****WERE YOU THERE?

“WERE YOU THERE?” is one of many American spirituals that were sung by plantation slaves in the early 1800s.   The words are based on the New Testament narratives of the trial, persecution, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  

There is no known author, but it is likely that the song just evolved.  It was customary for the slaves to sing together, for comfort and encouragement, while they labored.  And because they had no formally written songs or accompaniment, usually one person would sing out a line.  And then the rest would repeat the line in full harmony.  In that kind of setting, it was not unusual, for several people, to chime in with a new line or thought and so, the song would grow.   These songs were then memorized and passed down through several generations.

This “Negro spiritual” follows that traditional style.

Each verse starts with the same question, “WERE YOU THERE?” I read a recent account about a tourist who was visiting Golgotha and the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem. And while he was there, he fell on his knees and began to weep.  Someone saw him and asked, “Sir, have you ever been here before?”

“Yes!” he answered, “I was here 2000 years ago.”

How can that be?  Well, it is clear from scripture (Acts 4:27), the death of Jesus was a corporate act of all sinful humanity against God.  We are all together guilty.

That man’s answer is my answer, “I was there.” 

According to God’s Word, before my life began in 1948, I was in Adam, both positionally and spiritually. 

Just as through one man (Adam), sin came into the world, and death came through sin, so death has come to all men since everyone has sinned.  (Romans 5:12)

So, God's Word says, I am a condemned sinner by nature.  The judgment for Adam's sin is my judgment.

But the Good News of the Gospel is that God sent a Redeemer (Jesus Christ).  Just as I was condemned to eternal death by the sin of my natural father, Adam, now I am made alive by the death of Jesus Christ who took my death penalty on Himself.

"WERE YOU THERE when they crucified my Lord?"   

My answer is “Yes.  I was there.”  My sin nailed Him to the cross.  That’s why that tourist was weeping. 

But the death and burial of Jesus is not the end of the story.  Christ arose; He is alive.  And so, the somber mood of this hymn changes to joy in this last stanza:

“WERE YOU THERE when He rose up from the dead?
Sometimes I feel like shouting, Glory, glory, glory!"  because I was there when Christ suffered and bled and died for my sin and now I am made alive and free.