How willing was Jesus to die

Representative Text

1 How willing was Jesus to die,
That we fellow-sinners might live!
The life they could not take away,
How ready was Jesus to give!
They piercèd his hands and his feet;
His hands and his feet he resigned;
The pangs of his body were great,
But greater the pangs of his mind.

2 That wrath would have kindled a hell
Of never-abating despair,
In millions of creatures, which fell
On Jesus, and spent itself there.
’Twas justice that burst in a blaze
Of vengeance on Jesus, our Head;
Divinity’s indwelling rays
Sustained him till nature was dead.

3 Divinity back to his frame
The life he had yielded restored,
And Jesus entombed was the same
With Jesus in glory adored.
No nearer we venture than this,
To gaze on a deep so profound,
But tread, whilst we taste of the bliss,
With reverence the hallowed ground.

Source: A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. In four parts (10th ed.) (Gadsby's Hymns) #159

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Author: Joseph Swain

Swain, Joseph, was born at Birmingham in 1761, and after being apprenticed to an engraver, removed to London. After a time he became a decided Christian, and being of an emotional poetic temperament, began to give expression to his new thoughts and feelings in hymns. In 1783 he was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Rippon, and in 1791 became minister of a Baptist congregation in East Street, Walworth. After a short but popular and very useful ministry, he died April 16, 1796 Swain published the following:— (1) A Collection of Poems on Several Occasions, London, 1781; (2) Redemption, a Poem in five Books, London, 1789; (3) Experimental Essays on Divine Subjects, London, 1791; (4) Walworth Hymns, by J. Swain, Pastor of the Baptist Church Meeting… Go to person page >

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