Jesus Lives! The Victory's Won
Jesus lives! The victory's won
Jesus Lives! The Victory's Won is a hymn text by Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1757) in 7.7.7.7 meter. Translated by John Christian Jacobi. Found in CW21 444, CW93 145, ELH 353, elw 370.
The hymn embodies Lutheran confidence in Christ's objective victory over death and sin, grounding personal assurance in the historical resurrection. It reflects the Lutheran emphasis on justification through Christ's work and the comfort of the Gospel for troubled consciences.
History & Background
Gellert composed this hymn in German as 'Jesus lebet, mit ihm auch ich' in 1757, published in his hymnal collection. It was translated into English by Jacobi in 1852 and has become a prominent Easter hymn in Lutheran hymnals.
Hymnal Appearances
- Christian Worship: Hymnal — 444
- Christian Worship — 145
- Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary — 353
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 370
- The Hymnal 1982 — 194
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 133
- Lutheran Service Book — 490
- Lutheran Worship — 139
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 201
Translation
Bulletin Note
Written by German poet Christian Gellert in 1757, this hymn embodies Lutheran certainty that Christ's historical resurrection defeats death absolutely—not merely promising future hope but transforming present faith and conscience.
Preaching Connection
This hymn crystallizes the Lutheran affirmation that Christ's objective victory over death and sin grounds personal assurance, making it a powerful response to Law-driven despair and a vivid expression of Gospel comfort.
Background Research
'Jesus lebt, mit ihm auch ich', one of two Easter hymns in Christian Fürchtegott Gellert's Geistliche Oden und Lieder (Leipzig, 1757); six stanzas sharing a refrain. Popular at once and still sung whole in Germany (EG 115). Frances E. Cox's English (1841) is the faithful version; 'Jesus lives! thy terrors now' is a freer one. Gellert (1715–1769) was a respected professor of theology and philosophy who taught the grounds of Christian morality against those who separated faith from practice; this hymn makes the resurrection the ground of confidence and joy in the face of death.
Sources: Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology; LCMS Worship, The Word in Song: Hymn of the Day Studies (study by Richard J. Serina Jr.).
In the Church Year
Suggested in the one-year series
- Easter 2 (2×)
- Easter 4 (2×)
- Trinity 16 (2×)
- Easter 3 (1×)
- Easter 5 (1×)
- Easter 6 (1×)
- Easter 7 (1×)
- Easter Tuesday (1×)
- Easter Vigil (1×)
- Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist (1×)
- St. Mark (1×)
- Trinity 11 (1×)
Suggested in the three-year series
- Easter 2 (2×)
- Easter 6 (2×)
- Easter Sunrise (2×)
- Easter 5 (1×)
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
Gellert's Easter hymn draws a series of personal conclusions from 'Jesus lives,' each ending with 'This shall be my confidence.' Death cannot frighten (st. 1), I shall reign with him (st. 2), I will live for him (st. 3), nothing can separate me from him (st. 4), and death is the gate of life — the last stanza's refrain becomes 'Jesus is my confidence!' It is especially loved at funerals.
Central theme: Christ's resurrection as the ground of the believer's confidence in life and death
Structure
Five stanzas opening 'Jesus lives!' and closing with 'This shall be my confidence,' changed in st. 5 to 'Jesus is my confidence!'
Law & Gospel Shape
Gospel; st. 3 describes the new obedience flowing from Christ's death and life.
Confessional Connections
Resurrection of the body; assurance (Rom 8); the new obedience (AC VI).
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Easter season; funerals (st. 5); All Saints; hospital and deathbed devotion.
Historical Notes
Gellert (1715-1769), Leipzig professor and celebrated poet of the German Enlightenment, wrote 'Geistliche Oden und Lieder' (1757).
About the Tune
JESUS, MEINE ZUVERSICHT (1653) — the tune of 'Jesus, My Great Confidence', echoed in the refrain.
