Pilgrim's Perch

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Another of Isaiah’s prophecies:

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

Christmas Eve is almost here and with it comes the birth of our Saviour. Emmanuel means ‘God is with us’. A simple phrase but a deeply significant meaning. The coming of Jesus to live a human life means that we are no longer alone. God as the Christ-child means that he shares in every human emotion and situation. One of our favourite carols has the line:

‘He was little, weak and helpless, tears and smiles like us he knew…’ 

(Once in royal David’s city, Cecil Frances Alexander)

In another carol we sing:

‘Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.’

(Hark! the herald angels sing, Charles Wesley)

Emmanuel. God is with us, and for us, now and always.

Alleluia!

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.

Now we get a clue as to the ultimate name for our Saviour. Here is a king indeed.

Isaiah had prophesied:

‘For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.’ (Isaiah 9:6)

and 

‘He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’ (Isaiah 2:4)

But this is a king with a difference. He isn’t aloof, seated on a throne and completely unreachable. This is a king who engages fully with the human race. At the beginning of creation humans are formed out of the dust of the earth, or clay; we are shaped but we still have the capacity for choice.

‘But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand’ (Isaiah 64:8)

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star, splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

This antiphon is marked on 21st December, the shortest day in the northern hemisphere. It is a day on which we look forward to a change – the darkness will slowly lessen and increased light will be apparent, albeit slowly at first.

Our friend Isaiah had prophesied:

‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.’ (Isaiah 9:2)

and Malachi again:

‘But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings’ (Malachi 4:2) 

Suddenly we seem to turn a corner – there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we won’t be left floundering in the dark. The image of ‘Dayspring’ – that idea of light springing out of darkness is a powerful one, echoed in the carol that many will be singing at Christmas, with its lines:

‘Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace: hail the Sun of Righteousness.

Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.’

(Hark! the herald angels sing, Charles Wesley)