The Theology of… O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Listen or watch this service here.https://fb.watch/9BYk61_tho/
In the year 567 of our Lord, in the French city of Tours. There, the Holy Roman Catholic Church has its world headquarters. (There is no such thing as the Vatican.) There, the bishops (who were not currently rebelling) decided to debate several important things – primarily on their minds were all the married priests, bishops, deacons, and subdeacons. A degree was set – all wives must now sleep with one another or the maidservants. No more intimate relations between ordained husband and wife are permitted. Anyone violating this is now excommunicated. And no more women allowed in monasteries! As a little note… the monks must also observe a time of fasting for the 4 Sundays before the winter mass of Christ in preparation for the holy time.
This is our first written record of the season of Advent.
Somewhere around the same time developed the liturgy, the church practice, of adding an antiphon before and after Mary’s Magnificat at evening vespers services. So before singing Mary’s song, monks would chant a small invitation that became known as the 7 Great O’s.
17 December: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
18 December: O Adonai (O Lord)
19 December: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
20 December: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
21 December: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
22 December: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
23 December: O Emmanuel (O With Us is God)
Christmas Eve a new chant was introduced; and at matins, the very first service on Christmas Day – before the sun even rises – Christmas began with a whole lot of celebration.
These 7 O’s were kept alive through centuries. They passed around greater Europe in Latin being chanted around Christmas. The plainsong chant sounds like this and is still sung in some Catholic churches…
Church worship styles change over time. In France, and in Germany, these Latin chants begun to be set to music, tunes, and hymns. About 800 years ago they were set to a hymn tune we will sing today – then a funeral dirge, a sad song, in France known as O Bone Iesu dulcis cunctis – O beautiful Jesus, sweet and kind to all.
About 300 years ago, Anglican John Mason Neale translated the ancient Latin, kept the ancient French funeral dirge instead of the monks’ chant or the German hymn – and published the Latin and English versions in Britain.
And the song became an absolute stellar hit in many Christian denominations. He accurately captures the nuance of the Latin meanings into English. And brings forth the haunting and longing feel of the ancient Latin through the French medieval song.
So what is this song singing besides, “Come, Jesus, come?”
Dec 17
| Latin Hymn Version (Chant Version is a bit different.) Veni, O Sapientia, Quae hic disponis omnia, Veni, viam prudentiae Ut doceas et gloriae. Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | English Hymn Version We Use (There’s a few versions) O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, Who order all things mightily To us the path of knowledge show, And teach us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. | References In Addition to Isaiah Wisdom 8:1 “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.” |
Isaiah had prophesied:
“The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:2-3
“[…] he is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.” Isaiah 28:29
So come, wisdom, intelligence, order. Banish chaos, and accidental wrong. Let us see wise ways forward. Let all things be well.
Dec 18
| Veni, veni Adonai! Qui populo in Sinai Legem dedisti vertice, In maiestate gloriae. Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | O come, O come, Great God of Might Who to your tribes, on Sinai’s height, In ancient times once did give the law In cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. | Adonai = The LORD = The Lord of Might Exodus 19: 1-3a: “On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God, and ADONAI, the LORD, called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say…” |
Isaiah had prophesied:
“[…] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.” Isaiah 11:4-5
“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Isaiah 33:22
Have you ever felt like no good deed goes unpunished and there’s no justice for the weak? These verses are about God’s righteous justice where the Law is enforced. All evil is gone. Only goodness remains. I don’t know who God punishes – people? Chaos? Evil? Maybe with a word of love from the mouth of God all sin and evil melt away and all are made of pure love.
Dec 19
| Veni o Jesse virgula! Ex hostis tuos ungula, De specu tuos tartari Educ, et antro barathri. Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | O come, O Rod of Jesse’s stem, From every foe deliver them That trust your mighty power to save And give them victory over the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. | Latin is – from under your enemy’s hoof, and hell’s tunnel, take them out of the cave to the underworld. Jesse was the father of King David, and Micah had prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and lineage of David and be born in David’s city, Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). |
Isaiah had prophesied:
“A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” Isaiah 11:1
“On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10
For generations ancient Judeans were waiting a chosen one of God to restore the fallen kingdom back to a descendant of Jesse – like King David was. Back to the glory years. Over time, this desire also added in the desire heaven on earth. So the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Chosen One, would do a whole lot more than a mortal king. They would give victory over the worst enemies – including the grave.
