At the Name of Jesus
At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow
The hymn embodies Lutheran Christology by affirming Christ's full divinity, exaltation, and universal Lordship as both God and redeemer. It reflects the incarnational theology central to Lutheran faith, celebrating how Christ's humiliation and exaltation accomplish salvation and gather all creation to His throne.
History & Background
Caroline Maria Noel wrote this hymn in 1870 as a meditation on Philippians 2:9-11, emphasizing Christ's exaltation and universal sovereignty. It was first published in her collection 'Rambling Thoughts' and has become one of the most beloved English hymns celebrating Christ's supremacy and the cosmic scope of His redemptive work.
Scripture References Caroline Marie Noel (b. Teston, Kent, England, 1817; d. St. Marylebone, London, England, 1877) wrote this spiritually st. 1= Phil. 2:6-11 John 1:1 powerful text. The daughter of an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer, she began to write poetry in her late teens but then st. 2 = Ps. 33:6-9 st. 3 = Col. 2:15 abandoned it until she was in her forties. During those years she st. 6 = Acts 1:11 suffered frequent bouts of illness and eventually became an invalid. To encourage both herself and others who were ill or incapacitated, Noel began to write devotional verse again. Her poems were collected in The Name ofJesus and Other Verses for the Sick and Lonely (1861, enlarged in 1870). One of the hymns in the 1870 collection was this text (originally beginning “In the Name ofJesus”), designed for use as a processional hymn on Ascension Day. The Psalter Hymnalindustanzas 1,3-5, and 7-8 of Noel’s original eight stanzas. The text is based on the confession of faith that Paul quotes in Philippians 2:6-11, which may well have been an early Christian hymn. Stanza 1 announces the triumph of the ascended Christ to whom “every knee should bow” (Phil. 2:10). In stanza 2 Christ is the “mighty Word” (see John 1:1-4) through whom “creation sprang at once to sight.” Stanzas 3 and 4 look back to Christ’s humiliation, death, resurrection, and ascension (Phil. 2:6-9). Stanza 5 is an encouragement for submission to Christ, for us to have the “mind of Christ,” and stanza 6 looks forward to Christ’s return as “King of glory.” The text is not only concerned with the name Jesus,” whose saving work it confesses, but also with the glory and majesty that attends “the name ofJesus.”
Hymnal Appearances
- Chalice Hymnal — 97
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 416
- Glory to God — 264
- The Hymnal 1982 — 435
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 179
- Lutheran Service Book — 512
- Lift Up Your Hearts — 214
- Lutheran Worship — 178
- Psalter Hymnal — 467
- Trinity Hymnal — 168
- Voices Together — 233
Liturgical Use
Advent; Easter; Ascension; Epiphany; as a sung confession of faith; many other occa sions of worship.
Bulletin Note
Written by Caroline Maria Noel in 1870, this hymn celebrates Christ's full divinity and exaltation. Its theology echoes Philippians 2, where humiliation becomes the path to universal lordship—the incarnational heart of Lutheran faith.
Preaching Connection
This hymn powerfully enfolds Law and Gospel: Christ's sovereignty demands our submission, yet his voluntary descent and glorification reveals the grace by which sinners are saved and exalted with him.
Catechism & Confessional Connections
- The Second Article (Concerning Redemption) Small Catechism — The Apostles' Creed
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Christ's cosmic supremacy (Philippians 2:9-11): universal submission to His Name, His humiliation and exaltation, His present reign, and creation's responsive obedience
Themes
Christology Lordship of Christ Adoration Universal dominion Resurrection and exaltation