‘Long the hunters have prepared their steel,
the priests and elders gather for the kill’On the new CD collection, this song’s included. It’s one of those that sits half-way between a community song & a performance piece. Both because of the tune & the lyrics. The melody is over an octave, the words are more left-of-field than most of mine. But the chorus is a community confession time:
‘And we’re no different than they were then
always try to save our own skin.
Lord, have mercy on us – like you had mercy on them’The verses tell the story, reflect on it. The chorus is a prayer.
Verse 1 & 2 set the scene:
‘still they must delay’ picks up the long lead time of those who want Jesus disposed of, because, as v.2 says: ‘
Jesus wasn’t right, didn’t want to fight – offered love, they didn’t want that!’Verse 3 thinks about the trial with
‘crooked witnesses’ & the fact that
‘Jesus, you had no defenders’ (going into prayer again). Verse 4 is about Peter’s denial –
‘suddenly the cock was crowing’.
After another chorus, Verse 5 summarises:
‘He is sentenced … his crime “compassion” … here’s the lamb & here’s the slaughter’.Written back in 1987, I still like to sing it. It still feels relevant, & the story has echoes in many current events,