Story of Easter

When He returned from praying
He found His disciples asleep
He said to them: Could you not watch for one hour?
For one hour, just to let me pray?
Behold! They have come to take me away

Judas, a disciple, now gone astray
He drew near to betray Jesus with a kiss
Yet, he knew Jesus had not done anything amiss

A disciple drew his sword; cutting off the soldier's ear
The ear of the soldier, Jesus did repair
And He said to His disciple;
Put up thy sword into its place
Who fight by the sword, will die by the sword
Multitudes of Angels, My FATHER will send me,
If I only pray

They took hold of Jesus and led Him away
Jesus was mocked, spit upon, and struck in the face

He stood before the governor, Pilate
Pilate could find no wrong with this Man
He was taken to Heron
Heron did not know what to do with Him
Again, He stood before Pilate; again Pilate found no wrong
Yet the multitude of people cried out; Crucify Him!

Pilate said: I will chastise Him
Jesus was beaten with a whip until
the flesh of His body was torn
His garments soaked in His own blood
The crowd was still not at peace
They shouted: Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

The people could choose; Jesus or Barabbas
Who will it be?
Will Barabbas, the murderer, be released?
Or will they set Jesus free?
The multitude shouted; release Barabbas
Crucify Jesus! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

Pilate washed his hands before the crowd and said,
I am innocent of this Man's blood
See to it yourself! Do what you want!

The soldiers took Jesus away
They stripped Him of His clothes
They threw a scarlet military cloak about him
Weaving a crown of thorns
They placed it on His head
They placed a reed in His right hand

They kneeled before Him,
Mocked Him - saying: "Hail, King of The Jews!"
They took the reed from His hand,
They hit Him with it many times
They stripped Him of the scarlet cloak;
and dressed Him in His own clothes

Jesus was taken to Calvary and was crucified
Again the soldiers mocked Him
They gave Him vinegar to drink; He refused to drink
Jesus said; forgive them FATHER,
They know not what they do

A written charge; placed above His head; It read:
This is Jesus, The King of the Jews

From noon until the late evening
Darkness came over all the earth
Jesus cried out in a loud voice:
My GOD! My GOD! Why have you forsaken Me?
Jesus cried out, yet again saying:
Into THY hands I commend My Spirit.
Then, Jesus gave up His Spirit and died

The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two; top to bottom
the earth quaked, rocks split, tombs were opened,
and the bodies of many saints ascend
The men keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly
They said truly this was the Son of GOD

In the evening, Joseph, one of the disciples
went to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus
The body was hand over to Joseph
He wrapped Jesus body in clean linen
He laid it in a new tomb that he had hewn in the rock
He rolled an enormous stone to the entrance of the tomb
and he departed

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary stayed behind
They sat facing the tomb

Remembering that Jesus promised to ascend on the third day,
the chief priests and the Pharisees secured the stone with a seal
They set a watch; they feared, Jesus disciples would steal the
body in the night.

After the Sabbath; a vast earthquake shook the earth
an Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven
The Angel rolled the stone form the entrance of the tomb
he sat upon the stone

Jesus appearance was like lightning
His clothes were white as snow
The guards were shaken with great fear
they became as dead men

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
came with sweet spices and ointments
to anoint the body of Jesus

They stood weeping; Jesus body could not be found
The Angel asked "Why do you weep?"

Mary Magdalene replied, they have taken my Lord

Why do you seek the living among the dead?
He is not here. He has risen as He said He would

Go quickly; tell His disciples
They shall see Him in Galilee

Overcome with fear; yet overjoyed;
the two ladies ran to tell the disciples
That Jesus had risen from the dead

Jesus met them on the way; He greeted them
They approached and reached out to Him
Jesus said: Touch Me not,
for I have not ascended to My Father
Go tell my brothers to meet me in Galilee

Jesus appeared before His disciples three times
At first; the eleven did not believe
Then, He sat at the table with them; took bread;
said the blessing; broke it and gave it to them
Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.

Jesus led the eleven to Bethany
While He blessed them. He was taken up to Heaven.