Ah, Holy Jesus
Ah, Holy Jesus
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!
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.
Lo, the good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For man’s atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.
For me, kind Jesus, was Thy incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy Life’s oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.
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.
Translated by Robert Seymour Bridges (1844–1930)
IN 1611 Johann Heermann became the Lutheran pastor in Köben, Germany, and during his years there, the village suffered numerous disasters. During the Thirty Years’ War, plunder by both Catholic and Protestant armies and devastation by fire and plague decimated the population. More than once Heermann narrowly escaped with his life, and several times he lost everything he owned. During these years of horror, he turned to hymnwriting for consolation, especially after throat trouble forced him to stop preaching.
Heermann drew inspiration for this hymn from a Latin text attributed variously to Augustine (354–430) and Jean de Fécamp (c. 1000–1079). As we look toward the Cross this Easter season, we might well ask, “Why did Jesus have to suffer?” This hymn pronounces the simple answer: “For me . . .”
He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
Isaiah 53:3-4
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