Friday, September 22, 2023

Behold the savior of mankind

136 Dundee (Windsor). C. M.

1 Behold the Savior of mankind
   Nailed to the shameful tree!
   How vast the love that Him inclined
   To bleed and die for thee!

2 Hark, how He groans, while nature shakes,
   And earth's strong pillars bend!
   The temple's veil in sunder breaks;
   The solid marbles rend.

3 'Tis done! the precious ransom's paid!
   "Receive my soul!" He cries;
   See where He bows His sacred head!
   He bows His head and dies!

4 But soon He'll break death's envious chain,
   And in full glory shine;
   O Lamb of God, was ever pain,
   Was ever love, like Thine?
                         Samuel Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
No, not that Wesley! His father Samuel, who also wrote some good hymns. And note that he ends on a high note, looking forward to the resurrection.

I know some people claim we don't dwell enough on the cruxificion and rush through it to Easter, but we are a resurrection people! Yes, Calvary had to happen, but if that were the end of the story, there wouldn't be a story. The resurrection affirmed what happened on Calvary. And the ascension (the part that really tends to get overlooked!) sealed it and proved that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, who then sent the Holy Spirit to his followers that we might live in the victory he won. (I won't get into the weeds as to whether the Spirit comes from the Father through the son or from the Father and the son, the so-called filioque clause in the creeds!)
</idle musing>

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