Tonight a father and son came over to watch the The Passion of the Christ at my house as part of their Easter preparation. (I have a pretty sweet home theater in my basement that they wanted to ‘borrow’) It is a movie that I can handle watching about once a year. It is a powerful experience. If you have not seen it, you really should. (Read my review on Kidology.org) It is a very fitting film for Easter time as you can no longer be flipant or casual about Jesus’ death after seeing this film. Anyway, as I continue to post my long-lost poetry, (torture to some I’m sure!), I was moved by the film to post a poem I wrote about the Crucifiction titled “Through a Mother’s Eyes.” It also is a song written in B minor, bu you’ll have to use your imagination for that.
Through a Mother’s Eyes
She stood there looking at her son,
She said, “I thought you were the one,
The Scriptures promised so long ago,
Who’d come to make us finally whole.”
But now He hung there on a tree,
Bleeding, dying, in misery,
She saw the wounds, she heard his cries,
Through a Mother’s Eyes
As she gazed up through eyes of tears,
Her thoughts traveled back through the years,
To when she’d first learned she’d have a son,
And those quiet years when He was young.
But all along she knew the day would come,
When he would cease to be her son,
And so she’d watched, as time went by,
Through a Mother’s Eyes
But now He’d grown to be a man,
Sent by God to complete His plan,
He came to earth to bring us life,
To lift man’s burden of sin and strife.
But still she could not understand,
Could this be what God had planned?
She heard him groan, she heard his sighs,
Through a Mother’s Eyes
She looked up to His eyes above,
But instead of hate they burned with love.
Peace was flowing out of them,
Forgiveness to those He could condemn,
For in this shame and great disgrace,
He hung so He might take their place,
Now she started to see why…
Through a Mother’s Eyes
Though He’d paid the greatest cost,
The victory had not been lost.
Her eyes were opened, now she could see,
Salvation now to man was free!
Jesus’ redemptive work was done!
Satan trembled because Christ has won!
For he knew that now his greatest loss,
Was the soul of every soul who would
GAZE UPON THE CROSS!
Through a Mother’s Eyes
Karl Bastian, ~1984
I’m not sure how theologically sound it is - but hey, I was still in junior high and hadn’t gone to Bible college yet. But I think the point is made even if we don’t truly know what was going through Mary’s heart and mind as she watched her son die. No one seemed to understand what was truly happening… but we DO, and so we have a greater responsibility to respond!
That Jesus volunteered to go through all of that on my account… well, there just aren’t words to describe it. I found another poem about the crucifixion, but I want to save it until Good Friday. Hope this encouraged you to focus on the cross. It is the great equalizer.
