Savior of the Nations Come
Lyrics by St Ambrose, translated by Martin Luther into German, William M Reynolds into English
I had not heard of “Savior of the Nations, Come” until Erica assigned it to me. One of the first things that I did was to listen to multiple versions. (My favorite was Koiné’s You Tube version from their album, Emmanuel Lux.) Written by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, “Savior of the Nations, Come” reminds us that Christ was born of both the flesh and of the Spirit of God and that Jesus was the visible and tangible Word of God, born of the Virgin and laid in a manger, only to be rejected to suffer and die. The hymn’s title asserts that Christ came for every tribe, race, and nation, not merely for one country. When we were in Israel, Bruce and I visited The Church of All Nations on the Mount of Olives. The Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, tells us in Chapter 14, “On that Day [of Christ’s return] His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives . . .” Until then, St. Ambrose bids us not to be clouded by sin, but to persevere in both faith and praise as we wait for the glories of the Son’s ultimate victory. In the meantime, St. Ambrose prompts us to reflect the shining Light of the manger so that our faith, too, would be bright, and that we would bring praise to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
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Traditional
Praise/Worship
