Read Mark 15:16-46
“Lord Jesus, on this day you carried our sins in your own body on the tree so that we might live. May we, and all who remember this day, find new life in you, both now and in the world to come. Meet us as we keep tonight’s vigil together, and speak to our hearts as our ears hear the record of your conquering love Amen. “
What makes us call the day on which an innocent man was murdered “Good” Friday? Actually, many Christian traditions give it other names. In German, the word “Karfreitag” essentially means “Mourning Friday,” for instance. Other Christians call it Holy Friday or Great Friday. (You can find references to it as Black Friday, too, although in the U.S. that usage has become more commonly associated with the day after Thanksgiving, when we do enough shopping to help retailers’ profits edge into the black for the year.)
One compelling answer to our original question, of course, that makes the day Great and Good and Holy is the demonstration of God’s love that its events encompass. It is that love, that “wondrous love,” that is celebrated in one of the best known truly American hymns.
One of the earliest examples of “American” music – dating back to Colonial days – is “shape-note singing,” which is sometimes also called “Sacred Harp music.” Many of America’s earliest settlers were not musically well educated, and in the early 1800’s someone had the idea of printing each note of the scale as a different shape so that readers would have an extra clue about which note to sing, like this:
You can see, then, why it’s called “shape-note” singing. Another characteristic of this music is that the melody is typically found in the tenor line instead of the soprano, which gives the music a sound unlike almost any other multi-part choral singing.
The Sacred Harp was one of the first, and probably the most famous, of the early collections of these hymns. (We don’t have room here to go into the stories about the competition between the editors of these two hymnals, who actually married a pair of sisters. It would be off the point for this Web site, anyway.) The first edition was published in 1844, and, with minor revisions, it is still in print today. My copy is the 1991 edition, which the preface says is only the fourth revision of the book. Like its predecessors, it is horizontally shaped, much unlike the hymnals we’re used to these days.
The Sacred Harp, 1991 edition
But though The Sacred Harp gave its name to this style of music, there was a predecessor hymn collection, called The Southern Harmony. That’s the first hymnal that paired the words of “Amazing Grace,” by John Newton, with the tune we know today. It also the one where, in the second edition, the words of the first stanza of “What Wondrous Love Is This” first appeared with its familiar tune.
What wondrous love is this! oh, my soul! oh, my soul!
What wondrous love is this! oh, my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.
The text had appeared in two hymnals anonymously in 1911; the 1991 edition of The Sacred Harp, which added the hymn in is 1869 revision, credits “Mead’s General Selection” for the words and James Christopher for the music. Christopher, from Spartanburg, S.C., was a folksong collectors and arranger as well as a composer; according to musical historian Harry Eskew, the tune “had existed for a number of years in the oral tradition” before Christopher wrote it down.
Today, we generally sing four stanzas of “Wondrous Love.” As many as seven appeared in some 19th Century hymnals; of them, the following are the five most commonly used, carrying the singer from disbelieving contemplation of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice to joyful response to the meaning of it all. What wondrous love, indeed.
What wondrous love is this,
O my soul! O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this
That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse,
For my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse, for my soul.
When I was sinking down,
Sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down;
When I was sinking down,
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside his crown,
For my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside his crown, for my soul.
Ye winged seraphs, fly!
Bear the news! bear the news!
Ye winged seraphs fly! bear the news!
Ye winged seraphs fly! bear the news,
Like comets through the sky,
Fill vast eternity
With the news, with the news,
Fill vast eternity with the news!
To God, and to the Lamb,
I will sing, I will sing,
To God, and to the Lamb, I will sing;
To God, and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme,
I will sing, I will sing,
While millions join the theme, I will sing.
And when from death we’re free,
We’ll sing on, we’ll sing on,
And when from death we’re free, we’ll sing on;
And when from death we’re free,
We’ll sing, and joyful be,
And through eternity
We’ll sing on, we’ll sing on,
And through eternity we’ll sing on.
Bernard of Clairvaux
As usual, the choir began its Wednesday night rehearsal with devotions and a hymn. Kris Nikkel chose another powerful Holy Week hymn with centuries of history: “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” whose words are attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), abbot of a French monastery and one of the most influential leaders of the 12th century church (at one point, he was actually called upon to determine which of two rival popes should be recognized).
