O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

O sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down;
now scornfully surrounded
With thorns, thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.

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,
Vouch-safe to me thy grace.

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.

--Bernard of Clairvaux

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Luke 23: 44-46


What a price to pay. Precious, pure blood for the stains of us.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was thinking on the cross?

All of God's wrath--wrath that was meant for us--was being poured out onto him. His spiritual anguish must have been severe.

The physical pain--sweating blood, like he did just before, is an actual condition that causes the skin of the place (his forehead) to become extremely tender. Right in time for a crown of sharp thorns to be pressed onto his head. He was whipped with barbed whips. Being elevated into the air on a wooden cross by nails hammered into his hands and feet. Ouch.

The humiliation--being hung out for all to see and to scoff. The soldiers split his garments between them, meaning that he was unclothed. He had a mocking sign hung above his head.

I think that this story has been told so many times that it has kind of lost it's meaning. "Yeah, yeah. Jesus hung on the cross to pay for sins. I know. I've been told a million and two times." But each year we should think on this story afresh. Because if it weren't for Jesus, we would be without hope. We would be doomed.

It's not a good thing, being doomed.

Praise the Lord that we aren't anymore.

Izori