#257 - Kyle Thompson // O Come, O Come Emmanuel

We trace the ancient roots and fierce hope of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, moving from the O Antiphons to Isaiah, 1 Corinthians, and Hebrews to show why “God with us” ransoms captives and shatters death’s sting. We point listeners to a modern take from Skillet and end with a charge to rejoice and stay sharp.

• origin of the hymn in O Antiphons and Latin chant
• Emmanuel as “God with us” from Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23
• ransom and redemption in Mark 10:45
• the Rod of Jesse and messianic justice in Isaiah 11
• victory over death in 1 Corinthians 15 and Hebrews 2
• encouragement to rejoice and live equipped for the fight

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review

Support the show

Want to connect? Email [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The word of God is described asthe sword of the spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for thefight.
Let's sharpen up.

SPEAKER_01 (00:20):
All right, to all you early morning, the Daily
Blade listeners, this may be thefirst one you hear of the year.
So here we are.
Welcome back in.
Merry Christmas.
Christ is born.
But guys, let's get down tobusiness here.
This week, we're looking at fiveChristmas carols and the rich
theology and biblical truthsthey're in.
Yesterday we looked at Come,Thou Long Expected Jesus.
And today we're looking at mypersonal favorite Christmas song

(00:42):
of all time, O Come, O ComeEmmanuel.
So for the record, my favoriteversion of this song is from my
buddies in the band Skillet.
They just released it this yearfor Christmas season.
And oh man, oh man, they killedit.
They absolutely killed it.
It might be one of the bestthings that they've ever
recorded and released.
And I'm absolutely serious.
So go and check that out.
So this hymn is very old.

(01:03):
Okay.
If you're researching it, itsorigins trace back to the 8th or
9th century.
So it was drawn from OAntiphones, which is sung by
monks seven days beforeChristmas Eve or was in that
time.
And the Latin metrical form of Ocome, O come Emmanuel was
composed in the 12th century.
So it was actually a Latin chantcalled Vinny Emmanuel.

(01:25):
Now the English lyrics to thishave changed throughout the
years.
So you may have learned aslightly different version than
the one I'll be reading.
But let's go ahead and dig in,verse one.
O come, O come, Emmanuel, andransom captive Israel that
mourns in lonely exile hereuntil the Son of God appear.
So let's look at Emmanuel.
So this means God with us,Isaiah 7 14.

(01:46):
Therefore the Lord himself willgive you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shallconceive and bear a son and
shall call his name Emmanuel.
So that is the verse that theApostle Paul quotes as well in
Matthew 1 23.
And why is this important?
Because it shows that God is apersonal God.
God is present.
God wants to be in relationshipwith us.

(02:08):
He's not a distant father.
He's not a father that justwants to set things in motion
and then just you know sit backand watch as the deists believe.
No, he is involved relationally.
Now back to the song, and ransomcaptive Israel.
So Christ is a redeemer.
And not only that, he is aredeemer that buys back his
people.
So in Mark 10 45, for even theSon of Man came not to be

(02:31):
served, but to serve and to givehis life as a what?
As a ransom for many.
Now let's go to the third verseof this hymn, which is actually
my favorite.
Oh come thou thou rod of Jessefree, thine own from Satan's
tyranny, from depths of hell thypeople save, and give them
victory o'er the grave.
So the rod of Jesse is amessianic title, so we see this

(02:51):
in Isaiah eleven, and I'll readstarting in verse one.
There shall come forth a shootfrom the stump of Jesse, and a
branch from his root shall bearfruit, and the spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him, thespirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit ofcounsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and the fear of theLord.
And his delight shall be in thefear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what hehis eyes see, or decide disputes

(03:14):
by what his ears hear, but withrighteousness he shall judge the
poor, and decide with equity forthe meek of the earth, and he
shall strike the earth with therod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips he shall killthe wicked.
And then this line from thehymn, From depths of hell thy
people save, and give themvictory o'er the grave.
So we see the Apostle Paulelucidate this in first

(03:35):
Corinthians fifteen, starting inverse fifty-four.
When the perishable put on theimperishable, and the mortal
puts on immortality, then shallcome to pass the saying that is
written, Death is swallowed upin victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, andthe power of sin is the law, but
thanks be to God who gives usthe victory through our Lord

(03:57):
Jesus Christ.
And this too in Hebrews two,verses fourteen and fifteen,
since therefore the childrenshare in flesh and blood, he
himself likewise partook of thesame things that through death
he might destroy the one who hasthe power of death, that is, the
devil, and deliver all those whothrough fear of death were
subject to lifelong slavery.

(04:18):
And with that reality, we canrejoice, rejoice.
Merry Christmas, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 (04:25):
Thank you for listening to today's episode.
Before you go, if you want tohelp equip other men for the
fight, share this podcast aroundand leave us a five star rating
and review.
Stay sharp.