Advent Antiphon: O Flower of Jesse's Stem

"O come, thou rod of Jesse's stem, from ev'ry foe deliver them

that trust thy mighty power to save, and give them vict'ry o'er the grave."

The images in today's O Antiphon text (read the original: the Magnificat antiphon for Evening Prayer) seem not so much to jostle one another as almost to clash. A tender flower that an ancient, once noble tree, ravaged and assaulted over the centuries so that nothing is left but a stump, manages to squeeze out as with its last drop of energy; raised up as a sign for all peoples; yet so mighty that kings stand silent in its presence while the nations bow down in worship. Can all of this really occupy the same space as one sole person?
And yet this is precisely so. This is Jesus, to whom the peoples call, "Come, let nothing keep you." Lord, come and save us. We trust in your mighty power to--to do what? Only each one of us knows for what it is that we need to trust in his mighty power. The power of a Lord so mighty that even kings are struck silent. The power of a tender flower budding forth from a withered stump, seemingly against all odds. That's what's so great about Advent. It's the season of the most amazing contradictions.