One of the greatest songs of Advent, which tells all about Christmas is the song: “O come o come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.” The wordings of the song go back to a Latin form in the medieval ages, but its present form was composed by the English clergyman and composer, Thomas Helmore (1811-1890).
The song pictures Israel, here representing the entire people of God, as a captive mourning in exile in this world. The only hope of rescue is the coming of the Son of God. The song projects humanity in mourning and longing for a comforter.
The great message of Christmas is that God has comforted His people. He has taken the human form and become one of us. He is with us no longer as a stranger but as a Brother. In this way He has decided to comfort the suffering humanity. This is the reason of our great joy this Christmas. A Nigerian Igbo woman recently gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, after years of suffering and childlessness, and named him: “Chi agugua m” (“God has comforted me”). In a similar way, the birth of Jesus has brought comfort to a barren world and empowered it to bear the fruits that matter, citizens of heaven and children of the house the Lord.
The Comforting of Jerusalem
The first reading of this day from Isaiah 52 sings of God’s return to His people in Jerusalem. It is the city of God’s people, and thus stands as mother and representative of God’s people. The text depicts Jerusalem as a city in ruins. Jerusalem is portrayed as a mother mourning for her exiled children. The return of God to the city is the greatest comfort, as it marks the end of mourning and the beginning of restoration. The return marks the beginning of a glorious new life and end of the excruciating pain of exilic bondage.
The sum of the message is that God has redeemed His people, freeing them from enemy assault. It is, indeed, the dawn of a glorious future for His people. God has truly comforted His people. The prophet Isaiah captures the image of the comforted Jerusalem thus: “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married” (Isa 62:3-4).
The Coming of Jesus as the Comforting of Humanity
The return of Yahweh to Jerusalem is a pointer to the great event of Christmas that celebrates the coming of God’s Son in human nature. In the past, God communicated to Israel’s ancestors in diverse forms through the prophets, but now a new way of communicating has been inaugurated. Humanity now meets God in the Son of God who has become human. This means direct access to God. In Jesus, we can now see God physically and touch Him. It is the power of God released into our human nature. Being with God in Jesus Christ is the greatest empowerment for the human person as one gets access to the greatest power in the universe, the very light that illumines all things.
The Comforting Light in our Midst
The Gospel of today from the prologue of John’s Gospel sums the whole message of comfort with the imagery of light: a new, great light has dawned on humanity. The divine word, incarnate as the newborn Jesus, is the light of God that illumines all creation. He brings new life and new hope to our darkened world. May the light of Christ continue to illumine our way. May we achieve the fullness of the joy and peace which the season of Christmas heralds! Happy Christmas to all our readers!
