Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. Matthew 27:27-31

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Romans 5:6, 8, 10

“O Sacred Head”, this ancient hymn captures the emotion, the humility, the penitence, of the heart of the believer when confronted with the sacrifice of Christ. “Mine, mine was the transgression, But Thine the deadly pain; Lo, here I fall, my Savior!” “What language shall I borrow To thank Thee, dearest Friend.” “O make me Thine forever; And, should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never, outlive my love to Thee.”

In his singing of this hymn, Fernando Ortega captures the emotion, the heart, the humility, the penitence, the faith of this great hymn. As you listen I pray the Spirit will humble your heart and lift you up. “Lord, let me never, never, outlive my love to Thee.”