Tomorrow I Will Come

On December 15^th, Sunday, I woke up in the middle of the night with this song in my head: “Rejoice, Rejoice, Emmanuel shall ransom captive Israel. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee O Israel.” I kept thinking about these lyrics and what they meant as I lay awake. Rejoice, God is with us. He shall ransom us from bondage--free us from the grasp of evil. The Savior shall come to us, because He has chosen to be with us.

Later that morning, I heard the same hymn at church—which is not unusual since it is Christmas season. However, when I picked up the church bulletin and saw an article about this song, it caught my attention. Here is what I read in the church bulletin: Benedictine monks wrote this song with seven stanzas, each with a title for the Messiah.

Emmanuel—God-with-us

Rex Gentium—King of the Nations

Oriens—Morning Star

Clavis David—Key of David

Radix Jesse—Root of Jesse

Adonai—Lord

Sapientia—Wisdom

“The first letter of the titles in Latin, starting with the last verse—Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapienta—spells ERO CRAS—that is “Tomorrow, I will come.” (from the church bulletin—Basilica St. John, Des Moines, Iowa)

God is Present. He is Powerful. He brings Light into darkness. He is the Key that opens locked doors. He keeps us Rooted and stable. He is Lord and Savior. In Him is all Wisdom.