Author: Frederick Pratt Green (1903-2000) Meter: 7.7.7 Appears in 2 hymnals Scripture: Matthew 26:14-16 Lyrics: 1 All is ready for the Feast!
Every Jew is wondering how
God will liberate them now.
2 Pilate, fearful of revolt
he, at all costs, must avert,
puts the Legion on alert.
3 Listen! Galilean crowds
hail the Man from Nazareth,
Jesus, riding to his death.
4 What authority he wields!
With a whip of cords he clears
temple courts of profiteers!
5 Watched by priests and pharisees,
all he says and all he does
fans the hatred of his foes.
6 Now he gathers those he loves
in a room where bread and wine
turn to sacrament and sign.
7 In that dark betrayal night,
moved by hope, or fear or greed,
Judas sets about his deed.
8 Jesus in the olive grove,
waiting for a traitor's kiss,
rises free from bitterness.
9 As he wakes his comrades up
torches flicker in the glen,
shadows turn to marching men.
10 In that dawn of blows and lies
Church and State conspire to kill,
hang three rebels on a hill.
11 Innocent and guilty drown
in a flood of blood and sweat,
how much darker can it get?
12 How much darker must it be
for a God to see and care
that men perish in despair?
13 It is God himself who dies!
God in man shall set us free,
God as Man - and only he.
14 Let him claim us as his own,
we will serve as best we can
such a God and such a Man!
Final verse:
15 What does our salvation cost?
Jesus, we shall never know
all you gave and all we owe. Topics: Christ Incarnate Passion and Death; Christian Year Holy Week Used With Tune: HEILIGER GEIST
All is ready for the Feast!
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