Jim and his beloved wife Jimmie worked
overseas in a country known not only for its strict laws against drinking but
also for its severe punishments. One day Jimmie drove out to the countryside to
pick up her husband Jim, who had been camping.
Jimmie moved to the passenger side of
the car to let Jim drive, unaware that Jim had been drinking—a lot! When she realized that Jim was drunk, Jimmie
pleaded with her husband to pull over and let her drive, but he refused. It
wasn’t long before Jim ran a stop sign slamming broadside into a car, killing
an entire family. Jim survived the collision
but went into a coma.
Jimmie survived with serious but
non-life threatening injuries. She knew full well what the authorities would do
to her husband so she somehow managed to move him to the passenger side of the
car. Then she sat in the driver’s seat. When the authorities arrived, she was
arrested, charged with vehicular homicide, and in accordance with the laws of
the land, was stoned to death!
Several months later when Jim woke up
from his coma he discovered that his beloved wife had substituted her life for
his. He was so overwhelmed by her amazing love, he sang a song that said, “Oh
those wonderful stones, those wonderful stones under which my dear wife died.”
Of course this story is entirely a
fictional. Who would ever sing such a horrendous song after hearing that his
loved one had been stoned to death on his account?
And yet, that’s what we have done!
Isaac Watts once wrote a famous hymn
that says, “When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory
died…” The cross is truly “wondrous” in the sense that it is amazing,
unbelievable, and astounding that God could use a terrible instrument of torture
to bring about our salvation.
Unfortunately, a modern songwriter
failed to distinguish the words “wondrous” from “wonderful.” This songwriter
revised the Isaac Watts song about the “Wondrous Cross” by adding a chorus
about that "wonderful cross.” Although song is probably about 15 years old
now, it has become a kind of contemporary Christian classic and is still sung
in churches.
But the cross was not wonderful! It was
an awful instrument of torture! How could we possibly sing about the “wonderful
cross” any more than Jim in the story would sing about the “wonderful stones”
that crushed his beloved wife’s skull?
Personally, I can’t bring myself to
sing those words. Instead, I change the words from “Oh that wonderful cross” to
“Oh my wonderful Lord.” Next time you sing this song, please don’t praise that
instrument of torture but rather change the words and praise your Lord who died
upon it.
