To celebrate Easter Day, I have chosen to bring you one of my favourite Easter Hymns, even though it is not one that will be regularly sung on this day. I hope it proves a suitable background to your celebrations of Jesus being Alive!
“Now The Green Blake Rises” John MacLeod Campbell (J.M.C.) Crum (1872-1958) wrote this text to be paired with the popular French carol melody ‘Noel Nouvelet, sometimes referred to by the name French Carol. Crum was born at Mere Old Hall, Cheshire, England, and died at Farnham, Surrey, England. During his life, Crum was highly active in the Church of England. After his education at Eton and New College in Oxford (BA 1895, MA 1901), he took Holy Orders (Deacon 1897, priest, 1900). The various positions Crum held included chaplain to the Bishop of Oxford, Francis Paget (1901-1910), assistant curate at Windsore, vicar of Mentmore at Ledburn (1910-1921), and finally canon at Canterbury (1928-1943).
Crum’s hymn output ranged from translation of Latin hymns by the fourth-century poet Aurelius Clemens Prudentius to children’s hymns. He published Songs of Praise for Boys and Girls (1929). Other children’s works include a play, The Play of St. George (1911), and a pageant, Children’s Missionary Pageant (1910, 1913) with musical score.
This hymn text first appeared in the 1928 edition of the Oxford Book of Carols. It was first printed in the United States in the 1966 edition of The Methodist Hymnal. Interestingly, though the current text has been changed to incorporate more inclusive language, archaic language was maintained. Other recent hymnals have updated archaisms as well.
The text exhibits Crum’s ability to capture one’s imagination, perhaps an extension of his children’s writings. For those in the northern hemisphere who live in areas where springtime usually coincides with Easter, the image of growing plants and vegetation speaks clearly. The vivid imagery of the hymn is biblically based: John 12:23-24: “AJesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (NIV) In addition, 1 Corinthians 15:37-38 connects the image with the resurrection: “When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.” (NIV)
The connection of the Easter event – the rising of Jesus — is unmistakable. The simple phrase “Now the green blade rises” reminds us that Jesus is risen today just as he rose on that first Easter morning. In the third line, we find “Love” being used as a metaphor for Jesus. We are now reminded why Jesus came to the earth in the first place: “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16). After speaking directly about Jesus’ death and resurrection, Crum turns to our lifetime struggles. In the fourth stanza, Crum emphasizes that no matter what we are going through, “Jesus’ touch can call us back to life again.”
