Looking Back on the Cross
Looking back on the cross
I remember the wood
Slivered and gnarled and split
As ugly and burdensome as my guilt
Looking back on the cross
I remember the darkness
The night descending at middle of day
A mirror to my grief and shame
Looking back on the cross
I remember the cry
Those anxious groans and tortured pine
Born of grief that should have been mine
Looking back on the cross
I remember the sigh
The final breath that slid like fire
Out of the lungs of the giver of life
Looking back on the cross
I remember the shaking
The wretched agony of Earth
Groaning to see her maker die
Looking back on the cross
I remember the voice
Of the man of steel and command
Who fell to his knees in the presence of God
Looking back on the cross
I remember the tearing
Of the veil that stood between us and glory
Parted to open to us eternity
Looking back on the cross
I remember the blood
Mingled with water, a flood
That poured from the side of the maker of all
Poured out to undo the curse of the fall
To cleanse a world gripped in hatred and pain
To cleanse my soul of its filth and its shame
To open the door to a kingdom of grace
To open my heart to his love and his peace
To bring hope where there was none
To give life when life is done
To bury sin in a grave
Never to be unearthed
Looking back on the cross
I see the brightness of a new dawn
A sun that shines this morning again
On a hill that bears only a memory of pain
Looking back on the cross
From the entrance of a cave
Where the body of Jesus once was laid
He’s there no more, nothing remains
Death has been swallowed
Victory won
The cross the symbol
Of God’s own Son.
Brandon Steenbock
Brandon serves as Young Adult Minister at St. Mark Lutheran Church, De Pere/Green Bay, WI. He's married to Nikki, and together they have two sons. Passions include talking about Jesus, literature, and coffee.
