Crucifixion
Abt 1510 by Matthias Grünewald (1470 -1528)
[Note: Photo purchased from biblepicturegallery.com for use in this post]
The Death*
"Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"The people shouted with rising voice,
and they led Him away to Golgotha
though He clearly had made the choice.
For He might have escaped
as He had done several times before,
but the feast had come, His days were gone,
soon the Christ would be no more.
He shouldered a cross of heavy wood
to the summit of the hill.
On the way he fell, reopening wounds,
blood flowed, the crowd yelled "kill!"
Simon helped Him raise the wood.
Mary cleansed His dripping head.
Christ fell again but could not rise.
The Roman soldiers thought Him dead.
They whipped Him till at last He stood
and moved on toward the site.
There they nailed His hands and feet
and stood the cross upright.
Those standing near to the dying Christ
heard His parched lips say:
"Father forgive them, for they know not
what they've done this day."
Then darkness hovered over all the land
and the roar of the crowd became still,
but sounds of weeping and labored breathing
broke the silence with a piercing shrill.
"Woman, behold thy son," He said to Mary.
"Behold thy mother, John, son of Zebedee."
Then in despair He screamed
"Eloi, Eloi Lama Sabachtheni!"
"Father, oh Father, why have you forsaken me
to a world of hate and sin?
Your image has gone, My body's near death,
will I ever be with you again?"
Christ's head dropped, His muscles failed,
He recalled words He once had said:
"Foxes have holes and birds have nests
but I have nowhere to lay my head."
He could not force His legs to push
a weakened frame upright.
He felt as though His lungs were crushed
till air filled them with new life.
The fifth hour passed in silence,
on the sixth Christ whispered "I thirst."
A Roman soldier gave Him gall
but He could not drink, His heart had burst.
The God-Man raised His glassy eyes
and spoke a final phrase:
"Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit
It is finished, the last of my days."
A wave of pain pierced sad hearts
as the tormented body hung still.
Then wailing and weeping filled the air,
surrounding the tree on the hill.
"My child, my son, what have they done."
grieved His mother as she felt her loss.
Mary of Magdala, lifted her eyes
"Dear Jesus, your love has exacted great cost."
His disciples sadly turned away
"Our King has died, we tremble with fear.
Where can we go, who will believe
what He did the past three years!"
Some Roman soldiers stood in awe
at the form upon the cross.
One tossed aside the robe he'd won
for he sensed the meaning of this loss.
The earth trembled as rain poured down
washing traces of His blood away.
Joseph appeared to entomb the body
in preparation for the Sabbath day.
_______________
*Poem based on the gospels of Matthew (27: 32-56), Mark (15: 21-41), Luke (23: 33-46) and John (19: 17-30)
The Burial
John 19: 38:42
"After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away. Nicodemus came as well, the same one who had first come to Jesus at night-time and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, following the Jewish burial custom. At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was near at hand, they laid Jesus there. "
[Note: Bible verse used in this post is from The Jerusalem Bible, Copyright 1966, Doubleday and Company, Inc. Garden city, New York.]
