O come Emmanuel

We love the message of “Christ has come!” The CAROLS of this Christmas Season declares it in beautiful ways. The background of these songs that we know by heart is sometimes surprising. For instance, did you know that O come o come Emmanuel draws on a Christian tradition as old as the 6th century? In the 500s A.D. Christians would gather together and remember the messianic prophecies within the book of Isaiah.

They would gather and chant 7 different truths of Messiah. The Messiah would be Wisdom, Adonai, root of Jessie, key of David, Morningstar, King of nations, & Emmanuel God with us.

These Chants, called Antiphons, would declare the truth of Jesus Christ. These antiphons did more than just recite scriptural truth and declare who Christ is. These early Christians also invited Jesus to come and be everything he promised.  O come Emmanuel…

This Christmas season we need to declare who Christ is, but we also need to invite this Jesus to come and be! O COME EMMANUEL!

Carols 3 – O come O come Emmanuel from Redemption Church on Vimeo.

 

Carols 3 – o come, o come Emmanuel

Sermon notes by Pastor Chris Fluitt

Redemption Church Plano Tx

 

Hello Redemption Church and to all our podcasters, youtubers, facebook livers… It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. We are coming to you from Plano, Tx just miles north of Dallas Tx and we hope you are experiencing to joy of Jesus wherever you are.

We are in the 3rd week of our Carols sermon series. Today I want to bring to your attention an often overlooked, yet powerful, Christmas carol.

 

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

 

Our English translation of this song that you know so well was translated from Latin in 1861. That’s pretty old, but it’s origin goes back much further. There is evidence of this song existing and being spoken by Christians in the 6th century.  We aren’t the first people to grab hold of hope in the birth of Jesus Christ.

Antiphon

This song was originally a chant. They technical term for it is “antiphon.” There were 7 antiphons/chants that would be recited by believers in the days leading up to Christmas. From December 17th to December 23rd they would gather daily and declare with their voices a truth about Jesus Christ. Today As we are looking at God’s word together it is the December 17th, so let’s just embrace this old tradition for a moment.

There are 7 chants and they all are prophetic descriptions of Jesus from the book of Isaiah.

* O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

reaching from one end to the other,

mightily and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

* O Adonai (Lord), and leader of the House of Israel,

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

* O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

* O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

* O Morning Star,