Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

 

            A favorite hymn during Advent is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”  Jesus is called Immanuel two times in Isaiah and once in Matthew.  Isaiah 7:14 and 8:8 are prophecies of our Savior who will be “God With Us.”  Matthew records Jesus’ birth and Joseph’s naming Jesus as commanded by the angel as fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah.

 

            As we take look at this hymn, how many verses are there?  Yes, seven.  Let us take a look at the first phrase of each verse.  We see a different reference or name for our Savior that come from Scripture.  These names tell us different attributes of our coming Lord.

 

            The hymn has its roots back to the ninth century.  For each of the seven evenings (Vesper services) before Christmas Eve an Antiphon was written in anticipation of the birth of Jesus.  These are referred as the “O” Antiphons and are written for us on the facing page in the hymnal.  Seven is the number of days in a week which takes us back to creation.  It is a symbol of perfection and of rest as God rested on the seventh day.  Jesus also rested in the tomb on the seventh day.  The tune we know dates to the 15^th century and comes from a community of French Franciscan nuns. 

 

            Verse one begins with our plea, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”  Immanuel means “God with us,” as God came down from heaven and took on our flesh and made his dwelling with us [John 1].  The reason he does this is to ransom us, buy us back from our captivity to sin.  We are captive Israel as we mourn the sinfulness of this world and each one our own sins and iniquities against God.  We then sing the refrain for the first time that reminds us that we do Rejoice! As Immanuel has come and will come again.

 

            Verse 2 calls our Lord “Wisdom from on high who ord’rest all things mightily.”  God’s creation is a magnificent and mighty sense of order.  It is beyond all of our abilities to fathom.  It is that wisdom that is personified in Christ.  And Jesus, who is our savior, is our wisdom above all things of this earth. 

• 1 Corinthians 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
• John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

            Verse 3 declares Immanuel as our Lord of might.  From Sinai we see God’s power and our inability to stand before him in our sin.  We stand overwhelmed by his majesty and awe.  The cloud and smoke and fire depict judgment that prevents us by our own power to come to God.  The law tells us our need of a savior, Immanuel.

 

            Verse 4

• Branch of Jesse’s tree reminds us of God’s promise to David that the savior would come from his royal household.  This king would be one who would reign over God’s people forever.
• saiah 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
• Isaiah 11:10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
• Romans 15:12 And again, Isaiah says, "The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him."

 

            Verse 5

• Key of David
• Key locks & unlocks
• Jesus has power to admit or deny entrance to heaven
• He has given those keys to the church
• The keys to heaven are the forgiveness of sins

 

            Verse 6, Jesus is our “Dayspring.”  Think of the dawn of each day.  We spring into each day at that time.  Each day is a new beginning.  Jesus is our new day in life in God’s graces.  In the waters of baptism all sins are washed away and we begin new each day until the final new day in heaven.

• Dayspring:  Luke 1:78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

 

            Verse 7, the desire of nations.  As we see the wars and disputes in our community, state, nation and world, our wish is for all people to come to peace and be one together.  In our sinful state this cannot happen.  But with forgiveness, this does happen.  It is through the forgiveness Christ wins on the cross that we are made one with our Heavenly Father again. 

• Desire of Nations:  Haggai 2:7 I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD Almighty.
• Sad divisions:  sinfulness
• King of Peace:  Philippians 4:7  Peace is peace with God, sins forgiven and his dear children again.  Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us – live in that same peace in this world.

 

            Let us now sing this hymn that tells us what Jesus brings to us as he is “Immanuel - God with us.”