The second Sunday in Advent is focused on preparation. (You’d think that would be the theme of the first one, but no.) So our song today is “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry.”
The lyrics to this hymn are not specifically
about Christmas, but they do urge us to get our ducks in a row because the
Messiah’s on his way. The Baptist referenced is John the Baptist, whose role in
the Christ tale was to go around Judea and literally tell people to prepare the
way of the Lord. That would be 30-ish years on from the birth of Jesus in
Bethlehem, but it’s never too early to think about preparations.
The text was written by a Frenchman, Charles
Coffin, around 1727, originally in Latin. It’s a mainstay of the Lutheran
hymnal.
You most frequently hear “On Jordan’s Bank” set to the tune Winchester New, but I prefer Puer nobis nascitum, which predates the 15th Century manuscript that first documented it. It was difficult to find a really good recording of this combination; this one by the Chandel Choir of the First United Methodist Church in Dallas, was the best I could do.
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