The hymn “Must Jesus Bear
the Cross Alone” was based on the words of Thomas Shepherd in 1693, but the
music was composed by George Allen in 1844.
The song was arranged by George Allen in The Oberlin Social and Sabbath School Hymnbook of 1844 which Allen
is credited with compiling.
Thomas Shepherd (1665-1739), Lyricist
Thomas Shepherd was the
son of what one sourced called a “Non-conformist minister in England” whose
name was William Shepherd. Shepherd
joined the Church of England but seceded from it in 1694. He preceded the famed Philip Doddridge at the
Castle Hill Meeting House in Nottingham, England, but he would eventually move
on in 1700 to Bocking, England where he started the work there preaching in a
barn. He worked with this congregation for the remainder of his life.
Shepherd published one of
his works entitled “The Sinner’s Cry For Universal Obedience” in his Penitential Cries in 1693. This would be the basis for the hymn we sing
today. There are more verses in the poem
than appear in our songbook too. This
song is by far his most popular. The
words were changed some from the original.
For example, the first stanza was “Shall
Simon bear the Cross alone, And other Saints be free? Each Saint of thine shall find his own, And
there is one for me.” Who exactly
changed the words of the hymn is uncertain.
Even the version of the hymn of 1844, the first lines of the third verse
were “I’ll bear the consecrated cross, Till from
the cross I’m free….” He is
credited with nearly 40 hymns, but he was known more for his published sermons
in his day. Unfortunately many of the
records concerning his life have been lost.
Thomas Shepherd died on January 29, 1739. He was buried at End Congregational Church,
Braintree, Essex, England.
George Nelson Allen (1812-1877), Composer
He was married to
Caroline Mary Rudd, and she was called Mary.
She was one of three women to receive the A. B. degree in 1841. Her life would spawn a woman’s equality
movement in Oberlin College and beyond. They
had five children: Frederic DeForest
Allen (1844-1897), Alice Woodworth Allen (1846-1910) George Mantell Allen
(1848-1922), Rosa Dale Allen (1851-1926), and Carrie Nelson Allen (1854-1925). All five of their children studied at Oberlin
College, so the Allen’s family is very connected with this institution.
The name of the tune is
MAITLAND. Apparently the hymn became
popular after Henry Ward Beecher published it in his Plymouth Collection a decade later.
In Beecher’s work, they referred to the tune as Cross and Crown, and it was also referred to as the Western Melody too. The tune was adapted by Thomas A. Dorsey for
his hymn “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” as well.
He published a 3x4 inch hymnbook that was very popular in his day and
many were encouraged to carry it with them.
Imagine someone carrying a hymnbook in their shirt pocket today! Allen compiled at least two hymnbooks plus
the music to a few hymns.
He retired in 1864 in
Cincinnati to live closer to his son, and he died on December 9, 1877. He is buried in Oberlin at the Westwood
Cemetery in Lorain County, Ohio.
Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone
Jesus warned His
disciples as He prepared to go to Jerusalem that He would be betrayed and
crucified; c.f. Matthew 26:2.
Crucifixion was an invention of the Persian Empire, used by Alexander
the Great, but it has also been said that the Roman Empire perfected it before
Constantine outlawed it out of respect for Jesus in 337 A.D. (Some historians doubt Constantine’s ban and
claim that crucifixions did not end then.)
Be sure to know that the practice is still being used to strike fear and
dread in some societies. Some historians
point out that pagans used symbolic crosses as a way to intimidate Christians
before it would become part of Christian art.
Crucifixion was designed to cause the most excruciating death known to
man. So painful was its design that our
term “excruciating” comes from the word crucifixion! The Messiah’s rejection was prophesied in the
Old Testament as were several details of His death. The premillennial notion that the rejection
of Jesus by the Jews was unanticipated is absolutely false and readily apparent
to those who have studied Old Testament prophecy accordingly.
There is no doubt that
Jesus taught we must bear our own cross before we will receive the crown of
life. Some fail to realize that
Christianity comes with great costs.
Notice these words by Jesus—“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did
not come to bring peace but a sword. For
I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be
those of his own household.’ He who
loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son
or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of
Me. He who finds his life will lose it,
and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew
10:34-39, NKJV.) Jesus is not referring
to the carnal weapon of a sword but to the fact that people will have to choose
Him even if other family members refuse to accept Him.
This was not the only
time that Jesus advised His disciples of this.
Later, Jesus after He rebuked Peter for denying the fact of Jesus
approaching crucifixion, stated “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to
come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the
whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for
his soul? For the Son of Man will come
in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each
according to his works” (Matthew
16:24-27, NKJV.)
It would be an
appropriate reminder of the words that precedes the “crown of life” in Revelation
2:10—“Do not
fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is
about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will
have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown
of life” (NKJV.) We may not face persecution as the church
Smyrna was about to face; however, we are warned that even with old age there
are difficult days too—“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, ‘I have
no pleasure in them’” (Ecclesiastes 12:1, NKJV.) Some
people sentenced to be executed by the cross died prior during the flogging,
while others lingered on crosses for considerable time before they
expired. Similarly, we do not know how
long our lives will be or what we will endure during our lives here.
We must count the cost
before we decide to become a Christian, but we also must be sure to recognize
the great dividends that are to be paid in reward by Jesus at His coming. Remember, Jesus promised us more than eternal
existence but eternal life!
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SOURCES:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A54092.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext
http://www.hymnary.org/text/must_jesus_bear_the_cross_alone
http://www.hymnary.org/tune/maitland_allen
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/s/h/e/shepherd_t.htm
http://www.oberlin.edu/archive/holdings/finding/RG30/SG67/biography.html
http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-must-jesus-bear-the-cross-alone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Nelson_Allen
Robert Guy McCutchan, Our Hymnody, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1937, pp. 313-314.
Frank Paris, “Must Jesus
Bear the Cross Alone?” Curtis Cates, Editor, Lessons in Lyrics, Memphis, TN:
Memphis School of Preaching, 1998, pp. 520-530.
V. E. Howard, Editor, and
Broadus E. Smith, Associate Editor, Church
Gospel Songs & Hymns, Texarkana, TX: Central Printers & Publishers, 1983.
John P. Wiegand, Editor, Praise for the Lord, Nashville, TN: Praise Press, 1997.
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