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I was only following orders
Obeying what I was charged
Summoned by the high priest outside the courts
Together with the temple guard
With such a great contingent
It seemed a straightforward task
In a show of strength and convergence
To arrest our person of interest
Armed with swords and clubs
And with zero tolerance
Guided by a turncoat insider
And extreme prejudice
We crossed over the Brook Kidron
Lanterns, torches lit our path
And thus entered into the garden
To apprehend this wanted Man
There we found Him with His disciples
Outnumbered, with no defence
I had seen Him before in religious circles
And was thoroughly unimpressed
There was nothing imposing about Him
No beauty or stature to commend
Yet as we made our stealth approach
I wondered, just who is this Man?
Who is this Man?
At the predetermined signal
His betrayer strode up with confidence
“Greetings, Rabbi!” he hailed
As he embraced Him with a kiss
“Judas,” the man cried with sadness
“Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Then He turned to face our detachment
And asked, “Who is it that you seek?”
“Jesus of Nazareth” was thus answered
He responded, “I am He”
Then we all fell down backwards
A stranger sight I had never seen
Again He declared, “I’ve told you I am He
So if you seek Me let these go their way”
When suddenly in the ensuing chaos
Somebody charged from out of the fray
Swinging his sword wildly and blindly
Everything became a blur
Then rushing straight towards me
His strike slashed off my ear
My blood was spilling everywhere
The pain beyond the telling
Yet I was soon forgotten, left to lie there
Amidst all the cursing and yelling
But then a voice spoke up
“Put your sword into the sheath
Shall I not drink the cup
Which My Father has given Me?”
“Put your sword in its place
For all who take it will perish by it
Do you not know that to My Father I could now pray
And twelve legions of angels would be provided?”
Still, I lay sprawled in agony
Ignored amid the fracas
When a gentle touch was laid upon me
And my ear was reattached!
I looked into the Man’s face
And in the eyes of Him who’d healed me
Locked upon that steadfast gaze
And the mercy it was revealing
They then grabbed Him from behind
And He was cruelly mistreated
Still His eyes stayed fixed upon mine
Even as they struck Him and beat Him
In the bedlam His men up and fled
While He was bound, with many more beatings
As for me I observed with new perspective
All these farcical proceedings
Then they led Him off to judgment
Yet not before He broadcasted
To the mob, “This is your hour
And the power of darkness”
“I sat daily with you in the temple
Yet you did not seize Me
But all this was done that the Scriptures
Of the prophets’ fulfillment would be.”
So much has occurred since that desolate night
In bleak Gethsemane
The tortuous death of an innocent
And rumours afterwards He’d alive been seen
I am left to ponder and query
Of all of the happenstance
Still one thought disturbs and haunts me
Who is this Man?
Who is this Man?
Who is this Man?
I was only following orders ...
2026 seanosongs
John 18:1-14; Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-49; Luke 22:47-53; Isaiah 53:2-3 (NKJV)
