December 23, 2025 • 6 mins
We trace the rich theology inside What Child Is This, moving from a manger’s question to a cross-shaped answer. William Dix’s illness, the Magi’s search, and Isaiah’s prophecy converge to show Jesus as fully human, fully divine, and the substitute who saves.
• background of William Chatterton Dix and his recovery
• the carol’s central question of Jesus’ identity
• Christ’s full humanity and full deity named in the refrain
• Isaiah 53 and the substitutionary atonement
• gifts of the Magi and what they signify
• how worship becomes our fitting response
• why this carol disciples hearts at Christmas
Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review
Want to connect? Email communication@coe22.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The word of God is described asthe sword of the Spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristians' armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for thefight.
Let's sharpen up.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
Welcome back to the Daily Blade.
This week we're looking at fiveChristmas carols in the rich
theology and biblical truthsthey're in.
Yesterday we looked at Oh HolyNight, and today we're looking
at What Child Is This?
So, for the record, my favoriteversion of this song is from the
Country Music Goat, at least mycountry music goat in Oakie
Vince Gill from his Christmasalbum, Let There Be Peace on
Earth from 1993.
(00:41):
This carol was written in 1865by William Chatterton Dix.
So Dix would not have been oneof your first choices for a man
that would write one of the mostpopular Christmas carols of all
time.
In the 1860s, Dix had was he wasa manager for an insurance
company, just working a regularjob, but he was struck by a very
serious and unexpected illnessthat left him bedridden.
(01:01):
And apparently there was fearthat he would never recover from
this illness, and it ultimatelywould take his life.
This caused him to sink into arather severe depression.
However, during this dark nightof the soul, he read the Bible
voraciously.
And this led him to a spiritualrenewal in his life while he was
recovering from his illness.
And he wrote the words to whatchild is this after meditating
(01:22):
on the story of the biblicalmagi that we see in Matthew 2,
verses 1 through 12.
In Matthew's recounting, we seethat King Herod is trying to
ascertain the whereabouts of thenewborn Christ, not so that he
can worship him, as he claims,but so that he can eliminate
him.
And the Magi found him,worshipped him, brought gifts,
and never returned to Herodbecause they were warned in a
dream against doing so.
(01:43):
So let's go to the lyrics ofwhat child is this?
What child is this who laid torest on Mary's lap is sleeping,
whom angels greet with anthemssweet, while shepherds watch our
keeping.
This, this is Christ the King,whom shepherds guard and angels
sing.
Haste, haste to bring him loud,the babe, the son of Mary.
(02:04):
So a couple of things here.
What child is this?
So this is Christologicalinterrogation of sorts, and at
his birth, and also during hisearthly ministry, there is the
lingering question of what childis this?
Or who is this?
Like who is this guy?
And if we look at Matthew 16,beginning in verse 13, we see
this as well.
Now when Jesus came into thedistrict of Caesarea Philippi,
(02:26):
he asked his disciples, Who dopeople say that the Son of Man
is?
And they said, Some say John theBaptist, others say Elijah, and
others Jeremiah or one of theprophets.
He said to them, But who do yousay that I am?
Simon Peter replied, You are theChrist, the Son of the living
God.
And Jesus answered him, Blessedare you, Simon Barjonah, for
(02:48):
flesh and blood was not or hasnot revealed this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven.
And then if we go back to thesong, it says, This, this is
Christ, the King.
So who is the subject here?
Like who is the this that'sbeing referred to?
It's the child, Jesus.
But now we also have to ask,what is he?
(03:10):
He is the Christ, the Savior.
And who is he?
He's the King.
In this one line, there is theaffirmation of Jesus' full
humanity, because he came in theform of a human child, and
Jesus' full deity, because he isthe Christ, the King of all.
But the song also gives us aforeshadowing of what is to come
(03:31):
for this babe, the son of Mary.
Let's go to the second stanzahere.
Why lies he in such mean a statewhere ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian fear, for sinnershere, the silent word is
pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce himthrough, the cross be born for
me, for you.
Hail, hail, the word made flesh,the babe, the son of Mary.
(03:54):
Nails, spear shall pierce himthrough, the cross be born for
me, for you.
So this harkens back to thewriting of the prophet Isaiah.
The fifty-third chapter ofIsaiah is normally skipped in
Jewish schooling.
It's because of how it directlyattaches to what we see
described in the historicalaccounts of what happened to
Jesus.
So Isaiah 53, 5, but he waspierced for our transgressions,
(04:16):
he was crushed for ouriniquities.
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace, and with
the wounds, with his wounds, weare healed.
This is the atonement, guys.
So beyond that, it's thesubstitutionary atonement.
Why?
Because sin had to be atonedfor.
I mean, yeah, got it, but asshould be clear to all of us, we
(04:37):
simply cannot atone for our sinourselves.
We have a sin nature that wehave been born into that makes
us incapable of performing in away that would even allow us to
atone for our sins.
So what did God do?
Did he leave us without a rescueplan?
No.
In our place, he substituted hisone and only Son to pay in full
(04:58):
the sin debt for all ofhumanity.
He sent Jesus on a rescuemission that led him to have the
nails and the spear driventhrough his flesh and dying on a
cross.
For whom?
For you.
For me, for all of us.
He brought us salvation.
And if we had been there in hisearly life, we would have
(05:20):
brought him gifts as the Magidid.
Gifts to acknowledge the comingwork he would do for us all.
So let's wrap today with thefinal stanza of what child is
this?
So bring him incense, gold, andmyrrh, come, peasant king, to
own him.
The king of kings, salvationbrings, let loving hearts
enthrone him.
