I love Easter. Obviously, it’s sort of the lynchpin of my faith, but it’s just an awesome day. My Saviour didn’t just die to take my sins on himself – He couldn’t stop there. He rose again. The penalty for my sin was death, and Christ conquered it! Amazing!
In church last night, we read parts of Matthew as Christ was being led to the cross and through the resurrection. Matthew 27:32 mentions that at one point Simon of Cyrene was pressed into service to carry Christ’s cross. I’m not a huge Ray Boltz fan, but I heard this song a few years ago, and it really got to me. It’s from the perspective of Simon:
Walking on the road to Jerusalem,
The time had come to sacrifice again,
My two small sons,
They walk beside me on the road,
The reason that they came was to watch the lamb.
Daddy, daddy,
What will we see there,
There’s so much that we don’t understand,
So I told them of Moses and father Abraham,
Then I said dear children watch the lamb,
There will be so many in Jerusalem today,
We must be sure the lamb doesn’t run away,
And I told them of Moses and father Abraham,
Then I said dear children watch the lamb.
When we reached the city,
I knew something must be wrong,
There were no joyful worshipers,
No joyful worship songs,
I stood there with my children in the midst of angry men,
Then I heard the crowd cry out
Crucify Him.
We tried to leave the city but we could not get away,
Forced to play in this drama a part I did not wish to play,
Why upon this day were men condemned to die,
Why were we standing here,
Where soon they would pass by.
I looked and said, even now they come,
The first one cried for mercy,
The people gave him none,
The second man was violent,
He was arrogant and loud,
I still can hear his angry voice screaming at the crowd,
Then someone said there’s Jesus,
I scarce believed my eyes,
A man so badly beaten,
He barely looked alive,
Blood poured from His body,
From the thorns upon His brow,
Running down the cross,
Falling to the ground.
I watched Him as He struggled,
I watched Him as He fell,
The cross came down upon His back,
The crowd began to yell,
In that moment I felt such agony,
In that moment I felt such loss,
Till a Roman soldier grabbed my arm
And screamed, you, carry His cross.
At first I tried to resist him,
Then his hand reached for his sword,
So I knelt and took the cross from the Lord,
I placed it on my shoulder,
And started down the street,
The blood that he’d been shedding was running down my cheek.
They led us to Golgotha,
They drove nails deep in His feet and hands,
Yet upon the cross I heard Him pray
Father, forgive them.
Oh, never have I seen such love in any other eyes,
Into thy hands I commend my spirit
He prayed and the He died,
I stood for what seemed like years,
I’d lost all sense of time until I felt two tiny hands
Holding tight to mine,
The children stood there weeping,
I heard the oldest say,
Father please forgive us, the lamb ran away.
Daddy, daddy,
What have we seen here,
There’s so much that we don’t understand,
So I took them in my arms,
We turned and faced the cross,
Then I said dear children
Watch the Lamb.
