A poem inspired by the Seven Sayings of Jesus Christ on the Cross
Without forgiveness, nothing could begin.
So He starts at the heart of the matter,
where sin is deepest
and mercy is most needed.
Before the blood finishes dripping,
before the nails are fully fastened,
before the crowd understands what it has done,
His mouth opens;
And mercy speaks first.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
The goal declared before the work is complete:
restoration.
Grace released while judgment waits.
The forgiveness is not only spoken,
it is demonstrated.
A thief breathes his last beside Him,
a life of ruin measured in final moments,
and grace does not hesitate.
No delay.
No conditions.
No probation.
Forgiven, and now invited.
Given a home beyond death,
security beyond the grave.
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Hope outlives the cross.
Eternity interrupts despair.
Then love expands not vertical only,
but horizontal too.
Salvation does not isolate; it forms family.
A mother entrusted.
A disciple commissioned.
Care woven into suffering, responsibility born in pain.
“Woman, behold, your son!” “Behold, your mother!”
Community born at the foot of the cross.
And oh, what it cost my Saviour to give me all this.
Darkness falls.
The sky bears witness.
And heaven goes silent.
The One who never knew distance from the Father steps fully into it.
Forsaken; so I could be accepted.
Abandoned; so I could be brought near.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
The cry of substitution.
The sound of love paying its full price.
Then the ache of it all finds words.
The thirst of a soul poured out.
The dryness of judgment absorbed.
The Giver of living water stands emptied.
He thirsts; so I could be filled.
He empties; so I could lack nothing.
“I thirst.”
And then, no scrambling.
No unfinished business.
No loose ends in redemption.
A declaration, not of defeat, but of completion.
Nothing missing.
Nothing lacking.
The past answered.
The future secured.
“It is finished.”
And finally,
the work complete,
the trust restored,
the life freely given.
Not taken.
Given.
Not forced.
Entrusted.
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”
Seven sayings.
Perfectly spoken.
A complete salvation.
His life, for mine.
A costly exchange that I will treasure all the days of my life.