Oh, Love, How Deep

Romans 5:6-9

      For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

 Oh, Love, How Deep LBW 88

 1    Oh, love, how deep, how broad, how high, beyond all thought and fantasy,
     that God, the Son of God, should take our mortal form for mortal’s sake!

2    He sent no angel to our race, of higher or of lower place,
      but wore the robe of human frame, and to this world himself he came.

3    For us baptized, for us he bore his holy fast and hungered sore;
      for us temptation sharp he knew; for us the tempter overthrew.

4    For us he prayed; for us he taught; for us his daily works he wrought,
      by words and signs and actions thus still seeking not himself, but us.

5    For us by wickedness betrayed, for us, in crown of thorns arrayed,
      he bore the shameful cross and death; for us he gave his dying breath.

6    For us he rose from death again; for us he went on high to reign;
      for us he sent his Spirit here to guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

7    All glory to our Lord and God for love so deep, so high, so broad;
      the Trinity whom we adore forever and forevermore.

 Text: attr. Thomas á Kempis, 1380-1471; tr. Benjamin Webb, 1820-1885, alt.

       Holy Week has passed and during the Season of Easter we continue to contemplate the awesome nature of Christ’s Passion. This hymn from the Easter section of our LBW speaks powerfully about this.  It is an ancient hymn that weaves together several threads of Scriptures from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  He writes in chapter 3:18, “may you have the power to grasp how wide, how long and how deep is the immeasurable love of Christ.” and later in verse 20, “who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine.”  Immeasurable love and immeasurable power - a combination that can only come from Easter!

 Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You who humbled yourself and became obedient to death on a cross, help us hear and live the Good News that you came to seek and save the lost.  This means you are seeking the likes of me, and I am eternally grateful! Amen.