There are several passages in the New Testament which bear the marks of not only being well-known quotations of that time, but also because of their poetical and lyrical character being likely examples of early Christian hymns. The Bible contains many canticles and hymns beyond the Psalms. For example, Exodus, Deuteronomy and Luke include great canticles that contain a sense of the faith heritage to be remembered in coming generations. New Testament hymns in the epistles are usually creedal in content, sung versions from the emerging Christian church about what it believes based on the witness of Christ’s life. Most commentators have agreed that one of those inspired passages is the absolutely beautiful and well-crafted section in Philippians 2:5-11.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This hymn lifts up “the name of Jesus” in a wonderful way that thrills the heart of every believer. Our hearts rejoice at the thought of the Lord Jesus being highly exalted. This phrase, “the name of Jesus,” is of greater significance than we generally realize. We find it quoted in a number of passages in the New Testament. Here are just a few of those.
We pray “in the name of Jesus.” (John 14:13)
Salvation comes by calling “on the name of Jesus.” (Romans 10:13)
The apostles cast out demons “in the name of Jesus.” (Mark 16:17)
The lame were healed “in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 3:6)
We can ask anything “in the name of Jesus.” (John 14:14)
New converts are baptized “in the name of Jesus.” (Matthew 28:19)
He is in the midst of two are three who gather “in the name of Jesus.” (Matthew 18:20)
Everything we do, we do “in the name of Jesus.” (Colossians 3:17)
The prominence of that theme has also come to be reflected in the hymnody of the church. Consider these examples of hymns about “the name of Jesus.”
“How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”
“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
“Join All the Glorious Names”
“Jesus, Name Above All Names”
“His Name Is Wonderful”
“Blessed Be the Name”
“There Is No Name So Sweet on Earth”
“There’s Something About That Name”
This current study turns our attention to the marvelous hymn, “At the Name of Jesus,” based on that inspired hymn from the pen of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2. The hymn lyrics were written in 1870 by Caroline Marie Noel (1817-1877), born in Kent, England. The daughter of an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer, she began to write poetry in her late teens, but then abandoned it until she was in her forties. During those years she suffered frequent bouts of illness and eventually became an invalid. To encourage both herself and others who were ill or incapacitated, Noel began to write devotional verse again. Her poems were collected in “The Name of Jesus and Other Verses for the Sick and Lonely” (1861, enlarged in 1870, and again in 1878, then with 78 pieces). Her first hymn, “Draw Nigh unto My Soul,” was written when she was just 17. During the next three years she wrote about a dozen pieces. From 20 years of age to 40 she wrote nothing, and it was during the next 20 years that the rest of her pieces were written.
Caroline Noel, in common with Charlotte Elliott (author of “Just As I Am”), was a great sufferer, and many of these verses were the outcome of her days of pain, especially as an invalid for the last 25 years of her life. They are specially intended “for the Sick and Lonely” and were written more for private meditation than for public use, although several are suited to the latter purpose. Her sickness was prolonged for more than twenty years, with seasons of extreme suffering and weakness, so extreme at times, that the end seemed imminent. Hers was a peculiar sensitiveness of nerve and brain, which could seldom bear the presence of earthly friends. She endured long nights and days of throbbing sleeplessness. Such was the school in which were taught and learned those lessons of “submission,” of willing acceptance of “the yoke,” of “patient hope,” of trust and of glorying in “the Name of Jesus” and “the Cross of Jesus,” and in which were won the peculiar depth and power of sympathy which breathe throughout the lines of her hymns.
Her best known hymn was written as a Processional for Ascension Day, “At the Name of Jesus.” It is a very appropriate composition for that day in the church calendar. Rather than focusing on her physical struggles, the hymn draws attention to Jesus’ great victory as He ascended to His eternal reign on heaven’s throne at the right hand of the Father. She died at Hyde Park, London on December 7, 1877, at the age of only 60. Her heart was often gladdened by the testimonies and encouragements, consolation, or help, which came from friends. A few days of acute suffering were followed by some hours of unconsciousness; and then, without a sigh, “she passed into the Sunshine of His Blessed Presence.” She was buried beside her father at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire, where he had served as vicar. While there is no painting of her that survives, there is this memorial on the wall where she was interred.
Paul’s inspired Scripture text is unparalleled not only in its literary excellence, but also in its profound theology. It’s basically a two stanza hymn, with a contrasting focus in each. In the first, verses 5-8, the Apostle wrote of Jesus’ humiliation in His incarnation … “He humbled Himself.” In the second, verses 9-11, the Apostle wrote of Jesus’ exaltation in His coronation … “God has highly exalted Him.”
