(Chorale and Aria translations by Lowell Green and Daniel Reuning)
Lord, Thou our Master, Thou whose name In all the earth is glorious, Show us that, through Thy Passion, Thou art the very Son of God, At every time and even in the lowliest hour Wast ever glorified.
Jesus went with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, to which came Jesus and His disciples. Judas also, who did betray Him, knew the place full well; for Jesus had often waited there to meet with His disciples. Now then, Judas, having received a body of men whom the chief priests and the Pharisees had sent him, now cometh forth with torches, lanterns, and with weapons. Therefore Jesus, knowing all things that were to come upon Him, went straightway forth and said to them: "Whom seek ye here?" And they answered Him: "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them: "I am He!" Judas also, he which betrayed Him, stood there among them. And as soon as Jesus had said, "'I am He," all of them shrank and fell to the ground. Then Jesus asked them a second time: "Whom seek ye here?" Again they answered: "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered and said: "I told you before, I am He, if ye seek for Me, let these men go their way then."
O mighty Love, O Love all love excelling, Upon Thy martyr pathway Thee compelling! I lived my fill of worldly joy and gladness; Thine is the sadness.
So that the Word might be fulfilled which He had spoken: Of them, which Thou gavest to Me, of them have I lost not one. Then Simon Peter, having a sword, he drew it forth, and struck at the high priest's serving man, and cut the man's right ear off, and this man was Malchus. Then said Jesus to Peter: "Put up thy sword in its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup, then, the cup My Father hath given Me?"
Thy will, O Lord our God, be done On earth as round Thy heavenly throne. Thy patience, Lord, on us bestow, That we obey in weal and woe. Stay Thou the hand and spoil the skill Of them that work against Thy will.
The body of the soldiers with their captain, and the officers there laid hold of Jesus and bound Him fast, and led Him away at first unto Annas, who was Caiaphas' father-in-law, who that same year was the high priest. Now it was this same Caiaphas, who had counselled the Jews, it would be expedient that one man should die for the people.
From the tangle of my transgressions, but to unbind me Is my dearest Saviour bound. From my aching wounds and bruises, fully to heal me, Lets Himself be wounded.
Simon Peter also followed in Jesus' path, and another disciple.
I follow Thee, also, With joy-lightened footsteps, Nor stray from Thy sight, My Life and my Light. O speed Thou my way, And cease not, I pray, To spur me and draw me, To lead me and call me.
That other disciple to the high priest had been known, and went with Jesus inside to the palace of the high priest. But outside at the doorway Peter stood. Then did the other disciple, who was known unto the high priest, go out, and spake unto her that tended the door, and brought also Peter within. Then saith the maid that tended the door to Peter:"Art thou not one of this Man's disciples?" He saith: "I am not!" The officers and the servants that stood there had made a fire of coals, for it was cold, and warmed themselves. Peter, also stood among them, and warmed himself. Then did the high priest turn and question Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine. Jesus made answer to him: "I ever spake openly and freely to the world, whenever in the synagogue I did My teaching and in the temple, where all the Jews always come together, and have said nothing in secret at all. Why askest thou this of Me? Rather ask of them who have heard Me speak, what it is that I taught them. See now, they surely remember the whole of what I taught them."But when Jesus thus had spoken, an officer standing near to Jesus struck Him with his open hand, and said: "Dost Thou dare to answer so to the high priest?" Then did Jesus reply to him: "If it was evil I spake, bear thou witness to My evil words; but if I have spoken well, why smitest thou Me?"
Who struck Thee and accused Thee, My Lord, who sorely bruised Thee, And caused Thee such great woe? Thou doest no transgression, As we and all our children; No sinful deed didst Thou e'er know.
Tis I whom sins encumber, My misdeeds far outnumber The sands upon the shore; These sins it was that brought Thee Thy misery, and wrought Thee Of martyrdom the awful store.
