O Come, Emmanuel 3: Jesse's Rod

My third Christmastide reflection on that beautiful carol, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, focusses upon its second verse’s first two lines:

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny

Rod of Jesse is a strange expression, and originates in the mysterious writings of Isaiah the prophet:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots (11:1)

Jesse of Bethlem was the father of the boy David who would become Israel’s greatest king. The ESV translates ‘rod’ as ‘shoot’, picturing the Davidic family line as a tree. The tree has been cut down, much as it was during the Exile when the monarchy ended, and later on, new dynasties, like Herod’s, ruling in its stead. But the old stump of the Davidic royal family would produce another shoot, another King, the true heir and descendant of David, and therefore of Jesse, too.

The tyrant cited, though, is not Herod the Great, the human despot and Roman client-king whose power covered Judaea, but Satan, the Prince of Darkness. Although I think the two characters would have much in common, the former probably did not believe in the latter, while the latter almost certainly approved of and employed the former. He who orchestrated the Massacre of the Innocents in an attempt to destroy God’s promised Messiah was surely Satan’s tool, wittingly or not. Herod wanted no rival to his throne, and Satan no Rescuer of the human race which he had corrupted and polluted.

Somehow, the Rod or Stem would free God’s Israel from Satanic power, influence and consequences. Iasiah may not have full understood how, but he knew why. Yet well might the promised Heir of David be a shoot from a tree, for it would be upon a tree He would die, sacrificed, to liberate all from the tyranny of sin and the kingdom of Satan.

That is the real meaning of Christmas.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel;
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer,
Our Spirits by Thine Advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

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

O come, O come, thou Lord of Might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

From the text of the 1851 translation by John Mason Neale from the twelfth-century hymn Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, published in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861)