When two friends mentioned this song for Lent, I listened. I usually prefer the old traditional hymns and am not a great fan of modern hymns. But the lyrics were a reality check for me. “It’s a beautiful song, emotes the bitter sweetness of how our Lord may have felt. Imagine how Mary felt too walking behind her Son,” said Rosalind Tijoe, a fellow contributor to our bulletin.
The oxymoron A Violent Grace, the song’s title, grabbed me. Then it wouldn’t let me go till I acknowledged it was indeed a love that can only be described as ‘so ruthless…so reckless’. Jesus shows relentless kindness to a hardened human race. He was the most willing of victims and in his final breath, he destroyed the one who holds the power of death. It would seem absurd for a High Priest, the Son of God, to sacrifice Himself, especially since he was hated and shamed by the very people he was trying to save.
Have a listen.
A Violent Grace
Song by Michael Card
https://tinyurl.com/alovesoruthlessandreckless
A mural of memories moves by in a blur
His prayers all seem unanswered and unheard
His pleading petitions, His loud cries and tears
A last reprieve will simply not appear
So ruthless, He loves us, so reckless His embrace
To show relentless kindness to a hardened human race
The joy that was before Him on the Man of Sorrows face
And by His blood, He bought a violent grace
Most willing of victims, and with His final breath
Destroyed the one who holds the power of death
The hate heaped upon Him, scorning all the shame
But all for love, He died and overcame
So ruthless, He loves us, so reckless His embrace
To show relentless kindness to a hardened human race
The joy that was before Him on the Man of Sorrows face
And by His blood, He bought a violent grace
In all of time no one had ever heard
And to the world, the thought seemed so absurd
Beyond their wildest dreams, no one could ever tell
Of a High Priest who would sacrifice Himself
So ruthless, He loves us, so reckless His embrace
To show relentless kindness to a hardened human race
The joy that was before Him on the Man of Sorrows face
And by His blood, He bought a violent grace
Shared by Karen R-Fong, a wannabe tai-tai who desires to retire in a library of books and to read with our Lord to her last days.