O Adonai

“O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!”
~~~
Oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!

1.  O LORD of All

The second “O Antiphon” derives from Isaiah 11:3-5 and 33:22:

³ He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
      or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
      and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
    and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
      and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
      And faithfulness the belt of his loins.

33:22  For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;
      the LORD is our king; he will save us.

This “O Antiphon” alludes to multiple scenes and touches on multiple themes in Scripture. In a slightly expanded version, it reads: “O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush” (an allusion to Exodus 3 and the story in which God reveals his proper, self-chosen name, YHWH, for which Jewish tradition substituted the title Adonai, LORD); “who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain” (an allusion to Exodus 19–24 and the theophany [God-appearance] at that site where YHWH gives Israel the Torah––the Decalogue and the other laws to guide her life in the way of blessing, reflected also in the hymnic stanza: “Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might, / Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height / In ancient times gave holy law, / In cloud and majesty and awe”); “come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free” (an allusion to Exodus 6–15 and the story of God’s stretching out his hand against the Egyptian pharaoh in the exodus deliverance of God’s people Israel).

2.  O Jesus, LORD of All

In which of these senses, then, is Jesus Adonai? Truly in all of them! He is the One who reveals the meaning of God’s name, YHWH; indeed, the name ‘Jesus’ contains within it the name ‘YHWH’ plus the verb ‘save’ (so Matt 1:21: “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins”). He is the One who embodies and teaches the meaning of God’s Torah (so the Sermon on the Mount; Matt 5–7). He is the One who accomplishes the salvation of God’s outstretched hand, literally, as he opens his arms wide and stretches out his hands on the Cross of Calvary.

St. Peter proclaimed on the Day of Pentecost: “Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

And so, in keeping with Philippians 2:9-11, we confess, “Jesus is Lord!” Indeed, “Jesus is Lord––of all!” And if Jesus is Lord, then human power, pride, possessions, selfish ambition, political parties or party leaders, human ideologies, cultural agendas––these are not Lord. It means surrendering our will to his, enthroning Christ as Lord in our hearts, our affections, our ambitions, our values, our plans, our decisions. It means celebrating something other than the materialism and consumerism, the endless purchasing and parties that characterize our culture, and offering the world an alternative that is filled with joy and peace for which the world longs.

And so with the heavenly hosts of Revelation 4–5, we too exclaim:

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
      who was and is and is to come!”
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
      to receive glory and honor and power,
      for you created all things,
      and by your will they existed and were created.”
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
      and to open its seals,
      for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
          from every tribe and language and people and nation,
      and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
          and they shall reign on the earth.”
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
      to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
      and honor and glory and blessing!”
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
      be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

~~~
“O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!”
~~~
Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!

3.  Prayer & Meditation

a.  Adonai Jesus is the One who reveals the meaning of God’s name. If you have not read John 1:1-18 and Philippians 2:5-11 in a while, take a few moments now, and certainly sometime during Advent, to ponder how Jesus reveals the Father to us.

b.  Adonai Jesus is the One who embodies and teaches the meaning of God’s Torah. He does this especially in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5–7), beginning with the Beatitudes in 5:1-12. This is a perfect place to spend some prayerful moments in an examination of conscience. Where is Jesus Adonai asking you to surrender to his way of life, to his call to discipleship?

c.  Adonai Jesus is the One who accomplishes the salvation of God’s outstretched hand, literally, as he opens his arms wide and stretches out his hands on the Cross of Calvary. How have you responded to this greatest of all gifts?

d.  We’ve probably all heard the statement, “If Jesus is not Lord of all, then he is not Lord at all.” In the “rooms” of your life, are there any spaces to which you have locked the doors, kept the keys, and told Jesus, “You stay out. This is my room. You are not welcome here”? If so, prayerfully ponder the second “O Antiphon” and imagine yourself handing over the keys of those rooms to Jesus Adonai, who longs to make every space of your life a holy dwelling, a living temple, and a foretaste of glory. But why not do more than just imagine? Why not make it so now by offering a genuine prayer of surrender, of “re-throning” Jesus in his rightful place?

December 18