GOSPEL OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 8 - 13

MATTHEW 8

1 When he had come down from the mount,
Great multitudes on his account
Followed him. 2 And indeed, there came
A leper, bowed down to exclaim
Before him, saying, “Lord, if You
Are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 Then Jesus put out his hand to
Touch him, saying, “I really do,
Be cleansed.” Immediately was seen
His leprosy was wholly clean.
4 And Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell
Anyone who has made you well,
But go your way, show yourself to
The priest, and offer the gift due
That Moses has commanded you,
As a witness to them that’s true.”

The one You sent, Beloved, may well cure all
Diseases that come in his way, the tall,
The short, the cripple Jew, Samaritan,
The old, the young, the poor, the leper man,
But even he respects it seems the priest
And social order. All from great to least
Must bow to human myth of what is right
And proper. Sometimes though I think in spite
It’s better to ignore the common mores
Of clean-unclean, the statutes and the scores
Of regulations that protect the dreams
Of those who will not wake from that which seems,
And flouting all but futile time and space
Tear down the veils and stand before Your face.

5 Now when Jesus came to the city
Of Capernaum, came pleading pity
From him, certain centurion came
6 Saying, “Lord, my servant is lame
Lying at home and paralysed,
In dreadful torment agonized.”
7 And Jesus said to him, “I will
Come and heal him from being ill.”
8 Centurion answered and said, “Lord,
I am not worthy you adored
Should come under my roof, but just
Speak a word, and my servant must
Be healed. 9 “For I’m also a man
Under authority, and can
Command the soldiers under me.
And I say to this one, ‘Go see,’
And he goes, to another, ‘Come,’
And he comes never troublesome,
And to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and
He does it just as I command.”
10 When Jesus heard, he marvelled, and
Said to those who followed, “Truly,
I say to you, I do not see
Such great faith, not even to be
In Israel! 11 “And I say to you
That many will come, not a few,
From east and west, and sit down where
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob share
In the kingdom of heaven there.
12 “But the sons of the kingdom will
Be cast out in outer dark’s ill.
There’ll be weeping, gnashing teeth there.”
13 Then Jesus said without a care
To the centurion, “Go your way,
And as you have believed today,
Let it be done for you in power.”
His servant was healed that same hour.

Beloved, make me like pagan men and not
Like true bred and righteous men who’ve been taught
To keep Your law as though it were pretext
For non-existent God. I say what next?
The heathen knows Your will. Then make me so.
I shall be heathen too, I shall and know
That all things in creation jump to true
Obedience, the natural thing to do.
Let me not stop to find the sense of law
Through logic or through likeness, but let awe
Alone teach me to run. I turn my back
On scholar, Mishna, resala, all lack
The spontaneity of truth. Your word
Suffices me that rules the beast and bird.

Who came to sit with Isaac, Abraham
Were not supposed descendants of the ram.
Those who were sons were put out in the dark.
It makes me wonder what’s a son and shark.
It seems the sons or descendants are turned
Into sharks and into things to be burned,
While those who’re not take the sons’ place to be
Sons descending from Your eternity.
Son is a word not always made to fit
The siring and the bearing, gyp and kit.
Sometimes it means the one who takes the load
And bore the name and fame in what he showed
To be his true desire despite his birth.
To be such son of God’s a thing of worth.

14 When Jesus came to Peter’s home
He saw his wife’s mother in foam
Of fever. 15 When he touched her hand
The fever left her by command,
And she got up and served them food.
16 When nightfall arrived and its mood
They brought him those who were possessed
With devils, and he threw distressed
Spirits out with a word and healed
All who had illness unconcealed,
17 So that the thing might once come true
That was spoken by prophet due,
Isaiah saying “He took on
Our weakness and illnesses drawn.”
18 When Jesus saw the multitudes
Around him, he ordered his dudes
To set off for the other side.
19 And a certain scribe came wide-eyed
And told him, “Master, I will come
After you wherever you hum.”
20 And Jesus told him, “Foxes have
Dens and the birds in the sky have
Nests, but the Son of man does not
Have where to lay his head on plot.”
21 Another follower came by
And said to him, “Sir, let this guy
Go first to lay his dad in tomb.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Let their doom
Fall on the dead and let bury
The dead themselves, but follow me.”

