Cross Of Jesus, Cross Of Sorrow
Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow
Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
Where the blood of Christ was shed,
Perfect man on thee did suffer,
Perfect God on thee has bled!
Here the King of all the ages,
Throned in light ere worlds could be,
Robed in mortal flesh is dying,
Crucified by sin for me.
O mysterious condescending!
O abandonment sublime!
Very God Himself is bearing
All the sufferings of time!
Cross of Jesus, cross of sorrow,
Where the blood of Christ was shed,
Perfect man on thee did suffer,
Perfect God on thee has bled!
THE CRUCIFIXION was more than merely a martyr’s death. Rather, it was a tear in the fabric of history, and part of a great overarching eternal plan.
William Sparrow-Simpson captures some of the outrageousness of the Cross in these lines. This was not just a good man on a cross, but a perfect man, and more, perfect God. The King of all the ages, very God Himself, died on a hand-hewn wooden cross. Viewed from this perspective, the story no longer refers to a gentle reformer overpowered by a vicious religious or political machine. Our loving God allowed Himself to be bound and killed by people He created. It is mysterious condescending, abandonment sublime.
This song is part of John Stainer’s cantata The Crucifixion. Sparrow-Simpson wrote the entire libretto to that work, his main claim to hymnology fame. In this hymn, he reminds us all of Jesus’ great love in submitting Himself to the “cross of sorrow.”
May I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.
Galatians 6:14
From the book
