Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel

Of all the great Christmas songs—the fun ones, the rollicking ones, the cheerful ones, the reverent ones, the worshipful ones—“Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel”—I guess you could describe it as a somber one—is my favorite. I especially like this version by Mannheim Steamroller that uses deep, almost Gregorian chant-like vocals, a cathedral echo, and is sung in Latin. Say what you will about Holly and the Ivy, or Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, or any other Christmas song, this one feels most like Christmas to me. I want to spend the rest of this post explaining why.

First, this song has a distinctly old feeling, which appeals to me. Not only was it written a long time ago (either in the eighth or twelfth centuries) but it’s use of the title “Emmanuel” harkens back to the Old Testament. The title literally means “God With Us,” and Isaiah uses it in speaking about the Messiah. When used with the plea, “Oh Come, Oh Come,” it reminds me of the time immediately preceding Christ’s birth.

While Joseph and Mary were on their way to Bethlehem, the Kingdom of Judah, what remained of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, was suffering under the tyrannical rule of the Romans. The second line of the song refers to “captive Israel,” and I think of this situation when I hear those words. These people were desperate for freedom and many believed that the Messiah would come and deliver them from this political bondage. Which would have made it all the more difficult to recognize, in the poor carpenter’s son from Nazareth, the awaited deliverer.

I want to go back, briefly, to that word “Emmanuel.” As we know, it means, “God With Us,” referring to Jesus’ premortal identity of Jehovah. Jehovah was the God of the Old Testament and he was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, literally making him God in the flesh, or God walking among us. I can’t imagine the kind of mental leap that the people around Jesus, the neighbors, the friends, the family, the strangers, must have made to look at someone they could see to be flesh and blood, just like they were, and say, “Yep, that there is God.”

True, he performed miracles among them, healing the sick and causing the lame to walk and the blind to see, but prophets did that stuff in the Old Testament too. Elijah even brought someone back from the dead. And it is also true that not everyone who followed him recognized him as the Messiah, but the mere fact that anyone did is mind boggling. That knowledge, that assurance, that the man standing in front of you, the man who breathes and eats and does everything else that you do, is God in the flesh can only come, as Jesus told Peter that it came to him, through the Holy Ghost.

When I hear this song, I wonder if I would recognize Christ for what he was. I wonder if I would have heeded that subtle voice of the spirit that was telling something that my brain would surely react against as impossible, or at least very unlikely.

Second, I like that this song is so old. As noted above, no one is exactly sure when it was written, but we know that it was sometime in the dark ages when Christianity consisted wholly of Catholicism. As a Mormon, I understand that the original church, the church that Christ established during his mortal lifetime, was lost soon after his death and ascension. The people of the eighth or twelfth centuries didn’t have the priesthood organization to facilitate revelation or to make their sacraments valid.

However, this song reminds me that many of them were still wholly devoted to Christ. They believed in him and relied upon his grace and mercy. This song is one of the most beautiful pleas for supplication that I have ever heard. It is far greater than most hymns that Mormons have come up with. Which is why it helps remind me of the bond that I share with my other Christian fellows, which is one of things that we should remember at Christmas, but also of the glorious truth of the restored gospel that these people can receive sacraments under the proper authority, even though they didn’t live in a time when that authority was active.

There has been a lot of great Christmas music written and I hope that more will be written in the future. I feel the reverence of songs like “Silent Night,” and “What Child is This?” as much as anyone. And I like to go riding in a one-horse sleigh and to make my Christmases holly and jolly as much as anyone. But this sacred song, “Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel,” has a special place in my season’s celebrations. And I hope that whatever your favorite Christmas song is (and please tell me about your favorite in the comments) that this season helps remind you that Emmanuel did come, and that he did ransom us, and that he will come again.