O, Sacred Head Now Wounded

This hymn is often sung on Good Friday during Holy Week. It presents the reality of the crucifixion in a way that is lyrically weighty (grief, shame, thorns, gory) and at the same time musically uplifting (major key, ascending lines). You may think: “That doesn’t make any sense. Why this paradox?” Surprise, surprise, the entire gospel story is a paradox! :) Christ suffered and died so we may live eternally with him. By trampling death he brought forth life. In this blog post I wanted to draw your attention to some incredible poetic and theological elements found in the hymn “O, Sacred Head Now Wounded.” Let us begin:

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.

In the first lines we stand in a place of observation – we notice that Christ is wounded, weighted down by grief and shame, and bearing a crown of thorns. We remember the glory of Palm Sunday, which had occurred less than a week prior – “what bliss til now was thine” – but now we witness the exact opposite – a formerly glorified king is being crowned with a crown of thorns. What a terrible sight! But being a mere observer is not enough. If we were just that – mere observers, we’d probably feel bad about what we saw and would leave after an appropriate amount of time. But no – we are not mere observers. At the end of this first verse we establish a relationship with the wounded – “I joy to call thee mine.” From here on out Christ’s suffering will have a direct impact on us sinners. And here’s the paradox again – we just witnessed Christ weighed down by grief and shape and yet we call him ours… joyfully? How is that possible?

What thou, my Lord, hast suffered
was all for sinners’ gain.
Mine, mine was the transgression,
but thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
’Tis I deserve thy place.
Look on me with thy favor,
and grant to me thy grace.

In the second line we understand the purpose for which Christ suffered – it was all for sinners’ gain. Mine was the transgression, I deserved the penalty for my own sin, and yet his was the deadly pain. The penalty was thus transferred from me to him. This explains the aforementioned joy – we now understand how Christ’s suffering is directly applicable to our own sinful situation. Without his death (and resurrection), we would be forever separated from the love of God. What do we do in response to this sacrifice? When we begin to understand the weight of our sins and the immense sacrifice of Jesus Christ we have no other option other than to say “Here I fall, my Savior!” This is the beginning of a life of repentance – it starts with bowing down humbly before Christ. He will then look on us with favor and grant us his grace.

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.

The third verse is a reflection, or a prayer. In this prayer we wonder how to best choose our words in order to thank the Lord for his sacrifice, as no earthly language could ever fully describe it. We stand in awe of God’s plan of salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. And since we don’t have words to fully comprehend or thank God for restoring us to him, all we can do is accept his gift and enter his eternal presence: “Oh, make me thine forever!” 

Be near when I am dying,
oh, show thy cross to me,
and for my rescue, flying,
come, Lord, and set me free!
These eyes, new faith receiving,
from Jesus shall not move,
for one who dies believing
dies safely, through thy love.

The most beautiful theological parallelism of this hymn is found in the final verse. Here, the author contrasts his own (future) death with Christ’s death from the first verse. And here’s the beautiful part – while Christ’s death on the cross was weighing him down, that same cross will lift us up: “for my rescue, flying, come, Lord, and set me free!” And how is all of this possible? How is it that by his death we can be set free from our own sins? In good Protestant fashion, the author explains: it is by faith that we will die “safely” through Christ’s love. The term “safely” indicates the fact that upon our death we will enter the blissful presence of our Lord (rather than be eternally separated from him). Thanks be to God!

I particularly love the harmonic progression set by Johann Sebastian Bach (although he didn’t write the melody). I thought it was so perfect, I did not change it in my piano arrangement. Instead, on the second verse I brought everything down into the lower register in order to illustrate death. But now, having gone through these theological reflections, you may ask: “Whose death? Christ’s death or our own death?” That’s the beautiful thing about art – you can have multiple interpretations without changing the essence of the artwork! :) So feel free to reflect either on Christ’s death during the low and somber verse, or your own future death when you will be enter Christ’s presence forever. Enjoy!