John Dekker's Day

5:18PM - Poems XXVIII: I see the crowd in Pilate's hall

I see the crowd in Pilate's hall,
Their furious cries I hear;
Their shouts of "Crucify!" appall,
Their curses fill mine ear.

And of that shouting multitude
I feel that I am one,
And in that din of voices rude
I recognize my own.

I see the scourgers rend the flesh
Of God's beloved Son;
And as they smite I feel afresh
That I of them am one.

Around the Cross the throng I see
That mock the Sufferer's groan,
Yet still my voice it seems to be,
As if I mocked alone.

'Twas I that shed that sacred Blood,
I nailed him to the Tree,
I crucified the Christ of God,
I joined the mockery.

Yet not the less that Blood avails
To cleanse me from sin,
And not the less that Cross prevails
To give me peace within.

- Horatius Bonar