“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Mark 14:26) This little verse in Mark’s Gospel which occurs at the end of the Last Supper account, has always intrigued me.  It may well be one of the greatest pictures of quiet courage and confidence in all of literature.  For Jesus and His students were singing in the very shadow of the cross! 

I.  THEY WERE NOT THE FIRST NOR THE LAST TO DO SO.  Scholars suggest that the hymn they may have sung was the famous hallel Psalm 118, which was always sung after the final blessing at the Passover meal.  But for Jesus and His friends it was no mere form or formality.  As they sang it they shared in the great heritage of their ancestors who faced immeasurable odds with a song on their lips, as they armed their hearts and minds…