Miserere by Georges Rouault

Isaiah 53:3-5 (NLT)
He was despised and rejected — a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!

Matthew 26:26 (NRSV)
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

A dread and marvelous mystery we see come to pass this day
He whom none may touch is seized
He who looses Adam from the curse is bound
He who tries our hearts and inner thoughts is unjustly brought to trial
He who closed the abyss is shut in prison
He before whom the powers of heaven stand with trembling, stands before Pilate
The Creator is struck by the hand of a creature
He who comes to judge the living and the dead is condemned to the cross
The Destroyer of hell is enclosed in a tomb. – Byzantine liturgy

So if you’re not too proud, too busy, or too old,
I will throw you My forgiveness
As I did when men like you
Were coldly nailing Me to the splintered stake of death.
My forgiveness reaches out
As you hear Me cry, “You’re in,”
As you see Me sweat and die
For all the broken ties between mankind and God. ― Norman C. Habel

I take the shoes from my feet,
I put off all that is finite and tread on a land without borders.
Burst forth, all the dark well-springs of my life!
Come flying all my nights, dark birds of guilt, descend upon me with outstretched wings:
I will go into deepest sorrow that I may find my God.
For sorrow is great in the world, mighty and without end.
It has encompassed that against which heaven and earth are shattered,
It has endured the weight of infinite love.
Holy God, Holy Strength, Holy Immortal.
Thou God under my sin, Thou God under my weakness, Thou God under my death.
I lay my lips upon thy wounds – Lord, I lay my soul upon thy cross.
-Gertrude von Le Fort

Ah, Holy Jesus by Johann Heermann (trans. by Robert S. Bridges)
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended,
That we to judge thee have in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, O most afflicted!

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee!
‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered.
For our atonement, while we nothing heeded, God interceded.

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and thy life’s oblation;
Thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion, for my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee,
Think on thy pity and thy love unswerving, not my deserving.

Blessing of Balm by Jan L. Richardson
When we see
the body of Christ
still broken
in this world,
may we meet it
with lavish grace
and pour ourselves out
with extravagant love.

From The Crucified by Kahlil Gibran
Oh, crucified Jesus,
who art looking sorrowfully from Mount Calvary
at the sad procession of the Ages,
and hearing the clamor of the dark nations,
and understanding the dreams of Eternity:

Thou art, on the Cross,
more glorious and dignified
than one thousand kings
upon one thousand thrones
in one thousand empires.

Thou art, in the agony of death,
more powerful than one thousand generals
in one thousand wars.

With thy sorrows,
thou art more joyous than Spring with its flowers.

With thy suffering,
thou art more bravely silent than the crying of angels
of heaven.

Before thy lashers,
thou art more resolute than the mountain of rock.

Thy wreath of thorns is more brilliant and sublime
than the crown of Bahram.
The nails piercing thy hands are more beautiful
than the scepter of Jupiter.
The spatters of blood upon thy feet are more resplendent
than the necklace of Ishtar.

Forgive the weak who lament thee today,
for they do not know how to lament themselves.

Forgive them,
for they do not know that thou has conquered death
with death,
and bestowed life upon the dead.

Forgive them,
for they do not know that the strength still awaits them.

Forgive them,
for they do not know that every day is thy day.

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For more quotes and scriptures on Christ’s broken body, click here

For quote and scriptures on The Wounds of Christ, click here

For another devotion and original hymn text entitled Tell Me Dear Tree, click here

For another devotion and an original poem entitled The Taste of Death, click here

For another devotion and an original poem entitled You Understand my Pain, click here

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