Looking down He saw
a mass on the hill of skulls.
He saw
the crowd whom He led to life
now goading Him to death.
He saw
the clacking dice of the soldiers
vultures squabbling for the prize.
He saw
the seeking sheep who were lost
spirits willing against weak flesh.
He saw
the keepers of the Law
hypocrisy embodied and laced with spite.
He saw
the man under authority
seeking to know what is Truth.
He saw
the women of Jerusalem
mourning afar.
He saw
the outlaws hung on trees
one saved and the other –
He saw
His mother’s heart-pierced pain
ebbing on her dust-caked face.
He saw
the disciple who fled but stayed
once lost but now was found.
Then He saw across each of these
a little child (who is you and me)
cowering, imploring Him to look away
whimpering, “O unworthy! I sinned against Thee!”
And beneath a blood-washed crown He
bowed, smiled and said,
“It is finished.”
Ecce Homo is a Latin translation of “behold the man”, the phrase said by Pontius Pilate when he presented Jesus Christ, scourged and crowned with thorns, to the hostile crowd before his Crucifixion.