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“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" -- Mark 14:26
It’s one of those Bible verses I’ve brushed over countless times…
Because the other day, I heard the verse read aloud and my head was left spinning with a number of questions:
So, what song did Jesus sing right before he died?
Did this song get stuck in his head while he suffered all alone, rejected by his friends, while dreading his torture and crucifixion?
And what song — if I had the foresight to choose one — would I sing right before I died or faced a horrible trial? What song would be my battle cry when faced with a cruel trial or even death?
A tiny bit of research answered the first question. Scholars of all stripes find it very likely that Jesus and his disciples sang the Hallel, the hymn traditionally sung at the end of a Passover meal.
“Hallel” is a Hebrew word that means “praise”; it’s where we get the word hallelujah, and the Hallel is comprised of verses from Psalms 113 to 118:
Continued below.
aleteia.org
It’s one of those Bible verses I’ve brushed over countless times…
I must have breezed past that hymn-singing part of the Last Supper because what came right after — Jesus’ agony in the Mount of Olives where his friends rejected him — has been really important to me in recent years. I meditate on it every Tuesday and Friday when I join with Christians all around the world to recite the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary. This practice of meditating on Jesus’ agony in the garden brings solace to the rejection wounds in my own heart. It’s a familiar habit, yet one that never stops unfolding.
Because the other day, I heard the verse read aloud and my head was left spinning with a number of questions:
So, what song did Jesus sing right before he died?
Did this song get stuck in his head while he suffered all alone, rejected by his friends, while dreading his torture and crucifixion?
And what song — if I had the foresight to choose one — would I sing right before I died or faced a horrible trial? What song would be my battle cry when faced with a cruel trial or even death?
A tiny bit of research answered the first question. Scholars of all stripes find it very likely that Jesus and his disciples sang the Hallel, the hymn traditionally sung at the end of a Passover meal.
“Hallel” is a Hebrew word that means “praise”; it’s where we get the word hallelujah, and the Hallel is comprised of verses from Psalms 113 to 118:
Continued below.
What song did Jesus sing right before he died?
"And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" -- Mark 14:26
aleteia.org
