Musings and Contemplations

Jesus, the “Key” that sets us free

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Isaiah 40:3 ESV
In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isaiah 9:2-7 NRSV
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. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Matthew Henry
The design of the gospel, and the grace of it, is to break the yoke of sin and Satan, to remove the burden of guilt and corruption, and to free us from the rod of those oppressors, that we might be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Christ . . . delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, that we might serve him without fear (Luke 1:74, 75). This is done by the Spirit working like fire (Matthew 3:11), not as the battle of the warrior is fought, with confused noise; no, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; but it is done with the Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning. It is done as in the day of Midian, by a work of God upon the hearts of men.^[1]

The Third “O Antiphon” – Root of Jesse[2]
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you, kings will shut their mouths, to you the nations will make their prayer: Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o’er the grave.

Mark Brians
As we count down the days to Christmas, we hail Christ as the God who has yoked his story with ours, who has united us to his household, and who keeps the promises he makes to us amidst all the vicissitudes of history. Central to God’s identity is his unwavering faithfulness. This is majestically displayed in his faithfulness to the stump of Jesse. Let the nations be glad! If God can be faithful to that story, he can be faithful to our little stories as well.[3]

The Fourth “O Antiphon” – Key of David
O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel; you open, and no one can shut; you shut, and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

O Source of All Good, what shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts, thine own dear Son, begotten, not created, my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute, his self-emptying incomprehensible, his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders: he came below to raise me above, was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love: when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to himself.
Herein is power: when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created.
Herein is wisdom: when I was undone, with no will to return to him, and no intellect to devise recovery, he came, God incarnate, to save me to the uttermost, as man to die my death, to shed satisfying blood on my behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and enlarge my mind; let me hear good tidings of great joy, and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore, my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose, my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father.
Place me with ox, ass, camel, goat, to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face, and in him account myself delivered from sin.
Let me with Simeon clasp the newborn child to my heart, embrace him with undying faith, exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more. Amen.[4]

For Unto Us a Child is Born

^[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1096.
[2] One way we cry out as the Church is through the “O Antiphons”. The “O Antiphons” are a beautiful tradition going back 1,300 years. They are scripturally based prayers focusing on the titles given to Christ in scripture. (https://anglicancompass.com/the-o-antiphons-the-liturgical-home/)
[3] https://anglicancompass.com/o-radix-jesse-o-root-of-jesse/
[4] The Gift of Gifts, from The Valley of Vision, p. 16.