Now Annas ordered Jesus bound, and then sent Him bound to Caiaphas. Simon Peter stood still warming himself. Then said they unto him: "Art thou not one of His disciples?" But Peter denied it and said: "I am not!" Then saith one of the high priest's servants, being kinsman of him whom Peter had smitten and cut his ear off: "Did I not see thee in the garden with Him?"
- Then did Peter deny it a third time and straightway crowed the cock. Then did Peter bring to mind the Word of Jesus, and he went out, and wept bitterly.
Ah, my soul, Where wilt thou finally go? Where shall I find recovery?
Stay I here, Or shall I now leave peaks and hillocks far behind me? From the world comes no relief, And my heart retains the torments of my evil deed, of my evil deed, For the servant hath denied his Lord.
Peter gave it scarce a thought When he God rejected; At Christ's look, he fled, distraught, Weeping and dejected. Jesus, fix Thy gaze on me, True repentance teach me, When Thou evil there dost see, Through my conscience reach me.
Christ, through Whom we all are blest, Knew no evil-doing. Him at night they did arrest, Like a thief pursuing, Led before the godless throng, And falsely convicted, Laughed at, scoffed at, spat upon, As the Word predicted.
Then Jesus was led away from Caiaphas to the Judgment Hall, and it was early. But into that Hall they could not enter, lest there they should be defiled, and thus might not eat the Passover. Then out went Pilate, the judge, unto them and said: "What accusation bring ye against this Man?" Then they cried aloud and said unto him: "If this man were not a malefactor, we would not bring Him here before thee." Then Pilate said unto them: "Then take ye Him away and judge ye Him according to your own law." The Jews therefore said unto him: "By law we cannot kill Him." That thus might be fulfilled the Word of Jesus, which He had spoken, when He signified by what manner of death He should perish. Then Pilate entered into the Hall, and again he called in Jesus, and said unto Him: "Art Thou the King of Jewry?" Jesus then answered him: "Dost thou say this of thyself, or have others been saying this to thee of Me?" And Pilate then answered Him: "Am I a Jew then? Thy people and thy chief priests have brought Thee here for judgment before me; now, what hast Thou done?" And Jesus answered him: "My kingdom is not of this world; for were My kingdom of this world, then My servants all would fight to defend Me, that I should not unto the Jews be delivered. Nay then, My kingdom now is not from hence."
O mighty King, eternal is Thy glory! How can I rightly spread abroad the story? No mortal heart can ever hope to show Thee What it doth owe Thee.
I cannot with my human reason measure Wherewith I might compare Thy mercy's treasure. How can I thanks for Thy good deeds so tender, In works e'er render?
Then Pilate said unto Him: "Now truly art Thou a King then?" Jesus answered him: "Thou sayest, I am a King then. To this end was I born, for this am I come here, that I bear witness to the truth. Each one who is of the truth, they all will hear My voice." Then said Pilate to Him: "What is truth then?" And when he thus had spoken, he went out once again to the Jews and said unto them, "I find in Him no fault at all. But ye have a custom at Passover that one man I should release to you; will ye now that I take the King of the Jews and release Him?" Then cried they again with one accord, and shouted: "Not this man, no, not him, but Barabbas!" Barabbas he set free, a murderer! Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him!
O ponder now, my soul, With agonized enjoyment, With bitter mirth, and sore distressed in spirit. Thy highest good is Jesus' suffering! For thee the thorn-crown pricks Him deeper, The "Heavenly Keys" (Holy Absolution), primroses bloom; Thou canst the sweetest fruit From His sour worm-wood relish, Hence, gaze unceasingly on Him.
Consider, how His blood bespattered body, its livid colors with sunset's palette of crimson doth compare. A reminder--that after watery billows of our flood of sin subsided, the loveliest, most wondrous rainbow, as God's own sign of grace, stands there.
