jphelmet
Refugee
Once I knew there was a love divine
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow
I have been thinking that about this line from WAS since the album came out, and I think there are two explanations that both seem to fit.
First in both, The Lamb is Jesus Christ. This part is as straightforward as can be given the numerous references directly to this throughout scripture (John 1:29,36; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 Cor.5:7 +many, many more) .
The harder part is the line "Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not". If I outwardly say, "I Forgive you" but harbor hate or resentment in my heart towards your- then its "forgiveness where forgiveness is not". I may have outwardly said I have forgiven, but where it counts I have not. Only Christ can forgive us ultimately and finally, even when we are holding something against another.
The Scriptures are full of this idea that the heart is root of our problems. In Matthew 5 Jesus puts the 10 commandments in a new light, showing how the root of the problems is a heart issue. He explains adultery to include lust in you heart- making it about your intentions as much as your actions. He also goes onto compare hating your brother with murder. Again a heart issue is equated to be as bad as the actual physical act. Jesus always goes to the heart issue, and not just outward actions. It is a theme over and over in all His teachings.
Later in Matthew Jesus says, "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." Again in Mark 7:6, 'And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me;'
The other possible interpretation of that line could be when taken with the proceeding line, that the character is struggling with forgiving himself. Its as if he is beating himself up, he used to know a 'love divine', but then thought 'it knew me not'. How can he be truly forgiven, if he can't forgive himself? Again this is an idea that goes hand in hand with grace, and the idea of being forgiven of nothing of your own doing. Its not an easy thing to fully, and completely accept and rest in forgiveness. We want to make it that we are forgiven by something of our doing that makes us deserve us, which is not how grace works. If you have earned it, its not grace.
Maybe I am way off, but just a couple of thoughts after thinking about this one for a while.
Then came a time I thought it knew me not
Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not
Only the lamb as white as snow
I have been thinking that about this line from WAS since the album came out, and I think there are two explanations that both seem to fit.
First in both, The Lamb is Jesus Christ. This part is as straightforward as can be given the numerous references directly to this throughout scripture (John 1:29,36; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 Cor.5:7 +many, many more) .
The harder part is the line "Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not". If I outwardly say, "I Forgive you" but harbor hate or resentment in my heart towards your- then its "forgiveness where forgiveness is not". I may have outwardly said I have forgiven, but where it counts I have not. Only Christ can forgive us ultimately and finally, even when we are holding something against another.
The Scriptures are full of this idea that the heart is root of our problems. In Matthew 5 Jesus puts the 10 commandments in a new light, showing how the root of the problems is a heart issue. He explains adultery to include lust in you heart- making it about your intentions as much as your actions. He also goes onto compare hating your brother with murder. Again a heart issue is equated to be as bad as the actual physical act. Jesus always goes to the heart issue, and not just outward actions. It is a theme over and over in all His teachings.
Later in Matthew Jesus says, "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." Again in Mark 7:6, 'And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "'This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me;'
The other possible interpretation of that line could be when taken with the proceeding line, that the character is struggling with forgiving himself. Its as if he is beating himself up, he used to know a 'love divine', but then thought 'it knew me not'. How can he be truly forgiven, if he can't forgive himself? Again this is an idea that goes hand in hand with grace, and the idea of being forgiven of nothing of your own doing. Its not an easy thing to fully, and completely accept and rest in forgiveness. We want to make it that we are forgiven by something of our doing that makes us deserve us, which is not how grace works. If you have earned it, its not grace.
Maybe I am way off, but just a couple of thoughts after thinking about this one for a while.