The reason why the spiritual and fine
Find it so difficult to stay and dine
With those You send, or follow in their stead
Yourself, is just that You and they’ve no bed
Nor dining table laid with luscious things.
That’s why instead they follow priests and kings,
And corporate executives. The hole
Of fox and nest of bird, though on the dole,
Is better stirred to give the proper props.
Who follows You and Your sent prophets drops
Into the nothingness of faith. His mosque
Is bare the ground and blue the sky and bosk
Of oak or pine upon the hill. I’ve stepped
Out in this empty gallows floor and swept.

23 Now when he got into a boat,
His disciples followed to float.
24 And all at once a great storm came
Upon the sea, the boat was lame,
Covered with waves, while he just slept.
25 And his disciples came and crept
Up to him and awoke him, crying,
“Lord, save us! For we all are dying!”
26 But he said to them, “Why be scared,
O you with little faith prepared?”
Then he got up, chided the wind
And the sea, and great calm was finned.
27 So the men marvelled, and they said
“Who is this man that winds are led
To obey him, and the sea-bed?”

No man has such a conscience that he sleeps
On rough boards at the bottom boat that keeps
On sending water up and down to soak
The sleeve and dress. I say, I’d have awoke.
The storm within my head alone makes brief
The little hours of sleep by trunk and leaf.
The one You sent had faith to slumber or
Was tired from healing people on the shore.
Might he wake once again to still my life,
The storm that strikes my peace with foolish strife.
And I shall listen never more to flood,
Nor wind nor sound, nor scurry to the blood
That every man thinks remedies the wrong.
Recite Your name, a lullaby in song.

28 And when he arrived over there
In the land the Gergesenes share,
He met two possessed in their fate
With devils coming from the gate
Of the tombs, very fierce so that
No one could pass by where they sat.
29 See how they shouted, saying “What
Do you want with us, Jesus cut
Out Son of God? Have you come here
To torment us before the fear
Of our time?” 30 In the distance grazed
A herd of many pigs unfazed.
31 So the devils begged him and said
“If you throw us out, let us led
Go into the herd of those pigs.”
32 And he said to them in their digs,
“Go then.” And when they had come out,
They went in to the herd in rout
Of porkers and see the whole herd
Of pigs ran faster than false word
Down the embankment to the sea
And drowned in the waters sadly.
33 And those who kept them fled and went
By every path from the town bent,
And told everything that occurred,
What happened not only to herd
But to the devil possessed bird.
34 See then the whole town came to meet
Jesus and when they came to greet
They begged him to depart their street.

If You send any man, a prophet or
Divine guide to illume this human store,
I warn You, my Beloved, we have our ways,
We have our swine to care for on still days.
If You should cast away the things that plague
And devil sweet society, I beg
That You remember with such also go
The lovely swine that grace our tables, show
The world that we are people well refined.
If You should wake those raging or reclined
Among the tombs to live in view of truth,
They would arise, I tell You in all ruth,
Entreating You to go away. Let lie
The sleeping swine, Beloved, let lie and die.

MATTHEW 9

1 So he got in a boat, and crossed
Over, and came to his own place.
2 Then indeed, they brought him a lost
One paralysed and in disgrace
And lying on a bed. But when
Jesus saw the faith of the men,
He said to the paralytic,
“Son, be happy, though you are sick,
Your sins are all forgiven you.”
3 At once some of the scribes, a few,
Said to themselves, “This man blasphemes!”
4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, seems
To say “Why do you in your hearts
Think evil? 5 “For which of two parts
Is easier, to say, ‘Your sins
Are all forgiven you in bins,’
Or to say, ‘Man, arise and walk’?
6 “But that you may know while you talk
The son of man has power on earth
To forgive sins for what they’re worth”
He told the paralytic, “Rise,
Take up your bed, and, being wise,
Go to your house.” 7 And he arose
And, departing, to his house goes.
8 Now when the multitudes saw it,
They marvelled like to have a fit
And glorified God, who had given
Such power to men to love and live in.

