He loved them to the end.

John 13:1-2

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 

Celebrating the Passover with friends

Taking time out in an upper room

Caring for their tired and weary bodies

with water, wine and bread.

Then, stories shared and hunger sated,

going into the garden in the cool of the night to pray.

Going into the garden 

where betrayal and arrest awaited him.

And one by one, the friends disappeared

slinking into the night

watching form a distance

feeling the hurt and betrayal

but powerless to change it.

And the Son of God

who removed his robe to serve his friends

was left exposed and abandoned

on the night before his death

as the light burned dimly

just before dawn.