We Sang Our Glad Hosannas

We sang our glad Hosannas,
and waved our branches high,
but some were silent, frowning,
as Jesus rode on by.
They sought a royal Savior
but did not understand
a king could rule by loving,
instead of by command.

We heard an angry Jesus
in Temple courts declare,
"Be gone, you moneychangers!
This is a house of prayer."
Though many came for healing
and stayed to hear his word,
still others, hostile, plotted
and thus his death assured.

We served him at the table
with wine, unleavened bread.
"The one who will betray me
now eats with me," he said.
His friends would not believe him,
but one by one that night,
as soldiers came to take him,
they scurried out of sight.

We saw a suffering Jesus
alone, without a friend,
and heard the voices shouting
abuse until the end.
We wept as we stood watching
Love's light grow dim and die,
and cried, "Why did this happen?
God, tell us, tell us why!"

We buried him, not knowing
that on the third day morn
a risen Christ would greet us
and hope would be reborn.
Though evil had extinguished
the life that burned so bright,
the love of God would triumph
like dawn that ends the night.