"Near the cross, O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me."

"Near the cross, O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me."

Hymn: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” – Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Tune: NEAR THE CROSS

It is difficult for most of us to think on the extreme suffering of Christ during those last hours – the scourgings, the pressing down of the thorns into his forehead, the struggling through the streets of Jerusalem beneath the cross-bar, the nailing of his hands and feet to the cross, the piercing of his side, his final breath. Just typing those phrases was not a pleasant experience.

I remember when Mel Gibson’s THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST hit the screens, many fine Christians refused to go because it was so gruesome; they did not want to see such a graphic reenactment. The church I served at the time in Chapel Hill rented the theater across the street, watched it together, and came back to the church for the pastor to unpack it for us.

Everything about the faith-life doesn’t need to be pleasant. I certainly did not “enjoy” that film, but my understanding of the suffering Servant was strengthened by the experience.

This third stanza (often skipped in congregational singing) is the only one in which Fanny Crosby addresses Christ directly; it is in fact a brief prayer:
    Near the cross, O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me.
    Help me walk from day to day with its shadow o’er me.

In our process of understanding the cross-event, it is necessary that we not look away… that we not turn our eyes away from Jesus. With Miss Crosby, we need to ask that the scene be played over and over in our mind’s eye. This act of replaying might well help us walk more closely to our Savior, as the beautiful awfulness of the cross casts an eternal shadow across our earthly pathway.

Hear This Hymn Sung in Worship