I was privileged on Easter Sunday to lead worship at Chantry Methodist Church. I decided to have an Easter Carol Service which led us through all the resurrection events detailed in the four Gospels with hymns, prayers, readings and meditations. We had a wonderful sing and really needed our coffee afterwards, but it was a good morning.
About the only Easter hymns I didn’t choose was from Singing the Faith 306 “Now the green blade rises from the buried grain”. I knew we could have quite a number of visitors and wasn’t sure they would know it. It has a beautiful tune which originally was a French Carol and has been arranged by Geoffrey Laycock. It is one of those tunes which brings out the words in a mediative way as you sing.
The principal source of the hymn is from John’s gospel 12:24 “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit”.
The third verse of the hymn is:
Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for the three days in the grave had lain,
Quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
To me, it is one of the perfect hymns for Easter, and also for Spring, and reminds us of our Saviour’s love for us.