O Rex Gentium!

December 22 O Rex Gentium!

O King of the nations,
the ruler they long for,
the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.
(LSB 357)

Listen to Chaplain Daenzer sing it here.

“You are a king?” Pilate said. “You have said so,” our Lord replied (John 18:37; Matt. 27:11). He was always a tad reluctant about that title “King.” The Gentiles have their idea of what it means, and it didn’t sit comfortably upon the shoulders of the Man who reigns in triumphant love by shouldering the sin of the world on Calvary’s cross and leaving death in pieces on Easter morning. And yet He is a King, and He is the King that the Gentiles long for, ache for, dream of and hope for. The King who will bring in true justice and who will put an end to all abuse of the poor and the downtrodden. The King who will bring an end to all the “us” vs. “them” and unite humanity as a whole, as one family. In days when human divisions seem to be growing stronger and ever more bitter, the hope of the human race remains in the Child who comes to reign among us by serving, bearing and dying.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
(LSB 357:7)