There was a moment when the lights went out
When death had claimed its victory
The King of Love had given up His life
The darkest day in history
There on a cross they made for sinners
For every curse His blood atoned
One final breath and it was finished
But not the end we could have known
For the earth began to shake
And the veil was torn
What sacrifice was made
As the heavens roared
All hail King Jesus
All hail the Lord of Heaven and earth
All hail King Jesus
All hail the Savior of the world
There was a moment when the sky lit up
A flash of light breaking through
When all was lost He crossed eternity
The King of life was on the move
For in a dark cold tomb
Where our Lord was laid
One miraculous breath
And we're forever changed
Let every knee, come bow before the King of Kings
Let every tongue, confess that He is Lord
Lift up your shout, let us join with all of Heaven
Singing holy
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the government’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:27-31
Every time I read this passage in the Passion narrative I have to pause and take an extra breath before moving on. Certainly it’s disturbing to read about Jesus’ mistreatment at the hands of Rome, but my need to slow down here and process this scene isn’t as much about the cruelty shown as it is about the irony of this moment in Jesus’ march toward Calvary.
Have you ever considered what the soldiers are doing? They give Jesus a discarded scarlet robe, place a painful crown of thorns on his head, and put a crude scepter in his hand. The kneel before him and cry out, “Hail, King!” The text spells it out for us in case there was any confusion: they are mocking him. The horrific irony of it all is that what they are saying is TRUE. They believe it’s a farce; that He is a phony. They have absolutely no idea who is before them. They scoff at His humiliation with jeers of ignorance, not seeing the glory of His condescension. They don’t realize that He’ll be wearing the robe and crown into eternity.
This part of the story gives me pause because those shouts of malicious mockery will be the same shouts of our worship in just a few days. Consider that for a second. The words originally used to belittle, disrespect, and make a fool out of our beloved Messiah have become our anthem of praise, adoration, and deepest affection. I am humbled to my core to stand on this side of the cross of Christ and sing those very words to Him in recognition of His sacrifice and unchallenged authority.
These words hold weight. Let us sing them with confidence and conviction this Holy Week. My prayer is that our corporate declaration of these words would cause knees to bow in reverence and submission, tongues to confess the Kingship of Christ, and shouts to erupt from hearts full of love. There is power in praise. Sing from the deep, my friends. All hail our King!
