Were You There?
(Traditional Spiritual)
Retracing the Steps to Calvary
LYRICS (Click to minimize)
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross?
Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they nailed Him to the cross?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble, tremble
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Source: LyricFind
© Public Domain
CCLI Song #29516 | CCLI License #632898
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:3-6 (ESV)
Walk with me those accursed steps to Calvary! The path on which Jesus, the eternal Son of God Himself, walked through a crowd so blind that they would crucify God. Retrace those deep footprints left in the mud, because the Lord bore a burden: a heavy cross of wood to us, but the weight of the whole world to Him. Watch with me as the Living Word, who deserved the undying allegiance of all humanity, received nothing but shame, nakedness, and curses.
It is tragic that in this scene we are not standing with Jesus. We are not walking the steps behind Him. No, we are in the crowd, hurling insults at God Himself. If ever we are tempted to be proud of our morality or our spirituality, remember that we were once blind to the true nature of Jesus Christ, and did not know better than to condemn Him to the most tortuous, shameful penalty we could think of!
Take time to sit in our own shame. The shame that comes when we know that we deserve every bit of the torture that Jesus bore in our place. The shame that comes when we know that we have denied Christ, despite all our vain promises that we would not. The shame that comes when we know that our hearts crucify Jesus, even as our lips proclaim His kingship.
Come with me once more, gentle reader, and remember. Remember the Perfect Lamb who was slain for our sins. Remember His invitation for us to join with Him in His shame. Remember that God Himself was torn for you and me.
On the very same hill of Calvary, we find our shame and our joy all covered with the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s own Lamb!