Come, Behold the Wondrous Mystery by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
The Gospel Coalition recently posted an article listing the best worship songs of the 2010s. At the top was a modern hymn written by Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, and Michael Bleeker entitled Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery. This song, written in 2013, has become a staple at gatherings such as Together for the Gospel and the Gettys’ Sing! conference, and has become part of the regular rotation of songs at many of the churches that lean toward Reformed theology.
And with good reason. Come Behold has a very singable melody, is rich with hefty theology, and has the blessing of being well-connected in the area of publishing. Many have lamented the shallowness and difficult rhythms of contemporary worship songs, and those are charges that clearly cannot be leveled here.
The Music
Let’s start with the melody. One of the things that struck me about this hymn is that the first time I heard it, it was as if I knew it already. The melody line follows a very clear, hymnic pattern that doesn’t go anywhere unexpected. The harmonization remains completely in the diatonic key, and the range is only a major sixth. This makes it congregationally comfortable, both in the original key of F and the more guitar-friendly key of E.
The strophic form of the song also makes for easy learning. The trochaic 8.7.8.7.D pattern follows the same rhythm as NETTLETON (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing), so the congregation won’t be left hanging or wondering what beat to come in on.
The Lyrics
Now, on to the lyrics. There are four verses, each one taking us through one scene or aspect of Christ’s life.
Verse One — The Incarnation
Come behold the wondrous myst’ry
In the dawning of the King;
He, the theme of heaven’s praises,
Robed in frail humanity.
In our longing, in our darkness,
Now the light of life has come.
Look to Christ who condescended;
Took on flesh to ransom us.
The hymn begins with a reflection on the Incarnation. The lyrics contain subtle suggestions of the Christmas story, speaking of heaven’s praises. There are echoes of John 1 and Phil. 2 woven into the lines. One word that surprised me in this verse was “condescended.” While this in Christ’s case is very literally true, and while other historical hymns use the word to speak of Him leaving His heavenly dwelling, the modern connotation of condescension is almost purely negative and may require explanation.
Verse Two — The Fulfillment of the Law
Come behold the wondrous myst’ry;
He, the perfect Son of Man.
In His living, in His suff’ring,
Never trace nor stain of sin.
See the true and better Adam
Come to save the hell-bound man;
Christ the great and sure fulfillment
Of the law; in Him we stand.
The second verse carries some theological weight, exploring Christ’s federal headship as the Second Adam and His perfect fulfillment of the law. It almost reads as the distillation of a Tim Keller sermon, using the “true and better” formulation. This is heady stuff, and the church that sings this needs to make sure that the congregation knows what these words mean. It would be great to introduce this in a sermon series on Romans 5 or I Cor. 15. It has the potential otherwise to go over people’s heads.
Verse 3 — The Crucifixion
Come behold the wondrous myst’ry;
Christ the Lord upon the tree.
In the stead of ruined sinners
Hangs the Lamb in victory.
See the price of our redemption;
See the Father’s plan unfold,
Bringing many sons to glory;
Grace unmeasured, love untold.
Verse three brings us to the cross, and directly to the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. We see that the cross was God’s plan for our redemption, and the grace and the love shown in that plan. The word that sticks out like a sore thumb in this verse is “victory.” The language of triumph is more appropriate to the resurrection. I understand that you can’t have one without the other, but the juxtaposition here seems jarring. Other hymns speak of sorrow and love flowing mingled down; I would linger there for a moment and perhaps leave the victory for the end of the verse.
Verse 4 — The Resurrection
Come behold the wondrous myst’ry;
Slain by death, the God of life.
But no grave could e’er restrain Him;
Praise the Lord He is alive!
What a foretaste of deliv’rance;
How unwavering our hope!
Christ in power resurrected,
As we will be when He comes.
Here in verse four we see Christ’s burial and resurrection proclaimed in two lines. This is, to me, the weakest verse of the song lyrically. It lacks drama and movement where we should be seeing it most. The passive mood of the last two lines could be where we see the victory proclaimed with celebration. There’s nothing there that’s not true, it just could be stated in a way that matches the awesome reality of our redemption accomplished.
The Bottom Line
This is a modern hymn that I like, but I wish that I could love. The melody is wonderful and could be congregationally useful for resetting other hymns with the same metrical construction. Its theme is solid, and the “Come, behold” and “see the . . .” parallels make for a subtle but effective structure. But the lyrics have something of the feeling of notes from a T4G conference. I would love to hear the tune enter the public domain and be used on some lyrics that have the stir of “And Can It Be?”
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