As with nearly all of the ancient hymns we still sing today, the tune we generally associate with “O Sacred Head” came later and from a different source. Hans Leo Hassler is the composer of record, but the tune is most familiar to generations of church musicians because J.S. Bach used it five times in the St. Matthew Passion – it has come to be known, in fact, as the “Passion Chorale” – and again in the finale of the Christmas Oratorio.
(And, interestingly, it is fairly well documented that Paul Simon drew heavily from Bachfor the melody of his “American Tune,” whose lyrics have their own air of solemnity and somberness:
I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered;
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease.
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
or driven to its knees.)
Back to Bernard of Clairvaux. According to Kenneth Osbeck’s book of hymn stories Amazing Grace, “O Sacred Head” was part of the final portion of a lengthy poem in which Bernard addressed the various parts of Christ’s body as he suffered on the cross: his feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and face. The stanzas were translated from Latin to German in the 17th Century, and into English in the 19th by J.W. Alexander. Only three verses are printed in the Covenant Hymnal; here is Alexander’s full text.
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish, which once was bright as morn!
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace.
Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance,
Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee and flee before Thy glance.
How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How doth Thy visage languish that once was bright as morn!
Now from Thy cheeks has vanished their color once so fair;
From Thy red lips is banished the splendor that was there.
Grim death, with cruel rigor, hath robbed Thee of Thy life;
Thus Thou hast lost Thy vigor, Thy strength in this sad strife.
My burden in Thy Passion, Lord, Thou hast borne for me,
For it was my transgression which brought this woe on Thee.
I cast me down before Thee, wrath were my rightful lot;
Have mercy, I implore Thee; Redeemer, spurn me not!
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
My Shepherd, now receive me; my Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me, O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.
Here I will stand beside Thee, from Thee I will not part;
O Savior, do not chide me! When breaks Thy loving heart,
When soul and body languish in death’s cold, cruel grasp,
Then, in Thy deepest anguish, Thee in mine arms I’ll clasp.
The joy can never be spoken, above all joys beside,
When in Thy body broken I thus with safety hide.
O Lord of Life, desiring Thy glory now to see,
Beside Thy cross expiring, I’d breathe my soul to Thee.
My Savior, be Thou near me when death is at my door;
Then let Thy presence cheer me, forsake me nevermore!
When soul and body languish, oh, leave me not alone,
But take away mine anguish by virtue of Thine own!
Be Thou my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.
When we read the gospel story (Mark’s or any of the other three) its as if we are watching an artist draw on the tapestry of history a most amazing story. What I love about this story which this video so beautifully illustrates, is it’s stunning simplicity. Maybe thats part of what draws us in, its so simple a cave man could understand it. But I wonder….do we try to complicate the story and as a result make it seem less attainable in our lives? It is hard for us to accept the simple yet powerful actions of Jesus? Does the line (in reference to the video) stop at the tomb or does the activity of God still carry on today? Where is the line in your life? Have we made finding that line difficult or complicated? Have we filled our lives with our own lines so that it is hard to trace the original?
My our lives find it’s heart beat in the “line” of Christ. May this week and this season remind us of the simply amazing story of sacrifice, forgiveness, love and life!
"Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani?" by James Tissot (1836-1902), from his series "The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ"
As the focus of Sunday’s service moved from “Palm” to “Passion,” the worship team helped us to reflect that “Mighty Is the Power of the Cross.” How mighty, you ask? We turned to a classic hymn for an answer, this one in the form of a question: Isaac Watts’ “Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?”
Isaac Watts
The Covenant Hymnal contains 14 hymn texts by Watts (1674-1748), a fraction of the more than 800 he wrote over the years to earn the title “the father of English hymnody.” Many are based on Psalms, such as his version of Psalm 23, “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need.” Plenty are just plain famous, like “Joy to the World.” And not a few concern themselves with Passion Week and the cross, including “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
But “Alas” is particular well suited for our study this Lent, because verses 2 and 3 are based on verses we read last week in Mark 15:33 and 34, where “darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour . . . and Jesus cried out (from the cross) in a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ – which means ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ ”
Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut its glories in,
When Christ, the great Redeemer, died
To bear his creatures’ sin.
