This Son Of God

Seems appropriate, with the Easter season upon us, to dredge up this old favorite . Written WHILE IN CHURCH on the flyleaf of a hymnal!

 

 

 

THIS SON OF GOD

 

When the priests to Pilate brought

This Jesus, and of him besought

A verdict, that He might be slain,

Pilate’s heart was rent in twain.

 

By questions and by wife’s dream warned,

Their envious motives seen and scorned;

“I find your rancorous rantings flawed;

“I will not slay This Son Of God!”

 

 

When the Earth began to shake,

And the stones in twain did break;

When the brightness of day went,

And the Veil in twain was rent,

 

Then did the soldiers quake, and rend

Their garments, and to Heaven send

Repentant prayers, in voices awed:

“In truth, this was The Son Of God!”

 

 

How many folk, throughout the years,

By deeds done, or forgot,

Have moved the Lord to angry tears

For error lived or taught?

 

Do I then sit by needless

Of the Grace my Lord has taught?

Persisting in pain, heedless

Of the Grace His Blood has bought?

 

 When my life came before Christ,

Did He languish by the side?

Or did He seize my sin foursquare,

Dispelling it as He died?

 

 When Christ’s life comes before me,

What then shall my answer be?

Will I then cowardly slink away,

Or embrace Him, and be free?

Author's Note

If parsing meter according to strict standards, it would be helpful to consider each PAIR of lines, rather than each line individually; the accents will then fall into place.

Reviews

[Jennifer Elizabeth]

"Though I do not agree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it."

I'm not a religious person, but I still enjoyed this piece thoroughly. The flow was flawless and a the sentiment was beautiful. It's still lovely to see that some people view their faith as that -- as faith -- rather than as a pedestal.

[Lourisa]

I love the flow of this poem. I try to stay clear of anything religious for now but your writing and style I admire and can definitely learn from. Thanks.

[Samuel Dickens]

And so it went, according to the Bible. It's what we all were taught. An outstanding poem, Mark.

[Jola]

Through this poem express your feelings ... you are full of uncertainty ... I think that God knows what he's doing ... and will always watch over you ... that I wish with all my heart ... As usual ... very interesting poetry ...
Jola

[KATHY SUE SILLS]

Excellent write, Mark! I'm religous and believe in every word you wrote! You have such good description of what happen so many years ago, reading this it seemed as it just happened! Love this poem, we all need to remember what our Savior did for us!

[KAREN]

I am a religious person and i agree with ever piece of this poem! I love the flow and the meaning!

[Aven]

I'm not religious, but I do believe, some of you will know what that
means. I really enjoyed the read, it was most insightful and inspiring. Thank you for sharing!

[emmajoy]

As always your writing makes me feel peaceful and full of smiles .. and I've read this twice so am feeling wonderful.

The second reading was done aloud and I sensed an amazing reverence along with fine literary style .. not easy to do. However, I can't actually imagine singing this although not entirely sure why, but would love to think of it as a divine prayer .. that's not intended as criticism, (would I dare), but just an opinion.

Must read more and more.

[Melissa Lynn Cox]

I have just found my way back to church and was looking for some religious writers. I don't especially like poetry, but your writing made me slow down and think about what you were trying to say and I think that's good. Sometimes words are too familiar...too easy...and dismissed too quickly. I liked having to think and let the words "sink in". I recently wrote something about divine forgiveness and when you mention that the Lord being moved to angry tears, it made me stop dead in my tracks. I always picture the Lord as serene and maybe a little sad, but never angry. You reminded me that the Lord is my parent and sometimes parents are angry with their naughty children. I will use this perspective in my writing and in my walk with God. I pray that I am not a coward when I do meet the Lord and have not caused Him too many angry tears.