Title: Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands
Author: Martin Luther, 1483-1546
German title: Christ lag in Todesbanden
Translation: Richard Massie, 1800-1887
Relevant Scripture verse: “[Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [it].” – Colossians 2:15 ESV
1 Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands, for our offenses given;
but now at God’s right hand He stands and brings us light from heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be and sing to God right thankfully
loud songs of hallelujah. Hallelujah!
2 It was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended;
the victory remained with life, the reign of death was ended.
Holy Scripture plainly says that death is swallowed up by death;
its sting is lost forever. Hallelujah!
3 Here the true Paschal Lamb we see, whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree-so strong His love to save us.
See, His blood now marks our door; faith points to it, death passes o'er,
and Satan cannot harm us. Hallelujah!
4 So let us keep the festival to which the Lord invites us;
Christ is Himself the Joy of all, the Sun that warms and lights us.
Now his grace to us imparts eternal sunshine to the hearts;
the night of sin is ended. Hallelujah!
5 Then let us feast this Easter Day on Christ, the bread of heaven;
The Word of grace has purged away the old and evil leaven.
Christ alone our souls will feed; He is our meat and drink indeed;
Faith lives upon no other! Hallelujah!
Martin Luther, the great German church Reformer for whom Lutherans are named, is known for many things. Much was said about him in the year 2017, the five-hundredth anniversary of the writing and distribution of his “Ninety-Five Theses” of 1517, considered the symbolic beginning of the era of the Protestant Reformation. Even those opposed to his theology will acknowledge his broad impact on Western civilization, and he is undoubtedly one of the most influential people of the last millennium. His influence in matters both sacred and secular continues to be studied and debated by scholars. Yet one area of his influence that is often neglected concerns the use of music in the church.
The era of the Reformation, roughly the years between 1500 and 1650, is filled with complexity that is often overlooked. Those who came to be called “Protestants” did not all agree with each other, and for that reason Martin Luther is often accused of (or credited with) things he most certainly did not think, believe, or practice. For example, his contemporary Ulrich Zwingli, who was the Reformer of Switzerland and the earliest mentor to what would become the Reformed Protestant tradition, believed that music had no place in the church. Zwingli loved music in its secular expression, but he believed that music in church, and other things such as statues and images, led to idolatry, the worship of things other than God. For Zwingli, worship should consist only of preaching and prayer.
But Luther encouraged congregational singing, and he wrote a number of hymns himself, some of which were included in the first Lutheran hymnal in the year 1524, entitled Etlich christlich Lieder (literally: “Some Christian Songs”). Luther’s most widely known hymn is of course “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Such a hymn has achieved wide recognition across the Christian world and has endured for five centuries for good reason. Yet personally I find some of Luther’s other hymns to be even more powerful.
One such hymn is Christ lag in Todesbanden (literally: “Christ lay in the bands of death”). Known in sung form as “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands,” it is Luther’s great Easter hymn. Unfortunately, even many English-speaking Lutheran churches find this hymn unfamiliar. There could be many reasons for this. The tune to which it is sung is more austere than that to which many are accustomed on Easter morning.
But it precisely the austerity of the tune and the text that makes this hymn appealing to me and makes this hymn an important bridge between the suffering of Jesus on Good Friday and the joy of the Resurrection on Sunday. The hymn clearly speaks of Christ as the new Passover lamb and therefore makes a strong connection with God’s saving work in the Old Testament. Luther also concludes each verse with a joyful “Hallelujah!” But the hymn also acknowledges the struggle that our Lord Jesus endured for us through his suffering and death: The colorful language of the translation of the second verse has always stuck with me: It was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended; the victory remained with life; the reign of death was ended.
The Apostles’ (or Apostolic) Creed, which has roots in the ancient Christian congregation of Rome, is in current and finalized form the product of gradual development over the centuries. It was believed by some from medieval times and onward that each of the twelve apostles of Jesus contributed one line to this statement of faith, but we now know that to be merely legend. Perhaps the last line added to this creed was the phrase “He descended into hell.”
In the original Latin text of the creed, the word translated here for “hell” is inferos, which means “lower parts.” This is actually where we get the English word “inferior.” Some have translated that as “hell,” whereas others have expressed the idea with the words “he descended to the dead.” This little phrase has been subject to different interpretations over the years. Many Christians, especially out of the Reformed Protestant tradition, have taken it as a symbolic expression of Jesus’ suffering, a restatement of what came before: “He suffered death and was buried.” From their point of view, when Jesus suffered, he suffered the pain of hell on the cross.
But Lutherans have generally taken this “descent into hell” as a prelude to what follows: “On the third day he rose.” The Lutheran focus is that Christ’s descent into hell was for the purpose of showing his victory over the power of hell and the devil. Admittedly, biblical evidence for this is slight, but Luther used his imagination and verses such as Colossians 2:15 as a way of talking about Christ demonstrating his triumph over everything that keeps us from God: [Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. Only when we understand the struggle that Jesus endured on our behalf through his suffering and death will be fully appreciate the joy of Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord, which is the foundation of our own hope of resurrection life and the knowledge that nothing, not even death or the devil, can stand between us and God. Truly, in the words of Luther’s hymn: Satan cannot harm us.
