Isaiah 'twas foretold it

I would like to draw your attention for a second to the very first line of the first lesson for this second Sunday of Advent[i], Isaiah 11:1:

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,

And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.

               - Isaiah 11:1[ii]

The same motif is followed up again at the at end of this section:

“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,

Who shall stand as a banner to the people;

For the Gentiles shall seek Him,

And His resting place shall be glorious.”

                                                                           -Isaiah 11:10[iii]

The second verse of a favorite Christmas Carol of mine, “Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming,”[iv] starts off with the title of this blog post, “Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind.”  I’ve heard this song both slow and fast, with male voices or mixed, and it almost always sounds hauntingly beautiful. 

Besides the beautiful melody, I am struck by the visuals painted in this piece of music from the 15^th century.  The idea of a young plant growing, bright green, stretching forth from its parent; the rose, blood red and beautiful; the thorns; and lastly, the repeated reference to darkness and the night.  Every verse of this song references the cold darkness that surrounded Jesus’ birth, and pairs it with a reference to the light, to Jesus. 

Verse 1:

It came, a blossom bright,

amid the cold of winter,

when half spent was the night.

                                                                          

Verse 2:                           

To show God's love aright, 
she bore to us a Savior,
when half spent was the night.

And this, from the third and final verse:

Dispel in glorious splendor

The darkness everywhere

Please enjoy this version as sung by the Salt Lake Children’s Choir found on Youtube.              

- Jeff Schaefer

Member, St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church, Annandale, VA

Note:  This Sunday, December 8, the Adult Forum will feature Stephen Ackert, Director of Music at the National Gallery of Art, on the Music of Yearning and Longing through the Ages.   

If you feel like there is a lot of darkness that needs dispelling this time of year, please consider attending the Adult Forum on December 15 at 9:15 a.m., or the Blue Christmas service on December 19 at 7:30 p.m.  

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[i] From the “Revised Common Lectionary: Year A,” Book of Common Prayer, page 889.

[ii] Isaiah 11:1-10 (New King James Version) accessed online via Biblegateway.com (last accessed 12/3/2013). 

[iii] Ibid.           

[iv] “Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming,” Song 81, Hymnal 1982. Available online at Hymnary.org (last accessed 12/3/2013).