Christmas carols draw us into the season and some, like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, lead us into Scripture. Find connection to the carol and to Jesus as we take a closer look at this song of Advent.
Jesus in New Testament
When my Bible study read through the Bible we came across Jesus much sooner than we thought we would. We knew the story of the birth of Jesus was in the New Testament. We didn’t know where (it’s not in all the Gospels), we just knew Christ’s birth came in the New Testament.
Jesus in Old Testament
Imagine our surprise when we recognized references to the Son of God in Old Testament books like Isaiah and Malachi.
Now that I think of it, finding Jesus in Isaiah, a Major Prophet, and Malachi, a Minor Prophet, makes sense now, but it didn’t then.
Scripture and Christmas carol
We’d read a passage of Scripture and find among the verses a familiar phrase of a Christmas carol – though which one wasn’t immediately clear.
The verse out of context caused us to rack our brains to figure out which song the words were from, but that was half the fun.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
One such song was “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” which may not be as well known in caroling circles, but it has some of the richest connections to Scripture in my mind, starting with the title.
Waiting for Emmanuel
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” speaks to the anticipation, the waiting for Emmanuel to arrive.
Who is this Emmanuel? I thought we were talking about Jesus. We are. Emmanuel is Jesus.
Emmanuel, God with us
“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23 KJV
Emmanuel. God with us.
In this season of chaos I like to remember this phrase, Emmanuel, God with us.
Passage in Isaiah
This verse references a passage in Isaiah.
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 KJV
Emmanuel and Immanuel are the same Jesus.
Matthew’s Gospel draws forward the prophecy given in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah.
Wow, all that from a song title.
Root of Jesse
Another phrase I came across while we were reading was from Isaiah 11:10. I recognized most of one of the verses of the hymn.
“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10 KJV
If this wording seems a little confusing, don’t worry. Paul brings up this passage from Isaiah in the Book of Romans.
While the King James Version is reflective of the song verse, we’ll look at the New International Version for a slightly different translation of the words.
“And again, Isaiah says,
‘The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
in him the Gentiles will hope.’” Romans 15:12 NIV
Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
So who exactly is Jesse?
Jesse was the father of David (Ruth 4:22), King David (Matthew 1:6), who is in the family line of Jesus. (Matthew 1:1)
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1 NIV
Receive Christ
“Root of Jesse” reminds me of a verse from the New Testament book Colossians.
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7 NIV
Live our lives rooted in him. Emmanuel, God with us.
Another song with Scripture connection: