Se, nu kommer Jesus! Se Guds rena lamm!
Mot den gyllne staden drar han sakta fram.

Ren och ödmjuk är han utan yttre prakt,
men på korsets tron där tar han kungamakt.
Gå din Gud till mötes, glad i själ och sinn.
Jesus kommer till dig, vill bli evigt din.
Dagarna är mörka, men i kunglig glans
kommer Jesus till oss, vi får vara hans!
Hosianna! Jesus, du vill vara här.
Hos ditt folk, din kyrka, är du alltid när.

Text: Eyvind Skeie, Översättning: Anders Nyberg

Music: Anders Nyberg

Arranged for choir SATB. An SAB-version is also available.

This is an advent hymn telling the well known story of Jesus riding in to Jerusalem.

It is a kind of song that has grown with me. I though first: "Isn't it a bit naïve...? Sunday school boards with simple images that we know all too well?" But then there is so much to say for simplicity. In my home province the traditional folk-paintings, the "dalmålningar", often depicts Jesus riding in to Jerusalem dressed like Charles the 14th, a Swedish 19th century King, and the town he rides in to looks like the regional capital of Falun. And that is naive, not so? But what strikes me now is that these painters are spot on. The gospel has to be "inculturated." The naive thing is to teach and share what happened in Palestine 2000 years ago. Every generation has to put the story in their context, dress in their costumes and ride into their towns!

The simple and the naive harbours both truth and beauty.

The melody tries to bring out both the dark and the light of the lyrics. And the arrangement playing with different triple meters and quirky harmony adds to the play of light and shade.

There's light there, but there is also an awareness of the looming darkness.