We began Holy Week in Iceland in search of the Northern Lights. Due to five days of cloudy weather we never experienced the beauty of this natural phenomenon. But we did discover the beautifully written Hymns of the Passion. In the late 1600’s Hallgrimur Petursson wrote 50 meditations containing the Biblical themes of the passion of Christ. Since they were first published in 1666, they have been read or sung during Lent. In fact, we read several of them in the Palm Sunday service we attended at Hallgrims Church.
When we were not snowmobiling on a glacier or sightseeing around Reykjavik (below is a picture taken from the harbor), I spent time reading these hymns. Seeing Christ’s life, betrayal, death, burial and resurrection through the poetic writings of Petursson has helped me fully embrace the reality that the central focus of Easter is simply our proclamation that Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth.
These last stanzas from Petursson’s book tell of Christ’s victory and our risen hope:
He is ever before me,
To Him my heart I give.
Whatever may come o’er me,
In him I move and live.
He is my consolation;
He is my very life.
I rest in His salvation ,
And fear not Death’s sharp strife.
He gives me strength for living,
In death His help is nigh.
Thou weakness cause misgiving,
I do not fear to die.
O, Death, my Lord has spoken,
For me His book was spilt,
And now thy yoke is broken,
Be welcome, when thou wilt!
HE IS RISEN INDEED…Amen and amen!
Come Learn Rest Ministries 