Half-Spent

 

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

—Isaiah 9:2

In the Christmas Carol from as far back as the fourteenth century, the images of the rose with its tender stem, its fragrance, and the half-spent night, remind us of the largely unnoticed way in which Jesus, the Messiah, came into our world. The first and second stanzas of the carol “Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming” use this phrase: “When half-spent was the night.”

When we think about that phrase, it suggests that the night still goes on. We continue to have darkness in our world. Yet, in the last stanza of the carol we see that “this Flower dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere.”

This tender rose depicts our Savior, who has come to us as a beautiful baby and at a time in history that God chose while things were void of His light. Depending on our circumstances, we may face a time of darkness and seeming absence of light this Advent season. But, we must remember that we do indeed have a Savior. And, we must remember that He does come to us in the darkness of our lives. When we know Him—when we look for Him and seek Him—He has promised to come in His glorious presence to us.

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 Flower 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 Flower, 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.¹

The Baylor University Chamber Singers share this lovely carol:

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1 Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming. German Carol, Public Domain.