Lord,
Where were they on that day?
When angry crowds
were whipped into a frenzy
by jealous religious leaders
and hoards of people
were baying for Your precious blood,
where were they?
All of those people
whom You healed?
The people whose lives You touched?
The crowds who hung
on Your every word?
Where were they on that day?

The ten lepers you cleansed?
The lame man by the pool
whom you made walk?
The paralysed man
lowered down through the roof?
The woman with the haemorrhage?
Tiny Nicodemus who scaled a tall tree
just to catch a glimpse of You?
The five thousand whom you fed?
Where were they on that day?

Were they among the crowd?
Did they get carried away
by mass hysteria?
Did they roar, “Crucify Him!”
or did they simply remain silent,
too terrified to speak
in an incensed and angry mob?

Yet what haunts me
is that I wonder
whether, in those circumstances,
I would have had the courage
to speak up for you myself?

© Claire Murray