In the first stanza, “The Lowest Humiliation,” we sing of the fact that Jesus humbled Himself to a degree infinitely below that of any other being who has ever been humbled. That’s because His humiliation is measured by what He left, the glory of heaven and the loving intimacy with the Father. The Westminster Shorter Catechism describes His humiliation in this way at question 27.
Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.
Within that first stanza, there are three phrases. There is “what He left.” He didn’t empty Himself of His deity, of course. But He didn’t cling to His privileges as God in a way that would have made Him say of the plan of redemption, “This would be below me!” No, He came “for the joy set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). Then there is “what He became.” As a servant, He showed that dramatically in washing the disciples’ feet. And He is also glorious in “what He suffered,” “death on a cross.” He did not come as a mere example for us to imitate (which would be salvation by works!). No, He came to die as a vicarious (substitutionary) sacrifice for our sins, taking on Himself our guilt and suffering in our place the penalty for sin.
In the second stanza, “The Highest Exaltation,” we sing of the fact that the Father exalted Jesus to a degree infinitely above that of any other being who has ever been exalted. That’s because His exaltation is measured by the height of that to which He has been raised. The Westminster Shorter Catechism describes His exaltation in this way at question 28.
Christ’s exaltation consisted in His rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.
Within that second stanza, there are also three phrases. There is “the exalted position the Father gave Him,” having raised Him from the dead. With a name that is above all names, He is the Redeemer whose glory is made highest because He was made perfect through suffering (Hebrews 2:10). It is the highest position possible, that of being seated with the Father. There is “the glorious authority He now possesses,” as He said in the Great Commission in Matthew 28, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” That includes authority to forgive sin, to give eternal life, to sit in judgment over men and angels, and to create a new heaven and earth. And then there is “the absolute supremacy with which He will rule.” In acknowledgement of that sovereign supremacy, “Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord.”
Caroline Noel has taken that passage and from it has crafted this marvelous hymn as a “Credo” for the church to confess our faith in and love for the Lord Jesus. The original hymn contained eight stanzas. While few hymnals include all eight stanzas, it is difficult to delete any without damaging the continuity of the narrative.
Stanza 1 states the theme, with direct reference to “the name of Jesus” in Philippians 2, summarizing especially the final part of the passage that focuses on Jesus’ exaltation. Noel adds the application, in a sense, by including the fact that we who sing this must be among those who do what the Scripture says: call Him Lord.
At the name of Jesus
ev’ry knee shall bow,
ev’ry tongue confess Him
King of glory now;
’tis the Father’s pleasure
we should call Him Lord,
who from the beginning
was the mighty Word.
Stanza 2 has language that directly echoes the words of the fourth century Nicene Creed, a creed which many use as part of communion services that focus on the eternal deity of the Son.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through Him all things were made.
In doing so, Noel avoids the errors of those who espoused a radical “kenosis” theory, that proposed that Jesus “emptied Himself” of His essential deity in His incarnation. No, the point of Paul’s hymn was that Jesus didn’t cling to that position in a way that would have had Him saying, “No, I won’t become a man; that’s beneath My dignity!” He truly humbled Himself, remaining God.
Mighty and mysterious
in the highest height,
God from everlasting,
very light of light:
in the Father’s bosom
with the Spirit blest,
love, in love eternal,
rest, in perfect rest.
Stanza 3 begins the narrative portion of the hymn. The words “thrones and wide dominations” come from a literary tradition often credited to John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” (1667), lines 600-602. Some hymnal editors have changed that to “all dominions” because of the lack of modern familiarity with the older word.
Hear all ye angels, progeny of light,
Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers,
Hear my decree, which unrevok’d shall stand.
The point in Noel’s text is an expansion of Paul’s statement that in His exaltation, Jesus has been given all authority, authority that extends to all the stars of heaven, all the angels of heaven, and to all the earthly rulers of history, past, present, and future. This is Jesus’ authority as creator, having made them all. But it is His now in an even greater way with the “name above every name” that the Father has given Him in His resurrection and ascended glory.
At His voice creation
sprang at once to sight,
all the angel faces,
all the hosts of light,
thrones and wide dominations,
stars upon their way,
all the heav’nly orders
in their great array.
Stanza 4 moves attention back to the beginning of Paul’s text, to the estate of humiliation of the Savior. His humbling was only “for a season,” but it was the deepest humiliation ever experienced. We speak of some in history who have “stooped to conquer.” But none have ever stooped lower than Jesus, because none have ever traversed so enormous a distance as that from His former estate in glory to that of His earthly estate. It’s puzzling that Noel would write that His name came “from the lips of sinners,” since Paul says definitively that it was the Father who gave Him “the name above every name.” But the stanza also looks ahead to the grand conclusion of the Redeemer’s work, which will be that He will have carried His name into death, and then “brought it back victorious.”
Humbled for a season
to receive a name
from the lips of sinners
unto whom He came,
faithfully He bore it
spotless to the last,
brought it back victorious
when from death He passed.
