The Week of Celebrating His Advent
If you read the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament, it’s fairly clear that most of them don’t expect Christ to come to earth twice. When those who believe in who He is at His first coming meet Him, they expect that He will deliver them from the Romans and begin His reign immediately.
This is, perhaps, one of the greatest reasons that many Jews didn’t—and still don’t—accept Jesus as the Messiah. Most expected an immediate earthly rule, not a brief walk through the earth that would end in brutal death.
While most Christians today know that the Messiah is coming again, it is still very easy to doubt—perhaps especially so at Christmastime.
If He is coming again, we think, why not now? Haven’t we all been through enough suffering? Why do we have to endure an even longer wait? (See 2 Peter 3.)
My favorite Christmas carol is one of the slowest and, perhaps, the most melancholy of the group. In most recordings today, artists choose a few verses from “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” to sing—those they think will fit the best with their audience.
However, there is a rich history to the song. I should have written this earlier, as this hymn is traditionally sung through Advent and ends with a verse about the Virgin Mary and her Magnificat. Nevertheless, here we are today, on Christmas day, and I felt it was still an appropriate moment to speak of this song.
Out of a rather muddy history, we gather that this hymn was traditionally an “antiphon” sung during evening Vespers by Catholics dating back hundreds of years. Some believe it was written as early as the 8th Century, though it’s not entirely certain.
In the original Latin, there are seven verses (or antiphons), which form the acrostic SARCORE. Backward, this acrostic is translated as “ERO CRAS”,” which means “I shall be with you tomorrow.” A version of five verses was found in a hymnal dating back to 1710 and was translated into English by J.M. Beal in 1851, and this is what is traditionally found in hymnals and some worship albums today.
But, I always like to go back to the beginning and consider what those nearest Jesus’ first advent were thinking and feeling. Here is one translation of the original seven verses:
1 O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
2 O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.
3 O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
4 O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.
5 O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode.
6 O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
7 O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
[Refrain:] Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.
Each of the verses expounds on one of the names of God, or, more specifically, His Son, Jesus.
This is the perfect song for Advent. As we approach Christmas, there are few of us who are feeling as full of joy as we wish we were. So many of us are grieving what we hoped Christmas would be.
We are grieving the image of Christmas that we always had in childhood…but was never quite attained.
We are grieving damaged relationships, lost loved ones, broken bodies, and crushed dreams.
We are grieving a world that should be perfect but is in fact far from it.
That’s why “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is the perfect hymn to celebrate Advent and come to a close on Christmas day. The verses of this song are full of longing for a perfect world that we all hope for but can’t really imagine.
We are seeking light, comfort, the ability to follow the law, the end of divisions, and deliverance from hell. Our hearts long for these things, but we don’t imagine we’ll ever find them. Without Jesus, we won’t.
But, as we come to Christmas day and celebrate as best as we can even with so many unmet hopes, we can cling to the refrain. “Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to you O Israel.”
Our God truly is Emmanuel [God with us], Wisdom, Lord of Might, Branch of Jesse’s Stem, Key of David, Bright and Morning Star, and King of Nations. He is everything that this song begs for.
We might not see it just now. I suppose the early writers of these verses expected His return to be much nearer their own time than it has turned out to be. But that is why the acrostic created in those verses is all the more powerful.
I shall be with you tomorrow…
Shall He indeed? We don’t know. But every Christmas, we celebrate that He did come once; a humble baby in a manger who would grow up to change the world and die as the ultimate sacrifice before God.
We celebrate that He has come and we know that He shall come again. Then, all things will be made right.
Christmas is a joyous time, but I find that the older I get, the more sorrowful it can be. So many expectations are unmet, so many people are gone, so many dreams are lost. I cling to the hope that Jesus came once, thousands of years after the prophets announced Him.
I cling to the hope that He shall come again, thousands of years after He first told us He would (e.g., see Matthew 24).
As we go into Christmas, no matter how sad or how happy we are, let us remember that it is always possible that “He shall be with us tomorrow.” Let us take comfort in the fact that we are not alone.
The sorrow we feel was felt by Jesus so many years ago when He came here to die. His “Christmases,” such as they were, were but yearly reminders of His impending death. But, for the joy set before Him, He endured (Hebrews 12:2).
So, as the song says, we too can rejoice! Even if we are saddened and burdened by the emptiness around us, joy is still ours in the One who came, suffered, and rose again to secure our salvation.
One day, He will return to accomplish His will and bring to life the perfect world that has been planted (by Him) as an unmet dream in all of our hearts.
On that day, will we be ready?
This post was originally published on my Substack, Writrix Unbound. Follow me there for more content!