Easter

They laid palm leaves before him when he came.
Jerusalem would see the Son of God,
But high priests of the city viewed His claim
As heresy and labeled Him a fraud.

The frenzied mob protested long and loud
When Pilate said that Jesus should go free,
So he released Barabbas to the crowd.
Golgotha then became Christ's destiny.

A leaded whip was lashed across His back.
A crown of thorns, they put upon His head.
And unrelenting was their vile attack.
They mocked the King of Jews and wished Him dead

And then the soldiers nailed him to the cross.
No mercy did they show the Son of God.
As, for His bloody clothes, some dice they toss,
The crazed unruly citizens applaud.

Between two men of evil was his place.
Derision from the one He did endure.
The other, Christ took into His embrace.
For him a place in Heaven was secure.

And as life from His mortal body slips,
The gathered multitude then taunts the Jew.
But then these words, to God, fall from His lips,
"Forgive them for they know not what they do."

Upon His death, the earth, in darkness, fell.
An earthquake shook the mountains of the land.
The gathered nonbelievers then could tell
The work of God above was then at hand.

They laid His battered body in a tomb,
All wrapped in snow white linen for a shroud.
A giant stone was rolled to seal that room,
So entrance or egress not be allowed.

And as predicted then on that third day,
As witnessed by the women gathered there,
An angel came and rolled the stone away.
The prophesies of ancients were laid bare.

The women went to tell of this good news,
And Christ appeared to those He loved the most.
They, hiding from the censure of the Jews.
'Twas there He breathed in them the Holy Ghost.

He then told his disciples they would meet
And counsel on the shore of Galilee,
And there, with bread and fish, they all did eat,
As Christ told them of things that were to be.

He then sent those disciples far and wide
To preach His Father's Word throughout the land
And tell the world that for their sins He died,
Then rose to take His place at God's right hand.

His word has now been spread around the world,
And many martyrs now lie in their grave,
Because that Holy Banner they unfurled.
And gladly for God's Word, their lives they gave.

Now are we ready when Christ comes around
To find out who accepts Him, and who shuns?
And when the seven angels' trumpets sound,
Who then will be among the chosen ones?

False prophets, in this troubled world, abound,
And ere the dread apocalypse begins,
Make sure your peace with God's on solid ground,
And don't forget Who died for all your sins.