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The Church of All Nations
The Church of All Nations
Therein at Mount Olivet in Jerusalem,
Where eight aged, gnarled olive trees are pressed for oil,
People of faith the world over; come to accoil
For mercy in atonement for their transgressions.
And worship the Lord in the Church of All Nations:
Located in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Across the Brook Kidron, o’er the Rock Agony.
Where did Christ sweat blood, praying to God in Heaven.
Under the twelve domed roof basilica structure;
Light filters through purplish alabaster windows,
On believers at the altar making avows,
And Christians at Mass of all denominations.
Where years earlier on an infamous Spring night
(Before the Church was built and the olive trees planted)
Jesus prayed while his disciples slept and was betrayed
With a kiss on the cheek by Judas Iscariot.
Then falsely arrested for blasphemy against God
By a crowd sent from the Sanhedrin to hunt him down.
Peter drew his sword and was rebuked by the Lord
In Scripture fulfillment, as the mob took Christ away.
Then all forsook Him and fled (even one naked
Whose linen cloth was torn from his body as he ran).
Peter followed at a distance and remembered
Him saying, “Before the cock crows, thrice you shall deny me.”
In this world of commerce, it’s easy to dismiss:
God the Father and God Incarnate unblemished.
Those olive trees attest to Jesus’s existence;
The Trinity and His promise of forgiveness.
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References:
Matthew 26
Mark 14
Luke22
John 13: 31-38 and John 18
Copyright ©
Dennis Spilchuk
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