O Come, O Come Emmanuel-- Questions for Reflection and Discussion

 

O Come, O Come Emmanuel-- This ancient advent hymn originated as a 7 verse poem dating back to the 8th century. Christians of that era would recite a different verse the hymn each week as a call and response building up to Christmas. Each verse includes a different Old Testament name for the coming Messiah. When we sing this hymn, we are acknowledging Christ as the fulfillment of these Old Testament prophesies. We sing this hymn in an already-but not yet- kingdom of God. Christ's first coming gives us a reason to rejoice again and again, yet we know that all is not well with the world. So along with our rejoicing, we plead using the words of this hymn that Christ would come again to perfectly fulfill the promise that all darkness will be turned to light. The original text created a reverse acrostic: “ero cras,” which means, “I shall be with you tomorrow.” That is the promise we hold to as we sing this beautiful hymn. Read more about the history of this Christmas carol here.

The English word, “Immanuel” is derived from Hebrew and "Emmanuel" from Greek. (See Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 respectively.) Both spellings mean "God with us". Compare Jesus’ title Emmanuel with Peter’s declaration in Matthew 16:16. What does this reveal about Peter’s faith in Christ?

Read Matthew 16:13-19. Jesus refers to Peter’s declaration of faith, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” as “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 16:19). How does this fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 22:22?

How did Peter use these “keys” in Acts 2:40 (in context 2:14-40) and Acts 10:34 (in context 10:34-43? What was the result? Acts 2:41 and 10:48?

What encouragement does Revelation 3:7-8 offer the Christian who desires to be used by God?