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Song: Love Grew Where the Blood Fell
Isaiah 53:1-11
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
The crowds had gathered at the massive Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943, to hear the famed evangelist Gypsy Smith, the British preacher who was born in a tent and raised in a Gypsy camp near London. In his early years Rodney Smith was an officer in the Salvation Army, which he joined at age seventeen, just one year after his conversion. He was now 82 years of age, and his travels had carried him to many parts of the world -- from small churches in rural areas, to a Paris Opera house, and now to a giant stadium, giving his message of salvation to multiplied thousands of people. This stop in the Windy City was one of more than thirty trips to the United States. He died on the Queen Mary in 1947, attempting just one more venture to America.
On this particular night in Soldier Field, before he was to speak, a five-year-old lad was helped to the platform to sing God Bless America. His name was John Stallings and he would later become a talented singer, songwriter, pastor and evangelist. His songs would one day be sung by such notable singers as George Beverly Shea, the Billy Graham Crusade Choir, Kenneth Copeland, Jeannie C. Riley, and Bill Gaither, just to name a few.
Young John was saved under the ministry of his father, J. Marvin Stallings, then Pastor of Beverly Hills Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Through the influence of his mother, Onivia, he began taking piano lessons at age ten, but that instrument was short lived as his major instrument, giving way to the guitar. By the time John was sixteen years of age his family had moved to Orlando, Florida, where he started his song-writing ventures. To date, he has written approximately 180 songs, with about 50 of them published or recorded. One of his most famous songs, Learning to Lean, won a Dove Award, the Singing News Award and the Quartet Convention Award, all in 1977, a fete no other song has yet accomplished. Stallings told me the following story about another of his songs, Love Grew Where the Blood Fell, which has touched the lives of thousands, if not millions of people, and which seems to be rediscovered from time to time.
“I was the Pastor of First Assembly of God Church, in Montgomery, Alabama, from 1971 to 1975, and during the latter part of my ministry there I was preaching a series of sermons on the blood of Christ. The series lasted for five weeks and during the final sermon I referred to a passage of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 2:7,8, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
“To me, what this passage is really saying is that satan caused men to do something that turned out to be the exact opposite of what he wanted to accomplish. That was the biggest mistake he ever made. He was not aware of what the consequences would mean. (As early as Genesis 3:15 God said, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.) As far as satan was concerned he had won a great victory, but in reality it would mean his ultimate defeat (the bruising of his head) and a victory for millions of Christians -- a triumph of greater magnitude than we can ever imagine. The shedding of Jesus’ blood was payment for the sins of the whole world -- redemption and salvation for man.”
“A few days after the last of the sermons in the series, I was at home relaxing a bit, playing the piano, when again thoughts of Christ’s crucifixion began running through my mind. Before I quite realized it I had a song. It needed very little changing after I had written it. It seemed as if I was holding the pen and the Lord was putting the words on paper. It was like taking dictation.”
“In the chorus of the song I say, Love grew where the blood fell, flowers of hope sprang up for men in misery. Sin died where the blood fell, and I’m so glad this precious blood has covered me.”
“In the first verse of the song I speak of seeing my Jesus on the cross, and people around are crying, looking on. A man would think it tragedy, but the victory that the world couldn’t see, was when they nailed him to that tree, he would break the chains of sin and set men free. My inspiration came from those verses in chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians.”
Sometime later John was in Nashville where he visited the Vincent Studio and chanced upon Brock Speer of the famed Speer Family. John shared his song with him and Speer liked it so much his family group recorded it, thus launching Love Grew Where the Blood Fell into the genre of Southern Gospel Music.
In this song John Stallings rose to great heights in his use of the English language to express a Scriptural truth. Somewhat obscured in the song, though not intentionally, are the stark realities of crucifixion. There have been few methods of execution more torturous or more excruciatingly painful -- and the Romans mastered it. As we examine the process we have a better glimpse of the magnitude of the love of God.
By design, death on a cross was not a brief experience. No vital organs were damaged, so it was a slow, agonizing demise. Men were crucified for nearly 1,000 years, beginning about 600 B.C. It wasn’t until 337 A.D. that crucifixion, out of reverence to Christ’s death, was banned in Rome by the Christian emperor, Constantine the Great.
Christ took the cross, a tool of death and humiliation, and made it a badge of honor. We proudly wear crosses on our clothing, or put them on the front of our churches or in other noticeably places -- but, it was not always so.
And so you see, John took this meaningful subject and gave to the world a song that draws men to Christ, the One who so willingly gave His life in the manner described in this story. John and his wife Juda continue to travel, preaching and singing, and yes, writing songs. They presently live in central Florida.
Reflection:
When Jesus, while still on the cross, said, “It is finished,” he meant that the blood flow could be concluded. There would be not more need for innocent lambs to be sacrificed to atone for man’s sins. Our salvation has been paid for -- in full!
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Written: 02/01/2007 
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Behind the Songs
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