All is ready for the Feast! Every Jew is wondering how God will liberate them now. Pilate, fearful of revolt He, at all costs, must avert, Puts the Legion on alert. Listen! Galilean crowds hail the Man from Nazareth, Jesus, riding to his death. What authority he wields! With a whip of cords he clears Temple courts of profiteers! Watched by priests and Pharisees, All he says and all he does Fans the hatred of his foes. Now he gathers those he loves In a room where bread and wine Turn to sacrament and sign. In the dark betrayal night, Moved by hope, or fear or greed, Judas sets about his deed. ________________ Jesus in the olive grove, Waiting for a traitor's kiss, Rises free from bitterness. As he wakes his comrades up, Torches flicker in the glen: Shadows turn to marching men. In that dawn of blows and lies Church and State conspire to kill, Hand three rebels on a hill. Innocent and guilty drown in a flood of blood and sweat, How much darker can it get? How much darker must it be For a God to see and care That men perish in despair? It is God himself who dies! God in man shall set us free: God as Man-and only he. Let him claim us as his own, We will serve as best we can Such a God and such a Man! ______________ What does our salvation cost? Jesus, we shall never know All you gave and all we owe.