There are so many hymns for Holy Week and Good Friday, and so there should be. As I said the other night in a Bible Study on John 12:20-36, Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection are central to the Christian faith, the very reason he came to live with us on earth. Without the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, our faith is futile, empty, pointless (cf 1 Corinthians 15:17).
It's very difficult to decide on one, or even two, hymns or songs to write about. This is certainly one of my favourites. Like Ride on, ride on in majesty (see my post for Palm Sunday), it conveys a mixture of emotions: the overwhelming sadness of witnessing the Son of God going to his execution, but also the victory he won on the cross (expressed in John 19:30, It is finished! which I believe should be understood as a victory-cry).
The royal banners forward go,
the Cross shines forth in mystic glow;
where he in flesh, our flesh who made,
our sentence bore, our ransom paid.
There whilst he hung, his sacred side
by soldier's spear was opened wide,
to cleanse us in the precious flood
of water mingled with his blood.
Fulfilled is now what David told
in true prophetic song of old,
how God the heathen's King should be;
for God is reigning from the Tree.
O Tree of glory, Tree most fair,
ordained those holy limbs to bear,
how bright in purple robe it stood,
the purple of a Saviour's blood!
Upon its arms, like balance true,
he weighed the price for sinners due,
the price which none but he could pay,
and spoiled the spoiler of his prey.
To thee, eternal Three in One,
let homage meet by all be done:
as by the Cross thou dost restore,
so rule and guide us evermore.
Bishop Venantius Fortunatus
English translation: J M Neale
In the original Latin, this is an ancient hymn; Bishop Venantius Fortunatus was born in about 530 AD, and died in 609 AD. He is known to have written numerous hymns, but only eight or nine are still in existence, of which this is the best known.
Fortunatus originated from Italy, but he spent much of the latter part of his life travelling in France. In Poitiers he became close friends with Queen Radegund, who had founded a nunnery there in 552 AD. In 567, the Emperor of Byzantium gave Queen Radegund a relic which was believed to be a fragment of the cross of Christ. She renamed the nunnery the Abbey of the Holy Cross, and arranged a ceremonial procession to bring this relic to Poitiers. She asked Fortunatus to write a poem for the occasion. The poem Vexilla Regis prodeunt is believed to have been first sung for that event on 19 November 569. "The 'banners' of the king were the old Roman cavalry standards that, after Constantine, were surmounted by the cross instead of the Roman eagle." (Philip H Pfatteicher, Journey into the Heart of God: Living the Liturgical Year (OUP, 2013)).
John Mason Neale translated this hymn into English in the nineteenth century. It has been described as "one of the most significant Christian hymns ever written", and as a "sung sermon on the theology of the cross".
There are a number of tunes associated with this hymn. If you're interested, you can explore them in hymnals and/or through Youtube. My own favourite is Gonfalon Royal as recorded here by Gloucester Cathedral Choir.
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