Cross words: A Good Friday Sonnet Cycle
The Seven Last words of christ from the cross
When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ~Luke 23:33-34
FORGIVE
Just another body to be broken
With callous disregard, a duty done.
The soldiers kill with nails, a deadly token
Of sacrifice borne by the suffering Son.
“Father,” as the mallets fall, “Forgive them.”
“They know not what they do.” They would not hear.
With every bloody death by crucifixion
Their wounded hearts are scarred beyond repair.
They strip Him of His dignity and clothing,
Casting lots for garments cast aside.
But Jesus prays, “Forgive them,” even knowing
There will be no repentance in their pride.
The King, unrobed, wears all the guilt of men:
A blood-sewn cloak to cover naked sin.
And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your Kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” ~Luke 23:42-43
PARADISE
An angered heart hard to heaven’s voice
Vainly strains against encroaching night;
Spirit raw and stripped of all but noise,
Darkness closing in he mocks the Light.
Another, knowing life will soon be done,
Rebukes the dark, reaching past reproach
To the One who spoke of Kingdom come,
His heart a wrecked and worn but open road.
Between them, Jesus, dying for dying men,
Speaks hope only a humbled heart can hear,
A gentle voice above a deathly din
Promising that Paradise is near.
The Carpenter with bloody nails in hand
Is building mansions in a better land.
When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. ~John 19:26-27
BEHOLD
“Behold!” The word resounded with command.
“Behold!” he shouted, “Look upon Your King.”
Pilate reasoned they would understand;
The Son of Man stood waiting to be seen.
They nailed Him to a cross on Calvary,
Below Him, mother and beloved friend.
Others waited, hoping they would see
One last thing to behold before the end.
He looked to Mary, “Woman, behold your son.”
His tender eyes assured; it was enough.
To John, “Behold, your mother as your own.”
His last appeal, in dying, simply love.
“Behold, the Lamb of God,” who takes our sin,
The humble King, unseen, His reign begins.
When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, Sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” ~Mark 15:33-35
FORSAKEN
The One who told the raging storm, “Be still!”
Hung silent on a cross as darkness fell
Across the land, a shadow veil, until
He cried out from a dark place in His soul:
“My God! My God!” he shouted through a haze,
“Why have you forsaken Me?” and groaned.
No angels came, no chariot to save;
Abandoned and deserted, left alone,
Who once had spoken to the darkness, “Light!”
Creation’s life that He Himself would be.
But now the darkened sun forbore to shine
While Light hung dying on a killing tree.
They mocked Him, “Let us see Elijah come”
And to the dark Light willingly succumbed.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scriptures, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. ~John 19:28-29
THIRSTY
Healer of the sick and lame, the blind
Eyes opened by His spittle in the mud,
Now says, “I thirst,” no miracle this time
But Scripture is fulfilled in all He does.
The Living Water – spilled for all to quench
The thirst of every sin-parched, seeking soul –
Tastes of the soured wine that bears the stench
Of death that He must suffer for their fall.
The time had come, no tears were left to cry;
The work had been accomplished, all was done.
The cross had squeezed all life from Him, now dry –
A spent, discarded, sacrificial sponge.
But heaven’s rain was coming soon to send
A river, living water without end.
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” ~Luke 23:46
COMMIT
His timbered table set for only one –
The life-bread broken, finest wine now poured
Into an earthen cup. This loving Son
Calls to His father, “This for You, My Lord.”
Into the hands that hold all living things
He offers one last meal of spirit food,
Who made the universe now humbly brings
Himself served up on blood-soaked, splintered wood.
His invitation draws me: “Come and dine.”
Upon this living viand I partake
And taste the bread and savor holy wine
That sate a hunger only He can slake.
Body, blood, the bread of life He gives
To feast on Him that all who eat may live.
(The word that Jesus uses for “commit” means to place food on a table.)
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. ~John 19:30
FINISHED
“It is finished.” Yes, but not the end.
An anguished cry, Spirit yielded, death
Begins what only He could comprehend:
That life lay nascent in His final breath.
What language can convey, what words unfold
(When naught but silence quietens my groans)
These longings stirred within my muted soul
For hope conferred on mortal flesh and bone?
Staunch me of all words, O Word of all,
Till this untethered tongue shall cease to move,
That I might hear the veil-torn voice that calls
And floods this void with unrelenting love:
Living words that pierce my soul and rend
This heart in two and bind it back again.
All sonnets above Copyright 2015 Clay K Clarkson
All scriptures above NASB 1995 version, The Lockman Foundation