431. Jesus in the olive grove

Author: Fred Pratt Green

Jesus in the olive grove,
waiting for a traitor’s kiss,
rises free from bitterness.

2. As he wakes his comrades up,
torches flicker in the glen:
shadows turn to marching men.

3. In that dawn of blows and lies
church and state conspire to kill,
hang three rebels on a hill.

4. Innocent and guilty drown
in a flood of blood and sweat.
How much darker can it get?

5. How much darker must it be
for a God to see and care
that we perish in despair?

6. It is God himself who dies!
God in man shall set us free:
God as man-and only he.

7. Let him claim us as his own;
we will serve as best we can
such a God and such a man!