Dec 20
| Veni clavis Davidica! Regna reclude coelica, Fac iter Tutum superum, Et claude vias Inferum. Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | O come, Thou Key of David, come And open wide our heav’nly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. | Key of David – the control of David’s house. So ruler of the kingdom. |
Isaiah had prophesied:
“I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.” Isaiah 22:22
“His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore.” Isaiah 9:7
Since we’re waiting for a king who is more than a king… might his kingdom be more than a kingdom? Last week we read about Jesus standing before the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate and declaring his, Jesus’, kingdom is not of this earth. Since Jesus is our Messiah, and his reign is not here on earth, then his key must open not an earthly realm but a heavenly home. One Jesus says he goes to prepare for us.
Dec 21
| Veni, veni o oriens! Solare nos adveniens, Noctis depelle nebulas, Dirasque noctis tenebras. Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | O come, O Dayspring, from on high, And cheer us by your drawing nigh; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. | Oriens = East = Dawn = Where Day Springs / Comes / Morning Star / Rising Sun Zachariah 3:8 reads: “’Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.” Branch can also be Dayspring in this Hebrew. A new beginning. So God will begin something new. |
Isaiah had prophesised:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Isaiah 9:2
“To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Isaiah 42:7.
The messiah was known as a branch, a shoot, a new root. Or the dawn, the dayspring, the morning star, the rising sun. Symbolically we say we are in the valley that is shadowed by death. We are in a gloomy night full of shadows. Symbolically, Christmas is set near the winter solstice when the nights are the deepest and light begins to return. The playing of light and dark in these lyrics echo back to when we did not have electricity, and winter was a time of starvation, darkness, and cold. It’s not that darkness is evil and light is good – but rather, then and now we’re poetically trying to explain what it feels like to be suffering and then to be offered relief.
Dec 22
| Veni, Veni, Rex Gentium, Veni, Redemptor omnium, Ut salves tuos famulos Peccati sibi conscios. Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | O come, Desire of nations, bind All peoples in one heart and mind; O bid our sad divisions cease And be for us the Prince of Peace Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel. | Latin is: Come, come, King of the nations Come, Redeemer of all To save your servants Aware of their sin. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel He will be born for you, Israel. |
Isaiah had prophesied:
“For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4
Peace. True peace! A peace where we don’t go to war. We don’t even need to learn how to fight, and destroy, one another. A peace where we have arbitration, where we seek win-win situations. A peace where we have differences but resolve them in ways of peace. The Peace of God – not the peace of the world which is an enforced peace, or an unjust peace, or a peace maintained with violence… but the Peace of God – where we live in shalom… where we live in harmony. Where all nature, all people, all creatures, thrive. Where life is vibrant.
Dec 23
| Veni, veni Emmanuel! Captivum solve Israel! Qui gemit in exilio, Privatus Dei Filio, Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel nascetur pro te, Israel. | 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 thee, O Israel. | Emmanuel / Immanuel means God With Us. With-Us-God. Israel was captive by Assyria physically, and spiritually was set to be in “exile” from God wherever sin was present. Jesus called himself the Son of Man. But others called him the Son of God – the Messiah. |
Isaiah had prophesied:
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10
Now… monks were (are?) cheeky fellows… if we line these up….
17 December: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
18 December: O Adonai (O Lord)
19 December: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
20 December: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
21 December: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
22 December: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
23 December: O Emmanuel (O With Us is God)
The first letter of each title, reversed, is ERO CRAS – Tomorrow I’ll be.
So the services Christmas Eve into Christmas Day – Jesus answers the call “O come-“ with “I’ll be there.”
Sneaky monks.
By the time Christmas comes, we have recalled large swaths of Isaiah’s prophecies, and why they matter to us. We’ve expressed our longing for freedom, for being free of gloom, and shadows. We’ve lamented death, and sin, and divisions. We’ve sang a funeral dirge for the world, and for ourselves – and felt ourselves in exile, captive, and under the hoof of enemies. So when the dayspring, the dawn, the first light, the rising star appears we cannot help but exclaim, “Rejoice! Rejoice!”
Thank God – salvation. Thank God – relief. Thank God – a sign and promise of God’s presence with us in the middle of whatever we’re going through. Thank God – rejoice – we don’t face this world alone.
This is the theology of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Amen.
Pastor Whitney Bruno Sermons 