Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel

Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel are not just the words from a beautiful carol but a heart's cry for God to be among us. Not just 'come' but 'oh come.' Not just 'oh come' but 'oh come, oh come.' The writer wanted to express something of the urgency that the people felt, their desperate need, the depth of the feeling of their separation from God himself. 

God had visited his people at various times and in many ways, sometimes to individuals or to a few but at other times to the whole nation. However, for hundreds of years God had been mainly silent, his word was not heard. Did he still care? Did he want to dirty his hands in the mess of human life? Had he given up on his people? So many questions, so many prayers, so much longing, so many questions, so few answers

There is something in the heart of people that can only be satisfied by a present God. That is why it is so sad and heart breaking when God seems to have distanced himself. The longing is still there but no corresponding fulfilment, the yearning drives the feeling of isolation that cannot be overcome

This longing is seen again at the end of the Bible, John writes the last recorded prayer in Scripture 'Amen. Come Lord Jesus.' Revelation 22:20. Even though Jesus had lived, died, been raised from the dead, ascended back to the Father and poured out the Holy Spirit, there was still a yearning for him to come again, for God to reveal himself in a fuller way

In response to the cry of 'Oh come, oh come Emmanuel' came the Messiah himself, the response of God to the 'Amen. Come Lord Jesus' prayer will be the same, Jesus the Messiah coming to fulfil his father's eternal plan