“And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:39-40

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.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

"O come, O come, Emmanuel," is one of the oldest Christian hymns that we possess. The words are based on the ancient Latin text "Veni, veni, Emmanuel" while the musical setting derives from an antiphon stretching back at least to the time of the 12th century. There is some evidence that the original antiphon, from which our metrical version of the song derives, may itself have evolved out of earlier Hebrew temple liturgy, which could push the origins of the work back to the very time of our Blessed Lord. The significance of this is almost staggering as we realize that Jesus Himself may well have sung this very piece, or an earlier version of it.

Though often sung by Americans as a Christmas carol, "O come, O come, Emmanuel" is actually a hymn of Advent, the season that marks the beginning of the church year and the time when God’s people anticipate the coming of the Christ-child at Christmas.

Like many Americans, I was once completely oblivious to the season of Advent. As a child I assumed that "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" was just one more Christmas carol, and I always felt that its plaintive quality was out of step with the more festive carols of the season like "Joy to the World" and "O Come All Ye Faithful." My younger brother, Gregory, who had always been attracted to things that were ancient and filled with wonder, helped me to appreciate the song’s disarmingly simple beauty. But it was my Episcopalian grandmother who first told me about the season of Advent in which the song’s themes are situated.

Discovering Advent
When I was growing up my parents didn’t regularly attend church. However, whenever I spent the night with my grandparents, I would accompany them to their Episcopal church, where the smell of incense and the rhythm of the liturgy seeped their way deep into my imagination. On one occasion in early December my grandmother invited me to a hymn service at her church. Given the fact that our Christmas tree was already up, I fully expected that the hymns would be Christmas carols. I was sorely disappointed to discover otherwise, but it gave my grandmother the opportunity to explain that the Church was still in the season of anticipation, the season known as Advent.

Even so, I determined that I didn’t like Advent. Why should the Episcopalians go against the grain and celebrate Advent when everyone else was already in Christmas?

It was only later, when I moved to England and was confirmed into the Anglican church, that I came to understand that the shoe was actually on the other foot: it was those who skipped Advent to get right to Christmas who were going against the grain of how the Church had historically done things.

A Season of Anticipation
From as early as the fourth century, the Christian church has celebrated Advent, which comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming.” Initially, this was a season when Christians anticipated Christ’s Second Coming, and it was not until the Middle Ages that the church began to use it as a time to anticipate Christ’s coming as a baby in Bethlehem. Some Advent liturgies separate these two aspects, with Advent through to December 16 set aside to focus on His Second Coming, while December 17 to the 24th is focused on preparing for His first coming at Christmas. Other churches simply mix these two events, which are theologically interrelated anyway.

Many Christian traditions have also set Advent aside as a special time of fasting and self-reflection, mirroring the sombre tone of Lent. Lent, of course, anticipates Easter in much the same way that Advent anticipates Christmas. The fact that Advent shares the colour purple with Lent, a color which has penitence and fasting as one of its meanings, helps to link these two anticipatory seasons. Eastern Orthodox Christians, who begin Advent as early as November 15, still preserve this more meloncholy mood and will often practice voluntary self-denial duinrg the days leading up to Christmas. This helps to underscore that there is a ‘not yet’ that still characterizes our place in the redemption story.

Joy and Melancholy
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" embodies the dual aspects of melancholy and joy. Though the melody is predominantly somber, the recurring refrain briefly modulates to a major key when God’s people are enjoined to rejoice at the promise of a coming Messiah. Moreover, the sad words about exile and misery are counterbalanced with the expectation that God will “cheer our spirits by Thine advent here.”

In our household, we tend to focus on the more joyful aspects of Advent, making it a time of festive cheer and happy expectation. As December 25 approaches, Christmas carols and decorations begin leaking backward into Advent, pulling us forward to the morning when Christmas bursts forth in a joyful climax, lasting all the way until the season of Epiphany on January 6.

Celebrating Advent in the Spirit of Hebrews 11
When the Church celebrates Advent, they are connecting with a tradition stretching back to the ancient past, linking us with the people of God before Christ. Recall what I said earlier about the "Emmanuel" song evolving out of Hebrew temple liturgy. For hundreds of years, men and women of faith had not received the promises, since God had provided something better for us (Hebrews 11:39-40). Like Simeon and Anna in Luke 2, they waited patiently for the Christ child to come and ransom captive Israel and make safe the way that leads on high. Advent is a time to reenact this and to join with the saints described in Hebrews 11:39-40 in waiting for the Christ-child to be born. Then, when Christmas finally arrives the future-looking words, “Emmanuel shall come to thee”, are changed to the present tense: “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.”

Next steps

Make this Advent season a special time for you and your family. In his article "Advent: Close Encounters of a Liturgical Kind," Chris Armstrong writes that “Advent season presents a unique opportunity to many Protestants. It's like the once-a-year conjunction of two planets: It brings a great mass of Bible-loving, praise-and-worshipping, extemporaneously praying born-again Protestant Christians into close contact with a big chunk of the historic church's liturgy.”

For further insight into this topic, read Robin Phillips’ article "Church Calendar" and purchase some of the Advent resources from our online store.

 PRINT

 RSS

EMAIL