Beloved, Your sent one made the point that he
Had power from You to set the cripple free
Not only of fleshly infirmity
But from his sins. The noble Pharisee
Said in his heart that this was blasphemy.
The Pharisee is not so bad, you see,
As Christians sweetly claim that he must be.
It was not wickedness but jealousy
Another rabbi had the power to see
Beyond the limits of orthodoxy.
He wanted at the least democracy
Within rabbinical academy,
Instead of guidance by divine proxy
Established by You for eternity.

9 As Jesus went away from there,
He saw a man named Matthew share
His seat with the tax booth, and said
To him, “Follow me,” and as led
He got up and following sped.
10 It so occurred as Jesus sat
Eating in the house without hat,
Many tax gatherers as well
As sinners came to sit a spell,
With him and his followers chat.
11 And when the Pharisees saw that,
They said to his followers flat,
“Why does you Master eat with those
Tax collectors and sinners pose?”
12 When Jesus heard that, he told them,
“The well don’t need a doctor’s hem,
But those who’re ill not to contemn.”
13 But go and meditate the word
And find what it means when it’s heard,
‘I shall have mercy and not herd
In sacrifice,’ for I have come
Not to call the righteous, but bum
And sinners to repentance’ hum.”

They will accuse, Beloved, the one You sent
That he takes no regard of what is meant
By word against pollution, and he sits
To eat with unclean men. Commandment splits
Mankind into the clean and unclean camps.
Your sent one lights at last the fading lamps
Of equal standing for all humankind
Before Your face, Beloved, so those who mind
Even today that some are clean and some
Are physically polluted by their rum
And by their birth, are simply incorrect.
Divine verdict has not come to select
Men by the virtue of ablutions but
By their power to crack the mystic nut.

What does this braver text your sent one quotes
Mean in Your own sermon and study notes?
You’d rather have mercy than sacrifice.
Indeed, mercy’s not over common price.
The church and temple meet the eager crowd
With lifted chalice filled with blood allowed
And say that without sacrifice there’s none
Forgiveness of the evil things we’ve done.
And here the very sacrifice himself
Sets sacrifice upon forsaken shelf
And claims Your mercy’s big enough and free
To set all tax collectors, sinners free.
I would have believed Your word for the latter,
But tax collectors are another matter.

14 Then the disciples of John came
To him, saying “Why do for blame,
We and the Pharisees fast oft,
But Your disciples are too soft
To fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them,
“Can the sons of bride-chamber’s gem
Mourn as long as bridegroom’s with them?
But the days will come when bridegroom
Will be taken out of the room,
And then they will fast for their doom.
16 “No one puts a piece of unshrunk
Cloth on an old garment caplunk,
For such a patch will pull away
From the clothing, and the tear’s way
Made worse. 17 “Nor do they put new grape
Juice into old wineskins to scrape,
Or else the wineskins will explode,
And the grape juice will spill its load,
And the wineskins be spoiled to boot.
But they put new grape juice in chute
Of new wineskins, and both salute.”

The Pharisees and John’s disciples fasted
On Mondays and on Thursdays while they lasted.
The followers of Jesus also kept
The fast in solitude while others wept
In public for acclaim. They were not found
On weekdays designated round and round,
But fasted on command of their dear Lord.
The fast is valid when one can afford
A divine guide to say the time to do.
The Decalogue and Torah say what’s true
But give no time for fasting. That is done
Through every prophet and his guided son.
Let me too fast so that no man can know
The when and where I let my idols go.

The sons of the bride-chamber were not born
From the paunch of the bride-chamber forlorn
Which has no flesh nor blood nor tongue and groove,
But only walls and laces, loves to prove.
The sons of the bride-chamber are not brothers,
And all of them have different fathers, mothers.
The sons of the bride-chamber, friends of bride
And companions of groom, each chooses side.
How often the word son has naught to say
About the siring and begetting day.
How strange that Son of God must therefore be
Of one and same substance, divinity,
When son of the bride-chamber is not made
Of wood and stone, of lace or lemonade.

