I
Not
words only He used His hand
For
laying earth's foundations, spreading
The
heavens. In its hollow He measured
The
oceans; He balanced the mountains,
Grasped
the world's dust. His span
Meted
out the constellations, fixing
For
each its own trajectory. Man
Issues
from His hand, potter's clay,
Supple,
with no right to demand,
"What
makest Thou?"
And towards Man
All
the day He has stretched out both
His
hands; to a rebellious people.
Not
words only: come, He used His hands
To
convey compassion and power. Lepers
He
handled though no leper could emerge from
His
touch. Jairus's daughter awoke to feel
Her
cold hand in a warm strong one. Mud
He
fingered, and the dull eyes soon to begin
To
see. The softness of the children's hair
His
palms sensed as He blessed them; for how often
Were
those hands God prepared lifted blessing?
Yet
the hands that healed even His captor
Were
restrained by His enemies bonds.
II
Since
Adam lifted his sinless hand to steal
All
men have used their hands as tools of ill:
Adam
began to use his for deceit,
Sewing
a flimsy cover because of sin.
And
Cain continued to plunge to greater evil,
Staining
his hands with Abel's righteous blood:
Building
a city to house the unbelieving,
Making
the origin of our warped world.
Jubal
was father of those who use the harp,
Whose
hands are skilled to charm our thoughts from God;
Tubal
Cain first forged tools of iron and brass
Technology
for lawlessness and war.
Against
the love of God and His commands,
From
then till now Man lifts his words and hands.
Until
one Man, at the fulcrum of history,
Lifted
His words in obedience to God
Not
words only: His hands operated
Diligently
in healing as commanded to heal;
Blessing
as commanded by God to bless;
Breaking
the bread at His Father's word.
And
His hands will never let slip
The
entrusted sheep; while the Father's hand
Clasps
them too. Even the disciples' feet
Were
washed by these dutiful hands
And
dried with the linen towel for refreshment
And
for comfort. Such was the Father's delight
He
gave all things to be in those hands.
III
Fisting
their swords, ravaged
Herod's
murderous soldiers.
The
Nazarenes could not grasp
His
time had not yet come.
Nor
could the Pharisees handle
Stones
to hurl while He stayed.
A
more potent weapon
Judas
clung to, the bag.
What
use were the swords and torches
They
gripped as they came to take Him?
Yet
they wounded with buffets His face,
More
marred than any man's.
As
they plaited His crown of thorns
They
would watch lest they pierced
Their
own hands.
But
the women cared:
His
mother
Wrapped
round Him the swaddling bands prepared
Because
of her affection
For
Him, more than other,
Lying
in infant perfection.
Martha
also served
Preparing
All
the good things that she had conserved
For
Him alone though her care
Distracted
her from repairing
To
the rest that He wished she would share.
Her
sister, Mary,
Adoring
The
One whose love will never vary,
Raised
her eager hand to break
Her
flask of nard quickly pouring
An
outflow of love for His sake.
IV
His
hands were nailed to the cross
Though
He used them only to bless
Those
in sickness, need and distress
Whom
the Pharisees reckoned as dross.
Did
they play at pitch and toss
To
gamble over His dress?
His
hands were nailed to the cross
Though
He used them only to bless.
He
bore the deepest loss
As
He hung for me, I confess;
For
He suffered there to express
Greatest
love where sin was most gross:
His
hands were nailed to the cross.
V
Last
words are often famous
The
ruling trait being prominent
At
the time of death. "Father,
Forgive
them" epitomises
The
spirit of the Lord Jesus:
"It
is finished" obedience
Of
all that His hands had done.
But
I cannot consider last words
Without
remembering my father's:
"Jesus
Christ is the Same, yesterday
And
today, and to the ages to come."
Not
words only; for his Master's spirit imbued
Him,
a man in the twentieth century since Christ
With
the same Spirit; his hands consecrated, filled.
As
a member of Christ's body it seemed
He
was a hand: a giver, a helper, a blesser.
Not
words only: last gestures,
Last
images fix in the mind.
A
Man, in flesh and bone, risen
Out
of Death's harsh manacles,
Stood,
surrounded by admirers;
Expressing
a dispensation
His
final action, even ascending,
He
blessed, He lifted His hands.
