When Jesus came to Golgotha, they hanged Him on a tree, They drove great nails through hands and feet, and made a Calvary; They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep, For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by, They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die; For men had grown more tender, and they would not give Him pain, They only just passed down the street, and left Him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” And still it rained the wintry rain that drenched Him through and through; The crowds went home, and left the streets without a soul to see, And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.
From: “The Unutterable Beauty”, the collected poetry of the Revd G.A. Studdert Kennedy, Anglican priest and army chaplain during the 1914-8 war, known as “Woodbine Willie” because he always had a cigarette to offer. Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1927.
1 comment for “When Jesus Came to Birmingham – G.A. Studdert Kennedy”