Maverick City Music (Feat. Mav City Gospel Choir, Chandler Moore & Jekalyn Carr) – Son Of Suffering

To put it succinctly, Maverick City Music is the audience on stage.  Recently, they have collaborated with other artists such as Elevation Worship, Chandler Moore, and Brandon lake to produce music.

They released seven EP’s and eight albums, including:

• Maverick City Vol. 1 EP (2019)
• Maverick City Vol. 2 EP (2019)
• Maverick City Vol. 3, Part 1 (2020)
• Maverick City Vol. 3, Part 2 (2020)
• You Hold It All Together (EP, 2020)
• Maverick City Christmas (EP, 2020)
• Move Your Heart (EP, 2021)
• Jubilee (EP, 2021)
• Como En El Cielo (Spanish, 2021)
• Old Church Basement (with Elevation Worship, 2021)
• Jubilee: Juneteenth Edition (2021)
• Tribl I (with Tribl, 2021)
• Venga Tu Reino (2021)
• A Very Maverick Christmas (2021)
• Breathe (EP, 2022)

They won three awards last year, including one Billboard Music Award for Top Gospel Album for their album Maverick City Vol. 3 Part 1 and two GMA Doves: New Artist of the Year and Worship Album of the Year (Old Church Basement).

Also, check out my previous Maverick City Music reviews.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Maverick-city-music-son-of-suffering-lyrics.

Side Note: The Song Review Index page contains a separate entry for Bethel Music with a different score than this version.  Take a look at the side notes within each section for an explanation of Bethel Music’s ratings.  I am including Bethel Music’s version because part of them are co-authors of this song.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Jesus’ death on the cross granted us freedom from the consequences of our lawbreaking.  Though the resurrection of Jesus is not mentioned, our worship of Him as King implies that we praise Christ who is alive.  Jesus understands our pain through His experience, weeping for others and experiencing betrayal by His closest allies.

My only issue with this song is the final iteration of Chorus, which says that God still bleeds.  This is patently false.  Scripture tells us over and over again that Jesus died once and for all.  Also, when He appeared to His Disciples, He wasn’t still bleeding.

Score: 8/10

Side Note: Bethel Music’s version at https://bethelmusic.com/resources/homecoming-live/son-of-suffering does not contain this offending lyric.  Since this was the only issue, Bethel’s version would have received a score of 10/10.

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

This song almost completely aligns with God’s inspired Word, except where, in the final Chorus, it says He still bleeds.

[Intro]

Lines 1 and 2: Filler.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1 and 2: Jesus is without sin (Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:24, John 19:4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Peter 2:21-23, and 1 John 3:5).

Lines 2 and 4: Jesus is God who became a man (John 1:1, John 1:14, Romans 8:3, Philippians 2:5-8, Colossians 1:15, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 1:2-3, Hebrews 2:10, and 1 John 4:2).

Lines 5 and 6: Quotes from part of Isaiah 53:3, adding in the “Son of suffering” bit that connects this prophecy to Jesus, who paid the penalty for our lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15-26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-4: This touches on one of the greatest mysteries of Christianity: How is Jesus both 100% God and 100% man simultaneously?  We don’t know.  But, the Bible teaches it, summarized in Colossians 2:9.

The final iteration of this section states that God still bleeds.  This is incorrect.  According to Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:26-28, and Hebrews 10:10-14, He died once and for all.  His sacrifice was not given over and over again.  How can He still be bleeding for us?  Also, no Scripture that describes Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances says or implies that Christ is still bleeding.

Lines 5-8: The word ‘Hallelujah” is a compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song” when we use this word.  In this case, we worship Jesus (Matthew 2:11, Matthew 14:33, Matthew 21:9, Matthew 28:8-9, Matthew 28:16-17, Luke 24:50-53, John 12:13, and John 20:28).

Line 9: A call to Casper the friendly ghost.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-6: Though there are some who think God isn’t interested in human affairs, Jesus proved otherwise. While we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8), bearing the penalty of our lawbreaking onto Himself (Isaiah 53:4-11, Matthew 8:17, John 1:29, Galatians 3:13, and 1 Peter 2:24).

Line 7: Essentially repeats line 6.

[Interlude (1)]

Lines 1 and 2: See commentary on Chorus, line 9.

Lines 3-7: There are at least two instances where Jesus wept for other people.  Namely, when He approached Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and after Lazarus died (John 11:35).  He also understands the pain of betrayal, observing His closest followers abandon Him in His greatest hour of need (Matthew 26:56, Mark 14:50, and John 16:31-32).

[Bridge]

Line 1: Jesus’ payment grants us freedom from the consequences of our lawbreaking (Psalm 119:45, Isaiah 58:6, Isaiah 61:1, John 3:16-21, John 8:31-36, John 10:10, Acts 13:38-39, Romans 6:1-23, Romans 8:1-4, Romans 8:20-21, 1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 7:21-23, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 3:13, Galatians 3:22, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:13, Colossians 1:21-23, Hebrews 2:14-15, and 1 Peter 2:16).

