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01/17/04
Comments (7)

Beautiful, Scandalous Night

Two days ago I wrote about Mel Gibson�s upcoming movie The Passion of the Christ. I asked the questions �If my wife was brutally murdered, would I want to see a movie about it? If I love Jesus more than my wife, why would I want to see a graphic, brutal portrayal of His death?� At that time I was looking at Jesus� death as the most wicked, terrible crime ever committed. And it was.

But there was more to Jesus� death than a hateful, brutal murder. Though it came at the darkest time in history and the time when men�s sinful natures showed more cleary than ever before or after, it was also a time of unsurpassed beauty. It truly was the most beautiful, wonderful, significant event in the course of human history. For through that heart-rending, tragic time, Christ won the victory that has set us free. Just when Evil thought it had won the battle, Christ turned victory into defeat. Through His victory we were atoned and forever washed white.

I was reminded of the words to a song originally performed by The Choir (and covered several times by bands such as Smalltown Poets). The song is called �Beautiful Scandalous Night� and it speaks of the horror and beauty of the night Jesus was killed.

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful scandalous night

On the hillside you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that pours
From our blessed Savior�s side

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree�

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
On that beautiful scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by his blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful scandalous night�

Miraculous night

Beautiful, Scandalous Night

Comments (7) »

1. TulipGirl
January 21, 2004
6:44 PM

Now I’m humming this, and likely will be for the rest of the week…

Thank you.

2. Skooterbritt
February 17, 2004
1:22 PM

Amen! Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder. God Bless!

3. Fran
June 7, 2004
5:21 PM

I liked your relating the movie, “The Passion…” with the song “Beautiful, Scandalous Night”. I found your site because I was looking up the song. Especially the words…And your spirit restored by the river that pours from our blessed Savior’s side. I liked your blog… Thanks Be blessed to be a Blessing.

4. Fran
September 26, 2004
9:31 AM

I really love that song. I’m just trying to translate it into German without losing the wonderful meaning of the whole text. It is so difficult. Especially the chorus. Do you know when that song was written?

5. mark
April 3, 2006
8:44 AM

Great song that reminds me of Gods sacrifice and suffering. It is a great reminder when I get down and miserable it puts things in perspective! We are saved!

6. Jessica
April 16, 2006
10:08 PM

I just performed this song at our churches Easter mass and decided to google the song to try and find out a little background info. This really shows the songs meaning as related to Easter that I didn’t see before. Thank you for making this song much more spiritual for me.

7. Concerned
August 9, 2006
2:38 AM

I do not like this song. When one looks at the lyrics some discrepencies appear. First of all, to say “Beautiful, Scandalous Night” seems a bit of an oxymoron because beautiful and scandalous mean two completely opposite things. I dont think the work “scandalous” is appropriate either. What is the first thing you think of when you hear scandalous? The Watergate scandal, the Monica Lewinsky scandal? Well I do, and everytime this song has been sung, I hear people saying the same thing. Also, I believe the Bible says Jesus was crucified in the afternoon and hung there until evening because it was against Jewish law to leave a body hanging during the Sabbath which started at sunset, or dusk and defintinely not night. So two things: scandalous is not an appropriate word and Jesus wasn’t crucified at night. The overall message of the song is good but the wording used to convey the message does not fit.