“My name is written on his hands.”

Hymn: “Arise, My Soul Arise” – Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Common Tune: LENOX

On this Ash Wednesday – the day that ushers us into the Lenten Season – this seems like an appropriate hymnline on which to contemplate. As the closing line of the first stanza, this brief statement is the one that stands out and stays with us as we sing this hymn or read its text.

Stuart Townend in his recent hymn text “The Power of the Cross” puts it this way: “O to see my name written in his wounds.” Both Townend and Wesley are drawing our attention away from ourselves and into the nail-scarred hands of the One who makes his way toward Jerusalem… toward Calvary.

Those of us whose faith experience includes personal piety will resonate with these two expressions which include the pronoun “my,” making the cross not just a universal event for all who will believe – but one in which I share stock… for which I share responsibility.

At the same time, we share the glory of the cross because indeed our name is written on his pierced hands and feet, his thorn-imbedded brow, his sutured side… all his self-accepted wounds.

Our being able to rejoice in such a horrible event is one of the mysteries of the faith… of Christian thought. That’s why when we come past either of these hymnlines in worship, we are taken aback by the image of a dying, cross-bound Savior; at the same time, we are lifted in gratefulness for the sacrifice of the Redeemer on OUR behalf.

Carry this image for the next forty days. Keep it before your spiritual eyes. Let Good Friday arrive with all the sorrow it bears. But when you get there, recall today’s hymnline… and look to his hands to find your name written there.



Twyla Paris’ Contemporary Setting of The Wesley Text