Black (ii)

The Lamb of God no longer saw those eyes
Those dull accusing spheres which stared into
His gentle, dove-like eyes so full of love.
In his mind now the tunnel was no more
Yet on the cross the torment left its mark
For bitter was the poison that had stained
The mind of Him who suffered so that He
Would bring salvation to the world and be
Raised up from death and praised in Heaven’s realm.
But great His anguish in His tortuous state
The rain that poured upon him from the cloud
So black and unrelenting as to make
Him feel the need to cry out with these words:
‘Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani’.
Such words of desolation, echoing
The words of David, shepherd boy and king
Could not release Him from the harsh torture
Of mind heaped on Him by the lying snake.
Yet more and more the shepherd boy’s lament
Pressed on His mind as if to crush all hope
Of Yahweh’s presence in His hour of need
As is but deaf and distant from the groans
That pleaded for some solace yet seemed far
Away from Yahweh’s hearing and presence.
Within His mind the holy Lamb of God
Was mindful, despite agonies that crushed
His body and His mind to harsh extremes,
Of Yahweh’s mercy and deliverance
To all who cried out in pure faith and trust.
Yet He who hung upon the cross could not
But sense utter despair and worthlessness.
The butt of scorn and insults, trodden down
As if He were a worm, of no renown
And worthy only of rejection crude
And mockery hurled at him from the tongues
Of those who thought Him to be their Saviour
From Roman tyranny, their minds closed off
From love, forgiveness, mercy and release
By which Yahweh’s true kingdom would bestow
Salvation to all those who put their trust
In Him – O generation so perverse
And foolish, full of blindness spiritual.
Yet e’en from birth was placed in Him real faith
And trust even when at His mother’s breast,
But now real fear and doubt assailed his soul
As if all helpless, utterly alone
Now at the mercy of those who surround
And ensnare him, and with their teeth would tear
His flesh and bone, a gory carnal feast
For roaring lions, with their mouths now drenched
With blood from feasting on the hapless Lamb
Who is poured out like water, disfigured
By bones all out of joint and staring up
At Him, alone and suffering, bleeding for
Our sakes, whose strength is all but gone, his mouth
Dry as the desert’s scorching blinding heat.
Stripped of all dignity, even His clothes
Are but a menial prize for those who roll
The dice of death, no mercy no reprieve
From those who bark their torrid vicious taunts
At Him whose hands and feet are piercèd through.
Is there no respite from this desperate scene
Whereby deliverance may its hand release
The Lamb of God from his black throne of shame?
His mind implores sweet mercy from the dogs
The horns of wild oxen, the roaring lions,
And sword which, unrelenting, pierces His
Pure heart and mind, the stabbing mental pain
Which, undeserved, is His apportioned lot.
Yet even in the blackness of His mind
Hope springs anew, like fresh green shoots that rise
From ashes bare upon the ground that once
Was scorched by blazing, overpowering rays
Now watered by the rain that brings new hope
To Him who suffers, and all humankind
Who will but look upon Him and worship;
A mighty congregation, blessed souls
Assembly great, sisters and brothers who
Proclaim the mighty acts of Yahweh God
Who will not let His one beloved Son
Abandoned or deserted be, but who
In due time will deliver Him from death
To life once more, Godhead fully restored.
Such respite brief, too short to bring lasting
Relief to Him who, hanging on the cross
Was subject to the elements, for now
The unrelenting rainfall drenched the earth
And yet began to wash away the blood
That until now had stained the body scarred
By lash and nail, and thorn and human blows.
Yet great on him was the true burden of
Our sin and shame that, helpless in His hour
Of need, no help to his aid came, for now
The crushing weight that was His sole domain
Was placed upon Him, causing Him to sense
What seemed a feeling of abandonment
And rejection by all the heavenly realms
As if to cloak their faces from the sight
Of one so broken and destined to face
What seemed to Him in His most darkest hour
A chalice filled with poison, bitter gall
As offered Him before He was affixed
To that dark tree which was His throne for now
By Roman soldiers, as if to offer
A crumb of human kindness, yet this was
In the light of the punishment that He
Had borne from their cruel hands and mouths profane
An irony, a twisting of the knife
Into the very lifeblood which was now
Flowing freely, despite the driving rain
In its attempt to wash away the scars
Which ate into His very existence
And make him feel the lowest of the low.
Upon the utterance of the sacred words
Of David, those who heard His cry of pain
And desolation, said unto themselves:
“Listen to Him, He summons Elijah
To help Him in His desperate hour of need.
Let us now wait to see whether or not
Elijah, with his chariots of fire
Descends from lofty heights beyond the skies
To aid this rabbi suffering upon
The cross, and take Him down and ease his pain
And free Him from the punishment that we
By our cries before Pilate did condemn
Him to a death most odious and foul
Yet fully and most righteously deserved.
Leave Him alone, and let us wait and see
Elijah prophesy deliverance
To this poor soul forsaken and condemned.”
Came there no sign, no apparition of
He who did signify fulfilment of
The prophecy of Yahweh over Baal.
No fire descended from the heavenly heights
To burn away false gods and scatter those
Who in their error followed Canaanite
Deity in their priestly offices.
No chariots of fire to take the Lamb
Of God back into Paradise and thus
Release Him from the grip of cross and nail.
He must endure the pain and agony
And by His death release us from our sins
The price of which will be forever paid.
Dear Lamb of God, we look upon your face
That still to us bids welcome despite all
The pain and agony that you endured
For us and all of holy creation.
With trembling steps and tears of penitence
We dare to come before you, we are not
Worthy to stand and look upon your state
Of shame for which our sins you willingly
Gave up your life so that life may be ours
For now and all eternity assured.
You look not on our dire unworthiness
Despite the blackness of your physical
And mental pain which tears your soul in two.
Forgive us all, we who have deserted
You in your time of need, we who are proved
Unworthy of you, hapless sinners we
Who need your grace and pardon to revive
Our souls which by your blood redeemèd are.