By Means of Death

‘By means of death’ – No softened course, No path of cushioned ease, No passage smooth In gentle calm Could circumnavigate That destiny of death. No other route lay open To that future scene Whose riches lay imprisoned In an ancient promise Far beyond The reach and grasp Of mortal men. Long years And generations endless Passed in fragile hope And frail anticipation Of the coming day. No eager wish, Or strong desire, No pious prayer, Could gain fulfilment Of its certain pledge. To ease impatience For Messiah’s dawn, Some would at times Invent their own Immanuel And blindly see A prince of earthly style And purpose bold To vanquish Israel’s enemies of state. Presumption thus Interprets ill The treasured promise Of the heavenly King. ‘By means of death’ – A course repugnant To the tutored intellect Of Israel’s scribes – No less to sacrificial priests, A path impossible For their imagined Prophet-King. At last He comes At odds with human mind And notions fair, The Lamb of God, To tread The purposed path To death – The only means To loose for men Those promised riches Of the eternal King. ‘By means of death!’ No other way. The Giver comes To give himself! His life must forfeit be To legalise that gift of life And all his vast inheritance Display to man. And me! ‘By means of death’! “He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death." Hebrews 9:15