He stood before the court

He stood before the court. Christopher Martin Idle* (1938- ). This hymn for Passiontide was written at Limehouse, east London, in June 1980. Idle had been moved by an address by Gordon Fyles, then ministering in Islington, London, on John 19. Fyles showed that Jesus was our representative not only on the cross but also at his trial: his silence before Pilate, and the reference to Romans 8: 1, follow from that. The verb ‘to stand’ has a long history as a signifier of steadfastness, from Ephesians 6: 13 (‘Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand’), through Martin Luther*, to hymns by James Montgomery*...