Good Friday: Were You There?

 Singing is like speaking. It is not the same having to say something as having something to say. It is not the same singing something as having something to sing. I hope this song comes across as my desire to share something meaningful that cannot be expressed with simple words.

1.  Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble…

You know how big were the nails they used to crucify Him? I brought a few that I found. They were just thicker, like a finger. They passed through his hand, that is, between the end of His palm and the beginning of His wrist. How could people do that to other people? How could something like that be done even to a criminal? How could they do that to Jesus? If I had been there…!

Were you there…? Is that a reproach? How could I be there if I was not born? Were you perhaps there? Why are you singing this? Is there a way to be with Him at that moment? And if I were there, what would I do, if not crying, being terrified, and perhaps run from Him as I have done many times!

2.  Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble…

They call the cross “tree.” As fruits hang from trees, our Lord and Savior hung on a cross. He was not simply fixed to the cross, He was hanging from the nails, and so hardly nailed that no one would ever pass by the tree of His cross without finding the fruit of His love. Jesus is no more on the Cross after His resurrection, but even now He keeps the marks of those nails, the marks of His love for you, for me, and for all who still do not dare to love Him. He is still waiting for them to kiss those marks in repentance.

3.  Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble…

They carried the lifeless Body of the man who had given life to the dead. The man who had the authorities on their toes now could not stand on his own feet. The man who moved thousands to follow Him had to be moved by three or four people. There was not one sign of life in Him: not a breath, not a heartbeat, not a drop of blood left. The man who defied nature with His miracles was now subject to gravity, a heavy load, difficult to carry because of His dislocated bones…

How could humans do such a thing to a prophet? Why had Jesus not responded with His miracles to save Himself? Why did He allow His enemies to hurt Him so much? If I had been there…! Were you there…? Yes, we were all there, in His heart and in His mind. He knew that we would need proof of His love to turn away from sin. He knew that we would need encouragement and example to fight against sin. He knew that someone had to repair our sins and that we could not do it yet. He knew that usually our sufferings keep us far from God, so He came to the depths of suffering to rescue us, to accompany us, to give an answer to the scandal of the Cross.

May we today come closer to His cross. Let us be there. Let us never again depart from Him.