Scripture References
Rom 8:11 John 14:19 1 Cor 15:20-22 John 14:3 2 Tim 2:11-12 Rom 6:10-11 Rom 8:38-39 John 11:25-26
Stanza by Stanza
Jesus lives and has won; death can no longer terrify me; death's reign is over; Christ will call me from the grave; brighter scenes will follow; this is my confidence.
The resurrection is the believer's victory (1 Cor 15:57). 'Death's reign is done' (Rom 5:17; 1 Cor 15:26). 'From the grave Christ will recall me' — John 5:28-29: all in the tombs will hear his voice. 'Brighter scenes' — the new creation. The German original begins 'Jesus lebt, mit ihm auch ich' (Jesus lives, and I with him), echoing John 14:19.
- Scripture
- 1 Cor 15:57, Rom 5:17, John 5:28-29, John 14:19, Heb 2:15
- Imagery & language
- Victory; reign ended; recall from grave.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — victory over death.
- Connection to previous
- First conclusion.
Jesus lives and has been given the throne over heaven and earth; I shall go where he has gone and reign with him; God is faithful; away with doubts.
Christ's exaltation (Matt 28:18; Eph 1:20-22). 'I shall go where He is gone' (John 14:3; 17:24). 'Live and reign with Him' (2 Tim 2:12; Rev 3:21). 'God is faithful. Doubtings, hence!' — faith commands doubt to leave, resting on God's faithfulness (1 Cor 1:9; Heb 10:23), not on feelings.
- Scripture
- Matt 28:18, Eph 1:20-22, John 14:3, 2 Tim 2:12, Rev 3:21, 1 Cor 1:9
- Imagery & language
- Throne; going where he has gone.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — exaltation and future reign.
- Connection to previous
- Second conclusion.
Jesus lives; he died for me; therefore I will live for him in purity of heart and deed, giving him praise; God freely helps; this is my confidence.
Here Easter grounds sanctification: 'For me He died, / Hence will I, to Jesus living' (2 Cor 5:15, 'he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him'; Rom 6:10-11). 'Freely God doth aid dispense' — even holy living is enabled by grace (Phil 2:13). The confidence is not in our purity but in God's free aid.
- Scripture
- 2 Cor 5:14-15, Rom 6:10-11, Phil 2:13, Titus 2:14
- Imagery & language
- Living for him; aid dispensed.
- Law / Gospel
- Third use, grounded in Gospel.
- Connection to previous
- Third conclusion — life for him.
Jesus lives; nothing will separate me from his love; neither life, death, nor hell can part me from Christ; God will be my sure defense.
A paraphrase of Rom 8:38-39. The resurrection guarantees the permanence of Christ's love: since he lives forever, his love cannot end. 'God will be a sure Defense' (Ps 46:1; 18:2).
- Scripture
- Rom 8:35-39, John 10:28-29, Ps 46:1, Ps 18:2
- Imagery & language
- Severing; defense.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — assurance.
- Connection to previous
- Fourth conclusion.
Jesus lives, so death is now only the gate to immortal life; this will calm my trembling breath when I pass through its dark doorway; as my senses fail, faith will cry: Jesus is my confidence!
The deathbed stanza. Death becomes 'the gate of life immortal' — a passage, not an end (John 5:24; 2 Tim 1:10). 'Trembling breath' and 'as fails each sense' describe dying with stark honesty. At that moment faith speaks — not reason or feeling — and its confession is Christ. The refrain shifts from 'This shall be my confidence' to 'Jesus is my confidence!' — the confidence is not an idea but a person.
- Scripture
- John 5:24, John 11:25-26, 2 Tim 1:10, Ps 23:4, Phil 1:21-23
- Imagery & language
- Gate; gloomy portal; failing senses.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — comfort in dying.
- Connection to previous
- Final conclusion; refrain transformed.
Themes
Christ's resurrection Victory over death Assurance of salvation Comfort in suffering