If you’re new to Lenten Song Reflections, click here to learn about it

Click here to follow the Lenten Song Reflections playlist on Spotify.
(please note—versions of songs on the playlist may differ from those used here)

This week we focus on the Lenten theme of meditating on the wounds of Christ.

Words of Reflection

Today’s song is a somber one. Like yesterday’s song, it is rooted in a verse from Isaiah 53:

“Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.”—Isaiah 53:4 (NKJV)

There are, again, such direct connections to the events of Calvary that we can’t help but be astonished. Those gathered around the cross mocked Jesus, and in their eyes he was receiving the just punishment for blasphemy. As they understood it, the cross was just punishment for his sins, and he was “stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” because of what he had done.

Yet Isaiah’s words echo the truth that the crowd’s understanding of justice is completely wrong. Yes, Christ is being crucified for sin, but not his own. What sent Jesus to the cross is not what he had done, but what we had done. It is our griefs, our sorrows, and our sin that he bears to Calvary. Christ is stricken, smitten, and afflicted not because God’s anger at him is unleashed, but because God’s love for us is unstoppable.

To meditate on the wounds of Christ is not only to meditate on his brokenness, but our own. In the words of a popular modern hymn, “it was my sin that held him there.” As we gaze upon the wounded one, we are humbled and brought to repentance. But as we considered back at the beginning of our Lenten journey, this is not a place of shame. It is a place of love. It is God’s desire for our wholeness and healing that calls us to the cross, that turns our eyes to the wounded One, and that brings us to our knees to receive the healing those wounds have procured.

None shall ever be confounded, who on him their hope have built.

Scripture for Meditation:

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
—Galatians 2:19b-21 (NRSV)

Song: Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

Stricken smitten and afflicted
See him dying on the tree
'Tis the Christ by man rejected
Yes my soul 'tis he 'tis he
He's the long expected Prophet David's Son
Yet David's Lord
By his Son God now has spoken
He's the true and faithful Word
Tell me you who hear him groaning
Was there ever grief like his
Friends in fear his cause disowning
Foes insulting his distress
Many hands were raised to wound him
None would interpose to save
But the deepest stroke that pierced him
Was the stroke that Justice gave
You who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly
Here its guilt may estimate
Mark the sacrifice appointed
See who bears the awful load
He's the Word the Lord's Anointed
Son of Man and Son of God
Here we have a firm foundation
Here the refuge of the lost
Christ's the Rock of our salvation
His the name of which we boast
Lamb of God for sinners
Wounded sacrifice to cancel guilt
None shall ever be confounded
Who on him their hope have built

Questions for Contemplation:

For today’s time of contemplation, simply sit with these images of Jesus that come to us from today’s hymn. Pray through these and consider what each means to you. Which ones speak most powerfully to your heart and soul today?

Prophet
David’s Son
David’s Lord
True and Faithful Word
The Lord’s Anointed
Son of Man
Son of God
Firm Foundation
Refuge of the Lost
The Rock of Our Salvation
Lamb of God
Wounded Sacrifice