"Crucified By Those Who Stayed Away"
Crucifixion eve found the man of heaven trodding the shadowy paths of sorrow alone. Where were his avowed friends?
Where were they all? Why, only days before*
They hailed him with hosannas and with palms.
Where was the palsied man who walked once more?
The beggar given sight instead of alms?
He stood before the mob caricatured as an imposter by hell's shady artists.
Were there not those who could erase their ugly marks?
Where were the one's who saw their children blest?
The erstwhile lepers free to roam at will?
The dead called back as if but waked from rest?
The hungry thousands fed upon the hill?
Aye, even as he heard the taunting jeers On that dark morning of a darker day, Peter was wasting precious time in tears And faithless Judas went the coward's way.
Pontius Pilate hoping to release the man of justice looked afar for even one gesture to exonerate the forsaken Galilean.
I hoped to hear, through calls importunate But yet another sound as moments passed, A sudden clamor at the outer gate To tell me that his friends had come at last.
I was a ruler sent from other lands I worshipped other gods.
Though I could see No fault in Him, I did but wash my hands To put aside responsibility.
The indignant crowd, charged with hate, screamed:
"Crucify him"! "Crucify him"! Pilate gave in to their carnal desires. The man of compassion was doomed by the Jewish wolfpack who had long trailed him for the kill.
And yet my heart was heavy. Had there been Even a few to shout for his release, I could have told the gentle Nazarene—"I find you guiltless. Go your way in peace."
So put not, overmuch, the blame on me—
You who at Passover kneel again to pray, For, more than by my indecision, He Was crucified by those who stayed away.
*M F. Loveridge