Roman Catholic, has an evangelical flavour to it. John the Baptist made it clear that you can’t just rely on your heritage. Your heart needs to change.
1 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
announces that the Lord is nigh.
Awake and harken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings!
2 Then cleansed be every life from sin:
make straight the way for God within,
and let us all our hearts prepare
for Christ to come and enter there.
3 We hail you as our Savior, Lord,
our refuge and our great reward.
Without your grace we waste away
like flowers that wither and decay.
4 Stretch forth your hand, our health restore,
and make us rise to fall no more.
O let your face upon us shine
and fill the world with love divine.
5 All praise to you, eternal Son,
whose advent has our freedom won,
whom with the Father we adore,
and Holy Spirit, evermore.
Hibernia Gospel 