Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love
Jesus! Name of wondrous love
Jesus! Name of Wondrous Love is a hymn text by William Walsham How (1864) in 8.7.8.7 meter. Found in elw 849, lsb 900, lw 182, tlh 114.
The hymn strongly affirms the exclusivity of Christ for salvation (Acts 4:12), central to Lutheran soteriology and the confession that Christ alone is Lord and Savior. It emphasizes both the objective power of Jesus's name and the believer's personal appropriation of salvation through faith in that name.
History & Background
Written by William Walsham How in 1864, this hymn celebrates the redemptive power of Jesus's name. It was included in various Lutheran and Anglican hymnals throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and remains a beloved confessional hymn in modern Lutheran worship.
Hymnal Appearances
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 849
- Lutheran Service Book — 900
- Lutheran Worship — 182
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 114
Bulletin Note
Written by English hymnologist William Walsham How in 1864, this hymn became a beloved confession of Christ's exclusive lordship in Protestant worship, reflecting the Reformation's 'sola Christus' principle.
Preaching Connection
This hymn articulates how the Gospel of Christ's name annihilates the Law's accusation, giving believers joyful confidence to invoke Jesus as their sole refuge and redemption.
Overview
A hymn for the Circumcision and Name of Jesus (January 1) by the Anglican bishop William Walsham How, from his Psalms and Hymns (1854). Each stanza begins 'Jesus!' and explores the name: above every name (st. 1), announced by Gabriel (st. 2), carrying the promise 'He shall save His people' (st. 3), given to the Child when he first tasted human woe in the circumcision (st. 4), the only saving name (st. 5), and the human name of God to which the helpless flee (st. 6). It is a compact Christology of the name.
Central theme: The name Jesus — 'the Lord saves' — as the only name of salvation, given to the incarnate God
Structure
Six quatrains (7.7.7.7), each beginning 'Jesus!' St. 6 returns to st. 1's first line, framing the hymn.
Law & Gospel Shape
Law in 'fallen sons of earth' and 'man, to sin enslaved' (3, 5); Gospel in the saving name throughout.
Confessional Connections
Christ's active obedience begins in the circumcision: he is 'born under the law, to redeem those under the law' (Gal 4:4-5; FC III, SD 15). Salvation in no other name (Acts 4:12) — solus Christus (AC IV, XX). St. 6 'Human name of God above' — the personal union (FC VIII): the man Jesus is God.
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Circumcision and Name of Jesus (January 1); New Year's Day; any service focusing on the Holy Name.
Historical Notes
How (1823-1897), later Bishop of Wakefield, also wrote 'For All the Saints.' The CCEL page gives the date as '1954,' a typo for 1854; corrected in the TLH master.
About the Tune
GOTT SEI DANK (Freylinghausen's Geistreiches Gesangbuch, Halle, 1704).
Scripture References
Phil 2:9-11 Luke 1:26-31 Matt 1:21 Luke 2:21 Gal 4:4-5 Acts 4:12 John 8:34-36 Rom 10:13 Prov 18:10 Heb 4:15-16
Stanza by Stanza
Jesus, name of wonderful love, name above all other names, before which every knee must bow in deep humility.
Phil 2:9-11: 'God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.' The 'name' in Scripture is the revealed person; to call on the name is to call on God himself (Joel 2:32; Rom 10:13). The name is one 'of wondrous love' because it was given at the start of his humiliation (Phil 2:7-8) — the exaltation comes after the cross. The bowing knee is first the bow of faith and worship; at the last day every knee will bow, willingly or not.
- Scripture
- Phil 2:9-11, Isa 45:23, Rom 10:13, Eph 1:21
- Imagery & language
- Name above names; knees bowing.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — the name of love.
- Connection to previous
- Opening thesis.
Jesus, name decreed long ago, told to the virgin mother by the angel Gabriel as she knelt in her humble room.