18 While he was talking, see, there came
A certain ruler without blame
Bowing down to him saying then,
“My daughter’s even now dead, when
You come and lay your hand on her
She’ll be alive, it can occur.”
19 Jesus got up and followed him
And so did his disciples grim.
20 And see, a woman who was ill
With haemorrhage and bleeding still
For twelve years, came behind to touch
The fringes of his cloak as much.
21 She told herself, “If I can just
Touch his cloak, I’ll be well and must.”
22 But Jesus turned around and when
He saw her, he said “Daughter, then
Take comfort, your faith’s made you well.”
And the woman the truth to tell
Was well from that moment again.

I come, Beloved, on this day long removed
And like the woman who was not reproved
For touching holy men, though full unclean
With bloody issue, deed done though unseen,
I come to touch the blue-fringed seamless cloak
That lawfully wrapped round the one who spoke
In that law’s name that mandates sacrifice
And purity, and all things that suffice.
I touch the one You sent and I am whole,
Cleansed from my ostracism and the role
A righteous world would cast on me. I try
To slip away unseen by holy eye
And by the proud and wealthy who despise
The likes of me. You raise me to the skies.

23 And coming in the ruler’s house,
Jesus saw musicians to grouse,
And people making noise to dowse.
24 He told them, “Get out of the way,
For the young lady’s not in sway
Of death but only sleeps today.”
And they laughed and made fun of him.
25 But when the folk were out and trim,
He went in, took her by the hand
And the young lady rose to stand.
26 The fame spread throughout all the land.

Let that one that You sent take my hand too
Who am asleep in all I think to do.
Let him ignore the laughter of the great
And well-dressed patrons of the church and state.
I wait. Though I am dead in every eye
That turns toward the lofty and the sky,
And merely of the earth, the soil and sand,
I swear I only sleep awaiting hand
With Your mandate, Beloved, I cast off all
Those claiming insight and the divine call.
I wait as dead to all the pomp and gold
That draws the crowds to Sufi and to bold.
I take the hand alone of prophet, guide,
And live to You, Beloved, all men aside.

27 When Jesus had gone out from there,
Two blind men followed him with blare
Saying “Son of David, have pity.”
28 When he entered the house and city,
The blind men came to him and he,
Jesus, said to them, “Can it be
That you believe I can do this?”
They told him, “Sir, you cannot miss.”
29 Then he touched their eyes, said “Let be
According to your faith to see.”
30 And their eyes opened; Jesus charged
Them directly, said and enlarged,
“Don’t let anyone know, agree.”
31 But when they left they spread the word,
His fame in all that country stirred.

The Son of David comes and even blind
Men come to beg his mercy and to find
The balm and healing that name must assure.
In David’s name I too look to the pure
And mighty power that You, Beloved, send down
Upon the humble dervish without crown.
You open eyes and I find that I see,
Although none knew my blindness formerly,
And this sight seems but blindness to the best
And wise on earth. I turn to east and west
And see, no longer blind, that You are there,
Invisible no longer but laid bare
In every light and shade, in every tree
Where magpie hops to cling there clumsily.

32 On going out, see, they brought him
A man who could not speak and dim
Possessed with a devil for trim.
33 And when the devil was cast out,
The dumb man spoke. The crowds in doubt
Were surprised and they said “Such things
Were never seen in Israel’s springs.”
34 But Pharisees said “He casts out
Devils through prince of devils’ spout.
35 And Jesus went through all the towns
And villages teaching the clowns
In synagogues and preaching there
The good news of the kingdom’s share,
And healing every sickness and
Every disease among the band.
36 But when he saw the multitudes,
He was moved with pity on broods,
Because they fainted, scattered out
As sheep with no shepherd about.
37 He said to his disciples then,
“The harvest truly’s great of men,
But labourers are few, 38 so pray
The Lord of harvest that He may
Send workers in His harvest day.”

With every two bit clown the word goes out
That nothing like this ever was about.
And always there are those to wring their hands
Or point out theological demands.
I flee to You, Beloved, from human doubt
As well as human weakness to the spout
Of trickster rhetoric. I flee to You,
Who have alone the source of all that’s true.
Let me not flail the windmills nor accept
The popular and sweet. Enough I’ve wept.
I flee to the compassion that You gave
To prophet, guided one, and divine slave.
I pray that workers to Your harvest might
Bring in the bread of corn before the night.

