“Jesus Was An Only Son” is a passionate Bruce Springsteen song with two points of view from the 2005 album “Devils & Dust.“ It details human emotions, as His blood was being spilled, on Calvary Hill.
One view, a mournful wish for a different fate in the garden of Gethsemane. A second view, the relationship between Jesus and his mother, as foretold by Simeon to Mary in the gospel of Luke 2:35, “Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Springsteen’s heartfelt lyrics include:
Mary’s former prayer — ‘A mother prays, Sleep tight, my child, sleep well for I'll be at your side… that no shadow, no darkness, no tolling bell, shall pierce your dreams this night.’
Jesus’ yearning — ‘In the garden at Gethsemane he prayed for the life he'd never live, he beseeched his Heavenly Father to remove the cup of death from his lips…’
Death’s cost — ‘Now there's a loss that can never be replaced, a destination that can never be reached, a light you'll never find in another's face, a sea whose distance cannot be breached…’
Transformation’s destiny — ‘Well Jesus kissed his mother's hands, whispered, Mother, still your tears, for remember the soul of the universe willed a world and it appeared.’
I think Springsteen had it right in his own summation, “The choices we make are given meaning by the things that we give up, by the things that we sacrifice with them. That’s what gives them weight, and meaning.”
© Helpful Creative
Sources: VH1 Storytellers + Nepascene + Gertrude Käsebier