Thoughts on the Divine Service
14. The Alleluia
Dear friends,
Alleluia! I think that, of the words that come into the English language from the Bible, “alleluia” (“hallelujah” in the Old Testament) might be the most commonly used by folks who never step inside a church door. They know it’s an expression of joy, even if they don’t know what it means. What does it mean? Hallelu + Yah = “Let us praise Yahweh.”
To praise, of course is to declare who someone is or what someone has done; and Yahweh is God’s personal name, meaning “I AM.” To praise Yahweh is to declare who He is and what He has done to save us.
As common a word as it might be even in secular culture, it only appears in two books of the Bible, the Psalms and the Book of Revelation. That might seem a strange combo at first glance, but it’s really not. Psalms are songs of praise to God, so a word that means “Let us praise Yahweh” fits right in. In fact, Psalms 113-118 are known as the Hallel Psalms, and they were sung at Passover when the Israelites remembered God had saved them with the blood of a lamb.
In Revelation, “Alleluia” appears four times, all in Revelation 19. The multitude of believers are gathered around the throne of Lamb who shed His blood for our salvation, who is risen again and reigns forevermore. They sing His praises, declaring that He lives and reigns and has won their salvation.
Just before the Gospel reading, we normally rise and sing the Alleluia. The name “Jesus” means “Yahweh saves,” and Jesus is Yahweh in the flesh to be our Savior. We are about to hear something about Jesus as part of His work to save us. In other words, we’re about to hear the pastor praise the Lord. If we take this part of tomorrow’s service and put it in the language of conversation, it would go like this:
Congregation: Alleluia! Let us praise Yahweh!
Pastor: Alrighty, then. Hear what Jesus says and does in Matthew 2:13-23.
Congregation: Glory to You, O Yahweh! (You’re doing this for us!)
Then the pastor reads the passage from the Gospel, declaring at the end, “This is the Gospel of the Lord (of Yahweh incarnate)!” The congregation then responds, “Praise to You, O Christ!” Then, sooner or later (after the sermon), the congregation goes on to praise God by saying who He is and what He’s done in the Creed.
The Alleluia is appropriate as we hear of Jesus saving us, but it also ties the Gospel into the rest of the Old and New Testaments. Remember, the Hallel Psalms of the Old Testament were sung at Passover, remembering deliverance by the blood of the Lamb; and the saints of Revelation 19 are gathered around the final paschal lamb, the Lamb of God, once sacrificed and now enthroned forever. In making this connection, the Alleluia also connects us the Sacrament of Holy Communion in the latter part of the service: the same Lamb of God is present—in, with and under bread and wine—to give us His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. Furthermore, it’s at the Lord’s Supper, where Christ is present in heaven and on earth, that we sing our alleluias with angels, archangels and the whole company of heaven. What joy!
Nerdy notes once again…
• While the congregation sits for the other readings, it rises to hear the Gospel—a reminder that, for Jesus’ sake, we will be raised from the dead.
• Why is it Hallelujah in the Old Testament and Alleluia in the New? Because the Greek language doesn’t have the letter “h.”
• We omit the Alleluia during Lent. “Alleluia” is a joy-filled word, and Lent is a somber season as we watch Jesus make His way to the cross for our salvation. As one might hold his breath waiting to hear an important announcement, we hold our alleluias until we hear that Christ is risen indeed. Then we uncork the alleluias in earnest on Easter. This is also why we omit “This is the Feast” during Lent, and why it’s the first thing we sing when the lights come up at the Easter Vigil.
• While Divine Service 1 omits the Alleluia for Lent, it provides an alternative: “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” These are from Joel 2:13, which is also part of the Old Testament lesson for Ash Wednesday every year: as we make our way through Lent, we’re reminded that the Lord continually calls us to repentance and salvation.
• Different Divine Services treat the Alleluia differently: Divine Service 3 simply has “alleluia” sung three times. Divine Service 1 adds St. Peter’s words from John 6:68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,” which is most appropriate as we prepare to hear Jesus speak. Divine Service 4 opts for John 20:31, “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” which explains our alleluias and desire to hear the Gospel reading.
• There’s one more proper that we use every now and then, called the Verse, which is verse drawn normally from the Gospel reading. When the verse is used, the congregation sings the alleluia before and after the verse. We just did this on Christmas Day, where the Verse was that pivotal verse of the Gospel reading, John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”