Another Sunday morning
I receive the cup and bread
And I’m once again transported
To the place your blood was shed

To the garden of Gethsemane
Where the covenant was sealed
Your decision there made final
By your stripes I’d be healed

The depth of that decision
I’ll never fully know
What it meant to take my place
And pay the debt I owe

I know you were in anguish
Grieved to the point of death
The crushing weight of mankind’s sin
In every labored breath

Your anxiety was so severe
As the dreadful terms were set
That drops of blood flowed through your pores
And mingled with your sweat

How could I ever thank you?
What words are there to say?
To express my sorrow and regret
“I’m so sorry,” I humbly pray

You were mocked and you were spit on
For my arrogance and pride
Abandoned by your closest friends
For the faith I often hide

Your lips were bruised and bloodied
Though the sinful words my own
Your body beaten with a staff
For the hurtfulness I’ve sewn

For impure acts that I concealed
Beneath the dark of night
You bore the shame that I had earned
Exposed in broad daylight

For my drunkenness and gluttony
Self-indulgence at its worst
You surrendered all you had
And languished in your thirst

Nails impaled your sinless hands
For sins my hands had wrought
Thorns impressed your tender brow
To pierce my wicked thoughts

Your beard pulled out, your flesh scourged raw
With whips of iron and bone
Disfigured beyond human form
For transgressions not your own

But even in that ghastly state
Your worst pain still reserved
Separation from the God of Love
The hell that I deserved

Oh, how could I imagine
Or ever think I could
Take measure of my wretched state
And rate myself as “good”

So I’ll meet you in the garden
I’ll meet you at the cross
My debt now paid, my soul redeemed
My gain, from all your loss

And when we meet in Heaven
When my time has come at last
You’ll trade your robes of righteousness
For the garments of my past

And I’ll finally look upon you
And behold your loving face
And search for words of gratitude
For dying in my place

I’ll kiss your precious nail-scarred hands
And praise your holy name
And embrace with pure eternal love
The one who bore my shame

Until that day I’ll meet you here
Upholding your decree
My body the bread, my blood the cup
Do this in remembrance of me