I
saw them lift that awful tree,
And
then His face came clear-
The
beating by the Roman guards
Had
plainly been severe.
His
fabled, otherworldly eyes
Swelled
thin from blows to them;
And
then the soldiers cursed the Jews,
And
spit on Him again.
He
pulled and then He seized a breath,
And
fell back from the pain.
A
trickle from His punctured brow
Raced
past His tongue in vain.
So
many times I’d heard Him speak;
So
much He taught seemed true...
And
then- I’m not sure why- He said:
“They
know not what they do.”
The
soldiers sat, and then began
To
gamble for His cloak.
That
some who touched it had been healed
Was
bandied as a joke.
“He
lies,“ the leaders said, and then
Insulted
Him in spite;
But
I had seen it with my eyes-
And
knew that they weren’t right.
Two
criminals were there as well,
Both
being crucified.
They
joined the others mocking that
The
Christ would thus have died.
And
then one seemed to soften-
Like
he feared to God his vice.
He
prayed, and then from Jesus
There
was promised Paradise.
And
then the countryside grew dark;
The
ground began to shake;
And
even the Centurion,
Great
dread did overtake.
We
heard Him cry, “It’s finished!” as
The
earth howled in defraud,
And
then we knew for certain that
This
was the Son of God.
I
searched for His disciples hard,
And
then we heard it said:
“An
angel’s told the women
He
has risen from the dead!”
And
so I sold all that I owned
And
joined their company,
For
He “would see them when He rose,”
And
then, “in Galilee.”
-- K. Hartnett, April 2002
I carried the words "and then" around in my spirit for a long time before I got an idea for how to use them. The poem obviously tells the story of the crucifixion, but also carries along a different story - the testimony of one gradually seeing and understanding that Christ was indeed the Son of God - and what effect that should have on living and believing. Every Christian has their own "and then" story of God's gracious enlightenment and their response of faith and commitment.
