It was a joy to be in the church in Sharow tonight to hear The Crucifixion by Stainer. This bit really got to me:
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me,
while he is nailed to the shameful tree,
scorned and forsaken, derided and cursed,
see how his enemies do their worst!
Yet, in the midst of the torture and shame,
Jesus, the Crucified, breathes my name:
wonder of wonders, oh, can it be?
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
Lord, I have left thee, I have denied,
followed the world in my selfish pride;
Lord, I have joined in the hateful cry,
slay him, away with him, crucify!
Lord, I have done it, oh! ask me not how;
woven the thorns for thy tortured brow;
yet in his pity, so boundless and free,
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
"Though thou hast left me and wandered away,
chosen the darkness instead of the day;
though thou art covered with many a stain,
though thou hast wounded me oft and again;
though thou hast followed thy wayward will;
yet, in my pity, I love thee still."
Wonder of wonders it ever must be!
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
Jesus is dying, in agony sore,
Jesus is suffering more and more,
Jesus is bowed with the weight of his woe,
Jesus is faint with each bitter throe.
Jesus is bearing it all in my stead,
pity incarnate for me has bled;
wonder of wonders it ever must be!
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
while he is nailed to the shameful tree,
scorned and forsaken, derided and cursed,
see how his enemies do their worst!
Yet, in the midst of the torture and shame,
Jesus, the Crucified, breathes my name:
wonder of wonders, oh, can it be?
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
Lord, I have left thee, I have denied,
followed the world in my selfish pride;
Lord, I have joined in the hateful cry,
slay him, away with him, crucify!
Lord, I have done it, oh! ask me not how;
woven the thorns for thy tortured brow;
yet in his pity, so boundless and free,
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
"Though thou hast left me and wandered away,
chosen the darkness instead of the day;
though thou art covered with many a stain,
though thou hast wounded me oft and again;
though thou hast followed thy wayward will;
yet, in my pity, I love thee still."
Wonder of wonders it ever must be!
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
Jesus is dying, in agony sore,
Jesus is suffering more and more,
Jesus is bowed with the weight of his woe,
Jesus is faint with each bitter throe.
Jesus is bearing it all in my stead,
pity incarnate for me has bled;
wonder of wonders it ever must be!
Jesus, the Crucified, pleads for me!
Pleading: it’s like when we were a child we screamed “please please let me have that” or when we got in trouble we shouted to be saved from danger.
What does Jesus pleading for us on the cross mean? It means despite who we are, he intercedes for us to God, he bears our sins, he takes our place, he says to God “don’t abandon your children, forgive them and love them.” He sticks up for us when there is no one else to stick up for us. He reconciles us to God. That’s what atonement means.
Have you ever prayed a pleading prayer? We all make a mess of things and sometimes we need saving. If you are there today remember Jesus on the cross for you pleading for you to God and maybe pray this prayer of Jeremiah which is most powerful in the Authorised Version of Scripture:
“O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee. O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.”
(Footnote dear reader - I had to look up astonied! It means deprived briefly of the power to act.)
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