Above:  John Edgar Park

Image Source = http://wheatoncollege.edu/college-history/1920s/j-edgar-park/

John Edgar Park (1879-1956), a Presbyterian then Congregationalist minister, served as the President of Wheaton College, Newton, Massachusetts, from 1926 to 1944.

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O Jesus, Thou Wast Tempted:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/o-jesus-thou-wast-tempted/

We Would See Jesus:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/we-would-see-jesus/

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Above:  Christ Pantocrator

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966), The Methodist Church (1939-1968) and The United Methodist Church (1968-)

Text (1913) by John Edgar Park (1879-1956)

The conflation of the birth narratives from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the first stanza annoys me.  Two years or so separate those stories.

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We would see Jesus; lo! his star is shining

Above the stable while the angels sing;

There in a manger on the hay reclining;

Haste, let us lay our gifts before the King.

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We would see Jesus, Mary’s son most holy,

Light of the village life from day to day;

Shining revealed through every task most lowly,

The Christ of God, the life, the truth, the way.

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We would see Jesus, in the mountain teaching,

With all the listening people gathered around;

While birds and flowers and sky above are preaching

The blessedness which simple trust has found.

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We would see Jesus, in his work of healing,

At eventide before the sun was set;

Divine and human, in his deep revealing,

Of God and man in loving service met.

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We would see Jesus; in the early morning

Still as of old he calleth, “Follow me”;

Let us arise, all meaner service scorning:

Lord, we are thine, we give ourselves to thee.

Above:  Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Pilgrim Hymnal (1931/1935), Congregational Christian Churches

Text (1913) by John Edgar Park (1879-1956)

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O Jesus, thou was tempted,

Alone in deserts wild:

No human friend was near thee,

The evil tempter smiled.

O Jesus, thou didst conquer

By God’s own pow’r in thee.

Help me, O Christ, to conquer,

Give me the victory!

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O Jesus, thou wast tempted

To meanness, greed and shame,

In all points like I am,

In ev’ry way the same.

With God’s great words of promise

Thy memory was stored,

And mean things lost their favor

Beside God’s holy word.

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O Jesus, thou wast tempted

To live for self alone,

To be great, rich and pow’rful,

To get, to keep, to own.

Thou didst not bow to Mammon,

But chose to worship God,

O give me strength to follow,

To walk where thou hast trod!

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O Jesus, in thy conquest

Fair angels came to bless,

White-winged they flocked around thee

In the lone wilderness.

May noble thoughts and mem’ries,

Like angels dwell within,

O fill my life, Lord Jesus,

And leave no room for sin!