Introduction
One of the FPC traditions (at least as long as I’ve been here) is using Ah, Holy Jesus as the introit during Lent. In the PCUSA Hymnal[1], this is hymn #93. Let’s take a look at the lyrics and tune to this well-known Lenten hymn, based on Isaiah 53.
At the top of this, I’d like to give a shout out to Sola Gratia[2], which is a Christian music group from Birmingham, AL. I found their version of Ah, Holy Jesus in looking for one to use today, and it’s beautiful. It’s from their debut album, and I like what I heard enough that I bought the whole album. See http://solagratiamusic.com/ for more about this emerging group.
Reference Scripture:
The lyrics are derived from Isaiah 53 (NIV v1–10):
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Ah, Holy Jesus: Lyrics
The lyrics are originally German as Herzliebster Jesu from 1630[3], written by Johann Heermann (1585–1647) who was a poet and hymn writer. Ah Holy Jesus is the only one of the works listed on the Wikipedia page about him[4] that I recognize, at least.
As with the other works from other languages, there are multiple translations. The one we’re used to (from our hymnal), is by Robert Bridges, from the late 1800’s, but with an update from 1987 and the Psalter Hymnal. Also as with other things we’ve looked at, the PCUSA hymnal is shorter than the original. We use four verses. There are at least 5 in other Bridges translations of this hymn, and Hymnary.org[5] shows 15 verses in the Winkworth translation.
The Wikipedia article[3] on this tune shows the first three translations below of the original first verse. For grins, I also added what I got out of Google Translate.
Original German
Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen,
Daß man ein solch scharf Urteil hat gesprochen?
Was ist die Schuld? In was für Missetaten
Bist du geraten?Bridges Translation (original)
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended? By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.Bridges Translation (1987 Psalter Hymnal update)
Ah, holy Jesus, how have You offended,
That mortal judgment has on you descended?
By foes derided, by Your own rejected,
O most afflicted.Winkworth Translation
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?Choral Niagara translation
Beloved Jesus, what have you done wrong
that they have pronounced so hard a sentence?
What is your guilt, into what sort of misdeeds
Have you fallen?Google Translate
Heart Dearest Jesus, what have you done wrong,
That there is such a sharp judgment spoken?
What’s to blame? For in what misdeeds
You have come?
- Look at these translations. What differences jump out at you?
PCUSA Hymnal V2–4
2 Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon You?
It is my treason, Lord that has undone You.
’Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied You;
I crucified You.3 For me, kind Jesus, was Your incarnation,
Your mortal sorrow, and Your life’s oblation;
Your death of anguish and Your bitter passion,
For my salvation.4 Therefore, dear Jesus, since I cannot pay You,
I do adore You, and will ever praise You,
Think on Your pity and Your love unswerving,
Not my deserving.Additional Bridges verse (3) not in PCUSA Hymnal
Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered.
For our atonement, while we nothing heeded,
God interceded.
Some thoughts form my perspective reading through this:
- Verse 3 is easy to read as a question, but that’s not the way it’s written. It’s a statement, with a bit of poetic license in the structure of the sentence.
- In verse 4, I originally had a period at the end of the second line. But it’s a comma, indicating that all of this is my response. I will adore Him. I will praise Him. I will think on His Pity and His love. And I won’t think on my lack of deserving. That’s another powerful thought.
- The Psalter Hymnal translation of verse 1 is quite different from the original Bridges translation. Both are powerful. The Bridges wording references the “hast in hate pretended”, which carries some different thoughts.
- I have a lot of emotional trouble singing verse 2. It’s a very powerful line, and a counterpoint, in a way, to verse 4. Verse 2 is about what I’ve done, but we close the hymn with what Christ has done, which is the more powerful. We mentioned it briefly in class last week, but there’s a Ray Boltz song called Feel the Nails?:
Does He still feel the nails
Every time I fail?
Does He hear the crowd cry “Crucify!” again?
Am I causing Him pain?
Then I know I’ve got to change
I just can’t bear the thought
Of hurting Him
It seems that I’m so good
At breaking promises
And I treat His precious grace
So carelessly
But each time He forgives
What if He relives
The agony He felt on that tree?
Ah, Holy Jesus: Tune
The tune for Ah, Holy Jesus is now listed as Herzliebster Jesu – the original German name for the poem that became this hymn. It was written in 1640 by Johann Crüger (1598–1662). The metric is a bit unusual at 11.11.11.5, though there are two other hymns with this metric #459 (Father, We Praise Thee) and #529 (Lord of the Living), both to the tune Christe Sanctorum (which I don’t know).
The particular rendition I’m offering for today is done by a group new to me, Sola Gratia, from their 2011 debut Wondrous Love[2]. It’s a beautiful Celtic-flavored a cappella rendition of the piece, using the original Bridges translation, including the verse 3 that we don’t use.
- What is the message in this song for us today?
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The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs. Louisville, Ky: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990. ↩
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The Wondrous Love album can be found on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wondrous-love/id457982981. The artist’s web site is http://solagratiamusic.com/. This is the 2011 debut album for a group called Sola Gratia, which was formed to record a CD for the 25th anniversary of Dominion Baptist in Birmingham, AL. It looks to be a group of 4 women named Katie & Emily Martin, Ashley Fandino, and Ren Blankenship. ↩
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[http://www.hymnary.org/text/o_dearest_jesus_what_law_hast_tho_broken(http://www.hymnary.org/text/o_dearest_jesus_what_law_hast_tho_broken)] ↩
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