Gabbatha—in the judgment hall
Of Roman might—a coward judge—a throng
Of heartless madmen—mid them all
In patient sufferance of untold wrong
Serene
resigned
with conscious power strong
Behold the Man!
The Christ! By ancient seers foretold—
A man with whom no mortal can compare—
The Jews’ Messiah
sought of old
He comes
the sins of multitudes to bear
And in His people’s woe and weakness share;
He came unto His own
but lo!
His own received Him not; despised He stands
The victim of their wrath; the woe
Of woes had pierced His soul; life in His hands
Rejected; scorned by heartless
thankless bands:
They brought Him forth
thorn-crowned
in pain;
Attired in robes of mock regality;
The sign of heav’nly kingship plain
On His pale brow enstamped—the majesty
Of God blending with human agony:
scourged
bleeding
faint
Bowed ’neath the burden of a whole world’s sin;
He bore the load without a selfish plaint
That dying souls may life immortal win
And through the gates of glory enter in
And yet all power was His—a word
From those closed lips and angel hosts would come
Swift to defend their injured Lord
And hurl His fierce opposers to their doom—
But silent
suffering in sinners’ room
Ah! Pilate
did a gleam of truth
Flash on your secret soul in that dark day?
Else why the faltering voice forsooth
The troubled brow
as you so weakly say
I find no fault in Him
take Him away!
And ye who in your hearts of stone
Cry Crucify Him! Crucify Him! still—
Bleeding for your sins to atone
Dying to save you from unmeasured ill
A sinless sacrifice on Calv’ry’s hill—
The day will dawn—it hastens now—
When He before the world shall reappear;
Not ’neath the cross again to bow
But as a conqueror
a crown to wear!
Then shall ye in dismay and abject fear
O Christ! all human
all divine!
Pattern of patience and humility!
Inspire my soul with grace like Thine
That I may bear life’s trials patiently
And in that day of terror tranquilly
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