All hail the thorn and the briar
On this Good Friday where we remember that God really did give his Son for us. In this Passion week when we remember that love came down from heaven, we can see the com-passion of God, invite someone to take a closer look at Christ and his church.
“Across the will of Nature
Leads on the path of God;
Not where the flesh delighteth
The feet of Jesus trod.
O bliss to leave behind us
The fetters of the slave,
To leave ourselves behind us,
The graveclothes and the grave.
We follow in His footsteps;
What if our feet be torn?
Where He has marked the pathway
All hail the briar and the thorn!
Scarce seen, scarce be heard, unreckoned,
Despised, defamed, unknown
Or heard but by our singing,
On, children, ever on!”
― Gerhard Tersteegan 1697–1769