The Fourth Sunday of Easter · "Shout for Joy to God, All the Earth!"
One-year lectionary · Lamentations 3:22–33 · 1 Peter 2:11–20 · John 16:16–22
Jubilate takes its name from the opening Latin words of its Introit: "Shout for joy to God, all the earth. Alleluia." It marks a shift within the Easter season: the earlier Sundays celebrated the historical reality of the resurrection appearances, while Jubilate and the Sundays that follow turn toward the ongoing life of the Church — the prayer, rejoicing, and endurance that characterize Christian faith in the light of an empty tomb.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is historically known as Jubilate, a title derived from the opening Latin words of its traditional Introit: "Shout for joy to God, all the earth. Alleluia." Jubilate marks a transition within the Easter season. While the first weeks of Easter focus on the historical reality of Jesus' resurrection appearances, the latter Sundays — Jubilate, Cantate, Rogate, and Exaudi — shift toward the ongoing life of the Church, emphasizing the prayer and rejoicing that characterize Christian faith in the light of Christ's resurrection.
In the historic one-year lectionary, the Gospel for Jubilate is John 16:16–22, where Jesus promises His disciples that their sorrow will turn into a joy that no one can take from them. The modern three-year lectionary moved "Good Shepherd Sunday" to this week; Our Saviour follows the historic one-year series, preserving the ancient "Jubilate" theme of joy born from sorrow.
The readings at a glance
Old Testament
Lamentations 3:22–33
Sitting in the rubble of a destroyed Jerusalem, the prophet declares that "we are not consumed" because of the Lord's great mercies. The underlying Hebrew word is hesed, a term so rich that it defies a single English equivalent: "care," "steadfastness," "devotion," "faithfulness," and "mercy" all fall within its range, each pointing to God's unmerited grace toward a people who cannot earn His kindness. The prophet confesses that these mercies are "new every morning," employing the biblical pattern in which nighttime and darkness are associated with judgment, while morning and daybreak signal deliverance.
In the New Testament, this pattern is fulfilled by the terrifying darkness that covered the land during the crucifixion on Good Friday, giving way to the glorious resurrection at daybreak on Easter morning. The passage closes by assuring us that God does not afflict "the children of men" (beney ish, "mortal men") from His heart; His true heart toward humanity is hesed, revealed fully in the empty tomb of the risen Christ.
Epistle
1 Peter 2:11–20
Peter addresses baptized believers as "sojourners and exiles" (paroikous kai parepidēmous), a title drawn from David's description of his temporary residence on earth, now applied to all Christians whose true citizenship is in heaven. Their sinful flesh constantly "wages war" (strateuontai) against their souls, yet Peter commands honorable conduct among unbelievers so that on the "day of visitation" even slanderers will glorify God. He addresses submission to earthly authority, calling civil government a "human creation" (anthrōpinē ktisei) divinely established to benefit humanity.
Christians are free from the Law's condemnation, yet they must not use this freedom as a "cover-up for evil"; instead, they live as "slaves of God" (theou douloi). The passage narrows to "house slaves" (oiketai), commanding them to submit even to "crooked" (skoliois) masters. If they endure beatings while "doing good" (agathopoiountes), this is "commendable before God" — for in the very next verse Peter points them directly to the cross, where Christ Himself suffered unjustly, leaving behind the ultimate pattern for every believer.
Holy Gospel
John 16:16–22
Jesus introduces His impending death and resurrection with the enigmatic phrase "a little while" (mikron): "A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me." The disciples are confused, yet Jesus is describing His burial and resurrection on the third day. With the solemn "Amen, amen" formula, He sets up a stark contrast: the world will rejoice at the crucifixion while the disciples "weep and lament." Yet their sorrow will not merely be replaced; it will "turn into joy" (lupē transformed into chara).
Jesus employs the metaphor of a woman giving birth (tiktei), imagery from the prophets (Isaiah 21:3; 26:17–18) where birth pangs signify suffering before God's great deliverance. Good Friday was the ultimate birth pang of the new creation. The climax: "No one will take your joy from you" (v. 22). This Easter chara is not a feeling dependent on circumstances; it is anchored in Christ's victorious resurrection.
