Worship Arts Notes
John Mason Neale (1818-1866) not only founded a nursing order of Anglican nuns, helped social welfare organizations care for orphans and young woman, and was a warden of Sackville College, but he translated early and medieval Greek and Latin hymns in his spare time—focusing on the ancient ones that were written around the feasts and the fasts of the Christian year. He is most well known for bringing us the beloved advent carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
While the hymn as we find it today was first published in the mid 19th century, its origins are actually found in a Benedictine Gregorian chant from the late 8th and 9th century. History tells us that beginning the week before Christmas, the monks would sing a verse a day to prepare their hearts and minds for Christmas.
What’s fascinating about the original seven verses is that each began with a Messianic title from the Scriptures that prophesied and foreshadowed Jesus’ coming:
· O Sapentia (Wisdom)
· O Adonai (God)
· O Radix Jesse (Stem or root of Jesse)
· O Clavis David (Key of David)
· O Oriens (Dayspring)
· O Rex genitium (King of the Gentiles)
· O Emmanuel (God with us)
In these seven verses, we realize that through Jesus’ first coming—his birth—he was going to be the ransom paid to set Israel and the nations free. So when we sing these verses, and many of our other beloved Christmas carols, what happens is that we are often seeing the world through the lens of those living in the first century.
However, if you take a look at each of these seven verses again—with an eye toward Jesus’ return—you’ll discover that they all have a hidden meaning, or a double purpose. Jesus is coming back.
When we sing the lyrics of this song, we’re not only celebrating the birth of our savior Jesus, but we’re also preparing our hearts and growing in excitement for Jesus’ return.
So in a sense, each verse is helping us place our eyes on Jesus’ return by remembering his first coming and then anticipating, yearning, hoping, and aching for his second coming.