December 23, 2024
The Great ``O'' Antiphons -- Part 7
Isaiah 7:14
12/23/2024
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel. (ESV)
O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the
anointed for the nations and their | Savior:*
Come and save us, O | Lord our God.
We come at last to the final of the Great ``O'' Antiphons.
The Church, since the beginning of Advent, has been preparing for
the day when her Savior appears. During the past week, as the
mood of the Advent season intensified, we prayed with the whole
church that Jesus would come and redeem His people.
The final ``O'' Antiphon forms the basis of the first verse
of the Advent hymn, ``O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.'' It's text is
from Isaiah: ``Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call
his name Immanuel.''
Emmanuel means ``God with us.'' Tomorrow He comes,[1] and
we shall see the incarnate Son of God reposing in a manger. He
once came to give His life for you and me. He comes now in Word
and Sacrament to give us hope. He will come again to raise us
from our graves, giving us life everlasting with Him.
Please join us at Trinity on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day
to hear of our Lord's birth. May He continue to bless you
always. Amen.
____________________
1. The ``Lutheran Service Book: Companion to the Hymns'' volume
1, p. 67, notes: ``The initial letters (excluding the `O') of
the seven [names of Christ given in the 'O Antiphons'] finally
established as the standard (SARCORE), which were probably the
original seven, form an acrostic when read backward: `ERO
CRAS,' which means `tomorrow I will be [present]'; and so the
`secret' news of Christ's immanent birth is revealed in its
entirety only on the day before Christmas Eve.''