Stanza 5 continues the victory theme to sing how Jesus has raised that new name far up into “central height,” above humanity, into “all ranks of creatures” (perhaps imagining the concentric circles of saints and angels surrounding the throne in heaven, in Revelation 4 and 5), even “to the Father’s breast.” Those are words that remind us of the Father speaking from heaven of His beloved Son. And Noel was wonderfully accurate to write that Jesus did so “with its human light,” probably meaning that He rose bodily from the grave, and retains that perfect, glorified human nature and body even now, which we will see when we have been welcomed to our heavenly home.
Bore it up triumphant
with its human light,
thro’ all ranks of creatures
to the central height,
to the throne of Godhead,
to the Father’s breast,
filled it with the glory
of that perfect rest.
Stanza 6 charges all of us as His brothers, to join in the song by affirming what the Father has done in giving Jesus this name above all names. Noel writes that we, too, should name Him. And look at the descriptive words she uses for our affirmation. We are to do it “with love strong as death,” “with awe and wonder,” “and with bated breath.” These phrases tell us that our praise, while filled with jubilation, will also be filled with trepidation, what could be called reverent exuberance. And this stanza sounds more and more like the conclusion to a sermon on this passage, by telling us that our response should be to worship, trust, and adore Him!
Name Him, brothers, name Him,
with love strong as death
but with awe and wonder,
and with bated breath!
He is God the Savior,
He is Christ the Lord,
ever to be worshiped,
trusted and adored.
Stanza 7 reaches further in application of the text, calling on all who look to the one whom God has enthroned to make sure that we have enthroned Him in our own hearts. When we do so, we will be inviting Him to “subdue all that is not holy, all that is not true,” correcting our living as well as our thinking. When we “crown Him as your captain in temptation’s hour” (note the military image of spiritual warfare!), we will have His presence to strengthen us in resisting the world, the flesh, and the devil. We will want His will, His desires, to “enfold” us, and will find divine “light and power” to enable us to do in Christ what we could never do in ourselves.
In your hearts enthrone Him;
there let Him subdue
all that is not holy,
all that is not true;
crown Him as your captain
in temptation’s hour;
let His will enfold you
in its light and pow’r.
Stanza 8 looks to the ultimate fulfilment of what Paul described in Philippians 2, to the day of Christ’s coming again, when “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” What a sight and sound that will be! Be even more wonderful is the anticipation emotionally and spiritually of how our hearts will rejoice when we are privileged to be a part of that magnificent celebration. And our presence will not just that of spectators, but will actually involve our participation. He’s coming for us, to welcome us into His kingdom with words of commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and to join Him in judging and reigning for eternity. And so Noel concludes her hymn with the charge that we need to “confess Him King of glory now.” We do that, in a very real sense, as a rehearsal for heaven every time we gather for corporate worship with our congregations on the Lord’s Day, preparing as something of an “appetizer” for that glorious day that we pray will come soon.
Brothers, this Lord Jesus
shall return again,
with His Father’s glory,
with His angel train;
for all wreaths of empire
meet upon His brow,
and our hearts confess Him
King of glory now.
Eminent English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) wrote his venerable tune, KING’S WESTON, for this text in 1931 for “Songs of Praise Enlarged.” The dignity of Vaughan Williams’ musical setting fits perfectly with the majesty of the scriptural paraphrase. Almost all hymnals now maintain this text/tune pairing. He had earlier set Noel’s text to LAUS TIBI CHRISTE, a German processional tune, which dates as early as 1533, originating as a trope for the Kyrie. Apparently unsatisfied with this setting, Vaughn Williams composed his own tune, KING’S WESTON. The tune is named after King’s Weston, a historic estate on the Avon river in Bristol, England, where the composer had been a frequent guest.
One of the tune’s most distinctive features is the consistent rhythmic pattern at the beginning of every phrase, which is inverted in the penultimate phrase. The melodic direction of that phrase is also inverted, descending rather than ascending like all the other phrases. In 1927, Vaughan Williams issued an anthem arrangement via Oxford University Press with choral harmonizations and a descant. Vaughan Williams’ tune has become the most common tune setting for Noel’s text and has been widely praised by many church musicians. He begins at the bottom of its modal scale and works its way upward, phrase by phrase, to the upper octave at the start of the last line. This large design reflects both the Cathedral and the huge scope of the poem. It is this slow building of tension in line after line that distinguishes both tune and text, reinforcing the richness conjured up by both components. Accompanists will often accentuate the joy of the hymn text, even though the music is in e minor, by ending with a “Picardy third,” making the last sound an E major chord.
Here is a link to four of the stanzas as a processional hymn for morning worship.
As a bonus, here is a link to the magnificent anthem based on this text by Cindy Berry.