A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth
A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth is a hymn text. Found in elw 340, lbw 105, lsb 438, lw 111. Sung to AN WASSERFLÜSSEN BABYLON.
Hymnal Appearances
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 340
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 105
- Lutheran Service Book — 438
- Lutheran Worship — 111
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 142
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: From lament in exile to covenantal fidelity: the people's sorrow transforms into resolute commitment to God and Jerusalem despite captivity and mockery
In the Church Year
Hymn of the Day (Lutheran Service Book) for: Palm Sunday
From LCMS Worship's published hymn suggestions, 2014–2026. The count is how many of those yearly lists suggested this hymn for that day.
Overview
Gerhardt's great Passion hymn interprets Isaiah 53 and John the Baptist's 'Behold the Lamb of God' through a dialogue between the Father and the Son, then turns to the believer's grateful response and finally to the hope of glory. It moves from objective event (what the Lamb does) to subjective appropriation (what that means for me in life, suffering, and death). It is a model of Lutheran Passion piety: deep feeling, always anchored in what Christ has done 'for me.'
Central theme: Christ the willing sacrificial Lamb, and the believer's life, comfort, and glory flowing from that sacrifice
Structure
St. 1 — the Lamb's suffering; st. 2-3 — Father-Son dialogue and wonder at divine love; st. 4 — vow of lifelong praise; st. 5 — comfort in trouble and death; st. 6 — eschatological glory. Gerhardt's original has ten stanzas; this cento keeps the narrative-to-response arc.
Law & Gospel Shape
Overwhelmingly Gospel. The Law is present implicitly (the 'guilt of all men,' 'wrath and stripes'), but the hymn never dwells on accusation; it moves quickly to the Lamb who bears it.
Confessional Connections
Vicarious satisfaction (AC III, IV); the personal union and communication of attributes (FC VIII) in st. 3's paradox of the Creator laid in a grave; imputed righteousness (FC III) in st. 6.
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Lent, especially Holy Week; Good Friday; Passion Sunday; funerals (st. 5-6).
Historical Notes
Written in the aftermath of the Thirty Years' War. Gerhardt (1607-1676) is regarded as the greatest Lutheran hymnwriter after Luther; his texts combine orthodox doctrine with warm personal devotion.
About the Tune
AN WASSERFLÜSSEN BABYLON was originally a setting of Psalm 137 ('By the waters of Babylon'). The lament of exile gives this Passion text an undertone of sorrow and longing.
Scripture References
Isa 53:4-7 John 1:29 Heb 10:5-10 Ps 40:6-8 Rom 12:1 Heb 6:19 Isa 61:10 Rev 7:14 Rev 19:7-8
Stanza by Stanza
A Lamb walks out silently bearing the guilt of all people, alone, growing weak, led to slaughter without complaint, enduring every shame and saying he suffers it willingly.
A meditation on Isa 53:7 ('like a lamb that is led to the slaughter… he opened not his mouth') and John 1:29. Three emphases stand out. First, universality: 'the guilt of all men' (universal atonement, 1 John 2:2). Second, solitude: 'none else the burden sharing' — no human cooperation contributes to redemption. Third, willingness: the climactic quotation, 'Willing all this I suffer,' insists Christ is not a victim of circumstance but an active, obedient offerer (John 10:18). The catalogue of 'shame and stripes, and wounds and death, anguish and mockery' piles up sufferings to slow the singer down and make him contemplate each one.
- Scripture
- Isa 53:4-7, John 1:29, 1 John 2:2, John 10:17-18, 1 Pet 1:19
- Imagery & language
- Sacrificial lamb; burden-bearing; a long list of torments.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — the sin-bearer (Law present only implicitly in 'guilt').
- Connection to previous
- Opening tableau.
Identifies the Lamb as Christ, sent by the Father; the Father tells the Son to go and free people from death, guilt, and condemnation, even though the suffering is hard.
Gerhardt names the Lamb ('This Lamb is Christ, the soul's great Friend') and then lets the Father speak. As in Luther's 'Dear Christians' st. 5, the Father's commission shows the atonement flows from divine love, not from a Son appeasing a hostile Father (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). The Father does not hide the cost: 'The wrath and stripes are hard to bear.' God's wrath against sin is real and is borne by the Son — penal substitution stated pastorally. The outcome is 'the fruit of Thy salvation,' shared by humanity through the Passion: the atonement is objective, but its fruit is distributed.
- Scripture
- John 3:16-17, 1 John 4:9-10, Rom 8:1, Heb 2:15, Isa 53:10
- Imagery & language
- Christ as 'the soul's great Friend' (John 15:13-15); harvest/fruit.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — the Father's sending.