Stanza 5 is the basis of a famous anecdote about another legendary hymn writer: the blind American poet Fanny J. Crosby (“Blessed Assurance” is one example of her work). According to her own account, on Nov. 20, 1850, she attended a Methodist revival meeting where this hymn was sung. As the last stanza ended, she prayed its closing words, “Here, Lord, I give myself away; ’tis all that I can do” – and, she said, found herself to be a changed person. “My soul was flooded with celestial light,” she wrote in her autobiography, Memories of Eighty Years. “I sprang to my feet, shouting ‘Hallelujah.’ ” The many hymns for which she became famous followed, including “Rescue the Perishing,” “Praise Him! Praise Him!” and “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”; we have nine in the Hymnal.
There’s no doubt that the language and imagery are powerful, even stark. Watts’ original words, the ones Fanny Crosby would have heard in 1850, made it even more clear just how unthinkable Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary was, given for whom he was giving up his life:
Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
The answer, as we know, turned out to be yes – yes, even for such a worm, for such a sinner, as any of us. The paradox of God the Creator dying for the salvation of his own creations is reason enough for Fanny Crosby’s ecstatic shout: “Hallelujah!”
Alas, and Did My Savior BleedEven though we have completed our reading of Mark we would like to invite you through out this Holy Week to continue to interact with and reflect on those passages which lead Jesus to the cross, tomb and then resurrection!
Here are the Blog Posts from Holy Week
We will also posting new material this week on songs from the Lent and Easter and videos that engage our hearts as we prepare for Easter Sunday!
We have finished reading the Gospel of Mark, but Holy Week still stands between us and Easter. The Sunday that begins this week is familiar to most of us as Palm Sunday, probably because when we were kids it was a pretty memorable experience to march down the center aisle waving a palm branch. The church also knows it, however, as Passion Sunday, the beginning of a week that sweeps Jesus, the disciples, all of Jerusalem, and us toward Good Friday and Calvary; therefore we marked the day at LCC with two texts from the Gospel of Luke, one his account of the triumphal entry, the other his retelling of Jesus’ appearances before Pilate and Herod.
The text of the “palm”-related hymn we sang, “All glory, laud, and honor,” is one of the oldest in our hymnals. A French bishop, Theodulph of Orléans, wrote it around twelve hundred years ago; some sources date it to the year 810, though others place it about a decade later, which would mean he wrote it while imprisoned at a monastery. (When the legendary King Charlemagne died in the year 814, his son King Louis I accused Theodulph of plotting against him and had him jailed. According to the book Amazing Grace by Kenneth Osbeck, the story goes that shortly before the bishop’s death in 821, King Louis happened to pass by his cell and heard him singing this hymn and was so moved that he ordered him released.)
Theodolph wrote in Latin, and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the hymn has been used in Palm Sunday services in the following way:
“The first couplet,
Gloria, laus et honor tibi sit Rex Christe, Redemptor,
Cui puerile decus prompsit hosanna pium,
is sung by chanters inside of the church (the door having been closed), and is repeated by the processional chorus outside of the church. The chanters then sing the second couplet, the chorus responding with the refrain of the first couplet, and so on for the remaining couplets until the subdeacon strikes the door with the staff of the cross, whereupon the door is opened, the hymn ceases, and the procession enters the church.” A little more formal than our Palm Sunday tradition!
The familiar tune we use was written “only” 400 years ago by Melchior Teschner; before that, it would mostly have been chanted, like this:
I’m fine with Gregorian chant, but I’ll go with that “new” tune myself. The lyrics follow the MP3 link, in which the first couplet of the hymn occurs as a refrain … just as in the encyclopedia excerpt above.
All glory, laud and honor to thee, Redeemer, King!
To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring.
Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David’s royal Son,
Who in the Lord’s name comest, The King and Blessèd One.
The company of angels are praising Thee on High,
And mortal men and all things created make reply.
The people of the Hebrews with palms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems before Thee we present.
To Thee, before Thy passion, they sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted, our melody we raise.
Thou didst accept their praises; accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King.
