Mighty King, Gentle Friend

Child appealing, Light revealing, Jesus Christ, our Pleasure;
God, yet very Son of Mary, heaven's Gift and Treasure.
Mighty King, gentle Friend, as our Lord to us bend,
with your blessing us caressing, now descend, now descend.
---Let Our Gladness Banish Sadness

This hymn is new to me, but not new. Its tight rhyme is a contemporary translation by Jaroslav Vajda of a Slovak version of a 14th century Latin text. Whew, that's a mouthful! In its simple words are deep, joyful truths about the person of Jesus Christ. One of the great mysteries of the faith I have chosen as my title today: Jesus as both a mighty ruler and a gentle friend. Might and gentleness don't often meet in one person, and it fascinates me to think of Jesus as both. Then look at a phrase that would seem impossible, a lord bending to serve, only in a world turned on its head by our gentle friend. And a phrase to fall in love with: Jesus Christ, our Pleasure. To our world, with its sadnesses and sorrows, our gentle friend, our pleasure, comes, caressing us with the only blessing that counts --- the blessing of Christ's presence with us.