Lord,
every day people surrounded you
hanging on your every word,
words of love.
Crowds followed you
wherever you went,
longing to be touched by you
and to be made whole again.

When you cured the man
lowered down through the roof
by his friends
and forgave his sins,
people listened.

When you healed the paralytic
in the temple on the Sabbath,
people watched.

When you chose to keep company
with the outcasts of society,
people talked.

Yet even as you were preparing
to give up your life
for these people,
you heard whispers and rumours
from Jewish officials
dotted among the crowds
and your heart sank.

You sighed
before cleverly answering questions
that had been carefully constructed
to entrap you.

You felt weary
as you contemplated
the humiliation and agony
that lay ahead
and that you would make no effort
to avoid.

Many listened with an open heart
to the words of love that you spoke
but a few others hung on your every word,
determined to twist your words of love
and to use them to leave you
hanging on a cross.

© Claire Murray