The soldiers plaited then for Him a crown out of thorns, and put it upon His head and put on Him a purple robe, and said: "Lo, we hail Thee, dearest King of Jewry!" And then with their hands they smote Him. Then once again did Pilate come out and said to them: "See ye, I now bring forth this Man to you, that ye may know that in Him no fault do I find." And then did Jesus come forth, still wearing the crown of thorns and purple robe. Then said Pilate to them: "Behold the Man!" Now all the officers and priests, when they beheld Him, shrieked at Him and said: "Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!" And Pilate said to them: "You then take Him hence and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him at all!" The Jews straightway answered Him: "We have a sacred Law, and who breaks that Law, he must perish, for He made Himself to be the Son of God." Now when Pilate heard what thus was said, he was the more afraid, and went up once again to the Judgment Hall, and saith to Jesus: "From whence then art Thou?" But Jesus would not give him answer; then Pilate spoke unto Him: "Speakest Thou not to me? Knowest Thou not I have power over Thee to crucify, and power, too, to release Thee?" Jesus then answered him: "No power couldst thou have over Me, had this power not from above unto thee been given; therefore, he that delivered Me unto thee is the greater sinner." And from henceforth did Pilate seek, how he might release Him.
Through Thine own bondage, God's dear Son, Thou hast us freedom given; And from Thy cell, Thy gracious throne, Our liberty is risen. Hadst Thou disdained this slavery sore, We would be slaves forevermore.
But the Jews cried out and shouted to Pilate: "If thou let this man go, then art thou no friend of Caesar, for whoever maketh himself a king is foe unto Caesar." Now when Pilate heard them speaking thus, straightway he brought Jesus forth, and took up his place upon the seat of judgment, in a place called High Pavement, but in Hebrew called Gabbatha. And it was about the sixth hour of preparation of the Passover, and he saith to the Jews: "See ye, your King stands before you." Again they shouted: "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate saith unto them: "Would ye see your King be crucified?" The chief priests answered and said to him: "We have no king but Caesar." Then Pilate delivered Him to them, that they might crucify Him. Then taking with them Jesus, they led Him away, and He bore His cross and went henceforth with them to a place called Place of Skulls, which is in the Hebrew tongue called Golgotha!
Haste, ye souls whom care oppresses, Flee from trouble's dark recesses. Ah where? To Golgotha. Now He clothes us with faith's mantel, Flee, ah where? Go to His chancel. Thy salvation waits thee there.
And there crucified they Him, and two others with Him on either side, Jesus in the midst, between them. And Pilate wrote for Him an epigraph; and put it upon the cross; and it was written: 'JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF JEWRY! And this epigraph was read by many, for the city was not far from the place where Jesus was crucified. And the words were written in the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Latin tongues. Then said the chief priests of the Jews unto Pilate: "Write thou not the King of Jewry, but instead write that He Himself hath spoken: 'I am the King of Jewry!'" But Pilate replied to them: "Behold, what I have written, that is what I have written."
In my heart's inmost kernel 'Tis but Thy Name and Cross. They glow with light eternal, And bring me joy for loss. Oh, sparkle now within me, Give comfort in my need, As Thou, Lord Christ, most kindly For me to death didst bleed.
And then did the soldiers, after thus they had crucified Jesus, divided His garments in four equal portions, a portion for each of the soldiers there, and also His coat. Now the coat had no seam but was woven: from end to end 'twas woven through and through. They said therefore one to another: "Let us then not cut or tear it, but draw lots for choosing whose it shall be." That the Scripture might be fulfilled which sayeth: They parted out my raiment equally among them, but for my vesture, they cast lots for its possession. These things therefore were done by the soldiers. Now standing beside the cross of Jesus was His mother and also His mother's sister, named Mary, Cleophas' wife, also Mary Magdalena. Now when Jesus saw His mother near Him, and His well-beloved disciple standing by her, He saith unto His mother: "Lo, woman, behold thy son!" Then saith He to that disciple: "See thou: here behold thy mother!"
He of everything took heed In His hour of dying, Caring for His mother's need, On His friend relying. O man, do all things aright. Love God and thy neighbor, Die then without pain or fright, Rest from care and labor.
