From Anglican Mainstream.
With this last antiphon our expectation finds joy now in the certainty of fulfillment. We call Jesus by one of the most personal and intimate of his titles, Emmanuel, God-with-us. While at the same time he is also to be exalted above us as our king, However, the pressure is on and the time is running short and the idea of serving a king and cooking the Christmas feast are not balancing out. The lessons today of sorts reinforce that message but not in the manner that the consumer culture may suggest.