The hymns and their stories
Opening Hymn
"Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing" · LSB 737
Written by the masterful Lutheran hymn writer Paul Gerhardt (1607–76) and first published in 1653, this hymn originally asked the faithful to rejoice and sing for a staggering eighteen stanzas. Gerhardt, no stranger to extreme suffering and despair, wrote a profound masterclass in the theology of the cross: the hymn asks believers to do something seemingly unthinkable — to rejoice, be glad, and sing while actively enduring God's chastening and earthly trials. Gerhardt teaches believers to find "joy through tears, a heart to be glad when it is breaking, a cheerful trust when it appears that one is forsaken and alone." The hymn boldly asserts that this unique ability to sing with joy through tears completely baffles the world and sends Satan running. The English text we sing today is a composite of multiple nineteenth-century translations, weaving together the work of Gottlob Frederick Krotel (stanza 1, 1859), Frances Elizabeth Cox (stanzas 2–4 and 6–7, 1864), and John Kelly (stanza 5, 1867).
Sequence Hymn
"Christ Is Arisen" · LSB 459
This medieval Leise (folk hymn) has a fascinating history rooted in early liturgical drama. A manuscript from around 1190, the Liber Ordinarius of the Salzburg Cathedral, describes its original use: at the end of the Good Friday liturgy, an image of the crucified Christ was placed into a "holy grave"; during the Easter Vigil, the visit to the empty tomb was acted out as a play, and when the actors pointed to the linen cloths lying in the grave, the choir sang in Latin "He has risen, as he said," to which the congregation triumphantly responded in German, "Christ ist erstanden." During the Reformation, the hymn was commonly sung in alternation with the Latin Easter sequence Victimae paschali laudes (LSB 460). Martin Luther used this ancient folk tune and text as the direct inspiration for his own expanded Easter masterpiece, "Christ Jesus Lay in Death's Strong Bands" (LSB 458).
Hymn of the Day
"With High Delight Let Us Unite" · LSB 483
Written by Georg Vetter (1536–99) and first published in 1566, this triumphant hymn originally ran to thirteen stanzas and featured a hidden acrostic: the first letter of each stanza spelled out "Mediator Jesus" (a reflection of Hebrews 9:15). After centuries of disuse, four stanzas were recovered in 1932 by Otto Rietmüller. The English translation was crafted by Martin Franzmann (1907–76), celebrated for his meticulous preservation of Vetter's incredibly complex rhyme scheme (A A B CC B DD EE B). The majestic tune MIT FREUDEN ZART began as a French chanson by Clement Marot around 1519, later adapted for Psalm 138 in the 1547 French psalter. Following its twentieth-century revival, the hymn was officially appointed as the Hymn of the Day for Jubilate Sunday in the German evangelical churches.
Hymn
"Like the Golden Sun Ascending"
This Easter hymn, originally titled Som den gyldne sol frembryder, is widely regarded as one of the finest contributions to Danish hymnody. It was written by Thomas Kingo (1634–1703), a bishop in the Lutheran church and central figure in Danish literature whose grandfather was a Scottish weaver named Kinghorn who had migrated to Denmark. Kingo died on a Sunday morning in 1703, passing away exactly as the church bells began pealing to summon his congregation to worship. The hymn, published in 1689, employs the "Golden Sun" as a sustained metaphor for the transition from the "dismal, dreadful cave" of the grave to the "early purple dawning" of Easter — a deliberate theological statement about the absolute authority of Christ over death. The English translation is by George A. T. Rygh (1908). The tune most commonly paired with this text is WERDE MUNTER, composed by Johann Schop in 1642, a melody J. S. Bach used frequently in his work, most famously in Cantata 147, known to modern audiences as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
Closing Hymn
"In Thee Is Gladness" · LSB 818
The vibrant, driving melody of this hymn actually began as a secular Italian dance tune. The balletto was composed by Giovanni Gastoldi around 1591, originally paired with the Italian text A lieta vita amor ci invita ("To a happy life love invites us"). In 1598, the Lutheran cantor Johann Lindemann published a collection that took lively Italian dance tunes and paired them with new sacred German texts. The new text — possibly authored by Cyriakus Schneegaß — masterfully shifted the focus: whereas the original Italian celebrated joy from human love, the new text celebrated the joy that belongs to us because of the love of God, connecting it to both a blessed life and a blessed death. Fully embracing the theology of the cross, the hymn acknowledges that "amid all sadness" Jesus remains the bright sunshine of the heart. The English translation was crafted by Catherine Winkworth in 1858. Curiously, when this hymn first appeared in German hymnals in the mid-seventeenth century, it was classified as a New Year's hymn.