NONE OTHER LAMB – M. H. B. 94

By Christina Georgina Rossetti, 1830-94

   Introduced By Rev.  Dr. Dominic S. Dadzie

 

None other Lamb, none other Name,

None other hope in heaven or earth or sea,

None other hiding-place from guilt and shame,

None beside Thee.

 

My faith burns low, my hope burns low;

Only my heart's desire cries out in me,

By the deep thunder of its want and woe,

Cries out to Thee.

 

Lord, Thou art life, though I be dead;

Love’s fire Thou art, however cold I be:

Nor heaven have I, nor place to lay my head,

Nor home, but Thee.

 

 

What could have moved this lady to write such a powerful hymn? Was she going through some life’s crises? Whatever her situation and her motivation, she is expressing the inner peace that the people of God and those who have faith in risen Lord Jesus Christ receive when they come to the most difficult and challenging part of their lives.

Anytime a pick up this hymn, I am quick to think of the peace and assurance that the woman with the issue of blood received when she touched Jesus by faith and received her instant healing, Luke 8: 42b-48. Luke must have had a special reason for choosing the number twelve. This story is set in another story of healing Jairus daughter who was twelve years old and is followed by the story of Jesus sending out twelve disciples. The twelve tribes establish the foundation of the people Israel in the old dispensation. The twelve apostles form the core for the Christian movement in the new dispensation. The faith of Abraham was countered unto him righteousness and the faith of this woman gave her healing. The great chapter on faith tells us that “it is impossible to please God without faith” Hebrews 11:6 (NLT).

 

Christina speaks of Jesus as the only Lamb, the only name, the only hope and the only hiding-place that the people of God can find the assurance of healing and salvation to have inner peace. It is only Jesus that we must turn to in the storm’s of life seem to carry us away. She expresses a faith that is lowered by the chores of life and a hope that is crushed by circumstances surrounding her. A situation of hopelessness may still some ray to shine on it and so Christina speaks of a heart’s desire that keeps burning and moves her step further in her Christian journey. All is not lost when there is breath and we need to master the smallest courage and faith to press on.

The woman in Luke 8:42b-48 could have given up like many of us after suffering the same sickness for twelve years without a cure. It is not the case of inability to receive medical care. She had tried her best but could not find the right physician to cure her. She finally decided to look for the greatest physician. The crowd was an obstacle to her but she was determined to go beyond the obstacle to reach her goal. The Christian life has never been the broad way. It is always the narrow path we must tread with courage and determination. This woman considered herself dead but knew that the only source of life was Jesus and going to Him would restore her life as well. Like the woman in Luke, Christina also considered herself dead and Jesus, the life she needed. Jesus is the fire that can warm up her spirit and bring some energy and wholeness in her life.

Jesus knows it all and we must agree with Christina that there is no hiding-place from guilt and shame beside Jesus. If citizens of the country are facing difficulties, then you must understand that foreigner have double agony to deal with.  Christians are foreigners on this earth and have no other hope in heaven or earth or sea except in Jesus. We have no hiding-place from guilt and shame than to run to Jesus in faith and with humility acknowledge our weaknesses and the all sufficient supply of life and salvation found in Christ Jesus. We struggle each day in restlessness and we labor as people who are drawers of water and hewers of wood. Many of us do not find satisfaction in our wages and live in constant fear of tomorrow. We move out and not sure of our return. All we have is our hearts’ desire that cries out in us for a savoir to redeem us. Yes and indeed there is no heaven or place that we can lay our heads beside Jesus, and so we rise in faith making our journey to Calvary to meet the risen Lord for our salvation.

 

[REV. DR. DADZIE is the Minister-in-charge of Mt. Olivet Methodist Church, Columbus, Ohio]