MATTHEW 10

1 When he had summoned him his twelve
Disciples, he gave power to delve
Against unclean spirits, to cast
Them out, and heal all sorts in blast
Of illness and infirmity.
2 And the names of the twelve in fee,
The twelve apostles here are these:
The first, Simon called Peter too,
And Andrew his brother in crew,
And James the son of Zebedee’s,
And John his brother who agrees,
3 Then Philip, and Bartholomew;
Thomas, Matthew the publican;
James son of Alphaeus, and man
Lebbaeus, whose surname to scan
Was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon in store
The Canaanite, and then one more
Judas Iscariot, betrayer.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out waylayer
Commanding them and as he said
“Don’t go the way the Gentiles tread,
Or enter Samaritan bed.
6 “But go instead to the lost sheep
Of Israel’s house and Israel’s keep.
7 “And where you go to preach and stand
Say ‘Heaven’s kingdom is at hand.’

The message is a good one, I too swear,
To think that David’s throne, eternal share,
Is close to being raised once more upon
A dark world long awaiting heaven’s dawn.
The truth is that usurpers still appear
And find a following of love and fear.
Beloved, I trust the Saviour’s golden word
And step out of the bleating, awful herd,
And bow to You alone. I’m not deterred
That few find David’s star, the sceptre raised
Upon a world where only You are praised.
The kingdom is at hand, so be it late
Or soon if ever at the folding gate,
I enter now, confess one king in rate.

8 “So heal the sick, the lepers too,
And raise the dead, cast out the crew
Of devils; freely you received,
So freely give. 9 Provide no gold
Nor silver, nor brass of deceived
In your purse, 10 no itinerary,
No extra coat, nor sticks to hold,
For every workman can make merry
With food as his pay for his work.
11 In every city do not shirk
To ask who’s honest there, and go
And stay with him till end of row.
12 When you come in a house, then greet.
13 And if the house is worthy, meet,
Let your peace come upon it neat:
But if it is not worthy, let
Your peace return to you to set.
14 Whoever does not receive you
Or hear the things that you say true,
When you leave that house or that town,
Shake the dust from your feet with frown.
15 Truly I tell you, it will be
Easier for Sodom to see
Gomorrah on the judgement day,
Than for that city in the way.

Beloved, you should have had Your Christ give out
At least something for sale. The meagre shout
Of Gospel that the kingdom’s almost here
Is not enough to pay for time and gear.
But then I guess in those days things for sale
Were far less varied than the modern tale.
Today a man can buy just anything
That can be made to shift a sound and sing.
Beloved, You might have had the men perform
A dervish trick or two to keep them warm
On nights when no house opened to their view.
To send them with a story and a hand
To heal if any came to understand
Their trick was rather negligent of You.

16 See, I send you as sheep out in
The middle of the wolves in din,
So be as cunning as a snake,
And harmless as a dove awake.
17 Watch out for men, for they will take
You into court, and they will beat
You in the synagogues with heat.
18 You’ll be brought in to governors
And kings for my sake and my stores
Of witness against them as well,
Both Gentiles and to Israel.
19 But when they bring you up, do not
Plan what or how to answer aught,
For it will be given to you
On the spot what you should say true.
20 For the one that speaks is not you,
But spirit of your Father who
Comes down again to speak in you.

I’ve never yet been brought in to confess
Before interrogators of address.
But since I do not trust the central bank,
The ones controlling presidents in flank
And Baptist churches where they come to wank,
No doubt my peace till now is simply by
The fact I stay at home and do not fly.
The airport is a dangerous place where
They pick up innocent folk on the stair
And torture them to reveal how they think
That terrorists should be held on the brink.
I have no plan or excuse what to say
For having not dropped bombs out of the way.
Give me the speech Christ promised on that day.

