Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus
Hail, Thou Once Despised Jesus
Hail, Thou once despised Jesus!
Hail, Thou Galilean King!
Thou didst suffer to release us;
Thou didst free salvation bring.
Hail, Thou universal Savior,
Who hast borne our sin and shame!
By Thy merits we find favor;
Life is given through Thy name.
Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sins on Thee were laid;
By almighty love appointed,
Thou hast full atonement made.
Every sin may be forgiven,
Through the virtue of Thy blood;
Opened is the gate of heaven;
Peace is made twixt man and God.
Worship, honor, power, and blessing
Christ is worthy to receive;
Loudest praises, without ceasing,
Meet it is for us to give.
Help, ye bright angelic spirits,
Bring your sweetest, noblest lays;
Help to sing of Jesus’ merits,
Help to chant Emmanuel’s praise!
Probably altered by Martin Madan (1726–1790)
“HE WAS DESPISED and rejected,” says Isaiah, prophesying about the Suffering Servant who would come centuries later. “He was . . . crushed for our sins.” The prophecy was clearly fulfilled in Jesus, who was arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified. “He was beaten so we could be whole” (Isaiah 53:3, 5). As John put it, “He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:11).
But there’s another act to this drama. Even Isaiah foresaw that God the Father would be “satisfied” by the Servant’s suffering and “give him the honors of a victorious soldier” (Isaiah 53:11-12). Paul proclaims that Jesus has been given a name that is above every name and that every knee will bow to Him. The rejection of the past becomes the glory of the future. When all is said and done, Christ will be hailed for His sacrificial suffering.
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
Revelation 5:11-12
From the book
