“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a classic Christmas song that is solemn and powerful. It was written 1200 years ago during the Middle Ages, in a religious monastery. The first lyrics were in Latin: Veni, veni, Emmanuel. Musically played and sung in a minor key, it’s almost as if the darkness of night is brought to life when you hear and sing this song. You can almost feel a longing and anticipation that light will eventually come, even though we don’t always see it right now. You can almost sense the darkness and the fog of a dark night in this Middle Ages Christmas song. But it was written from an even more ancient perspective—from the days of the Old Testament prophets who knew God would come, but they were waiting.
Waiting for a rescuer.
The sermon this coming Sunday is from Isaiah 53. This is the third week in a row of highlighting Isaiah passages (Isaiah 9, 49, and now 53). Isaiah himself spoke from a very dark era that he was living through. He pointed people toward the fact that a King would come in the future. In Isaiah 53, the picture of this coming King was much more graphic, as this King would be the suffering servant. He would be the sacrifice for us. This reflects back to a sermon several Sundays ago out of Genesis 22: the sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac. The key verse was, “God Himself will provide the lamb” (Genesis 22:8). God did indeed provide the lamb, and it was Christ, the ultimate substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.
Sacrifice is a dark subject. Sin is an even darker subject. In the song, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” the ending chorus in this dark song comes to light:
“Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel!”
We can and will find joy in this sinful world when we trust in the sacrificial lamb of God, who gave himself for us.
As we approach Sunday morning, I am challenging you to come prepared by reading Isaiah 53 ahead for yourself.
THREE DOORS
See you Sunday at 10 a.m. as you enter the worship gathering through one of our three church doors:
- 1: Watch online in your own home
- 2: Join a small group and stream the service together
- 3: Come to church and join us inside the building (remember to register!)
