Hymns are songs that Christians sing during worship and the word comes from the Greek word hymnos which means “song of praise”.  In 360AD St. Hilary of Poitiers composed a book of hymns for everyone to sing, but by the late Middle Ages trained choirs became more popular. Instead of singing along, congregations listened to a choir singing the liturgy. It was only during the Reformation in the sixteenth century that singing for the congregation became popular again.

Hymns were important in helping people learn and memorise scripture because many hymns were based on verses from the Bible. They also helped people remember theological truths. The usual method of singing hymns was by having a leader sing one line or phrase and for the congregation to repeat it. Another method was to have a leader sing a stanza with the congregation singing a two-line refrain or short chorus. This was popular because hymnbooks were expensive and some churches only had one or two of them. Also, many worshipers could not read, so repeating lines after a leader or singing short repetitive lines worked best for them.

The rest of this blog looks at two famous hymns that focus on the Easter Story: ‘Nothing But the Blood of Jesus’ by Robert Lowry and ‘The Way of the Cross Leads Home’ by Jesse Brown Pounds.

“Nothing But the Blood of Jesus”

Robert Lowry wrote this hymn in 1876 and it has been sung by Christians ever since. Its focus is the crucifixion of Christ and his blood which washes away his sin. The hymn is structure in a call and response pattern.  Each stanza begins with a question or a statement and the answer which follows is the repeated phrase: Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

 

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O precious is the flow

that makes me white as snow;

no other fount I know;

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon this I see:

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my cleansing this my plea:

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O precious is the flow

that makes me white as snow;

no other fount I know;

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone:

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Naught of good that I have done:

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O precious is the flow

that makes me white as snow;

no other fount I know;

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and peace:

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my righteousness:

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

O precious is the flow

that makes me white as snow;

no other fount I know;

nothing but the blood of Jesus.

“The Way of the Cross Leads Home”

Jesse Brown Pounds wrote this hymn in 1906. She lived in Ohio and wrote nearly four hundred hymns, as well as  nine books, about fifty librettos for cantatas and operettas.

Some people think that Jesse was influenced by a story told about a small child lost in London.  A police officer came upon the lost girl who was sobbing so much she couldn’t say where she lived. Finally, the policeman heard her say “If you will take me to the Cross, I think I can find my way home from there”. The cross she was referring to was not the cross of Christ, but Charring Cross, the stone cross at the geographical  heart of London. Perhaps Jesse was also inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will comeafter me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

 

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,

There’s no other way but this;

I shall ne’er get sight of the gates of light,

If the way of the cross I miss.

The way of the cross leads home, (leads home,)

The way of the cross leads home; (leads home;)

It is sweet to know as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.

I must needs go on in the blood-sprinkled way,

The path that the Savior trod,

If I ever climb to the heights sublime,

Where the soul is at home with God.

The way of the cross leads home, (leads home,)

The way of the cross leads home; (leads home;)

It is sweet to know as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.

Then I bid farewell to the way of the world,

To walk in it nevermore;

For the Lord says, “Come,” and I seek my home

Where He waits at the open door.

The way of the cross leads home, (leads home,)

The way of the cross leads home; (leads home;)

It is sweet to know as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.