O Come O Come Emmanuel

A Hymn on Longing and Hope

INTRODUCTION: The Power of Music

Music creates mood (example: Star Wars Imperial March)

Most Christmas music is joyful: "Joy to the World," "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

Some is peaceful: "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Silent Night"

"O Come O Come Emmanuel" is different—it expresses longing

Key Quote: "Longing. Aching. Yearning. Hoping." —John Piper

The Hymn's Verses:

O come, O come Emmanuel / And ransom captive Israel

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer / Our spirits by Thy justice here

O come, Desire of nations bind / All peoples in one heart and mind

The Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel!

Main Point: This hymn mixes longing with rejoicing—"sorrowful joy"

I. THE LONGING OF OLD TESTAMENT ISRAEL

The Old Testament reflects deep yearning:

War, pain, suffering

Hope that God would send the Messiah

The hymn is saturated with Old Testament prophecies:

→ Isaiah 7:14 (virgin will conceive) - Emmanuel

→ Luke 1:78 (from on high has visited us) - Dayspring

→ Haggai 2:7 (what all nations desire will come) - Desire of Nations

The Faith of Those Who Waited (Hebrews 11)

Hebrews 11:13 — "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance."

Hebrews 11:39-40 — "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised."

Examples of faithful waiting:

Abraham died without seeing the promise fulfilled

Moses died without entering the Promised Land

David died without seeing the eternal King

The first verse captures this yearning:"O come, O come Emmanuel / And ransom captive Israel, / That mourns in lonely exile here / Until the Son of God appear."

II. THE FULFILLMENT: GOD WITH US

Finally, after centuries, God acted!

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

Christmas = The culmination of centuries of yearning

Jesus is Emmanuel

Jesus is the Dayspring

Jesus is the Desire of Nations

For those who don't know Christ: He fills your deepest yearning and need

Jesus in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-21)

The Scene:

Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me... to proclaim good news to the poor... freedom for the prisoners... recovery of sight for the blind..."

Jesus declares: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing"

Expected Response: Joy, celebration, cheering

Actual Response (Luke 4:28-29): Fury—they tried to throw Him off a cliff

The irony: The very people waiting for Messiah rejected Him when He came

III. THE LONGING THAT REMAINS: ALREADY BUT NOT YET

A confession: Sometimes we disconnect what we believe from how we live

The reality: We are still yearning

Still cancer, betrayal, division

Still "gloomy clouds of night"

Still "death's dark shadows"

The tension:

We celebrate Christ's first coming

But we long for His second coming when all will be made well

A Prayer for Two Comings

When we sing this hymn, we pray for BOTH comings:

Looking back: Entering into Israel's longing for the first advent

Looking forward: Expressing our yearning for Christ's return

"Already But Not Yet"

Christ has already come and secured victory

The decisive battle is won

But the war is not yet over

Final consummation awaits Christ's return

Illustration: American Revolution

July 4, 1776: Declaration of Independence (the "already")

1783: Treaty of Paris (the "not yet")

7 years of living in the already/not yet period

We live in redemptive history's already/not yet:

"Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing"

"Already. But not yet."

Fulfillment of promises—yes! Full consummation—not yet.

CONCLUSION: Connected Across the Centuries

The hymn's age: 7th-century Latin poem (nearly 1,400 years old)

The power of ancient hymns:

Connects us with centuries of believers

Sung through plagues, persecutions, wars, peace

Sung through the rise and fall of empires

The hymn's artistic genius:

Plaintive longing in verses

Powerful bursts of joy in refrain

Captures the mystery of Christian living

We live between:

The cry ("O come!") and the rejoicing ("Rejoice!")

The longing and the fulfillment

The already and the not yet

An Invitation

This Christmas season:

YES, sing "Joy to the World" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

YES, celebrate with full-throated praise

BUT ALSO make room for "O Come O Come Emmanuel"

Let yourself:

Feel the longing

Acknowledge the world is still broken

Admit there's an ache in your heart

Then lift your voice: "Rejoice! Rejoice!"

Rejoice because:

Emmanuel HAS come

God IS with us

One day He WILL come again

When He returns:

Every tear wiped away

Death no more

All yearning finally over

Until that day:

We sing

We wait

We hope

We cry out: "O come, O come, Emmanuel"