Christmas is a week away, and if you’re like me, you’ve already heard just about all the holiday music you can handle. There’s been more than enough Mariah Carey, Santa Baby, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town (as well as a host of other equally trite and irritating ditties), and the world really does not need another rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. We have an overabundance of those already. The one Christmas song I never turn off, though, is O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Advent is not only a remembrance of Jesus’ first coming; it’s also an anticipation of His return, and that is something few songs, even carols, address, especially so poignantly. There’s a depth and a richness of theology to the lyrics that is hard to match, let alone beat, and they speak hope to the longings of our hearts even now.
Like exiled Israel, we too dwell in a land not our own, captive in a broken world, awaiting the Messiah’s appearance. We know all too well the gloomy clouds of night, waiting for the dawn of His full and glorious reign. We still need a comforter and guide, one who prepared for us the way to the Father. We require the intercession of our Great High Priest, but can rest in the peace and freedom from judgment delivered to us by His blood. We still await that time when the King of nations shall bring an end to our suffering, sorrow, and pain, when He shall reign for all eternity. And we too can rejoice in the confident expectation that Emmanuel shall one day return to dwell with us.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.