A Rose Among The Thorns
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
The following lyrics are from a beautiful old country hymn that I sung many years ago in a small congregation of the Lord’s people in a country church near Samnorwood, Texas where I spent my early years on my grandparent’s farm.
The lyrics are pretty simple and straightforward. Anyone familiar with the biblical record can quickly see that the beautiful rose represents the sinless Christ and His selfless love for mankind (Romans 5:1-10; cf. John 3:16-17). The thorns are representative of sinful man who our Lord came to redeem, reconcile and justify (Romans 4-5):
While strolling through the fields of time
There’s many things to see
But nature is the greatest sight
That there could ever be
The greatest of them all to me
Is how the world was formed
And why the roses have to live
Each day among the thorns
One day among the world of thorns
A rose began to grow
It was the greatest gift of God
This world will ever know
It was the will of God to show
That since the world was formed
There had to be a rose to live
And die among the thorns
Along the road to Jericho
A man was left to die
There like a petal from a rose
Two men had passed Him by
A neighbor and a friend came by
And saw His life was scorned
With love he took good care of Him
A rose among the thorns
One day among the world of thorns
A rose began to grow
It was the greatest gift of God
This world will ever know
It was the will of God to show
That since the world was formed
There had to be a rose to live
And die among the thorns
Two thousand years will soon be gone
Since God looked down in love
There in the town of Bethlehem
A rose began to bud
It lived to bloom until one day
Was crushed with awful frown
And then with love from God above
Was moved to higher ground
One day among a world of thorns
A rose began to grow
It was the greatest gift of God
This world will ever know
It was the will of God to show
That since the world was formed
There had to be a rose to live
And die among the thorns
There had to be a rose to live
And die among the thorns (source)
—Ernest C. Martin
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