He Went On - Archbishop Goodier

Jesus from His childhood had the deadliest of enemies,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was ignored and passed over the thirty years,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was not quite understood even by His mother,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus had the very worst interpretations put upon His very kindest actions,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus had all His words warped, twisted, falsely reported, magnified, minimized, made to mean the very opposite, by men set expressly to catch Him,
    Yet He went on;
With the people He failed rather than succeeded - succeeded in things that meant nothing,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was criticized about His rights, condemned as one who was unorthodox, proved wrong out of His own mouth,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was worn to death by labor, now by excessive loneliness, Now by the pressure of the crowd,
    Yet He went on.
Jesus was sneered at by the great, patronized by the learned and old, treated by His friends with galling familiarity,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus knew very little about gratitude,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus had none to share His burden, none with whom He could talk,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was slighted, even laughed to scorn, when He gave of His very best,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus had sententious and wise friends to tell Him what mistakes He made, and what He ought to do, and how He ought to do it,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was deserted by every one, even His best friends, who were scandalized in Him, disappointed by Him,
    Yet He went on.
Jesus was betrayed by one He had most trusted, betrayed by one of His first priests, betrayed for such a paltry price, betrayed with a kiss, betrayed by a rabble of ruffians,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was denied by one on whom He most relied,
    Yet He went on.
Jesus was hanged as a common malefactor, between two other malefactors,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus endured the sense of utter desertion, even by God His Father,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus was never without those who hated Him, really vindictively hated Him, who plotted against Him, who maligned Him behind His back, who did all they could to ruin Him, and in the end He knew they would succeed,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus saved others, Himself He would not save,
    Yet He went on;
Jesus is passed over and condemned by generation after generation,
    Yet He goes on.

- Archbishop Goodier