The Carols of the King - Pt 7

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. (Matthew 1:20-25 ESV).

Today we will look at an old favorite of many believers, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. Listen to Enya perform it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPHh3nMMu-I. This hymn, originally in Latin, takes us back over 1,200 years to monastic life in the 8th- or 9th-century. Seven days before Christmas Eve monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in anticipation of Christmas Eve when the eighth antiphon, “O Virgo virginum” (“O Virgin of virgins”) would be sung before and after Mary’s canticle, the Magnificat (cf. Luke 1:46b-55). Put together, the first letter of the second word of each antiphon spells SARCORE. If read backwards, the letters form a two-word acrostic, “Ero cras,” meaning “I will be present tomorrow.” Time after time, the Israelites found themselves separated from God - always by their own doing. And God would eventually deliver them, only to be betrayed by His chosen people again. So we find two constant themes in the Old Testament: First, the Israelites, no matter how hard they tried, were unfaithful to God; and second, God remained faithful and fulfilled the promises He made to them. One of those was through Isaiah: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14). The name Emmanuel translates as “God with us.” It’s a remarkable promise - the Ultimate Being and Creator of the Universe promising to make Himself physically present with the people who have proven themselves unworthy. In one of the most somber Christmas songs, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, we see Israel again in exile, separated from God yet again. But they choose to rejoice in the promise God has made to them. With nothing else to cling to, in the midst of desperation and loneliness, they recall and proclaim the promise that God would be with them, in spite of their unfaithfulness. No one could have expected a baby in a manger to be the start of God’s perfect plan to be “with us.” His faithfulness is greater than our failure. And His presence is all the reason we need to, once more, rejoice!