“Ah, Holy Jesus,” ELW 349
Devotion
Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended
that we to judge thee have in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee.
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee;
I crucified thee.
Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
for our atonement, while we nothing heeded,
God interceded.
For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation,
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation;
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion,
for my salvation.
Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee,
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee;
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving,
not my deserving.
The hymn brings us to Holy Week. How strange a place to be, here, almost half a year away. But that is where the gospel for this week (Mark 9:30-37) brings us, as its third major theme introduces itself: the second prediction of Jesus' passion. Unlike the other two passion predictions in Mark, the one we hear today has Jesus being "betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him" (Mark 9:31). It reminds us that we—as humans—are responsible for Jesus' death. Thus we are in the agony of our own betrayal of Holy Week: "Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee. 'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; I crucified thee" (v. 2). Yet as unworthy, as guilty, as we are, we can do nothing other than fall before the very grace and mercy of God: "For me, kind Jesus, was thine incarnation, thy mortal sorrow ... thy bitter passion, for my salvation" (v. 4).
Prayer
Compassionate God, on the cross your very flesh and blood suffered our betrayal. Yet you do not hold this betrayal against us, and you continue to forgive the wrongs that we do. May we be so blessed that we can forgive as we are forgiven and care as we often do not care. Shower us, O God, with your living Spirit, and shepherd us all the days of our life. In the name of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.