Lyrics
3.
Once in the synagogue they found
A man who had a withered hand.
Elders watched Jesus, one and all,
So they would know if he could heal.
Jesus said to th’ afflicted man,
Stretch out your hand, and healed him then.
He grieved the hardness of their minds
Who tried to stop his healing hands:
The sabbath makes not good, nor ill,
’Tis better to save life than kill.
And they were silent, yet did plan
How to bring low the Son of Man.
Jesus led the whole crowd away,
Down to the beach along the sea,
Where people from Judea came,
From round about Jerusalem,
From Jordan, Tyre and Sidon, too,
Seeking to see what he would do.
However many there he healed,
Yet more reached out, their voices called,
As out the unclean spirits came,
They all fell down and spoke his name:
O Jesus, Jesus, Son of God!
He told them, Speak not this aloud.
Up on the mountain he would climb,
Calling his foll’wers after him,
The twelve who would go out to preach,
To cast out demons, heal, and teach:
Simon Peter, and James and John,
(The one whom he named “Thunder’s Son”),
And Andrew, and Bartholomew,
Philip, Matthew, and Thomas too,
And James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon of Canaan, and Thaddaeus,
And last, Judas Iscariot,
Who with th’ authorities did plot.
Then Jesus left. The crowd was great,
And there was nothing there to eat.
Some said, He must have lost his mind!
Others would have him seized and bound.
Th’ authorities called him possessed:
Prince of demons, by demons blessed.
Jesus always before them stood
And so his way he justified:
The evil deep in ev’ry heart
Now seeks to tear itself apart:
A kingdom turned against itself
Cannot long stand. Above the gulf,
The house conflicted on each side
Collapses with its weight of pride,
So Satan eats his very hand,
And in his feeding, cannot stand,
And in his breaking, cannot mend,
And so his house here meets its end.
The strong man’s house is safe and sure,
No one can break and plunder there,
Unless the strong man they would tie,
Then they would plunder verily,
And so I say the sins of men
And evil words, are all forgiv’n,
Save one: that one eternal sin:
To claim my spirit is unclean.
Against my spirit make this claim,
Say this, and you yourself condemn.
His mother and his brothers came;
Standing outside, they called his name.
When people in the crowd then said,
Your fam’ly calls you, he replied,
Who is my mother? Who my brother?
I have you here! I need no other!
