So, I saved the Escapril prompts last year and then never got around to actually doing them during that month. However, I planned on revisiting them throughout 2022, and I eventually did! When Nanowrimo rolled around, I reached for these prompts, hoping to gain some further inspiration for my novel, playing with ideas of having them written in the point of view of characters, for example (the novel is third-person omniscient), and this definitely helped! However, and wonderfully so, other ideas came, like this one.
I don’t know how exactly it came to me, but I read the prompt, ie “limbs”, and was struck with the idea of writing about the strength of Christ, the God-man, who took on our human likeness as part of the Triune God’s perfect plan for the redemption of the sheep. I wrote this in a flurry of white-hot inspiration, and with the help of my cousin (s/o Julies ty), made a few tweaks here and there to make it what it is today. I figure it’s the perfect thing to share during Holy Week, especially on Good Friday as we enter Easter weekend!
“Limbs”
Act I Strong arms had He to heave and hew The wood and creations He made Strong arms had He to hold and warm The souls He came to save Firm hands had He to shave and pare The chairs and people He form’d Firm hands had He to touch and ‘way The sick and sin of His own Strong legs had He to drag and bear His labour and law sacrifice Strong legs had He to walk so far To seek and save the flock Firm feet had He to stand in work Providing and making His keep Firm feet had He to go—with love Where publicans and harlots did reap So strong He was for three and thirty, The God-man of countless prophecy His prime bore Him so far and wide, the gospel there to take His hands healed many—the cripple, the blind—to point to His good news And when He slept, He always rose again, some wonder new to make Act II So when He was taken, that dark Thursday night Eleven friends dismayed, were left Where was the strength He had always possessed, Where was the glory of the Transfiguration, Where the scores of angels, at His disposal eternally? Those arms and legs were spent and wan His fingers slipp’d from the cross The crown He bore pushed in His skull Red rivulets, smattered and lost Precious yet ev’rywhere His back was ripped, hewn to the core Skin, muscle, ligament, Tendon, nerve, vein, and bone And on it dragged a purple robe The skew’d royalty of fallen earth His legs did stumble His arms did tremble The cross fell from His grasp And though carry it no more The war was not yet won He had still to be fixed to its evil embrace His dear, dear hands—once so firm Now nailed to the wood His tough, tough feet—once unyielding Now pierced, and bleeding more His side, ran through Blood and water To prove He’d chosen His time His limbs, not broken A final touch Prophecy kept once more Act III Though weak He now seemed And dead He now was This joyfully was not so For never before, had there been One so strong So firm in the Father’s love These hurts, the blood The gaping holes The grave, the cloth The tomb Oh, these marks, these signs This glorious truth— Naught but a signet of His pow’r! For Christ, He rose, alive today His limbs and body whole ‘tis Grace o’er Law, so sweet the sound His work fulfilled and done! This Christ, this love This Saviour King Is mine, oh mine, we’ve won!
limbs a poem limbs a poem
Happy Resurrection Sunday!!
Thank you for reading this whether or not you celebrate Easter! If you are not a believer, my hope is that this might have piqued your interest or awakened something in your heart about the breadth and depth of the love of our Saviour. His desire is that none should perish, so much so that He willingly and obediently gave up His life for our redemption, justification, atonement, and reconciliation to the Father. If you ever want to talk about this, please feel free to DM me on Instagram or leave a comment! I am always happy to talk about the good news of Christ (: