Title: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676
German title: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden
Translation: Composite
Relevant Scripture verse: “And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.” – Matthew 27:28-29 ESV
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 How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn;
how does thy face now languish, which once was bright as morn!
Thy grief and bitter passion were all for sinners' gain;
mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain.
3 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 to thee.
4 Lord, be my consolation; shield me when I must die;
remind me of thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
These eyes, new faith receiving, from thee shall never move;
for all who die believing die safely in thy love.
Technology has changed a lot of things in our society, even within the last decade or so. Talking with confirmation students and even college age students is a constant reminder of how the world in which I matured is a bygone era. I certainly don’t consider myself “old,” but I do remember a time before the widespread use of the internet and cellphones. Before GPS technology, I had to use paper maps and rely on given directions. I was thirteen years old when I first heard about something called “email.” I also remember a time when we had to go to a video store to rent movies on VHS tapes; streaming services existed only in peoples' imaginations. All this is typical of what has become called the “Xennial” generation, generally considered to be those born between 1977 and 1983. We had what has been described as “an analog childhood and a digital young adulthood.”
Among the many technologies that have changed our way of life in recent years is social media technology like Facebook. It allows for quick communication and the sharing of information and ideas. Yet there is a “dark side” of Facebook. In former times, the sharing of ideas required much more effort, such as through writing newspaper editorials. Though our country has always had the blessing of freedom of speech, on a practical level one had to earn the right to have something to say publicly. Now, through the internet and media such as Facebook, anyone can “get up to the microphone” whenever they want. On social media, any “filter” that one might exercise in a public setting is stripped away. The nastiness of human nature often comes out in full force through these interactions.
Currently, I have 1,635 “friends” on Facebook. My Facebook account goes back to the year 2009, so these “friends” have accumulated over the course of several years. Perusing my list of “friends,” I see many people I knew from significant chapters of my life: high school, college, seminary, church camps I worked at, congregations I have served as pastor, and more. In truth, most of these people are little more than friendly acquaintances, and some of them I have never actually met in person.
For all the good that technology has done for our world, there are drawbacks to it as well. We have come to expect instant communication, for example, and we have therefore lost the rewarding nature of sitting down to write a letter and patiently awaiting a response. I am also concerned about how the use of the word “friend” to describe social media connections cheapens the concept of genuine friendship.
Out of those 1,635 “friends,” how many of them are genuine friends? All these people are of sacred worth, of course, but I do not know most of them very deeply. How many genuine friends do I have? I know a lot of people and am glad to have a positive relationship with them. But the title of genuine “friend” is one of a certain intimacy and one that I would only bestow on a select few people.
What caused me to fall in love with the hymn “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” is the use of the word “friend” in the third verse. Whereas the previous Passion hymn “Ah, Holy Jesus” focuses on the human guilt that brings about the death of Jesus, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” focuses on the love that God demonstrates through Jesus’ suffering and death. Verse three speaks of Jesus as “dearest friend,” and if Jesus’ suffering and death is the criterion by which we determine friendship, that is a high bar indeed.
This hymn comes to us from the hand of Paul Gerhardt, who was a German Lutheran pastor of the seventeenth century. He lived through not only much personal loss and suffering, but also the devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), all of which no doubt impacted his ministry, writing, and his strong faith in God’s promises. Gerhardt’s life is worthy of study in itself, but most importantly he has been called the “Sweet Singer of Lutheranism.” Of his roughly 120 hymns, many of them are sung today in Lutheran churches not only in Germany, but around the world. Other hymns from Gerhardt will appear in these reflections in the following weeks.
The inspiration for Gerhard’s “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” came from a medieval Latin poem entitled Salve mundi salutare, which has often been attributed to the mystical theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). This poem reflects on the different parts of Jesus’ body hanging on the cross, and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” is derived naturally from the stanza focusing on the head of Christ.
Because of Jesus Christ and his self-giving love, we know of God not as a distant judge, but one who has come to be our “dearest friend,” infinitely worthy of our faith and commitment.
You can access below a video of a female trio singing a version of Gerhard’s hymn: https://youtu.be/wcrS8rFWMXQ
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676
German title: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden
Translation: Composite
Relevant Scripture verse: “And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.” – Matthew 27:28-29 ESV
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 How art thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn;
how does thy face now languish, which once was bright as morn!
Thy grief and bitter passion were all for sinners' gain;
mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain.
3 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 to thee.
4 Lord, be my consolation; shield me when I must die;
remind me of thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
These eyes, new faith receiving, from thee shall never move;
for all who die believing die safely in thy love.
Technology has changed a lot of things in our society, even within the last decade or so. Talking with confirmation students and even college age students is a constant reminder of how the world in which I matured is a bygone era. I certainly don’t consider myself “old,” but I do remember a time before the widespread use of the internet and cellphones. Before GPS technology, I had to use paper maps and rely on given directions. I was thirteen years old when I first heard about something called “email.” I also remember a time when we had to go to a video store to rent movies on VHS tapes; streaming services existed only in peoples' imaginations. All this is typical of what has become called the “Xennial” generation, generally considered to be those born between 1977 and 1983. We had what has been described as “an analog childhood and a digital young adulthood.”
Among the many technologies that have changed our way of life in recent years is social media technology like Facebook. It allows for quick communication and the sharing of information and ideas. Yet there is a “dark side” of Facebook. In former times, the sharing of ideas required much more effort, such as through writing newspaper editorials. Though our country has always had the blessing of freedom of speech, on a practical level one had to earn the right to have something to say publicly. Now, through the internet and media such as Facebook, anyone can “get up to the microphone” whenever they want. On social media, any “filter” that one might exercise in a public setting is stripped away. The nastiness of human nature often comes out in full force through these interactions.
Currently, I have 1,635 “friends” on Facebook. My Facebook account goes back to the year 2009, so these “friends” have accumulated over the course of several years. Perusing my list of “friends,” I see many people I knew from significant chapters of my life: high school, college, seminary, church camps I worked at, congregations I have served as pastor, and more. In truth, most of these people are little more than friendly acquaintances, and some of them I have never actually met in person.
For all the good that technology has done for our world, there are drawbacks to it as well. We have come to expect instant communication, for example, and we have therefore lost the rewarding nature of sitting down to write a letter and patiently awaiting a response. I am also concerned about how the use of the word “friend” to describe social media connections cheapens the concept of genuine friendship.
Out of those 1,635 “friends,” how many of them are genuine friends? All these people are of sacred worth, of course, but I do not know most of them very deeply. How many genuine friends do I have? I know a lot of people and am glad to have a positive relationship with them. But the title of genuine “friend” is one of a certain intimacy and one that I would only bestow on a select few people.
What caused me to fall in love with the hymn “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” is the use of the word “friend” in the third verse. Whereas the previous Passion hymn “Ah, Holy Jesus” focuses on the human guilt that brings about the death of Jesus, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” focuses on the love that God demonstrates through Jesus’ suffering and death. Verse three speaks of Jesus as “dearest friend,” and if Jesus’ suffering and death is the criterion by which we determine friendship, that is a high bar indeed.
This hymn comes to us from the hand of Paul Gerhardt, who was a German Lutheran pastor of the seventeenth century. He lived through not only much personal loss and suffering, but also the devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), all of which no doubt impacted his ministry, writing, and his strong faith in God’s promises. Gerhardt’s life is worthy of study in itself, but most importantly he has been called the “Sweet Singer of Lutheranism.” Of his roughly 120 hymns, many of them are sung today in Lutheran churches not only in Germany, but around the world. Other hymns from Gerhardt will appear in these reflections in the following weeks.
The inspiration for Gerhard’s “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” came from a medieval Latin poem entitled Salve mundi salutare, which has often been attributed to the mystical theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). This poem reflects on the different parts of Jesus’ body hanging on the cross, and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” is derived naturally from the stanza focusing on the head of Christ.
Because of Jesus Christ and his self-giving love, we know of God not as a distant judge, but one who has come to be our “dearest friend,” infinitely worthy of our faith and commitment.
You can access below a video of a female trio singing a version of Gerhard’s hymn: https://youtu.be/wcrS8rFWMXQ