i.
not the cruel nails
not the cross of shame
great drops of blood
falling down
like an oil
out of the flinty rock
it mingled with
the strange
twisted trunks
the twinkling of the leaves
under the moonlight
did not make Your heart
dance with delight
agony.
ii.
He is waiting
For the arresting party
the time has come
for another treachery
no need for a wicked kiss
I am He, I am He
I AM, I AM
the soldiers fall
they hide their faces
Arise!
I lay it down
I lay it down
the disciples
escaped with intact ears
while He was led
as a sheep
captive.
iii.
the heavens
You covered with shade
the desert
You covered with bread
but You choose
not to hide Your face
like an unveiled passage
to the Most Holy Place
I am willfully blinded
I didn't see Your face
shame.
iv.
Rebel!
Tax evader!
A threat to Rome!
All the efforts of men
and demons
ringing through−
fiercely,constantly
shrieking out from
bloodthirsty throats.
Why are you silent O Lamb ?
Why are you silent?
like a sheep before her shearers,
is dumb.
plead,
plead with the wolves.
is this the troublesome revolutionary?
is this the king who is a rival to Caesar?
is this the Man?
envy, just envy, that is all.
Galilee! O Galilee!
It is over. It is over.
vicious.
v.
and they said...
what?
...Barabbas...Barabbas.
why?
what evil has He done?
destroy Him
let His blood be on us
let His blood be on our children
jolted.
vi.
”
He said to Him,
“What is truth?”
without waiting for a reply
he went out to
the Jews and said unto them,
I find in Him no fault at all.
A man convinced that truth
is trivial
The man who cannot afford
to be true and right
just told the truth
about the Truth.
errand.
vii.
Behold the man
Your pretty king
look at His swollen face, black and blue
with the slaps and the spittle all over it
whose head is crushed with crown of thorns,
whose back and sides are ripped raw
His internal organs dangling,
gaping gashes,
open wounds,
streaking blood.
There’s no beauty that we
should desire Him.
flagellations.
viii
A touch of pity,
no one.
"No, no," they say.
Sin is better than Christ.
Crucify him! Crucify him!
This basin of water
can’t wash
wicked hands .
bloodthirsty.
ix.
THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH,
THE KING OF THE JEWS
The plaque around His neck
Was then nailed over His head
Even Caesar’s mocking revenge
Praises Christ
gospel.
xi.
they planned
to throw Him down
and stone Him to death
dash to the ground by stones
instead
He was lifted up
and reach
the lowest of depth
the cross
a stumbling block
a stumbling block
majestic!
glorious!
fixed.
xii
in the day that I stood
on the other side
in the day that strangers
carried You away captive
and cast lots for your clothes−
even I were
as one of them
for violence
against My Savior
shame
shall cover me
conniver.
xiii.
some watch Him for curiosity
some to make sure that He really did die
some even delighted their cruel eyes
they who passed by
reviled Him
wagging their heads
every word was emphatic
every syllable
cut and pierced
to the heart
the sun could no longer look
upon its Maker
he covered his face
and travelled on
in tenfold night
the earth wanted
to swallow up
His mockers!
shame.
xiv
his agonized
dropping meekly
down upon His
left breast
the thorny crown
causing drops of blood
to trickle down His
right cheek
right of Him is a thief
on the left is another thief
even the lowest of the low
would mock Him
in His loneliness
parallel.
xv.
the soldiers mock His claims−
pathetic, ridiculous joker king
cohorts of robbers, criminals
casting the same insult
the passing crowd
wagging their heads
come down from the cross
clown, fool
another crucified man
The chief priests, scribes, corrupt leaders
Mockery reaches its pinnacle
He endured it all
He endured it all
Hanging on the cross, He said,
“Father, forgive them…”
xvi.
a soldier is moved
to pity (is it?)
he took a sponge
dipped it in a vessel
full of sour wine
put it on a branch of hyssop
he ran and lift it up
to Your ovened lips
my lukewarm heart
is worst than it
thirsty.
xvii.
You took a bunch of hyssop
Dipped it in Your blood
and strike the lintel
and the doorposts
of my heart
marked.
xviii.
what despair
what death
all around
I am a thief now
and a skull after
but Lord, remember me
one thought from Your loving mind
and that shall satisfy me
crucified man trusting
in a crucified Savior
come then Roman bone-breaker
come then expressive silence
muse His praise!
I am called, too
called and bidden!
paradise.
xix.
the Brazen Serpent
was lifted up
look!
it is naught but “look!”
it is simply “look!”
if thou canst but look
to Jesus
thou art safe
hear the voice of the Redeemer
“look unto Me, and be ye saved”
look! look! look!
O guilty souls
look.
xx.
..then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Zechariah 12:10
Your heart was opened by the spear
The spear let loose the blood and water
“Reach here, your hand, and thrust it into My side.”
So, Thomas put his hand.
A passage to the heart always open!
—ready to receive any message
—ready to respond with the love
that has its fountain there!
Behold the open heart!
There is no love like that
with the open heart
—Your love with the opened heart
—with the open side!
pierced.
xxi
Do you see that Savior there?
He is hanging on the cross;
there are His dear hands,
pierced with nails,
nailed to a tree,
as if they were waiting for
your tardy footsteps,
because you would not come.
Do you see His dear head there?
It is hanging on His breast,
as if He would lean over,
and kiss your poor soul.
Do you see His blood,
gushing from His head,
His hands, His feet, His side?
It is running after you;
because He knew that
you would never run after it.
xxii.
Who is a God like unto Thee, who pardonethiniquity,
andpasseth by the transgression...(Micah7:18a)
Thousands of rams and
Ten thousand rivers of oil for
Four thousand years
Then came the Scandalous Night...
Only the Body and Blood Satisfied
-Angels & Demons kneeled
-Justice and Mercy kissed
In God’s Majestic Glory!
elements.
xxiii.
they hated You without a cause
not a purple but a scarlet robe
not the heavy crossbeam
but the stigma of disgrace
an inscription that says Nazareth
but King
your arms raised
down
the Marys were there
but You were all alone
– left by God
from afar they wept
but the world rejoiced
a cheap, sour wine
that resulted to strong words
– My God, My God…
the mocking taunts
a repentant thief
a believing centurion
the veil tore
from top
to bottom
My hour has not come
My hour has not come
My hour has not come
The hour has come
blood water flow
the sun
turned into darkness
the Enemy against the cross
the Father killing His Son
the most evil act
the most wonderful loving act
the most miscarriage of justice
the greatest satisfaction of justice
He borrowed a grave
but he owned everything
even our sins
paradox.
xxiv.
The angry thorns
created an applauding blood
to drip in Your face
The nails
that made Your ankle crossed the other
and arms raised down
are my unbendable links to You
The soldier’s spear
made sure Your death becomes mine
sealed.
xxv.
In the sixth hour
the Holy One turned out the sun.
He disappeared
until the ninth hour
"My God, my God…”
He cried out−
God forsaken by God
“Tetelestai…”
Again He cried out −
God accepted Him back
The bells can no longer be heard
The Holy of Holies
exposed was to everyone
tombs will spit out
those who come by faith
like the centurion
quickened by the Spirit
rocks will split
to hide the faces
of those who refuse to believe
miracles
