Words of Reflection
The carol “Good King Wenceslas” is well-known, but not widely sung. I suspect it is well-known because it seems to be the “go-to” carol in Christmas films that take place in Victorian times—if you’re going to show a group of Victorian-era carolers standing on a London street corner singing in the snow, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be singing “Good King Wenceslas.” It occasionally features in filmed versions of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (perhaps due to its thematic resonance), and has showed up in everything from “Doctor Who” to “Love Actually” to “The Big Bang Theory” and more.
And yet…I can’t actually remember ever singing it as part of a Christmas celebration. That is most likely due to the fact that the carol tells a story that is both long and somewhat obscure. It also uses an archaic form of language that can be difficult to follow without really sitting down and parsing through it.
But doing just that—sitting down and reading it slowly and carefully—yields a wonderful gift, because this carol tells a story that is meaningful and deeply touching. It is based on a real person who, following his martyrdom, became widely known for the stories of his devotion to the poor and his pious acts of charity. The story of “Good King Wenceslas” (which is also known as “The Kindness Carol”) is all about that spirit of giving, as the king and his young page bear the brunt of a winter storm to bring food and warmth to a man struggling with poverty. The singer is then enjoined to follow his example, as it states in the final line:
“Ye, who now will bless the poor shall yourselves find blessing.”
The story of this carol echoes many of our prophetic texts about the Messiah, which tell us that the poor and the outcast will be blessed by the coming of God’s chosen One. As the prophet Isaiah said (in words later both read and fulfilled by Jesus):
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.”—Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)
One detail that is often missed in the story of Jesus’ early days tells us that his parents went to dedicate him at the temple in Jerusalem, they brought an offering of two turtledoves (or pigeons). What this seems to indicate is that Joseph and Mary were not well off, because this is the offering that was typically brought by those of meager means. What a good reminder that Jesus was not born into wealth, but came as one of those he came to bless. His coming is, indeed, good news to the poor.
Wenceslas believed in proclaiming that good news, as the carol tells us. As we ponder his story, we are invited to think about ways we might do the same.
Scripture for Meditation:
“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them.
I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.
I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus.
I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.
I will fill the desert with pools of water.
Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.
I will plant trees in the barren desert—cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir, and pine.
I am doing this so all who see this miracle will understand what it means—
that it is the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of Israel who created it.”—Isaiah 41:17-20 (NIV)
Song: Good King Wenceslas (lyrics here)
Below you will find two versions of this carol. The first is set to a new tune, the second is the more traditional tune. The first tune isn’t available on Spotify, so only the second one is found in the playlist.
New Tune:
Traditional Tune:
Questions for Contemplation:
What do you think it means that Jesus came to bring “good news to the poor?” How is the church called to live out that good news? How have you seen that mission carried out in ways that proclaim the gospel in powerful ways?
God says through Isaiah that he will “never abandon” the poor. In this season so often marked by commercialism and spending, spend some time in grateful prayer for God’s tireless devotion to those in need, and ask him how that devotion might root itself more and more in your own life.
“Good King Wenceslas” contains the moving image of a page stepping in the king’s large footsteps in the snow so that his young feet won’t freeze. Spend some time contemplating that image and our call to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. How might God be stretching and challenging you in that area?
