Advent Devotional: December 3

It goes without saying that most of today's contemporary "pop" music lacks the substance and theological depth to transcend time, and for that reason (among others), it is shelved almost as quickly as it's produced. Musical style alone can't carry a song for much more than a decade (does anyone still think anything that came out of the '90's is "cool!?"). However, there was once a day when the greatest hymn writers were not even musicians, at least not in the professional sense. They were theologians, and their lyrics came out of a deep well, informed by the Word of God. They communicated timeless truths. That's why when Ambrose wrote "Come, Redeemer of the Nations" (the hymn from December 1), it would inspire another theologian, Martin Luther, 1,000 years later. It was a beautiful hymn, but "Come, Redeemer of the Nations" didn't translate well into German. So, Luther simply wrote a new hymn, closely following Ambrose' thought, defending the humanity and deity of Christ for the Christmas of 1523, exactly 500 years ago.

There are several English versions today, first translated by William Reynolds in 1851 (it is Reynold's translation below). The melody, Zahn 1174, was also composed by Luther, but was later popularized by Johann Sebastian Bach. It soon became the most prominent hymn in Protestant churches, traditionally sung on the first Sunday of Advent for several centuries.