near at hand, And wailed and wept for Jesus — this heroic, 'helpless band. They saw the Son of Man refuse the vinegar and gall, And seemed to be the only -one who cared for Him at all. The human race would turn its face defiantly away, And show its hate without the gate on this, its judgment day. The Lamb of God was sacrificed upon a cross of wood; Outside the ancient city wall the mor bid object stood. They crucified the Master with a thief on either side, And willed to make Him suffer even more before He died. Then Pilate wrote a triple note, a short and pointed thing; Above His head the title read that Jesus was the King. Transgressors He was numbered with to prove the Scriptures true, And then He prayed, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He prayed for those who cast the lot to take His clothes away; He prayed for those who hated Him, as only He could pray. Betrayed, denied, and crucified, He hung upon the cross; Upon the tree at Calvary He suf fered total loss. The people stood beholding Him—the Christ, the Undefiled, And held Him in derision while the passing crowd reviled. They told the Lord to save Himself and show His deity, While priests and others mocked again the Man of Galilee. In unbelief one dying thief assailed Him with the tongue; The other one besought the Son to save him as he hung. The Master closed the issue with a promise to redeem, Though soon His grieving heart would know the agony supreme. The load of sin for all the world would soon be His to bear;
The righteous wrath of God Himself must come upon Him there. His Father dear must turn His ear away from God the Son, And hide His face as in disgrace from Christ the Holy One. A deathly darkness veiled the earth, and day became as night; The sun itself was darkened when it should have been so bright. The light of God was blackened and the face of God was veiled; And Christ the Son of God was left forsaken as He wailed. Observers thought that Jesus sought a prophet of the past, And stopped to see if possibly relief would come at last The Son of God was on the cross, for man had done his worst, And openly rebelled against the King who said, “I thirst” They gave Him vinegar to drink; He took the bitter cup, And uttered, “It is finished,” and the ghost He yielded up. A holy flood of precious blood was shed upon the tree; For Jesus bled that stream of red for all—for you and me. The might of God was witnessed when the Lamb of God was slain; From top to bottom did He rend the temple veil in twain. The earth did quake beneath His hand, and ageless rocks were rent; And those who stood beholding truly wondered what it meant. But there was one centurion with others near the scene Who saw the death — the final breath of Christ the Nazarene. They seemed to feel the earth convulse with power divinely odd, And realized they stood before the very Son of God. Some soldiers came to break His legs according to command, But He remained unbroken by the military band. Then one drew near with ready spear and pierced the Crucified; (Continued on next page)
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