Hymn Highlight - O Come, O Come Emmanuel
It’s no secret: I love old hymns. I think that it’s hard to beat the combination of melodic beauty and theological robustness that is found in many older hymns. They have staying power. Today’s hymn highlight perhaps has the most staying power of any I’ve written about. The melodic setting of this hymn is beautiful and enchanting. The lyrics are haunting and hopeful.‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ has its roots in the early church. While the origins are not quite clear, the text seems to have come from a poem or series of poems used for Advent services in the 8th century.
What we do know about this hymn is that it was translated by J. M. Neale in 1851 and has been popular across many church traditions since then.
The lyrics are an invitation for Emmanuel (which means ‘God with us’) to come and rescue his people:
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel
This first verse is a calling out for rescue that readers of the Psalms will find familiar. God’s people were in bondage to their sin, captured by the weight of their own downfall. They awaited a rescue that could only come from God Himself sending the long-awaited Messiah. They needed God’s abiding and salvific presence (“Emmanuel”). Our status before Christ is worth mourning. We are exiled from a right relationship with God, each other, and even the natural order.
But rescue is coming! In fact, for us, rescue came! And rescue for us came in the form of man–truly God and truly man. Emmanuel is Christ, the child who was born of a virgin named Mary in the town of Bethlehem. Emmanuel is the child who grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Emmanuel is the one who was like us in every way except for sin. Emmanuel is the one who willingly laid down his life for his own people. Emmanuel is the one who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.
This song is a cry for God’s presence because, in God’s presence, there is fullness of joy. Do you have joy this season? The question for us is not “Am I happy?” The question is about the presence of joy. C. S. Lewis called joy “the serious business of Heaven.” Our hymn today is calling us to rejoice–to express joy. Joy is not a temporal state that is affected by external circumstances. Joy is lasting satisfaction and contentment that can really only be brought on by the salvific work of God on a person. God’s presence–Emmanuel–produces joy.
This is such an appropriate song for the Advent season. During these four weeks, the church gathers to reflect on Christ’s Incarnation and first coming while expectantly and hopefully awaiting his second coming. Those of us who have experienced God’s saving grace know we have been rescued from the power of sin and ransomed by Christ. Therefore we can have real and eternal joy.
The rest of the song goes through different roles and names of Christ, including Wisdom, Lord of Might, Branch of Jesse, Key of David, Bright and Morning Star, and King of Nations. The hymn highlights so much that Christ accomplished by his redemption, ordering all things, giving his people victory, bringing his people to heaven, comforting them, and bringing peace amongst the nations. “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” presents a full look at the atoning work of Christ and is worth your reflection this Advent.
In the season where we are suggilated with commercialism and appointments, make sure to take time and savor Christ who has come to ransom His people. Emmanuel is your reality: God with us is the reality of Christians. Rejoice, for Emmanuel has come to you, God’s people.