The Darling of Heaven, Crucified

Worthy is the Lamb
Seated on Your throne
Crown You now with many crowns
You reign victorious
High and lifted up
Jesus Son of God
The Darling of heaven crucified
Worthy is the Lamb
Darlene Zschech, 2000

There are a few songs that are, truly, in a league of their own for the simple reason that they have moved me to tears. Songs like Lenny LeBlanc's Above All, Mark Schultz' Letters From War and, most recently, Darlene Zschech's Worthy is the Lamb.

I happened to be listening to music casually some weeks ago when a line jumped up at me out of the tunes: "the Darling of Heaven crucified." What horror! Jesus was crucified. He was actually, even brutally, nailed to a cross and left to hang for 3 hours while the whole world walked on by. And there, alone, far removed from the glory of heaven - where he had legions of magnificent angels at his beck and call, where he had his Father's ear, where he was undisputed prince - there, on the cross, he died in pain and despair. From glory to grave, from Heaven to Hades.

At the height of his suffering Jesus he called out, "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?" Dead silence. Not even his Father would answer him now. There, at that moment, he had become sin. He was sin embodied that sin might die. It was as though God had cut off his own right hand and thrown it in the fire. The Darling of Heaven was crucified. Heaven's best Son was abandoned to death.

And most fittingly, all earth fell silent and the sun refused to shine. Creation rebelled for her Master was defiled. And with a word and a cry he breathed his last.

And there, right there in the darkness, in the silence - with the women weeping in muffled tones while the soldiers mocked - there does history find its finest moment. Christ crucified so that I could escape death.

Do we so much mourn Christ's death as we celebrate it? Perhaps not quite so much, and with good reason too - for if the full weight of the injustice of that moment should descend on us, and if we realized that we too held the hammer that spring afternoon, we might be driven to depths of despair. But thanks be to God, all that is done and the bitterness of death is past. So go ahead, mourn and then celebrate Christ's death. The Darling of Heaven crucified, so that I could become Heaven's darling.

With love, Doosuur.