And from then on she stayed with that disciple. And now since Jesus knew full well that all was accomplished, as was written in the Scripture, He saith: "I thirst!" Now there stood a vessel full of vinegar. They filled therefore a sponge with the vinegar, and put it on a twig of hyssop, and put it to His mouth to drink it. When the vinegar had touched the lips of Jesus, He said: "It is fulfilled."
It is fulfilled. O peace for all afflicted spirits. This mournful night Lets me the final moment reckon. The Lion of Judah wins the fight And ends the strife. It is fulfilled.
And bowed down His head, and was gone.
My dearest Saviour, let me ask Thee:
Since Thou upon the cross wast crucified,
And Thyself hast said: It is fulfilled,
Am I from dying now made free?
Can I now through Thy Passion merit
The heavenly realm inherit?
Is all the world's redemption sure?
Thou canst for torment scarcely answer,
Yet bowest Thou Thy head and sayst,
Yet bowest Thou Thy head and sayst,
Jesu, who for me didst die,
Livest now forever.
When my hour of death draws nigh,
Let me waver never.
May I e'er to Thee be turned,
O my faithful Saviour!
Give me but what Thou hast earned,
More I do not pray for.
And then behold, the veil of the temple was rended in twain, from very top to floor below. And the earth quaked and trembled, and the rocks burst asunder and the graves again were opened, and there arose many bodies of saints of old.
My heart! While now the entire world At Jesus' suffering likewise suffers, The sun itself in sorrow hiding, The veil is rent, the rocks are cleft, The earth doth quake, graves split open, For they their Maker now see dying: What wilt thou in thy station do?
Dissolve, thou my spirit, in torrents of weeping, The Highest to honor. Declare to the world and to heaven its grief, Thy Jesus is dead!
The chief priests therefore, because of the Passover, in order that the bodies should not remain on the cross for the Sabbath (for the Sabbath in that week was a high one), now entreated Pilate to allow their legs to be broken, that they might from thence be taken. Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first one, and the other who was crucified there with Him. Then at last coming up to Jesus, and perceiving that He had already died, therefore they broke not Jesus' legs; but one of the soldiers then took up his spear, and with the spear did he pierce His side, and straightway came there blood and water out. And he that hath seen these things, 'tis he who bear record, and his record is true, and indeed he doth know, that he the truth hath spoken, that ye believe. For all these things were done as promised by the Holy Scripture: A bone of Him shall not be broken. Again in the Scripture another hath said: They shall behold Him, behold the One whom they have pierced.
Help, O Christ, Thou God's own Son, Through Thy bitter anguish, That our wills with Thine be one, Zeal for evil vanquish. On Thy death and its true cause Contrite thoughts we'll render, And, though weak, and full of flaws, Thee our thanks we'll tender.
There came unto Pilate Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple of Jesus was he (but secretly, fearing the Jews), and sought leave to remove the body of Jesus. And this leave Pilate gave unto him. Therefore came he thither and carried Jesus' body away. And with him there came Nicodemus, he who at first had come to Jesus in the night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and of aloes, together a hundred-pound weight. Then took they Jesus' body, and wound it in the linen cloths with the myrrh and aloes, as the Jewish manner is to bury. Now there was in the place, where He was crucified, a garden, and in the garden a new grave in which no man yet had e'er been laid. And therein then laid they Jesus, since it was the day of preparation, because the tomb was nigh at hand.
Rest well, Beloved, sweetly sleeping, That I may cease from further weeping, And let me, too, rest well. The grave that is prepared for Thee, And holds no further pain for me, Doth open Heaven to me, and close the gates of Hell.
Lord, let at last Thine angels come To Abram's bosom bear me home, That I may die unfearing; And in its narrow chamber keep My body safe in peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing. And then from death awaken me That these mine eyes with joy may see, O Son of God, Thy glorious face, My Savior and my Fount of grace. Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, And I will praise Thee without end!