by 
Thursday, December 22
From paradise to earth He came, that we with Him might dwell.
From Gesu Bambino
By Rich T.
Gesu Bambino (Baby Jesus) is an Italian Christmas Carol. It’s probably not among the top 20, or even the top 50 Christmas songs on anyone’s list. Even so, it does have a beautiful melody.
Its chorus is the same as O Come All Ye Faithful, “O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.” I heard the song several times in the 1980s on a TV Christmas special, Christmas with Luciano Pavarotti, which was usually aired at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night.
For 95 percent of the song, the lyrics have images of the blessed child on the holy night and angels and shepherds with their grateful chorus. Then in the final two lines of the second verse, the song foreshadows what the baby is to become, “From paradise to earth he came, that we with him might dwell.”
That phrase changes the song from the innocence of the infant Jesus and introduces us to the Savior Christ who was and is and will be. Jesus came from paradise to earth. That means he existed with God in heaven before he was born. Then he came to earth. Why? So that we with him might dwell. Are we going to dwell with him on earth? No. We are going to dwell with him in heaven. This is the resurrection Jesus in a Christmas song!
Gesu Bambino is a beautiful song that will put you in a worshipful Christmas mood. You can find it online at:
Prayer: Loving and Merciful God, Thank you for the gifts of music and lyrics that we can use to worship you in a way that transcends words alone. Thank you for sending Jesus that we with Him might dwell. Amen
