ZACHARY'S NOTES:

Stanza 1 // This hymn connects the promises Christ speaks in this weekend’s Gospel text with the promise we are given in Holy Baptism. “Embraced into Christ the vine” we are joined to be “a branch of [the] life-giving Tree” of Christ.

Stanza 2 // The sequence of summer, autumn, and winter is compared to seasons of life. Just as Christ says we are pruned to bear more fruit, so our Lord acts on our behalf that we might know and be sustained by the vine-grower and “shout for joy” at the good news He brings.

Stanza 3 // The middle stages of life are described here as holding a “heavy harvest.” The burdens of responsibility - work, family, friends, relationships, our own needs, and the needs of others - can weigh heavily on us. Joined to the vine, Christ brings His gifts of “beauty, wisdom, and love.”

Stanza 4 // Even in death, we are held and abide in Christ - the vine! This is thanks to the “promise of the spring” - the promise into which we are baptized and held in life and death, even as our lives wither, and must die. Perhaps most espeically in this time, God promises the fruit of faith!

Stanza 5 // As much as this hymn is a prayer weaving together images of today’s reading and Holy Baptism, it is also a hymn of praise. By “word and water” we are revived to abide with Christ, and joined forever to His “Tree of Life” - His cross - by which we abide and live with God forever.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

ELW 447 - O Blessed Spring - BERGLUND

ELW 342 - There In God’s Garden - SHADES MOUNTAIN

ELW 362 - At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing - SONNE DER GERECKTIGKEIT

ELW 377 - Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen! - EARTH AND ALL STARS

ELW 379 - Now the Green Blade Rises - NOËL NOUVELET

ELW 447 - O Blessed Spring - BERGLUND

ELW 449 - We Know That Christ Is Raised - ENGELBERG

ELW 758 - You Are the Way - DUNDEE

LBW 148 - Now the Green Blade Rises - NOËL NOUVELET

LBW 189 - We Know That Christ Is Raised - ENGELBERG

LBW 210 - At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing - SONNE DER GERECKTIGKEIT

LBW 378 - Amid the Worlds Bleak Wilderness - GRANTON

LBW 464 - You Are the Way - DUNDEE

LSB 474 - Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen! - EARTH AND ALL STARS

LSB 526 - You Are the Way - DUNDEE

LSB 595/595a - O Blessed Spring - O WALY WALY

LSB 603 - We Know That Christ Is Raised - ENGELBERG

LSB 633 - At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing - SONNE DER GERECKTIGKEIT

RH 150 - At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing - SONNE DER GERECKTIGKEIT

ZACHARY'S NOTES:

Stanza 1 // In this brief stanza, we are given purpose for singing - to “offer praise full of love” specifically to the “paschal victim” - that is, the victim of our Easter celebration, who laid his life down for our sake. The celebration of Easter is the two-fold nature of what it means to have a Good Shepherd - one who lays his life down and takes it up again.

Stanza 2 // Singing this stanza alongside hearing Christ as “Good Shepherd” gives us a new angle from which to view this parable. With a temptation to figure out where we are present in our Lord’s teaching, this hymn tells us the “Shepherd” is also the “Lamb” who “has bled for the sheep!” The “sinless One” lays his life down and takes it up again, that sinners might live with him and no longer fear death.

Stanza 3 // The “strife” which we celebrate is a contention between death and life - between all we turn to for protection - our health, our wealth, our employment, our family, our fame - and what Christ comes to give. He comes that “God and sinners [would be] reconciled” - that we would no longer fear God, but know and be known by the “Good Shepherd” who endures strife for our sake.

Stanza 4 // The final stanza repeats the final words of the second stanza, as if to underscore the message of this parable - the “Good Shepherd” is the one who lays down his life for the sheep. He does not run from the attacks of the world, nor is he “hired” to fulfill a task or attempt to protect those who are His own. Christ has given Himself for sinners, that all people might listen to His voice and be known by God.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

ELW 369 - Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; Alleluia! - LLANFAIR

ELW 502 - The King of Love My Shepherd Is - ST. COLUMBA

ELW 544 - Praise the Lord, Rise Up Rejoicing - ALLES IST AN GOTTES SEGEN

ELW 657 - Rise, O Sun of Righteousness - SONNE DER GERECKTIGKEIT

ELW 778 - The Lord’s My Shepherd - BROTHER JAMES’ AIR

ELW 780 - Shepherd Me, O God - SHEPHERD ME

ELW 782 - My Shepherd, You Supply My Need - RESIGNATION

ELW 789 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

ELW 883 - All People That on Earth Do Dwell - OLD HUNDREDTH

LBW 128 - Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; Alleluia! - LLANFAIR

LBW 196 - Praise the Lord, Rise Up Rejoicing - ALLES IST AN GOTTES SEGEN

LBW 245 - All People That on Earth Do Dwell - OLD HUNDREDTH

LBW 451 - The Lord’s My Shepherd - BROTHER JAMES’ AIR

LBW 456 - The King of Love My Shepherd Is - ST. COLUMBA

LBW 481 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

LSB 463 - Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; Alleluia! - LLANFAIR

LSB 709 - The King of Love My Shepherd Is - ST. COLUMBA

LSB 710 - The Lord’s My Shepherd - BELMONT

LSB 711 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

LSB 791 - All People That on Earth Do Dwell - OLD HUNDREDTH

RH 17 - All People That on Earth Do Dwell - OLD HUNDREDTH

RH 198 - The King of Love My Shepherd Is - ST. COLUMBA

RH 205 - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us - BRADBURY

RH 209 - The Lord’s My Shepherd - BROTHER JAMES’ AIR