- Connection to previous
- Names and explains the Lamb of st. 1.
The Son answers that he will gladly do whatever the Father commands; the singer then marvels that the Father offers his Son, the Son goes content, and Love lays in the grave the one whose word splits mountains.
The Son's reply echoes Ps 40:7-8 as applied in Heb 10:7 ('Behold, I have come to do your will, O God'). The Son's will and the Father's are one; there is no conflict in the Trinity. The singer then breaks in with wonder: 'O wondrous Love.' Gerhardt personifies Love as the actor — almost a name for God (1 John 4:8). The closing paradox is the stanza's theological jewel: Love lays in the grave the One 'whose word the mountains rendeth.' This is the communication of attributes (FC VIII): because God and man are one person in Christ, we can truly say the Almighty Creator dies and is buried. Lutheran theology delights in such paradoxes ('God died').
- Scripture
- Heb 10:5-10, Ps 40:7-8, John 4:34, 1 John 4:8-10, Nah 1:5, Ps 97:5
- Imagery & language
- Love personified; Creator's mountain-shattering word vs. a quiet grave.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — wonder at divine love.
- Connection to previous
- Completes the Father-Son dialogue begun in st. 2, then shifts to the singer's wonder.
The singer vows to praise Christ's mercy all day long, to offer himself to him gladly, to let his life flow as a constant stream of praise, and to remember all Christ has done.
The hymn now turns from what Christ has done to the believer's response. The vow 'To sacrifice myself for Thee' recalls Rom 12:1 (a living sacrifice) and should be read in Lutheran terms as a thank offering (eucharistic sacrifice), not a sacrifice of atonement — that has already been made by the Lamb. The stream image presents the redeemed life as a constant overflow of praise, much as Luther described good works springing spontaneously from faith. 'I'll treasure in my memory' (cf. Luke 2:19, 1 Cor 11:24 'in remembrance of me') makes remembering the Passion itself an act of devotion.
- Scripture
- Rom 12:1, Ps 34:1, Ps 145:2, Heb 13:15, Luke 2:19
- Imagery & language
- Flowing stream; sacrifice reinterpreted as praise.
- Law / Gospel
- Fruit of the Gospel — sanctification and thanksgiving.
- Connection to previous
- Response to the wonder expressed at the end of st. 3.
The singer no longer fears death; new life flows from Christ; the cross is a cool shade in the heat, a pillow in grief, and an anchor in storms.
A stanza of consolation, answering st. 2's promise to free people 'from the fear of death' (Heb 2:15). Gerhardt piles up three comforting images: the cross as shade from the noonday sun (Isa 25:4; 32:2; Song 2:3), Christ as a resting place for the weary (Matt 11:28), and Christ as anchor (Heb 6:19). Note that it is 'Thy cross' that gives shade — the theology of the cross makes the instrument of death the place of refuge. Written by a pastor who lived through war, plague, and the deaths of most of his children, this stanza is lived theology, not sentimentality.
- Scripture
- Heb 2:15, Isa 25:4, Isa 32:2, Matt 11:28, Heb 6:19, Ps 91:1
- Imagery & language
- Shade, pillow, anchor, storm-tossed boat — all images of refuge.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — consolation in suffering.
- Connection to previous
- Moves from praise (st. 4) to trust in suffering.
At the last day, Christ's blood will be the singer's royal robe and Christ's righteousness his crown; he will need no covering and will be brought as a bride to stand beside Christ.
The eschatological climax. Clothing imagery dominates: the blood as a royal robe (Rev 7:14), Christ's righteousness as crown (2 Tim 4:8), garments richly wrought (Ps 45:13-14; Isa 61:10). The key line is 'Thy righteousness shall be my crown' — the believer stands before the judgment seat wearing an alien righteousness, Christ's own, credited to him (imputed righteousness, FC III). 'With these I need not hide me' reverses Gen 3:8-10, where Adam hid because he was naked. The final bridal image (Rev 19:7-8; 21:2) brings the hymn to the marriage feast of the Lamb — the same Lamb who went forth in st. 1.
- Scripture
- Rev 7:14, Rev 19:7-8, Isa 61:10, Ps 45:13-14, 2 Tim 4:8, Gen 3:8-10, Phil 3:9
- Imagery & language
- Royal robes, crown, wedding garments, the bride.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — final vindication and glory.
- Connection to previous
- Closes the arc: the Lamb of st. 1 becomes the Bridegroom.