Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Jeremy Riddle performs Charles Wesley's 1739 hymn in its full theological arc rather than stopping at the manger — by the third verse it's already declaring 'risen with healing in His wings,' Malachi 4:2's image of the sun of righteousness rising with healing, folded into a song ostensibly about a birth. The carol refuses to let Christmas stay separate from Easter.

'Born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth' compresses the entire purpose of the incarnation into four lines, treating the baby's birth as inseparable from what it was for — not sentiment first and theology later, but both stated in the same breath. 'Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men' echoes Luke 2:14's angelic announcement directly, and Wesley's insistence on ending each verse back at that declaration keeps the hymn's scale from shrinking, however far into doctrine the middle of each verse travels.