Holy Week Reflections: Love, Silenced

Friday April 2 2021

Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. (John 19:14-16)

So this is love,
Silenced,
By a fear of all those words of compassion.
A fear that has found its home in this death.
A fear now folded in on itself.
The world has won.
The noise has won.
The betrayal has won.
And it is a cold and hollow place, O God.

But there is no God…

Not now.

God is dead
On that cross.

And to whom do I pray
When heaven is empty?

I can only leave here
The silence
Of a broken spirit,
(I was a fool to believe),
And a scattering of questions
That will go unanswered.

From where now
Shall any of us
Find our hope?

By the Rev Roddy Hamilton, minister of New Kirkpatrick Parish Church, Bearsden. His series of reflections continues tomorrow, and each day of Holy Week

Palm Sunday: Did Anyone Know?
Monday: Beyond Earthly Things
Tuesday: Jesus is From Everywhere
Wednesday: 'One of You Will Betray Me'
Thursday: Unsettling and Disruptive

Subscribe to Life and Work in print or digital