Saturday Reflections
For the last time of this Lenten Devotional we spend Saturday simply sitting with an instrumental version of a well-known hymn or worship song. Our weeks are so full, so busy, so noisy…use these Saturdays to prepare your hearts for gathered worship by reflecting on lyrics and Scripture in a space of stillness and simplicity.
As Holy Week approaches there is a description of Jesus that seems to take on deeper meaning and significance. It comes from John’s powerful and poetic introduction to his gospel:
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”—John 1:!4 (NKJV)
Five short words that contain so much: full of grace and truth. That’s who Jesus is.
Our Lenten journey, and ultimately the cross to which it leads, is all about grace. It is also about truth. Neither is left short, neither suffers at the expense of the other. Jesus is the perfect embodiment of both, and the cross where he will die demonstrates this as nothing else can. The truth is we are dead in our sin. The grace is that God was not willing to leave us there.
Generations before Jesus was born, the beauty of this balance was captured by the psalmist:
“Mercy and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed.”—Psalm 85:10 (NKJV)
The psalmist penned these words as a longing — a vision of something that felt almost too beautiful to be true. How could mercy and truth both triumph? They seem to pull in opposite directions. For centuries, this verse hung in the air like a promise waiting for its moment.
Then came the cross.
At Calvary, these seemingly opposing realities didn't compromise — they converged. God did not set aside His truth to show mercy, nor did He abandon His righteousness to offer peace. Instead, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, every one of these demands was fully, finally, and gloriously met.
Scripture for Meditation:
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”—Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
Song: Beneath the Cross of Jesus (lyrics after video)
Lyrics for Reflection
Read through the lyrics of this hymn slowly and prayerfully. Read them more than once, and pay attention to the movement of your soul as you pray. What words or phrases grab your attention? Why? As you finish, sit in prayerful silence before God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something of your need and God’s provision that emerges from these words.
Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand;
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From burns beneath the noontide heat
And burdens of the day.Upon that cross of Jesus
Mine eyes at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffer'd there for me;
And from my striken heart, with tears,
Two wonders I confess:
The wonders of redeeming love,
And my unworthiness.O safe and happy shelter!
O refuge tried and sweet!
O sacred place where Heaven's love
And Heaven's justice meet!
As to the exil'd patriarch
That wondrous dream was given,
So seems my Savior's cross to me:
A ladder up to Heav'n.I take, O cross, your shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of his face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain or loss;
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.
Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane
Public Domain