Behold the Man

Behold the Man
From the garden, by betrayal,
in Pilate’s judgment hall;
to Herod’s courts.

A crown fashioned
of cruel thorns
forced upon his brow.

Beaten, his lips split,
his eyes bruised,
the scourge of whips upon
His back…
Each thong,
a metal barb embedded,
crashed 39 times
tearing the flesh,
bruising the bone.

“Behold the man!”

His visage battered,
bloodied,
his body torn,
He stands at
Pilate’s judgment seat.
And, the raucous mob
demands Barabbas.

On Golgotha’s hill,
nails were driven
and, the Son of Man
was raised upon
the cross of wood.
Naked, battered,
bloody and beaten,
the Christ hangs
between heaven
and earth.

The sun hides
from the scene,
and darkness
floods the land.

“IT IS FINISHED”

the veil is rent
The price is paid,
the sin-debt forgiven
---Joyce Freeman-Clark©