O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down
Now scornfully surrounded, with thorns Thine only crown
The opening verses of Bernard of Clairveaux’s hymn, written in the 12th century, voices the pathos of the Lenten season. While everyone looks forward to the joy of that accompanies Christ’s resurrection, we must never forget the event which precedes it: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These two events are the heart and soul of the good news.
The crucifixion of Jesus confronts us with an inconvenient, uncomfortable yet undeniable and incontrovertible truth. Jesus died the death we deserved. The second stanza of Bernard’s hymn expresses this with a solemnly eloquent poignancy.
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe* to me Thy grace. (*promise)
By his death Jesus secured God’s forgiveness for our sins. (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-5; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 1:1-4; 10:5-14) In a sermon on the crucifixion a former professor said, “Only a sinless Savior can save us from the sin which separates us from God and Jesus is that Savior.” The good in Good Friday is that by dying in our place for our sins Jesus makes it possible to live the life God intended us to live: a life in full, unbroken, and ongoing fellowship with him. According to Bernard we are at a loss for words to express our gratitude for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.
Here is more good news. By his death Jesus defeated, conquered, and overcame completely the power of sin to separate us from fellowship with God. By his resurrection Jesus defeated, conquered, and overcame completely the power of death so that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (see Romans 8:38-39)
The last stanza of Bernard’s hymn is a prayer motivated by the triumphant tone of Romans 8.
Be my consolation, my shield when I must die;
Remind me of Thy passion when my last hour draws nigh.
Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, upon Thy cross shall dwell,
My heart by faith enfolds Thee. Who dieth thus dies well.
What language we shall borrow to thank him who died for our sin and rose to give us eternal life? The only answer can be that of the apostle Thomas in John 20:28: “My Lord and my God!”
You think about that.
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