“Thine Is the Glory,” ELW 376 and LBW 145
1 Thine is the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
Endless is the victory, Thou o’er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes where Thy body lay.
Refrain
Thine is the glory, risen conqu’ring Son,
Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.
2 Lo! Jesus meets thee, risen from the tomb!
Lovingly he greets thee, scatters fear and gloom;
Let his church with gladness hymns of triumph sing;
For the Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.
Refrain
3 No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;
Life is naught without thee; aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conqu’rors, through thy deathless love:
Bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.
Refrain
Devotion
In the game of chess, those who are truly gifted players often know the result of moves before they are made, typically anticipating multiple steps ahead. Though the game needs to be played out, the outcome is already determined, with pawns and other pieces used strategically to gain victory for the king.
To that end, I can only imagine what a chess player Jesus would be as we sing this classic Easter hymn and hear the words, “Endless is the vict’ry, Thou o’er death hast won.” Much greater than the highest grandmaster, his adversary is sin and death – and Jesus is way ahead of them. And in gaining this endless victory for us, the king didn’t need to use a single pawn.
Prayer
God of endless victory, we thank you for your love that is so great that you died for us. To you be the glory. Amen.