I Cry Breathless

How He could do that,
     how we are at all worthy
         to ever be so loved like that?
 I cry breathless.

 How can I pay Him back
     though I know I can never,
         He gave His life so willingly.
I cry breathless.

He was hated and bullied,
     spat upon and beaten near
          enough to so bloody a death.
I cry breathless.

All this to pay a price I
     and my fellow humans
          rang up on the register.
 I cry breathless.

Such pain for sins He
     did not plan or commit,
          but in my place suffered.
I cry breathless.

I am told while He died
     He thought of all of us,
          and love kept Him going.
I cry breathless.

I want to have protected
     Him, but He didn't need it.
          He spoke for Himself silently.
I cry breathless.

I can't imagine any parent
     watching their child suffer
          and then die, for any reason.
I cry breathless.

All this crying started when
     I asked for Jesus' forgiveness
          and saw how much He loved me.
I cry breathless.

Now when I read His Word
     I get to know Him even better
          and tears fall over and over again.
I cry breathless.

He loved us all so much,
     He had so much compassion,
          He was nothing but godly good.
I cry breathless.

So many did not know how
     truly blessed they were to live,
          to have shared space with Him.
I cry breathless.

They had such a treasure,
     straight from Heaven He was,
          they just couldn't quite believe.
I cry breathless.

I cannot wrap my heart around
     such love, I can scarcely grasp it,
          the blinding pain, the flooding emotion.
I cry breathless.

What do I do with it all?
     From it, I cannot run, and
          faint, I just might. The best
               I can do is to let go and fall
                    deep into the well of a love
                         that has not a bottom at all.
I cry breathless in His breathlessness,
     not breaths He was trying to maintain,
          but breaths He was striving to give away.
 

John 3:16-21

*based on a Quora post by "Jess," Nov. 21