Behind the Hymn: A Look at Ambrose of Milan

Episode Nine of "Behind the Hymn: Ambrose of Milan." Today's episode featured two hymns by Ambrose: "Savior of the Nations, Come" (LSB 332) and "O Splendor of God's Glory Bright" (LSB 874). _______________ "Savior of the Nation's Come" is known as the Advent hymn par excellence. This hymn is the traditional Lutheran Hymn of the Day for the First Sunday in Advent. Stanza one is a call for the Virgin's Son to come and make His home among us and for all creation, heaven and earth, to marvel that the Lord of all "chose such a birth"; that is, He took on human flesh and became one of us except without sin. Stanza two proclaims that the Word of God, Christ the Lord, who was "in the beginning" (John 1:1), became flesh like us not through any human agency but "by the Spirit of our God." Stanza three continues the thought that while "here a maid was found with child," she remained a virgin and that the child in the mother's womb was the God who was "there upon His throne." Stanzas four and five reflect creedal statements of God sending HIs Son from His "kingly hall" into the world, and that this child was both "Lord of all" and "God of God," yet fully man. Sent from the Father, He will return to the Father, back to His "throne and crown" after He "in flesh the victory won," the victory over sin, death, and the devil, which the glorified Christ proclaimed to those in hell. Stanza seven uses the image of light, the light that now shines from the manger into the night, the light of Christ, which shatters the darkness, and the light in which "faith now abides." The concluding stanza is doxological praise to the Father, who, in the context of this hymn, sent His Son into the world; to the Son, who fulfilled the Father's will in taking on our human flesh to rescue the world from sin, death, and the devil; and to the Spirit, by whose action became "the Word of God made flesh, woman's offspring, pure and fresh." _______________ The first stanza of "O Splendor of God's Glory Bright" could be seen as something of a meditation on the familiar phrase from the Nicene Creed, "Light of Light." Christ is the "exact imprint" of God the Father, the face in which we see the splendor of the Father, the true light who, when coming into the world, gives light to everyone (John 1:9). The second stanza moves from description to petition as Ambrose appeals to this divine Sun to shed His light on all aspects of our lives. Stanza three turns to the Father for divine aid over temptation. Stanza five is an exhortation to turn for nourishment and support to Christ, who is described now in eucharistic terms, and to the Holy Spirit. Christ is the bread of life and "drink indeed," both of which sustain the believer's faith. The "plenteousness" of the Holy Spirit that Christians "taste with joyfulness" is an allusion to the pouring out of the Spirit on the first Christians at Pentecost. (Credit: Lutheran Service Book - Companion to the Hymns)