“Amid the Cold of Winter, When Half Spent Was the Night” – Advent Week Two

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

 

Darkness

Eight years ago, I went through a dark night of the soul. As a result of an unusual circumstance in which my safety was compromised, I began to descend into a deep valley, one overgrown with anxiety, loneliness, and doubt.

The worst of it was around Christmastime. Instead of the love, hope, joy, and peace characterized with the season, I was experiencing incapacitating fear, hopelessness, depression, and unrest. And I endured the journey alone. I keep my feelings veiled to my family and friends. I did not seek help or counsel.

The most traumatizing part of the whole ordeal, though, was that I felt God had abandoned me. I begged for deliverance from my mental state, cried out to God for peace, to remove the thorn in my flesh. But deliverance did not come. I knew in my head that my Shepherd was guiding me through the valley, but I did not see Him, nor did I hear His voice. In my heart, I believed He had failed me.

By God’s grace, I did not abandon my faith or quit on life. Slowly, healing came, but it did not come the way I hoped it would. It certainly did not come soon enough…it took years for me to return to a state of what I would consider “normal.” But, indeed, healing came.

I look back on that time with solemnity, with a shudder. We all endure dark times. We all must pass through the Valley of the Shadow of death.

But the hope lies in this: there is Light, and there is Life.

I know that Jesus’ birth was not the end of December. I know that the reason we celebrate it around the Winter Solstice is because of paganism. Yet, I think the season in which we celebrate Christ’s coming is rich with meaning just the same.

This gift of hope comes in the darkest season. It comes, as the sacred hymn states, “amid the cold of winter, when half spent was the night.”

 

 

A Flow’ret Bright

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
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.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.

Isaiah 11:1-6, ESV

The nation of Israel had gone through its own dark night of the soul before Jesus arrived. For four-hundred years, God was silent. He did not raise up or speak through prophets. He allowed Israel to be taken over by other nations. I’m sure it felt like He had abandoned them.

Yet, there was this hope of a Messiah, a deliverer, one who would bring salvation; one who, because of his perfect, wise, and righteous rule, would usher in a season of peace for all the earth.

Promises like these are what sustained the nation of Israel through the season of darkness. God gave a glimpse of what to look for, a rope to hold onto, a reminder that things are not as they should be, and that things would get better.

 

A Savior, When Half Spent Was the Night

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

 

We know that this shoot of Jesse is Jesus of Nazareth, the teacher. But most did not. He did not fit the expectations of many. His first Advent was too humble, His purpose misunderstood.

 

Oh, the suffering, the passion of Jesus.

So often I forget what He endured for our sake.

It began that dark night when He was born; being manifested in a limited, physical from, becoming in part, a piece of the creation which He brought into existence. To then experience ridicule, judgement, misunderstanding, betrayal, and slander by those He came to save. To be tempted. To lose friends whom He loved. To be separated from the Father. To suffer physical, mental, emotional, spiritual torment. To ultimately receive the punishment of sins which He never committed.

Peace comes through Christ, of course; but it cost Him dearly.

I so often forget the suffering of Christ. I get so caught up in my own journey through darkness, that I forget that His entire time on earth was the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and He entered into it willingly for our sake.

 

Dispels with Glorious Splendor the Darkness Everywhere

This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

When God spoke the world into being, the first thing He created was light. Darkness had already been; God was doing something new. This light, though, was not sourced from the sun or the moon or stars, for their created day was yet to come. Where did this light come from? We are not told.

Yet we know that in Bethlehem town, in the midst of deep spiritual darkness, another Light was brought into being: “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world,” (John 1:9).

I love how the hymn states it: Jesus “dispels with glorious splendor, the darkness everywhere.” We known and have seen for ourselves the way a small flame can illuminate the darkest room, can bring previously unseen things into detail. We know how even the smallest light can bring comfort, warmth, and joy, especially when things seem bleakest.

The coming of Christ meant that darkness was ending. The night is not fully over; we have yet to reach the paradise that will come with Christ’s second coming, when he will reign. But we know that dawn is on its way.

In the meantime, we celebrate the hope Jesus has been brought into the world. He has redeemed us. He has loved us. He has entered the darkness and illuminated it. He is the True Light.

In Him, we have hope.

 

Personal Application

This second week of Advent, we celebrate the hope that is manifested in the birth of Jesus. We can look to our Savior, knowing that just as He has dispelled spiritual darkness in the ultimate sense, He can, with glorious splendor, dispel the darkness in our own lives.

Have you endured a season of darkness? Are you enduring on now? Reflect on that experience, and look for glimpses of Christ’s light through it. Pray for the Light of Jesus to enter the dark spaces of your life. If necessary, confess any doubt or fear that may be reigning in your life in place of our sovereign Lord. Thank Him for walking through the Valley alongside of you. Thank Him, too, for enduring darkness on your behalf.

 

Family Application

Here are some suggestions for how you could celebrate the Hope of Jesus as a family, whether it’s just you and your spouse or includes your children or grandchildren.

• Read or summarize Isaiah 11: 1-9, focusing on the “peaceable kingdom.” As a family, imagine what it would be like, then come up with your own concept of what a peaceable kingdom would look like in today’s world. Explain to children that some day, when Jesus is reigning, there will truly be peace on earth.

 

• Gather your Advent candles and an unlit candle for each individual in your home. Before lighting them, turn off all the lights in your home, or go outside at night. Light the first two candles of Advent. Ask your children to compare the space before and after the candles are lit. Then, light each of your candles using the Advent light. Discuss how light affects a dark space. If you are celebrating with children, tell your little ones that Jesus brings hope to a dark world, that we can all be a part of bringing light to others by sharing His light with others.

 

• Share with your spouse and/or children what has been like to walk through dark times in your life. Take a risk; be vulnerable about your own experience. Testify to God’s faithfulness, the power of hope in your life.

 

• If you have younger children, listen to Listen to “Come Light up Our Hearts” by Rain for Roots. Otherwise, listen to “Lux Arumque” by Eric Whitacre and discuss how the music represents the concept of light entering the world (this is a beautiful choral piece; translated from Latin it means: “Light, warm and heavy as pure gold, and angels sing softly to the new-born babe.”)

 

• Listen to or sing to Lo, how a Rose E’re Blooming (I treasure this version from Sufjan Stevens). 
  

Lo, how a Rose E’re Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half-spent was the night.

This Flow’r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

 

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Read about why and how to celebrate advent here.

See the first post, “Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room” here.