"All for Jesus, All for Jesus", also titled as "All for Jesus! All for Jesus!" and originally titled "For the Love of Jesus", is an English Christian hymn. It was written in 1887 by

W J Sparrow Simpson William John Sparrow Simpson (20 June 1859 – 13 February 1952) was an English Anglican priest and writer. He wrote the libretto for John Stainer's oratorio ''The Crucifixion'' (1887), several hymns, and more than fifty books. He was chaplain of ...

intended as the closing chorus of

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

's "''

The Crucifixion The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...

''" oratorio. It started to be published as a separate hymn later in 1901.

History

In 1887, Sparrow Simpson was the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of Christ Church in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London. He wrote "All for Jesus, All for Jesus" for ''The Crucifixion'', where he had initially titled it "For the Love of Jesus". It was written as a "meditation on the Passion of the Holy Redeemer" with scriptural references from the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. The music for the hymn was written by Stainer, with the piece being titled "All for Jesus". The hymn was intended as a closing chorus and also to be a part of ''The Crucifixion'' set aside for congregational singing. The hymn was first performed in public at

St Marylebone Parish Church St Marylebone Parish Church is an Anglican church on the Marylebone Road in London. It was built to the designs of Thomas Hardwick in 1813–17. The present site is the third used by the parish for its church. The first was further south, near Ox ...

Ash Wednesday Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...

in 1887. After its first performance, "The Crucifixion" was praised in

The Churchman ''Churchman'' is an evangelical Anglican academic journal published by the Church Society. It was formerly known as ''The Churchman'' and started in 1880 as a monthly periodical before moving to quarterly publication in 1920. The name change to "Ch ...

as being "...a first and a very successful attempt to supply an easy and short form of Passion music suitable for use in ordinary

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

es," though Stainer had previously described the whole oratorio as "rubbish". For several years, "All for Jesus, All for Jesus" was played only as part of ''The Crucifixion'' performances. In 1969 it was first published as a standalone hymn in the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

hymnal ''Hymns and Songs''. From there it has been published as an independent hymn across Christian denominations. In

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

hymnals, an additional verse is included supporting the Catholic doctrine of

transubstantiation Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of th ...

despite Sparrow Simpson being a member of the Church of England, which rejected that doctrine in the

Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

Scripture

"All for Jesus, All for Jesus" Matthew 19:21, Matthew 22:37, John 8:36, Romans 8:38–39, Romans 12:1, 1 Corinthians 2:2 and Ephesians 5:2.

References

{{authority control English Christian hymns 1887 songs Songs about Jesus 19th-century hymns Compositions by John Stainer