Love and justice differ great,
But let us pause and meditate:
God’s love is boundless, rich and free;
It reaches out to you and me.
But justice says, because of sin,
“There is a breach that has come in;
It separates all men from God,
And someone now must bear the rod.”
Justice gives sinners what is due—
Eternal hell for me and you—
But love came down in form of Man
And said, This dreadful breach I’ll span.
Ten thousand angels from the throne,
If called could not for sin atone,
So with His face set like a flint,
To Calvary’s lonely hill He went.
“Away with Him!” The crowd went wild,
But Jesus always was so mild;
They bow the knee and plat the crown,
And bid the Lamb of God come down.
“Save Thyself ”: Oh! hear the crowd,
As scoffers mocking, cry aloud.
The blackness hides all but the groan,
As Jesus bears my sin . . . alone;
And all too often I forget
That scene where love and justice met.
M. Breman (1999)