thats certainly an interesting explanation but to me this is what the song means:
we all experience thoughts of revenge - which proves our innate desire for justice to be met. "as the weight of the world found revenge" - the weight of the world's sin had to be avenged, justice had to be met - a sacrifice had to be made, someone had to pay. and thats why He was nailed to a cross, while we threw insults at Him from our terminal (limited, with boundaries) view.
the song might be (at least partly) from the point of view of the thief on the cross next to Christ, who pleaded "remember me, Lord" ("Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away"). this makes more sense in the third stanza which says "i'm a villain, i deserve to be dead, i've been hung up for wrecking my life" - does this remind you of the "good" thief telling the jerk-thief "we deserve this for what we've done, but He's innocent"? he's been "hung up with thoughts of revenge" - thoughts of injustice - because an innocent man (jesus) was hung next to him.
the heart of the song is in the lines:
"So I stopped for a moment
To look at the sun
Die in the day [remember the sun died "in the day" at 3pm the day the Son died?]
That's when the irony hit me
This was revenge
That love had decended
And stolen our pain away"
this is where the idea of "revenge" being the "need for justice for the world's sins to be met" hits home - the line "that's when the irony hit me, this was revenge: that love had descended and stolen our pain away". His brutal death, ironically, wasn't just mankind's hatred and innate thirst for blood to atone for what we had no idea about, or because of mankind's "hate for a crown (hate for authority/God)", but it was, ironically, God exacting his vengeance (revenge) on the sins of the world by sacrificing Himself... we weren't really the ones being vengeful, instead we were the ones who drew FIRST blood, who caused the offence in the first place - and God was the one taking revenge, by shedding His own blood to pay for our act of drawing first blood - by paying for original sin, and all the sins mankind ever committed or will commit. the "irony hit me", because he took revenge by hurting himself, not us - the ones who deserved it. that is an ironical kind of revenge, because in essence it was selfless love. "love had descended and STOLEN our pain away" - shedding his own blood was god's masterplan - his way of tricking the mathematical-ish system of justice, hence he didn't take our pain away but STOLE it away. His "murder had stolen my rage". "How a thief (on the cross) had been robbed". By God.
this song is jon's latest lyrical masterpiece. about the amazing complexity/mystery of what happened at the cross, about human nature, about grace/mercy meeting justice, about a selfless love, and about how undeserving we are of it. Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away..
thats certainly an interesting explanation but to me this is what the song means:
we all experience thoughts of revenge - which proves our innate desire for justice to be met. "as the weight of the world found revenge" - the weight of the world's sin had to be avenged, justice had to be met - a sacrifice had to be made, someone had to pay. and thats why He was nailed to a cross, while we threw insults at Him from our terminal (limited, with boundaries) view.
the song might be (at least partly) from the point of view of the thief on the cross next to Christ, who pleaded "remember me, Lord" ("Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away"). this makes more sense in the third stanza which says "i'm a villain, i deserve to be dead, i've been hung up for wrecking my life" - does this remind you of the "good" thief telling the jerk-thief "we deserve this for what we've done, but He's innocent"? he's been "hung up with thoughts of revenge" - thoughts of injustice - because an innocent man (jesus) was hung next to him.
the heart of the song is in the lines: "So I stopped for a moment To look at the sun Die in the day [remember the sun died "in the day" at 3pm the day the Son died?] That's when the irony hit me This was revenge That love had decended And stolen our pain away" this is where the idea of "revenge" being the "need for justice for the world's sins to be met" hits home - the line "that's when the irony hit me, this was revenge: that love had descended and stolen our pain away". His brutal death, ironically, wasn't just mankind's hatred and innate thirst for blood to atone for what we had no idea about, or because of mankind's "hate for a crown (hate for authority/God)", but it was, ironically, God exacting his vengeance (revenge) on the sins of the world by sacrificing Himself... we weren't really the ones being vengeful, instead we were the ones who drew FIRST blood, who caused the offence in the first place - and God was the one taking revenge, by shedding His own blood to pay for our act of drawing first blood - by paying for original sin, and all the sins mankind ever committed or will commit. the "irony hit me", because he took revenge by hurting himself, not us - the ones who deserved it. that is an ironical kind of revenge, because in essence it was selfless love. "love had descended and STOLEN our pain away" - shedding his own blood was god's masterplan - his way of tricking the mathematical-ish system of justice, hence he didn't take our pain away but STOLE it away. His "murder had stolen my rage". "How a thief (on the cross) had been robbed". By God.
this song is jon's latest lyrical masterpiece. about the amazing complexity/mystery of what happened at the cross, about human nature, about grace/mercy meeting justice, about a selfless love, and about how undeserving we are of it. Think of me, Lord, I'm a few breaths away..