Our Savior

I was listening to a Christmas album, Every December by Chris Renzema when the song “The Empathy of God” really spoke to my heart. The song is about how Jesus came as a child in the humblest of beginnings, as a lamb to the wolves. I was struck at that moment with the realization that Jesus came, knowing exactly what he was walking into. He left heaven willingly. He knew he would be confined to a human body, that he would have to find and train disciples so they would continue his teachings after he was gone, but most of all, that he would have to suffer and die a terrible death. Yes, he would rise after 3 days, but his death wouldn’t be any less awful because of that. He knew all the prophecies, over 300 of them, that he would fulfill. He knew Isaiah 52 where the prophet Isaiah writes in verse 14 “So His visage was married more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men;” and Isaiah 53: 3-5 “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” So Jesus knew his face was going to be beaten so badly that no one would be able to look at him, but he still came. He knew that his creation was going to hate him, reject him, call him a blasphemer for telling the truth about who he was, humiliate him and murder him, but he still came. He could have called down an army of angels at any time and saved himself, but he chose to do every single thing that had to be done. Could I do what he did? I have to be honest and say, no, I could not. When I ponder the strength, the love, the absolute determination Jesus had to save us, I am humbled and awe-struck. I gladly give him my heart.

the tiny baby
is our king of kings, mighty
savior of the world

Copyright ©2026 Lisa Paul. All rights reserved.

Written in response to the dVerse prompt.
Happy New Year, Poets. Welcome to the first dVerse prompt of 2026—Haibun Monday 1/5/2026! I am your host, Frank Tassone. Today, let’s talk about Epiphany!

How about you? What moments of revelation or insight have you experienced? What enlightenment has an epiphany brought you? Now is your opportunity to bear witness to it! Write a haibun in which you allude to Epiphany, however you understand it.

New to haibun? The form consists of one to a few paragraphs of prose—usually written in the present tense—that evoke an experience and are often non-fictional/autobiographical. They may be preceded or followed by one or more haiku—nature-based, using a seasonal image—that complement without directly repeating what the prose stated.

Haibun Monday 1-5-26: Epiphany