Were You There?

Sometimes, I wish I was. The song “Were You There” was sung at my church’s good Friday service.

Here are the lyrics:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, were you there when they crucified my Lord?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?

(Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Well, were you there when the stone was rolled away?
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?

Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107859121090/#XcBi0VeIzMJsAWxq.99

As I was in the pews listening to this song sung by one of the church members, my mind was restless. Whenever the line “[w]ere you there when…” yada yada yada was sung, I felt guilty. Of course I was not there when my Lord died on a sinner’s cross, but I probably would have been one of the mockers there.

I’m not sure how this song is supposed make one feel, but I definitely did not feel at ease. Maybe that was the whole purpose of the song. To make one feel convicted of sin. To make one realize that he was the one who nailed that innocent man to the cross. To make one realize that the man she mocked was the one who loved her to death, literally.

Thank you for the cross, my Lord.

Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…”