O Come O Come Emmanuel, Part 2
My aunt died last week. Her name was Carol.
She had lived with a brain tumor for twenty-three years, and after all that time she finally went to her Savior’s side the day before Thanksgiving. We held her funeral yesterday. Snow fell softly over Northern Virginia—gentle, quiet, beautiful. I kept thinking how much she would have loved seeing God’s artistry on such full display.
Throughout the day I found myself returning to the next verses of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. In her final days my Aunt Carol lost the ability to speak, but everyone knew the deepest desire of her heart: to be with her Lord and Savior. These verses echo both the sorrow and pain of death and the glorious hope given to all who trust in Christ—even when we stand face to face with death itself.
3. “O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem…”
Unto Your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell Your people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Jesse was the father of David, the most famous king of Israel. The prophet Isaiah declares,
Isaiah describes this Branch as the One who delights in the fear of the Lord, judges with righteousness, gathers the nations to Himself, and brings home God’s scattered people.
This verse—Radix Jesse—speaks with striking honesty about our earthly condition. Sin has ravaged the world and every human life. Left to ourselves, we are condemned to “the depths of hell.” But the Branch of Jesse—our Messiah, Jesus Christ—comes to rescue us from those depths and to give us “victory o’er the grave” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
This is the hope that held my aunt fast. And this is the hope that holds us today.
4. “O come, O Key of David, come…”
And open wide Your heavenly home;
Make safe for us the heavenward road,
And bar the way to death’s abode.
This verse draws from another image in Isaiah: the Key of David (Clavis David).
This key symbolized authority—rule over the Davidic kingdom. The one who held it had the right to admit or exclude, to open or to close.
Jesus Christ not only holds the Key of David—He holds the keys of life and death themselves:
Even more, He is the very way by which we come to the Father:
As we sing this verse, may we find deep assurance and steady hope in the One who has opened heaven’s doors for all who trust in Him—and who has forever barred the way to death’s final power.
She had lived with a brain tumor for twenty-three years, and after all that time she finally went to her Savior’s side the day before Thanksgiving. We held her funeral yesterday. Snow fell softly over Northern Virginia—gentle, quiet, beautiful. I kept thinking how much she would have loved seeing God’s artistry on such full display.
Throughout the day I found myself returning to the next verses of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. In her final days my Aunt Carol lost the ability to speak, but everyone knew the deepest desire of her heart: to be with her Lord and Savior. These verses echo both the sorrow and pain of death and the glorious hope given to all who trust in Christ—even when we stand face to face with death itself.
3. “O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem…”
Unto Your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell Your people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Jesse was the father of David, the most famous king of Israel. The prophet Isaiah declares,
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)
Isaiah describes this Branch as the One who delights in the fear of the Lord, judges with righteousness, gathers the nations to Himself, and brings home God’s scattered people.
This verse—Radix Jesse—speaks with striking honesty about our earthly condition. Sin has ravaged the world and every human life. Left to ourselves, we are condemned to “the depths of hell.” But the Branch of Jesse—our Messiah, Jesus Christ—comes to rescue us from those depths and to give us “victory o’er the grave” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
This is the hope that held my aunt fast. And this is the hope that holds us today.
4. “O come, O Key of David, come…”
And open wide Your heavenly home;
Make safe for us the heavenward road,
And bar the way to death’s abode.
This verse draws from another image in Isaiah: the Key of David (Clavis David).
“I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
he shall open, and none shall shut;
he shall shut, and none shall open.” (Isaiah 22:22)
This key symbolized authority—rule over the Davidic kingdom. The one who held it had the right to admit or exclude, to open or to close.
Jesus Christ not only holds the Key of David—He holds the keys of life and death themselves:
“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look,
I am alive forever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:18)
Even more, He is the very way by which we come to the Father:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
As we sing this verse, may we find deep assurance and steady hope in the One who has opened heaven’s doors for all who trust in Him—and who has forever barred the way to death’s final power.
No Comments