LSB #840 "Christ High-Ascended, Now in Glory Seated"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 28-18-20, Acts 1:8, Philippians 2:9-11, John 16:19-24

Matthew 28:18-20:  "18 And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"

Acts 1:8:  "'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'"

Philippians 2:9-11:  "9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

John 16:19-24:  "19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, 'Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, "A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me"?  20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.  You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.  21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  23 In that day you will ask nothing of me.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.'"

+++

Matthew 28:18-20 is paraphrased in the second verse, in the line "To win disciples out of ev'ry nation" in the third verse, and in the fourth verse.

Acts 1:8 appears in the line "We are His witnesses" at the end of each verse and in the line "Filled with His Spirit, love and pow'r receiving" near the end of the fifth verse.

The passage from Philippians 2 is referred to at the beginning of the first verse:  "Christ high-ascended, now in glory seated, / Throned and exalted, victory completed."

The passage from John 16 is the basis for the line "As at His parting, joy shall banish grieving" at the beginning of the fifth verse.

"Christ High-Ascended, Now in Glory Seated"

A couple years ago, I noticed a handful of features in "Christ High-Ascended, Now in Glory Seated," sung to the tune "Iste confessor."  Here's the second musical phrase:

In the fourth verse, the text here is "Christ with His people evermore remaining."  "Remaining" is sung with a melisma (B C B A), and since it's stretched out, there's a sense of the duration of "evermore."

The third musical phrase:

In the third verse, the text here is "To win disciples out of ev'ry nation."  "Nation" is sung with a melisma (A G F), giving a sense of amount, for "ev'ry."

In the fourth verse, the text is "Christ to all ages gloriously reigning."  Similar to the above, "ages" is sung with a melisma (C Bb A), giving a sense of the entirety of "all."

In the fifth verse, the text is "Filled with His Spirit, love and pow'r receiving."  Here, "Spirit" is sung with a melisma (C Bb A), giving a sense of the abundance that "filled" implies.

[I re-used notation excerpts I made for writing about "Lord of Our Life," which is sung to the same tune.  Both appear in the same key in The Lutheran Service Book, although the bar lines appear in different places.  "Lord of Our Life" #659 has four beats per measure where "Christ High-Ascended, Now in Glory Seated" #840 has eight.]