How Heavy Was The Jesus Cross? Poem by Denis Martindale

How heavy was the Jesus Cross, those men forced Christ to bear?
That fateful Cross despised because of pains Christ had to share,
That sapped His strength upon His path to Calvary and death,
To end up as His epitaph, Jesus of Nazareth?
How heavy was the Jesus Cross, those men forced Christ to hold?
That awful Cross that brought such loss, to Him, worth more than gold,
To Him, who made that very tree, its roots and branches, too,
For that one day, and Calvary, prepared to die for you?
How heavy was the Jesus Cross, those men forced Christ to brave?
That bloodied Cross where scoffers toss their insults, will God save?
To Him, who knew no sin at all, to Him, who chose to die,
Not asking for a miracle, the crowd still asking why?
That chosen Cross, it weighed so much, upon the King of Kings,
Yes, this we know, its weight was such, men trembled at such things,
Too much for Him that some despaired because Christ could have died,
So soldiers from this burden spared, yet then Christ crucified.
So think again, how weak Christ was, once whipped, and body scourged,
Then hoisted high upon that Cross, for that His people urged.
Christ interceded even then, ‘They know not what they do',
Psalm twenty-two foretold this when the Saviour died for you.


Denis Martindale. October 2020.