You can access below an instrumental and choral performance of Luther’s great Easter hymn: https://youtu.be/pkmEmSksHv0
Author: Martin Luther, 1483-1546
German title: Christ lag in Todesbanden
Translation: Richard Massie, 1800-1887
Relevant Scripture verse: “[Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in [it].” – Colossians 2:15 ESV
1 Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands, for our offenses given;
but now at God’s right hand He stands and brings us light from heaven.
Therefore let us joyful be and sing to God right thankfully
loud songs of hallelujah. Hallelujah!
2 It was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended;
the victory remained with life, the reign of death was ended.
Holy Scripture plainly says that death is swallowed up by death;
its sting is lost forever. Hallelujah!
3 Here the true Paschal Lamb we see, whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree-so strong His love to save us.
See, His blood now marks our door; faith points to it, death passes o'er,
and Satan cannot harm us. Hallelujah!
4 So let us keep the festival to which the Lord invites us;
Christ is Himself the Joy of all, the Sun that warms and lights us.
Now his grace to us imparts eternal sunshine to the hearts;
the night of sin is ended. Hallelujah!
5 Then let us feast this Easter Day on Christ, the bread of heaven;
The Word of grace has purged away the old and evil leaven.
Christ alone our souls will feed; He is our meat and drink indeed;
Faith lives upon no other! Hallelujah!
Martin Luther, the great German church Reformer for whom Lutherans are named, is known for many things. Much was said about him in the year 2017, the five-hundredth anniversary of the writing and distribution of his “Ninety-Five Theses” of 1517, considered the symbolic beginning of the era of the Protestant Reformation. Even those opposed to his theology will acknowledge his broad impact on Western civilization, and he is undoubtedly one of the most influential people of the last millennium. His influence in matters both sacred and secular continues to be studied and debated by scholars. Yet one area of his influence that is often neglected concerns the use of music in the church.
The era of the Reformation, roughly the years between 1500 and 1650, is filled with complexity that is often overlooked. Those who came to be called “Protestants” did not all agree with each other, and for that reason Martin Luther is often accused of (or credited with) things he most certainly did not think, believe, or practice. For example, his contemporary Ulrich Zwingli, who was the Reformer of Switzerland and the earliest mentor to what would become the Reformed Protestant tradition, believed that music had no place in the church. Zwingli loved music in its secular expression, but he believed that music in church, and other things such as statues and images, led to idolatry, the worship of things other than God. For Zwingli, worship should consist only of preaching and prayer.
But Luther encouraged congregational singing, and he wrote a number of hymns himself, some of which were included in the first Lutheran hymnal in the year 1524, entitled Etlich christlich Lieder (literally: “Some Christian Songs”). Luther’s most widely known hymn is of course “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Such a hymn has achieved wide recognition across the Christian world and has endured for five centuries for good reason. Yet personally I find some of Luther’s other hymns to be even more powerful.
One such hymn is Christ lag in Todesbanden (literally: “Christ lay in the bands of death”). Known in sung form as “Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands,” it is Luther’s great Easter hymn. Unfortunately, even many English-speaking Lutheran churches find this hymn unfamiliar. There could be many reasons for this. The tune to which it is sung is more austere than that to which many are accustomed on Easter morning.
But it precisely the austerity of the tune and the text that makes this hymn appealing to me and makes this hymn an important bridge between the suffering of Jesus on Good Friday and the joy of the Resurrection on Sunday. The hymn clearly speaks of Christ as the new Passover lamb and therefore makes a strong connection with God’s saving work in the Old Testament. Luther also concludes each verse with a joyful “Hallelujah!” But the hymn also acknowledges the struggle that our Lord Jesus endured for us through his suffering and death: The colorful language of the translation of the second verse has always stuck with me: It was a strange and dreadful strife when life and death contended; the victory remained with life; the reign of death was ended.
The Apostles’ (or Apostolic) Creed, which has roots in the ancient Christian congregation of Rome, is in current and finalized form the product of gradual development over the centuries. It was believed by some from medieval times and onward that each of the twelve apostles of Jesus contributed one line to this statement of faith, but we now know that to be merely legend. Perhaps the last line added to this creed was the phrase “He descended into hell.”
In the original Latin text of the creed, the word translated here for “hell” is inferos, which means “lower parts.” This is actually where we get the English word “inferior.” Some have translated that as “hell,” whereas others have expressed the idea with the words “he descended to the dead.” This little phrase has been subject to different interpretations over the years. Many Christians, especially out of the Reformed Protestant tradition, have taken it as a symbolic expression of Jesus’ suffering, a restatement of what came before: “He suffered death and was buried.” From their point of view, when Jesus suffered, he suffered the pain of hell on the cross.
But Lutherans have generally taken this “descent into hell” as a prelude to what follows: “On the third day he rose.” The Lutheran focus is that Christ’s descent into hell was for the purpose of showing his victory over the power of hell and the devil. Admittedly, biblical evidence for this is slight, but Luther used his imagination and verses such as Colossians 2:15 as a way of talking about Christ demonstrating his triumph over everything that keeps us from God: [Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. Only when we understand the struggle that Jesus endured on our behalf through his suffering and death will be fully appreciate the joy of Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord, which is the foundation of our own hope of resurrection life and the knowledge that nothing, not even death or the devil, can stand between us and God. Truly, in the words of Luther’s hymn: Satan cannot harm us.
You can access below an instrumental and choral performance of Luther’s great Easter hymn: https://youtu.be/pkmEmSksHv0
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