1. O sacred Head, now wounded, With grief and shame weighed down, Now scornfully surrounded With thorns, Thine only crown. O sacred Head, what glory, What bliss, till now was Thine! Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.
2. 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!
3. 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 has lost Thy vigor, Thy strength, in this sad strife.
4. 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!
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. The joy can ne'er 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.
8. What language shall I borrow To thank Thee, dearest Friend, For this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end? Oh, make me thine forever! And should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never, Outlive my love for Thee.
9. 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!
10. 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 enfold Thee. Who dieth thus dies well!
"Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:28-30
When Jesus says "It is finished" He is saying that your salvation has been completed. Nothing more is needed!
"Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." John 19:34
From His broken body the blood of Communion and the water of Baptism flow. The means by which we receive the gifts won for us that day.
Vs. 2-4 Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted
Ye who think of sin but lightly, Nor suppose the evil great, Here may view its nature rightly, Here its guilt may estimate. Mark the Sacrifice appointed! See Who bears the awful load! ’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man, and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation, Here the refuge of the lost. Christ the Rock of our salvation, Christ the Name of which we boast. Lamb of God for sinners wounded! Sacrifice to cancel guilt! None shall ever be confounded Who on Him their hope have built.
1. O dearest Jesus, what law hast thou broken That such sharp sentence should on Thee be spoken? Of what great crime hast Thou to make confession, What dark transgression?
2. They crown Thy head with thorns, they smite, they scourge Thee; With cruel mockings to the cross they urge Thee; They give Thee gall to drink, they still decry Thee; They crucify Thee.
3. Whence come these sorrows, whence this mortal anguish? It is my sins for which Thou, Lord, must languish; Yea, all the wrath, the woe, Thou dost inherit, This I do merit.
4. What punishment so strange is suffered yonder! The Shepherd dies for sheep that loved to wander; The master pays the debt His servants owe Him, Who would not know Him.
5. The sinless Son of God must die in sadness; The sinful child of man may live in gladness; Man forfeited his life and is acquitted, God is committed.
6. There was no spot in me by sin untainted; Sick with sin’s poison, all my heart had fainted; My heavy guilt to hell had well-nigh brought me, Such woe it wrought me.
7. O wondrous love, whose depth no heart hath sounded, That brought Thee here, by foes and thieves surrounded! All worldly pleasures, heedless, I was trying While Thou wert dying.
8. Mighty King, no time can dim Thy glory! How shall I spread abroad Thy wondrous story? How shall I find some worthy gifts to proffer? What dare I offer?
9. For vainly doth our human wisdom ponder, Thy woes, They mercy, still transcend our wonder. Oh, how should I do aught that could delight Thee! Can I requite Thee?
10. Yet unrequited, Lord, I would not leave Thee; I will renounce whate’er doth vex or grieve Thee And quench with thoughts of Thee and prayers most lowly All fires unholy.
11. But since my strength will never more suffice me To crucify desires that still entice me, To all good deeds, oh, let Thy Spirit win me And reign within me! 12. I’ll think upon Thy mercy without ceasing, That earth’s vain joys to me no more be pleasing; To do Thy will shall be my sole endeavor Henceforth forever.
13. Whate’er of earthly good this life may grant me, I’ll risk for Thee; no shame, no cross, shall daunt me; I shall not fear what man can do to harm me Nor death alarm me.
14. But worthless is my sacrifice, I own it; Yet, Lord, for love’s sake Thou wilt not disown it; Thou wilt accept my gift in thy great meekness Nor shame my weakness.
15. And when, dear Lord, before Thy throne in heaven To me the crown of joy at last is given, Where sweetest hymns Thy saints forever raise Thee, I, too, shall praise Thee.
Such a beautiful hymn that we do not get to sing that often. It speaks of the crucifixion - of how this pain is for us. Throughout the Lenten season and especially Holy Week people try to “sin less” then end up focusing more on themselves, on how sinful they are, then on the Gospel. That Gospel which came physically to all mankind on that Friday and still comes physically to each of us through the sacraments. This Thursday we remember the day when Christ first instituted The Sacrament of the Altar. Each time we partake in the Lord’s Supper the Gospel is being put directly in our mouths, you receive the forgiveness that was won FOR YOU on the cross. You receive the same blood that flowed from Christ’s side when his body was broken. How wonderful the Gospel is!
Though hymns like the one above sound “depressing” musically, they carry the wonderful message from the Gospel. This sinless son of God chose to die for us. We who forfeited our own lives. In his love Jesus felt complete and utter loneliness, and also felt the full hammer of God’s Wrath all For You! And For Me Too!
Throughout this holy week keep that at the front of your mind. Christ Crucified for the Forgiveness of your sins.
O God of God, O light of light, O Prince of Peace and King of kings: To you in heaven’s glory bright The song of praise forever rings. To him who shares the Father’s throne, The Lamb once slain but raised again, Be all the glory he has won, All thanks and praise! Amen, amen.