Raise, raise the song on high,the virgin sings her lullaby.
(05:43):
Joy, joy for Christ is born, thebabe, the son of Mary.
SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
Thank you for listening to today's episode.
Before you go, if you want tohelp equip other men for the
fight, share this podcast aroundand leave us a five star rating
and review.
Stay sharp.
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The word of God is described asthe sword of the Spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristians' armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for thefight.
Let's sharpen up.
SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
Welcome back to the Daily Blade.
This week we're looking at fiveChristmas carols in the rich
theology and biblical truthsthey're in.
Yesterday we looked at Oh HolyNight, and today we're looking
at What Child Is This?
So, for the record, my favoriteversion of this song is from the
Country Music Goat, at least mycountry music goat in Oakie
Vince Gill from his Christmasalbum, Let There Be Peace on
Earth from 1993.
(00:41):
This carol was written in 1865by William Chatterton Dix.
So Dix would not have been oneof your first choices for a man
that would write one of the mostpopular Christmas carols of all
time.
In the 1860s, Dix had was he wasa manager for an insurance
company, just working a regularjob, but he was struck by a very
serious and unexpected illnessthat left him bedridden.
(01:01):
And apparently there was fearthat he would never recover from
this illness, and it ultimatelywould take his life.
This caused him to sink into arather severe depression.
However, during this dark nightof the soul, he read the Bible
voraciously.
And this led him to a spiritualrenewal in his life while he was
recovering from his illness.
And he wrote the words to whatchild is this after meditating
(01:22):
on the story of the biblicalmagi that we see in Matthew 2,
verses 1 through 12.
In Matthew's recounting, we seethat King Herod is trying to
ascertain the whereabouts of thenewborn Christ, not so that he
can worship him, as he claims,but so that he can eliminate
him.
And the Magi found him,worshipped him, brought gifts,
and never returned to Herodbecause they were warned in a
dream against doing so.
(01:43):
So let's go to the lyrics ofwhat child is this?
What child is this who laid torest on Mary's lap is sleeping,
whom angels greet with anthemssweet, while shepherds watch our
keeping.
This, this is Christ the King,whom shepherds guard and angels
sing.
Haste, haste to bring him loud,the babe, the son of Mary.
(02:04):
So a couple of things here.
What child is this?
So this is Christologicalinterrogation of sorts, and at
his birth, and also during hisearthly ministry, there is the
lingering question of what childis this?
Or who is this?
Like who is this guy?
And if we look at Matthew 16,beginning in verse 13, we see
this as well.
Now when Jesus came into thedistrict of Caesarea Philippi,
(02:26):
he asked his disciples, Who dopeople say that the Son of Man
is?
And they said, Some say John theBaptist, others say Elijah, and
others Jeremiah or one of theprophets.
He said to them, But who do yousay that I am?
Simon Peter replied, You are theChrist, the Son of the living
God.
And Jesus answered him, Blessedare you, Simon Barjonah, for
(02:48):
flesh and blood was not or hasnot revealed this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven.
And then if we go back to thesong, it says, This, this is
Christ, the King.
So who is the subject here?
Like who is the this that'sbeing referred to?
It's the child, Jesus.
But now we also have to ask,what is he?
(03:10):
He is the Christ, the Savior.
And who is he?
He's the King.
In this one line, there is theaffirmation of Jesus' full
humanity, because he came in theform of a human child, and
Jesus' full deity, because he isthe Christ, the King of all.
But the song also gives us aforeshadowing of what is to come
(03:31):
for this babe, the son of Mary.
Let's go to the second stanzahere.
Why lies he in such mean a statewhere ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian fear, for sinnershere, the silent word is
pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce himthrough, the cross be born for
me, for you.
Hail, hail, the word made flesh,the babe, the son of Mary.
(03:54):
Nails, spear shall pierce himthrough, the cross be born for
me, for you.
So this harkens back to thewriting of the prophet Isaiah.
The fifty-third chapter ofIsaiah is normally skipped in
Jewish schooling.
It's because of how it directlyattaches to what we see
described in the historicalaccounts of what happened to
Jesus.
So Isaiah 53, 5, but he waspierced for our transgressions,
(04:16):
he was crushed for ouriniquities.
Upon him was the chastisementthat brought us peace, and with
the wounds, with his wounds, weare healed.
This is the atonement, guys.
So beyond that, it's thesubstitutionary atonement.
Why?
Because sin had to be atonedfor.
I mean, yeah, got it, but asshould be clear to all of us, we
(04:37):
simply cannot atone for our sinourselves.
We have a sin nature that wehave been born into that makes
us incapable of performing in away that would even allow us to
atone for our sins.
So what did God do?
Did he leave us without a rescueplan?
No.
In our place, he substituted hisone and only Son to pay in full
(04:58):
the sin debt for all ofhumanity.
He sent Jesus on a rescuemission that led him to have the
nails and the spear driventhrough his flesh and dying on a
cross.
For whom?
For you.
For me, for all of us.
He brought us salvation.
And if we had been there in hisearly life, we would have
(05:20):
brought him gifts as the Magidid.
Gifts to acknowledge the comingwork he would do for us all.
So let's wrap today with thefinal stanza of what child is
this?
So bring him incense, gold, andmyrrh, come, peasant king, to
own him.
The king of kings, salvationbrings, let loving hearts
enthrone him.
Raise, raise the song on high,the virgin sings her lullaby.
(05:43):
Joy, joy for Christ is born, thebabe, the son of Mary.
SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
Thank you for listening to today's episode.
Before you go, if you want tohelp equip other men for the
fight, share this podcast aroundand leave us a five star rating
and review.
Stay sharp.
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