Christ - He walked Alone

Isa 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.


Christ - He Walked Alone

Down a dusty road strewed with splintered wood,
Marked with etched-fragmented lines
Exposing, the whitish-bone of buried stone
Lay drops of blood... smeared...
Though this dragged the cross of Christ.

A man beaten, torn, bleeding...
Crushed beneath the wine-press of sorrow
Burdened by the awesome weight of humanity's sins...
His face, dust covered
Old lines of dust parted in streams
Where tears formed and fell...
Pockets of blood where beard should be (Isa 50:6)
Open bleeding wounds, caked in blood and dust...
His eyes, sunken, drained of life
The hollows of his cheeks bruised from beatings (Isa 50:6)
Lips dry of moisture, cracked and bleeding (John 19:28)
His back, whipped in anger
A tormented maze of lacerated flesh (John 19:1)
Criss-crossed ribbons of raw muscle
Where skin once was, his hair matted and unseemingly
Unsightly, he bore a crown of thorns (Matt. 27:29)
A crown of indignity and rejection...


Cursed and spit on, derailed by those he loved (Psa. 109:2)
Cursed by a world he came to love, to serve (Mark 15:18-20)
Cast out, thrown aside, rejected, by all, for all to see
A lamb led to slaughter... (Isa. 53:7)
We hid our faces, closed our eyes (Isa. 53:3)
Buried our heads, quieted our cries
In anguish..., silent, ashamed, as he walked by
Others laughed, others scorned, with hands made into fists (Psa. 22:7)
Lips turned ugly, spewing out curses
Evil words of hate, words that cut (Psa. 22:13)
The angry mob beat, slapped him mockingly
Spit in his face, scraped with their nails (Psa. 69:20)
Tearing flesh, bruising love, breaking spirit
Bruising love that would not die...

I, a Roman soldier pushed him down, shoved him to the dust
To the dirt, where lay a wooden cross
To this he laid down, beaten down, without a word
Without protest, he lay, as I knelt beside him.
I choose a nail, an iron nail, jagged and rough
Coated with blood, from someone's death
I raised the hammer, to strike the nail through...
Only, he did not move, he did not resist,
But lifted his head and looked at me.
I caught his gaze, through the crimson blur of blood and pain
And saw only love... and mercy... and forgiveness...

Love, unknown to me
Love, foreign… not of this world
Love, I could not comprehend…

I raised the hammer, and in sudden coldness of heart
Sudden rejection of love, I spiked down the nail
Again, and again, iron on iron, striking down, striking down
Iron on iron, sin upon sin, through flesh and sinew
Through love and mercy, through goodness,
I nailed Jesus Christ to the cross...

I then felt a wrenching of my heart
A shaking of my hand, the swelling of my eyes
And then an uncontrollable groan of emptiness…
Wretchedness, and loss, and then a tear fell
To the cross, in the wood, mixed in blood, his blood...
I whispered, "forgive me," with eyes of love,
I felt his love, knew his mercy... knew then, the touch of God on my heart.

The wood, the cross, the man, Jesus, was raised and the beam slid into a hole
Standing the cross upright, for all to see, for all to behold...
Beholding the man, beholding the nakedness, the blood
The life draining from his wounds
As he prayed out loud
Cried to his Father, praying in agony,
Calling for mercy, for his tormentors
For me, for us all...
With ragged breath and heaving shoulders
He looked up to heaven, gave a last cry
Eyes filled with tears, and then alone...he died...

The next three days were a blur
As his face, his words, his love continued to haunt me
Then with sweat blending with worry
A soldier rushed to me the news
Of a stone rolled away
And of this man’s body gone
Vanished
Only the burial linen left
Only an empty tomb
And the slight remembrance
Of a humored rumor
That this Jesus had said
That he would rise again

Weeks go by
With no new news
The tomb is empty
Many were questioned
All state the same
This was the Christ
Him who is God among us
Him who set the captive free
Him who is alive today

At last
Alone
I bent my knee
And pray to him
Cry to him
Hear him
Whom I love
Whom I nailed to the cross

Our sins nailed Christ the Savior to a cross and his blood was spilled, his sacrifice given to cleanse us all from our sins so that our faith and trust is in him and not ourselves. If you've come to Christ forget not the sacrifice nor the the redeptive power of his forgiveness; forgive others and yourself. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ then pray to him and ask him to forgive you or your sins and to be your Lord and Savior. His sacrifice will cleanse you and his mercy will forgive you and you can then truly call him Lord.