Line 2: By His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24).  For an explanation, see line 1.

Line 3: Combines Jesus’ Kingship (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16) with worship of Him (see Chorus, lines 5-7).

Line 4: All glory to God (Exodus 16:7, Exodus 24:17, Exodus 40:34-35, Leviticus 9:23, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 8:1, Psalm 19:1-4, Isaiah 6:1-3, Isaiah 40:5, Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 58:8, Isaiah 60:1, Habakkuk 2:14, John 1:14, John 17:22, Romans 3:23, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Philippians 4:19, Hebrews 1:1-3, Revelation 21:10-14, and Revelation 21:23).

Lines 5 and 6: The blood of Jesus speaks in the sense that it washes over sins (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:18-19) is still available today.

Lines 7 and 8: Repeats lines 3 and 4.

Lines 9-14: Essentially repeats lines 1-8, in different ways.

[Interlude (2)]

Line 1: See Verse 2, lines 1-6.

Lines 2 and 3: Essentially repeats line 1.

Line 4: Proof of this is the lives of Christ-followers today.

Line 5-8: God is with Maverick City Music (Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Joshua 1:5-9, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 139:7-10, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Zephaniah 3:17, Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 28:20, John 14:16-17, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38-39, and Revelation 3:20).

Lines 9-13: Essentially repeats Bridge, lines 1-4.

Line 14: That is, we should live for Him and not ourselves, surrendering to His will (Psalm 43:5, Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).

Line 15: Yes.

Line 16: This is so, because He is the Truth (John 14:6).

Line 17: Repeats Bridge, line 4.

Score: 8/10

Side Note: Bethel Music’s version would also receive 10/10 for the same reasons cited in the side note of section 1.

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will easily interpret this song as Christian, with references to “Son of God”, “Man of Sorrows”, “Hallelujah”, and “King Jesus”.  Christians worship Jesus who is both divine and human, who died on the cross for sinners.  The phrase “your stripes are my healing” is explained before the phrase is offered.  However, the word “sinner” often means “person who makes mistakes” amongst those who don’t believe in Jesus.  It could be clearer that “sinner” is someone who violates God’s laws.

Also, if they happen to notice that the final Chorus is slightly different, there is a good chance that they will be led astray into error, thinking that Jesus can be sacrificed more than once because He still bleeds.

Score: 7/10

Side Note: Based on commentary in the side note in section 1, Bethel Music’s version would have received a score of 9/10 for this section.

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies King Jesus as the One who takes away the sins of the world.  In response to His lovingkindness, we praise and worship Him.  However, it does not glorify Him when stating that He still bleeds when He does not.

Score: 8/10

Side Note: Bethel Music’s version would also receive 10/10 for the same reasons cited in the side note of section 1.

Closing Comments

Maverick City Music’s Son Of Suffering is mostly Biblical.  It contains most of the elements of the Gospel, including our sinfulness, His rescue, our worship that implies His resurrection, and His understanding of our plight both intellectually and experientially.  This glorifies God.  Unbelievers should arrive at a similar conclusion, though they may not understand the meaning of a “sinner”.  However, its statement that God is still bleeding is clearly untrue.

If this error could be rectified by removing the word “still”, then this song would be appropriate for corporate worship.

Final Score: 8/10

Side Note: Bethel Music’s version would have received a score of 9.5/10 with a corporate worship rating of “yes”.

Artist Info

Track: Son Of Suffering (listen to the song)

Artist: Maverick City Music (Feat. Mav City Gospel Choir, Chandler Moore & Jekalyn Carr)

Album: Jubilee: The Juneteenth Edition

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2021

Duration: 5:55

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

04/18/2023 – Based on reading Steve Barhydt’s comment, I added side notes to each section to explain how I would have rated Bethel Music’s version of this song.  I also updated the Song Review Index to include an entry for Bethel Music.

02/01/2023 – Seth reported that Chorus’ final iteration states that God still bleeds.  This is false.  Therefore, I updated my review, lowering the overall score from 9.5/10 to 8/10.  I also changed the corporate worship rating to “perhaps”.

05/03/2022 – Thanks to commenter Michael Ramsey, I learned that Maverick City Music is the earliest artist for this song!  Thus, I altered the entire review to orient it around their version.  I also forgot to finish commenting on Bridge, lines 5-8 in my original review.  I included an Intro and two additional Interlude sections that weren’t in Bethel’s version.  I removed the side note from section 1 because it’s MUCH less repetitious.  This altered my recommendation for corporate worship.  Finally, I removed Outro, as it doesn’t exist in this version.