Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands, II

One of the hallmarks of a great hymn is the number of spin offs it inspires over time.

A hymn--a song of praise--by nature is corporate in its reach. Not only is it shared among a people in the present while they celebrate some thing but it has the power to endure, engaging the memory singing it in church as a kid and with grandmother peeling potatoes. A hymn is a folk song, a song of a people--an identifier of who they are and what they believe is important.

To Martin Luther if all God's people were to live out God's grace through faith, they would have to be full participants in worship and this certainly included singing. The Latin Mass was exclusive in that regard. But if illiterate German Christians were more or less silent when they went to church, they weren't silent after, especially on festal occasions. The people sang many faithful songs in their own language. These folk hymns were Luther's inlet to congregational song in worship. By taking vernacular hymns and fitting them with new words the modern notion of hymnody came to be.

By the time Luther wrote "Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands" this hymn's ancestry had spread into a mighty tree. It has two predecessors: one a Latin Easter hymn, "Victimae Paschali laudes," Praise the Paschal Victim, the other a German vernacular song, "Christ ist erstanden," Christ is Risen. Both these songs have long histories of their own. Suffice it to say Luther was not intent on abandoning these songs but wanted rather to bask in the light of their tradition. These are faithful songs, why toss them out? Are they honorable? Then honor them. Build on them and extend their reach. The Master gave you a talent. Don't bury it.

But to build and invest necessarily will bring change and even improvement. With "Christ ist erstanden" improvements were needed, if only for the sake of clarity. An early English translation by Miles Coverdale reads:

Christe is now rysen agayne

From his death and all his payne:

Therfore wyll we mery be

And reioyce with Him gladly.

Kirieleyson.

The problem with this is the incongruity between the merriment celebrating the Resurrection (that parties with Jesus Himself) and the phrase "Kirieleyson," Lord have mercy. 

Really there's nothing wrong with that. We beseech Mercy in everything. But the ordinary connotation is that we need mercy to cover our sins. And since Christ is risen we are no longer in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).

See the problem? 

To make a clearer response to the Resurrection, Luther proposed this first verse as an alternative:

Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands,

For our offenses given;
But now at God's right hand He stands
And brings us life from heaven;
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah. Hallelujah!

The party is still there. Christ is risen. Indeed. But the refrain is different. Let's not sing loud songs of "Lord have mercy," but "Hallelujah."

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!