This is truly beautiful and meaningful poetry, Grant.  Thanks for
sharing it with us.
Dave
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Grant Metcalf" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 14, 2006 6:22 PM
Subject: poems: Personal perspectives from Passion Week


                            JUDAS LAMENT

For thirty pieces of silver,
I did the Lord betray;
And sold Him to the chief priests,
Who sought the Lord to slay.

I led them out to the garden,
Where He went oft to pray;
And kissed Him there in the garden,
The One they sought to slay.
They brought Him into their council,
Their hearts were filled with hate;
And there they planned to kill Him--
Repent! I did, but too late.
I gave them back their money,
I cast it down in their midst;
But the shame, the guilt, and the torment,
Of them I ne'er can be ridst.
I betrayed innocent blood!
I betrayed innocent blood!


                           Peter'S BOAST

'Twas with boastful words in haste I spoke,
"O Lord, for You I'll die!"
But when the time for truth arose,
I did the Lord deny.
Then with bitter tears my eyes were washed
That I might better see,
He loved me first, the Father's Son,
Enough to die for me.
For when I see those nail pierced hands, 
The feet and riven side,
The blood stained cross that empty stands
Where Jesus bled and died;
Then with contrite heart my hands reach out
His loving heart to touch;
For "I have loved so little, Lord,
And You have loved so much."
Now when I boast of things I've done,
And others I will do;
O loving Captain of my soul,
Remind me then of You.


                             SIMON SAYS

As I walked up that dusty road
Toward worship on that day,
I met an angry crowd of men
All bound the other way;
They went to crucify a man,
Their King His cross did say.
He struggled there beneath that load,
His strength was almost gone;
And then He fell down in the road,
The Father's holy Son;
He bore the heavy weight of sin
Up to Golgotha's crown.
They bid me take His cross for Him
Up to Golgotha's hill;
And as I bore it on its way,
I helped the Lord to kill;
But I could never know the weight
Of sin He carried still.
And as He hung there on that cross,
An offering for sin;
I understood salvation's cost
And guilt welled-up within;
With heart felt agony I cried,
"Oh, Lord, what have I done?"
That heavy load it was my sin,
That Jesus bore alone.


                      THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN

The nails pierced the hands and the feet of my Lord,
They tore through His flesh and struck deep in the wood;
They point to salvation, the grace of our God--\
Through the blood of the Lamb that was slain.

The hammer it thundered, it rang out of sin,
It tolled out the hatred in the hearts of men;
And it beats out a message, New Life to begin--
Through the blood of the Lamb that was slain.

The wounds in His hands, in His Feett, in His side,
They show how He suffered, how He bled, how He died;
And they pour out redemption, God's way is supplied--
Through the blood of the Lamb that was slain.

Oh, the love of my Savior to hang on that tree,
He bore all my sin and my sin's penalty;
And although I'm a sinner, by grace I'm set free--Through the
blood of the Lamb that was slain.

O sinner, believe that He died for your sin,
For you can do nothing salvation to win;
My Jesus is knocking, Oh, bid Him come in--
Through the blood of the Lamb that was slain.


                             THE THIEF

On a rugged hil,
Calvary's rugged hill,
The Savior bled and died,
By man was crucified--
As I hung there.

There by Jesus side,
I too was crucified,
And spewed out in my shame,
Reproach on His dear name--
As I hung there.

Save us, if you can?
If You be God, not man?
Then, tender eyes of love,
My stony heart did move--
As I hung there.

Sin had nailed Him there;
My sin helped nail Him there.
With heart-felt agony,
I cried, "Remember me"--
As I hung there.

"Today, my friend, you'll be
In paradise with Me."
He died there for my sin,
I found new life in Him--
As I hung there.


                           TODAY HE LIVES

They laid the Savior in a tomb,
And rolled a stone in place;
Their many hearts were filled with gloom,
They did not know God's grace;
That He'd rise again
With victory over sin;
And He lives, today He lives!

They went that morn with hearts bowed low,
To see where Jesus lay;
'Twas then they found, and now we know,
That Jesus lives today!
For He rose again
With Victory over sin;
And He lives, Today He lives.

The empty cross upon a hill,
The empty tomb nearby;
Tell of the blood that once did spill
To save both you and i.
Yes, He rose again
With victory o'er my sin;
And He lives, today He lives.