Good Friday Sorrow

 

This is a busy week, so my next two blog posts will use two of my favorite hymns. This week I will concentrate on Good Friday, and next week I’ll do Easter.

“O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken” reminds me that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, not His. It’s an act of love that I find hard to fathom, yet one for which I’ll be eternally grateful. Here are four of the many verses.

O dearest Jesus, what law hast Thou broken
That such sharp sentence should on Thee be spoken?
Of what great crime hast Thou to make confession,
What dark transgression?
 
Whence come these sorrows, whence this mortal anguish?
It is my sins for which Thou, Lord, must languish;
Yes, all the wrath, the woe, Thou dost inherit,
This I do merit.
 
What punishment so strange is suffered yonder!
The Shepherd dies for sheep that loved to wander;
The Master pays the debt His servants owe Him,
Who would not know Him.
 
The sinless Son of God must die in sadness;
The sinful child of man may live in gladness;
Man forfeited his life and is acquitted;
God is committed.

Have a blessed Holy Week.

__________

 The picture at the top of this post is a 16^th century painting attributed to Frans Pourbus the Elder. It is in the public domain because of its age.