The Gift of Life

He said to me,
“Take and eat (this bread); this is my body.”
And I did.
He said to me,
“Drink from (the cup), all of you.”
And I did.
“This is my blood of the covenant,”
But I did not understand.
“which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Not yet at least.
And I weep for how freely the gift was given;
How perfectly it was given.
We went out;
The garden of Gethsemane.
“Sit here, while I go over there and pray.”
And I slept.
While he prayed,
“My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;”
In great anguish of soul,
“nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
And I noticed not.
“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Then they came.
“See, My betrayer is at hand.”
One of us with them.
"The one I will kiss is the man; seize him."
As it was written:
“I will strike the shepherd,”
He was taken away.
“and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.”
And, a coward, I ran.
I should have known.
“But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?"
From a distance I watch.
Until she asked me,
"You also were with Jesus the Galilean."
My response a knife.
"I do not know the man."
My mouth, my undoing.
"This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."
Again.
"I do not know the man."
"Certainly you too are one of them”
As a rooster crowed.
"I do not know the man."
He looked.
I remembered His words.
"you will deny me three times."
And grief overcame.
False witnesses testified,
“I am able to destroy the temple of God,”
Blasphemy the charge.
“and to rebuild it in three days.”
The Pharisees;
“Have you no answer to make?”
Silence.
The sentence?
"He deserves death."
How great the injustice.
“thirty pieces of silver.”
Evil.
“the price of him on whom a price had been set”
Hatred.
Pain.
“having scourged Jesus,”
Marred beyond human likeness.
“delivered him to be crucified.”
To be mocked.
“they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,”
A king.
“and twisting together a crown of thorns,”
But not here.
“they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand.”
Only disgrace.
“they mocked him, saying,”
Unknowingly,
“Hail, King of the Jews!"
The truth.
Unrecognized.
Finally.
The end.
“And when they came to a place called Golgotha,”
The place of the skull.
“And when they had crucified him,”
No turning back.
“they divided his garments among them by casting lots.”
I watched.
From a distance.
I heard.
“If you are the Son of God,”
How could they?
“come down from the cross.”
My teacher…
And darkness fell.
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,”
I heard it,
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
The utter rejection.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
His word ringing.
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice”
The weight
“and yielded up his spirit.”
too much.
Death won.
“And Joseph took the body”
My hope dashed.
And wrapped it in a clean linen shroud”
To pieces.
“and laid it in his own new tomb,”
For three days…
Then I heard,
“He is not here,”
Still wondering.
“for he has risen, as he said.”
Until I saw.
“Come, see the place where he lay.”
And I knew.
He was the one.
“And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!’”
The Son of God.
“And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.”
The Gift of Life.

A reminder of what Jesus has done for us--by Levi Swartzentruber.