For deep I prophets’ sacred page, And grand in poets’ winged word, Slowly in type, from age to age The nations saw their coming Lord; Till through the deep Judean night Rang out the song, "Goodwill to men!" Sung once by firstborn sons of light, It echoes now, "Goodwill!" Amen.
That life of truth, those deeds of love, That death so steeped in hate and scorn These all are past, and now above He reigns, our king first crowned with thorn. Lift up your heads, O might gates! So sang that host beyond our ken. Lift up your heads, your king awaits. We lift them up. Amen, amen.
Then raise to Christ a mighty song, And shout his name, his glories tell! Sing, heavenly host, your praise prolong, And all on earth, your anthem swell! All hail, O Lamb for sinners slain! Forever let the song ascend! All hail, O Lamb enthroned to reign! All hail, all hail! Amen, amen.
I am reading State of Fear Release Date: 25 October, 2005
Thats right! I'm posting about Christmas on New Year's Eve. Why? Because I don't really get the celebrating of a new year beginning. Certainly there are things that I am looking forward to in 2007, like my graduation, my sisters wedding, and of course FOR YOU in MN. I just don't understand why we celebrate midnight of January 1st.
The year is a very strange thing. Its the name we give to 365 days. Wait thats not even right because we have a year with 366 days every 4 years. A year is 12 months. What kind of number is 12? Wouldn't it make more sense if it were 10, a nice even number. But apparently a month is based on the moon and Years are based on the Sun rotating around the earth. Wait! I guess they found out that its the earth that goes around the Sun. So those smart scientists people decided to teach us something even it it doesn't make much sense to people like me. Maybe I will understand more through my astronomy class next semester.
But what about other ways of measuring time: Days I can understand it gets bright then it gets dark even if its cloudy. Though I am not sure why the day starts when it still dark out when it would be much easier to start when the sun rises. But hours Why are there 24 hours in a day? 24 not 25 not 50 not 20 not nice even numbers but 24. What makes up a hour? 60 minuets 60, not 100 not 50 but 60. Then they break up the minuets into 60 seconds. What do we need seconds for? All of this came from me mentioning the New Year.
So how about the Christmas part of this post?
I love music! All kinds of music I just love it. (Except rap but is that really music?) I can't get enough of singing music, listening to music, attempting to play music on my keyboard I got for Christmas. Advent is full of really Good hymns. I like Advent hymns more then I like Christmas hymns.
But why is that? With other things advent is full of good things leading up to the great things of Christmas. One thing that comes to mind is when I was younger and we used to have those chocolate Advent calenders. We got a piece of chocolate each day and then during Christmas we got a ton of it in our stockings or my favorite chocolate cookies that my aunt makes for Christmas every year. But for some reason I just like the Advent hymns more then Christmas ones.
Even though in general I do like Advent hymns more then Christmas hymns none of my favorite hymns come from the Advent section. Two of them come from the Christmas section. One of them is From Heaven above to Earth I come, and the other I have typed out below.
LSB #384
Of the Father's love begotten, ere the worlds began to be, He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!
O that birth forever blessed, when the virgin, full of grace, By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race; And the Babe, the world's Redeemer, First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!
This is He whom seers in old time canted of with one accord, Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word. Now He shines, the Long expected; Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing; Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King! Let no tongue on earth be silent, Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee, Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be: Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!
Luke describes the Birth of Christ in great detail, but one of the synoptic Gospels skips the birth of Christ completely. Mark begins with a prophecy about John the Baptist preparing the way for Christ.
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”
“a voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight paths for him.'”
Mark begins much like when we were first brought into the world. Not in the Royal City of David, but in a very desolate place, a desert. What does John do to those who are in the desert. He prepares the way for Christ's coming by baptizing them! What better way to prepare for the coming of Christ then to forgive those in the desert away from Christ.
Advent means “coming.” One of my favorite advent hymns, “Once He Came in Blessing” (LSB 333) talks about Christ's coming.
Once He came in blessing,
All our sins redressing;
Came in likeness lowly,
Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us;
Hope that freedom gave us.
This verse talks about Christ first coming in the flesh at Bethlehem. It talks about how he came as a man to take away all of our sins. He did that by the Cross!
Now He gently leads us;
With Himself He feeds us
Precious food from heaven,
Pledge of peace here given,
Manna that will nourish
Souls that they may flourish.
This second verse talks about how he comes to us now. He comes to us now in the Word and Sacrament. At my church last Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent, We were blessed with the word. We were blessed by hearing the words of absolution pronounced to us. We were blessed by welcoming a new member to our congregation through baptism. Finally, we were blessed by receiving the Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
Soon will come that hour
When with mighty power
Christ will come in splendor
And will judgment render,
With the faithful sharing
Joy beyond comparing.
This third verse talks about how he will come once again in judgment. On the last day Jesus will return in all his splendor and majesty and judge.
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us.
Keep our hearts believing,
That we, grace receiving,
Ever may confess You
Till in heaven we bless You.
As we look forward to His final coming, we find our deepest joy and comfort in His present coming with His very body and blood for our forgiveness.
Christ came For You in Bethlehem! Christ comes For You in His Word and Sacraments! And Christ will come again For You to take you to your eternal home with him.
