“‘For my [Simeon’s] eyes have seen your salvation...a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel...And a sword will pierce your [Mary’s] soul too’” (Luke 2:30,32,35b).

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, / And ransom captive Israel…

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel / Shall come to thee, O Israel.”

This is my favorite Christmas carol. I love its beautiful minor key. But it probably isn’t many people’s favorite because, well, because of that very thing. Christmas should be celebrated, sung about in a major key, right? Sweet baby Jesus, an angel choir, a miraculous star. 

But rejoicing may have the mournful sound of a minor key in the background. Sometimes with blessing comes pain. Simeon speaks to Jesus’ parents first with rejoicing: “my eyes have seen [God’s] salvation” (2:30), not just for Israel but also for the Gentiles (2:32). But then he foretells suffering. Cue the minor chord.

This glorious birth of our Savior ushered in cost: flight to Egypt, a return home to pointing fingers, a mother watching her child spurned and gossiped about, her adult son rejected by those He came to save and finally dying a torturous death. Definitely a minor key. But what appears as the most tragic event in Mary’s life is also the greatest: Jesus dies not solely as her Son, but as her Savior. 

Jesus, the “consolation of Israel” (2:25), the promise of peace and rescue for the nation - sadly, most didn’t see Him at all for the blessing He was. They wanted a far different salvation. Jesus still divides people into two camps: “the rising and falling of many” that Simeon predicted (2:34). Those who accept Him find His way certainly brings blessing, but listen for that minor key again. As we experience the blessings of that salvation, we also know identifying with Christ can have painful consequences. Our souls are “pierce[d]” (2:35) with Mary’s, too, when we see Him mocked and rejected. 

Blessing with the backdrop of a minor key.

So do we give in to the minor key? No. This carol calls us to rejoice ten times. Emmanuel will rescue us from “lonely exile,” He will dispel the “gloomy clouds,” He will “close the path to misery.” Rejoicing can arise out of the melancholic longing for release, help, and salvation - but it may take time. Just ask Simeon. 

“O Come” will always be my favorite carol. I highly recommend ThePianoGuys’ haunting piano/cello version!  Listen, and feel a depth of yearning for what should be.  Then read the lyrics; let them remind you of the myriad blessings that flowed and still flow from Christ’s advent. O, come, O come, Emmanuel, indeed.