The name was not chosen by Mary or Joseph but 'decreed of old' — given by God in his eternal counsel (Eph 1:4; 1 Pet 1:20) and announced through Gabriel (Luke 1:31). The 'maiden mother' confesses the virgin birth (Isa 7:14; AC III, 'born of the virgin Mary'). Mary's 'lowly cell' reflects her humility (Luke 1:48). The stanza shows that salvation is God's initiative from beginning to end; the name itself is a promise.
- Scripture
- Luke 1:26-31, Isa 7:14, Eph 1:4, 1 Pet 1:20, Luke 1:38, 48
- Imagery & language
- Annunciation scene; the kneeling virgin.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — God's eternal purpose announced.
- Connection to previous
- Gives the origin of the name.
Jesus, name of priceless worth to the fallen children of earth, because of the promise it carried: 'Jesus shall save his people.'
The name means 'the LORD saves' (Hebrew Yehoshua). The angel's explanation to Joseph — 'you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins' (Matt 1:21) — makes the name itself a Gospel promise. 'Fallen sons of earth' names our condition under original sin (AC II). The worth of the name is the worth of what it promises: salvation not from political enemies but 'from their sins.' The name is 'priceless' because the price was paid by its bearer (1 Pet 1:18-19).
- Scripture
- Matt 1:21, Luke 2:11, Rom 5:12, 1 Pet 1:18-19, Ps 130:8
- Imagery & language
- 'Priceless worth'; the quoted promise.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — fallen humanity; Gospel — the name promises salvation.
- Connection to previous
- Explains what the name announced in st. 2 means.
Jesus, name of gentle mercy, given to the holy Child when he first tasted the cup of human woe here below.
Luke 2:21: 'at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus.' How sees the circumcision as Christ's first taste of 'the cup of human woe' — his first suffering and first shedding of blood, a foretaste of the cup of Gethsemane (Matt 26:39). Lutheran theology sees in the circumcision Christ's subjection to the Law for us: 'born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law' (Gal 4:4-5). His keeping of the Law (active obedience) is reckoned to us as righteousness (FC SD III.15). The 'holy Child' bears the sign of the covenant though he has no sin to cut away.
- Scripture
- Luke 2:21, Gal 4:4-5, Matt 26:39, Heb 2:17-18, Col 2:11-12
- Imagery & language
- The cup of woe; the Child receiving his name.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — Christ's obedience to the Law for us.
- Connection to previous
- Links the name to the day it was given.
Jesus, the only name given under heaven by which man, enslaved to sin, breaks his chains and is saved.
Acts 4:12: 'there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.' This is solus Christus, the exclusive claim of the Gospel. 'Man, to sin enslaved' is the bondage of the will (John 8:34; AC XVIII; FC II). 'Bursts his fetters' is vivid; it must be read as the power of the name, not of man: 'If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8:36). It is the name — Christ himself, present in Word and Sacrament — that breaks the chains.
- Scripture
- Acts 4:12, John 14:6, John 8:34-36, Rom 6:17-18, 1 Tim 2:5
- Imagery & language
- 'Under all the mighty heaven'; fetters burst.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — slavery to sin; Gospel — freedom in the only name.
- Connection to previous
- From the promise of the name (3) to its exclusive saving power.
Jesus, name of wondrous love, human name of God above; pleading this alone, we flee, helpless, to you, our God.
The frame closes with a profound Christological line: 'Human name of God above.' The name given at circumcision to a human infant is the name of God himself — the communication of attributes (FC VIII). The prayer posture is pure Reformation: 'pleading only this' — no merit, no works, only the name of Jesus (Ap IV). 'Helpless' is the condition of all who come to God rightly; 'we flee' recalls the name as a 'strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe' (Prov 18:10).
- Scripture
- Prov 18:10, John 1:14, John 16:23-24, Heb 4:16, Ps 124:8
- Imagery & language
- Return to the opening line; flight to a refuge.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — the helpless flee to the name.
- Connection to previous
- Closes the frame begun in st. 1.
Themes
Power of the Name of Jesus Salvation through Christ alone Invocation of Jesus's name Christian devotion and trust