I Was There

I sit here tonight
     and pray as I should.
As I do reflect
     on this day we call “Good”.
I try to imagine,
     if I had been there.
Would I have noticed,
     would I even care?

People are dying
     out there on the hill.
That’s just what happens
     to that kind of swill.
The crowd’s cheering loudly,
     is that my voice too?
I want no part of this,
     this king that’s a Jew.

Why do the shouts seem
     so loud in my ear?
What did I do that
     has brought me so near?
It seems I am stuck here,
     suspended in air.
I wish that the truth was,
     this punishment’s not fair.

But as I consider
     the things I’ve done wrong.
It starts to sink in,
     this is where I belong.
I lived like I wanted,
     life was all about me.
It was my sinful choices
     that put me here on this tree.

There are two men with me,
     quite different are they.
As I listen closely,
     I hear one of them pray.
“Father, forgive them”
     were the words that I heard.
From where I am hanging,
     that sure sounds absurd.

The other man’s yelling,
     and mocking the first.
As the man they call Jesus
     cries out, “I do thirst!”
The insults continue,
     but I’ve had my fill.
I say, “We deserve this
     for what we thought was a thrill.”

We got what was coming
     from the choices we made.
But that’s not the case
     with Him, I’m afraid.
There’s no fault within Him,
     He’s innocent for sure.
Yet He still hangs there
     and I watch Him endure.

I realize this moment
     requires my all.
So I turn to the Christ
     and on His name I call.
Jesus, remember me
     when you reach your kingdom.
He says I’ll be with Him,
     then He says “It is done!”

It was quite a journey,
     I’ve not left my chair.
But I look at my life
     and I’m sure I was there.
My sin hung there with Him,
     it was nailed to that tree.
I must make a choice,
     which thief there was me?

The one I have chosen,
     I pray you do too.
Is to cry out to Jesus,
     let me be with you!
So my life did not end
     as it looked like it would.
It is only beginning
     on this Friday called “Good”!

We had a great Good Friday service and I was spending time in my office praying afterward as I waited for the building to clear so I could get it ready for Sunday. As I did so, God put this poem in my mind so I typed it out to share with you. I pray that it helps you to examine the events of Good Friday from a fresh perspective. I pray that you choose to cry out to Jesus to remember you! I pray that this poem brings glory to God and accomplishes His purposes for it.

In prayer,
Tom