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.

[Zatoichi]

It seems ironic that to write such a brilliant ode to the Lord of All, your attention must have been diverted, at least somewhat, from the worship/pastor. This is not a criticism, just an observation of our Lord's divine sense of humor. Z

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

Did the Pastor chastise you for writing in Church? lol I am kidding. And should that have been the case of anyone after Pastor read this he would feel as i do , joyful for us and sad for Jesus.
A good question in last stanzas. I don't know much about structures of poetry, styles, ect. This one read smooth. I love it ..

Chloe

[David Lewis Paget]

Beautiful poem, Mark - very impressed! My only crit would be the overuse of the word 'twain' - 3 times in as many verses. Otherwise a heartfelt and sincere poem to the glory of the Saviour. I'm sure that even he would be impressed.

[Manyfacets]

After a 4 month stay in the ICU of our local hospital your poem was the first
piece I read. It is a beautiful write Mark. Smiles to you.

[mcg03002]

I re-read it after looking at your note, and enjoyed it even more. I like your work a whole lot.

[SK Woodiwiss]

Beautiful.
Being Good Friday, I came search and I found. I knew someone would be out here and reminding us all what Christ has done and is doing for us all.
Thanks

[cest la vie]

This is beautiful.. simply beautiful..
and you wrote this in 15 minutes? I would say the Lord was working through you full steam that day..

[Stacey Watts]

This was a fantastic read. I think it flows beautifully and captivates the true meaning of the holiday, Easter to come. This was well written and I am not a musical person per say but I think it would be nice as a reading as well.