XII. Jesus Dies on the Cross

His limbs splayed, writhing, as he hung there,
Murmuring of a kingdom somewhere
The Roman guards had never been,

The sun beat on his darkened head.
He barely heard what the good thief said,
So swollen and plugged his ears were then.

“I thirst,” his mother heard him cry.
“Why have you left me here to die?”
But then, more lucid, “Here’s your son.”

He said that, looked from her to John,
Till they saw what was going on,
And all at once clouds hid the sun.

—James Matthew Wilson

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Breaking the Mind

Edward Feser

Philosopher James K. A. Smith suffered through a period of profound depression. He found solace and insight…

The Sudden Death of the African Church 

D. P. Curtin

Total civilizational collapse is unusual. In the West, ­continuity exists between the Roman past and our contemporary…

Judaism Outside History

Shalom Carmy

Jews familiar with Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929) probably know him first as a hero, only then as a…