Well before Good Friday, Jesus told the disciples not merely that He would suffer, but that He “must suffer and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22) Why was that necessary? There is nothing any more important than rightly understanding the reason for Jesus’ suffering. It lies at the heart of the biblical doctrine of the atonement. It wasn’t just that Jesus knew the inevitability of the future, seeing what lay ahead for Him (which He did), or that He knew Old Testament prophecy that clearly predicted His death and so had to be fulfilled (which He did).
No, it was much more than that. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that if possible, this cup would be taken away from Him. He was referring to the cup of divine wrath, predicted in Isaiah 51:17 and 22 which He was about to drink. In other words, Jesus was pleading with the Father that if there was any other way to save His people than the cross, would He not grant that. And why was the Father silent? Because there was no other way for Him to “be both just and the justifier of those who believe” (Romans 3:16). And Jesus also prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
Related to that question of “why Jesus had to suffer and be killed” is the matter of “who put Jesus to death.” There are several answers to that question. The obvious one is that the Roman soldiers put Him to death at the command of Governor Pontius Pilate. Another answer is that it was the Sanhedrin and the temple authorities that brought Him to trial and demanded His death. Ultimately, according to Isaiah 53:10, it was God the Father Himself who put His beloved Son to death as a substitute for us, as Jesus took on Himself our guilt and the punishment due to us for our “cosmic treason.”
But if Jesus died because of our sin, then is it not also true that, in a real sense, we were the ones who put Him to death? Johann Heermann’s passion hymn, Ah, Holy Jesus, repeats the chilling answer. Notice in the stanzas that the repeated response is in the first person. It was my treason. “I it was denied Thee, I crucified Thee.” What believer can be unmoved, standing at the foot of the cross (in our mind), looking at Jesus above us, nailed to the tree, and speaking those words to Him? “I crucified Thee.” It reflects the same sentiment and understanding as the spiritual, Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.
This is one of the most deeply emotional as well as theological of the passion hymns. The author, Johann Heermann (1598-1662), was among those who suffered through the tragedies of the Thirty Years War in Germany (1618-1648) when a third of the population died in battle or in plague or in famine brought on by that conflict. Born into a poverty-stricken family in Silesia (part of Poland today), he was the only one of five children to survive.
Because of early childhood illnesses his mother vowed that if God would spare him, she would educate him for the ministry. He did survive, and though she had to beg for the money to do so, she did enable him to enter the University of Strassburg. But after only a year of study he suffered an eye infection that forced him to return home. He was appointed as a Lutheran pastor on Ascension Day in 1611. But the plague struck the area in 1613, and three years later a fire nearly destroyed the town. In 1617 his wife died. In 1618 the Thirty Years War began. In 1623 throat troubles began to affect his ability to preach, forcing him to retire in 1638 because of the pain. Between 1629 and 1634, the town was plundered four times. He lost almost everything he owned and was almost killed several times. But so powerful was his devotion to the Lord, that in the midst of all of his own suffering, he was able to write Ah, Holy Jesus, meditating on Jesus’ suffering for him, as well as 48 other hymns. Today he is considered to be one of the greatest hymnists of his century, second only to Paul Gerhardt, who gave us O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.
Heermann’s 1630 Latin text included fifteen stanzas. Those were re-worked by Robert Bridges (1844-1930) as he translated them into English and paraphrased them to become the five stanzas we have in our hymnals today. He practiced as a physician until 1881, when lung disease ended his medical work. By then he had already written some poetry, but then began a literary career as his full-time occupation. In 1913, he was awarded the prestigious title of Poet Laureate in England. It was his translation of Ah, Holy Jesus which was included in the 1906 “English Hymnal” and then the 1916 Episcopal “Hymnal” in the USA that led to the hymn becoming so widely known through the English speaking world.
We sing it to the tune HERZIEBSTER JESU, written by the great 17th century Lutheran church musician, Johann Crüger (1598-1662). After a brief stint at the University of Wittenberg, he worked as a private tutor. In 1622 he was appointed Cantor of St. Nicholas Church in Berlin. He wrote the music for many hymns, though only about twenty of them are still in common use today. Among them are the music we use for Now Thank We All Our God; Soul, Adorn Thyself with Gladness; Let Thy Blood in Mercy Poured; and Jesus, Priceless Treasure. His 1644 publication, “Praxis Pietatis Melica” (“The Practice of Piety in Song”), is considered one of the most important collections of German hymnody from the 17th century. It was reprinted forty-four times in the following hundred years. In 1628, he married the widow of a city councilman. During the Thirty Years War, he and his family endured many hardships, including hunger. He contracted the plague and nearly died from the disease. In addition to losing five children, his wife died in 1636. The next year, having recovered, he married the 17 year-old daughter of an innkeeper, with whom he had fourteen children, most of whom died at a young age.
The atonement theology of Heermann’s hymn, Ah, Holy Jesus, grows directly out of Isaiah 53 and also from the writings of Augustine, who was one of the most frequently quoted church fathers by the reformers. It was his theology that laid the foundation for the reformers preaching the death of Christ as a vicarious sacrifice for elect sinners. As for the music of this hymn, the opening phrase is echoed in a melody Bach used almost a century later in one of his cantatas. And the unusual 11.11.11.5. rhythmic setting contains a well-designed surprise. After three musical phrases of the same length, the final phrase seems abrupt at less than half that length. That serves to place strong emphasis on the concluding words of each stanza:
- O most afflicted
- I crucified Thee
- God intercedeth
- For my salvation
- Not my deserving
In stanza 1, we lay out the great question, not only why Jesus suffered, but why one who was so innocent was subjected t this terrible treatment. More than that, how is it that Jesus, so undeserving, was judged, hated, derided, rejected, and afflicted by His human creatures?
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.
In stanza 2, we look more directly at this monstrous crime to determine “who was the guilty who brought this upon” Him. Each person who sings this hymn makes this painful confession. It was my treason. I denied Him. I crucified Him. Our heads bow in shame.
Who was the guilty who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee:
I crucified Thee.
In stanza 3, we add to that confession the amazement of two awesome contrasts. The Shepherd suffered for the sheep. The innocent Son suffered for the sinful servant. And though we do not heed this yet, still the Son of God intercedes for us in His sacrifice
Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep I offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For man’s atonement, while He nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.
In stanza 4, we again make this personal. It was for me, that I might be saved, that He did this. Five things are named in this brief stanza: His incarnation, His sorrow, His oblation (sacrifice), His death, and His His passion. What amazing divine love!
For me, kind Jesus, was Thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life’s oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.
In stanza 5, we respond to this in the only way possible. We cannot pay for this priceless gift. But we worship Him in heartfelt adoration. And we will eternally pray to Him, promising to meditate on His gracious pity and the love we could never deserve.
Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.
Here is a beautiful anthem arrangement of this chorale.