TAKE ME BACK TO THE CROSS

Father, take me back to the cross that I might see,

More of what it cost for my Lord to die for me,
From heaven’s glory He came to a lowly birth,
Born in Bethlehem as Micah had prophesied this.

One among the twelve betrayed Him with a kiss,

Giving His master up for thirty pieces of silver no less,
What anguish of heart the Lord Jesus must have felt at this?
For Judas saw Him as Master, but He was never His Lord.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus sweat drops of blood,

As he contemplated the bitter cup he must drink,
He must go as a lamb to the slaughter as prophesied in the Word,
The mental anguish of this must been horrific I think.

The agonising scourging He took was that I might be healed,

For by His Stripes my sicknesses and diseases are healed,
It was my sins that took my Lord to the cross on that day,
He died that his blood might wash my sins all away
.
And what excruciating pain he bore for one such as me,
The scourging alone would remove layers of skin.
His nerves would be exposed and damaged can’t you see?
Oh the agony, that my Lord endured and He did it all for me.

Pilate asked the crowds who to release, would it be Jesus Son of Man?
But the crowds wanted release of the thief Barabbas the son of a man.
So Pilate gave Jesus up to the crowd, washing his hands of this dreadful deed,
The King of the Jews wearing a crown of thorns, this would be agony indeed.

Beaten, bleeding and in excruciating pain Jesus must go up Mount Calvary,

The cross on His back He must bear so God sent Simon His cross to bear,
And all around the crowds did jeer as Jesus proceeded, their sins to bear.
A bitter cup of gall they offered Him to drink at Golgotha on Mount Calvary.

But the bitterest cup of all was that which He swallowed on the cross,
When He took your sins and mine on His body on the cross,
They nailed Him to the cross piercing His hands and his feet,
And they made His grave with the wicked, He who knew no deceit.

My Saviours words to You Father were “Forgive them for they know not what they do,”
Then as He was taking the sins of the whole world on Himself, He cried “It is finished.”
And now I gaze upon that cross and get an inkling of what He suffered for me and you,
I’m so thankful that He has forgiven me for it was for me His blood was shed.

The temple veil to the Holy of Holies was rent in two making way for me to enter in,
A once for all sacrifice by the precious Lamb of God, Messiah, had been paid for my sin,
The grave couldn’t hold Him and on the third day the King of Kings rose again,
Now He sits at the Father’s right hand on His heavenly throne, and soon He’s coming again.

I have to ask myself a question what is my response to the one who gave His all?
For surely He deserves to have me surrender my all,
How can I hold anything back from the one who loved me so?
Lord take me as I am, I can no longer hold anything back from you.

Irene McGough@2011 (revised edition