21 The brother will betray his own
Brother to death, the father stone
His own child and the children rise
Against their parents in surprise
And have them sentenced all to death.
23 But when they persecute you here
In this city, flee without fear
Into another, for I say
The truth to you, you will not stay
In all of Israel’s towns a day
Till Son of man come back to play.
24 The student’s not above his teacher,
Nor servant above master preacher.
25 It is enough for student that
He is like his teacher who sat,
And servant to be like his master.
If they have called the very master
Of the house Beelzebub, then faster
Will they call those still on his mat.
26 So do not be afraid of them.
There’s nothing hidden in the hem
That shall not be revealed pro tem,
Nothing but shall be brought to light.
27 What I tell you in darkness now,
Speak in the light, write on the brow.
What’s heard in whispers in the ear,
Preach on the housetops without fear.
28 And do not be afraid of those
Who kill the body as it grows,
But cannot kill the soul, instead
Fear Him who can destroy both led,
The soul and body in hell’s bed.

Beloved, I love or think I love You now,
But fear is often far off, I allow.
I’m more prone to fear what the people think
About me tottering upon the brink
Of their destruction, than I fear what You,
Belovèd, think of what I say and I do.
Illusion is the way of life on earth.
Try it sometime and see how far You’re worth.
It would be a good exercise to wait
Reciting the big ten and not be late
To know that I shall be judged now today
And always by the very things they say.
Kill if You must both body and the soul,
But keep me in the path of Your law’s goal.

29 Two sparrows are sold for a penny,
Yet not one of them shall take any
Fall on the ground without the sight
Of your Father knowing its plight.
30 But even the hairs on your head
Are counted and in His mind read.
31 So do not be afraid, for you
Are worth more than a sparrows’ crew.

My New Age sensibilities awake
To think that Your sent one made some mistake
When he said that the folk were of more worth
Than many sparrows flying on the earth.
It’s just an ethnocentrical conceit
That a man is better than those you meet
A-scratching on the forest floor or yet
A-flying from the branches that are set
With needles new or leaves full-fleshed and met.
There are things in some birds superior
To human capabilities in store.
The only reason I see that we think
We’re better is because the missing link
Assures us Your image in us will kink.

32 So whoever shall confess me
In front of friend and family,
I will also confess before
My Father on the heavenly shore.
33 But whoever shall deny me
Before his own fraternity,
I’ll also deny before my
Father who is up in the sky.
34 Don’t think that I have come to send
Islam (peace) upon the earth to bend,
I have not come to send out peace,
But rather a sword to release.
35 For I have come to set a man
Against his own father and scan
Of daughter against her own mum,
Not to mention son’s wife to come
Against her mum-in-law to hum.
35 And a man’s foes shall be those of
His own household, those held in love.
37 The one that loves his mum and dad
More than me is not worth a tad
To me, and the one that loves son
Or daughter more than me when done
Is not worthy to kiss my bun.

Islam came in with claims of peace allowed,
Intending to meet Jew and Christian crowd
With its proposal of fair unity
In Abrahamic faith for all to see.
The trial was adept, but in the end
The empires that arose by foe and friend
Set violence in families and in
The populations setting out to win.
True, Islam is not quite so violent
As Christianity has given vent,
If only in the conquest of Mexique.
But violence is violence in pique
Or in restraint. The civilized in mode
May even be worse than simple ox goad.

38 The one that does not take his cross
And follow me’s not worth a toss.
39 The one that finds his life shall lose,
And the one that his life refuse
For my sake shall find it no loss.
40 The one who takes you in takes me,
And the one who will receive me
Receives the One who sent me free.
41 The one who takes a prophet in
In the name of a prophet’s win
Shall get a prophet’s reward’s din.
And the one who receives a man
Who’s righteous in the name and plan
Of a righteous man shall receive
A righteous man’s reward’s reprieve.
42 Whoever gives a drink to one
Of these wee folk a cup unspun
Of cold water in just the name
Of a disciple for his claim,
I tell you truly he shall not
Lose his reward upon the spot.

This variation on Rabbinic theme
That he who saves one man save the whole dream
Is finely wrought. I like the bit about
The water for the wee one at the spout.
The gift of nourishment and life is sent
From man to child, from mother to prevent
The end of human life. So to present
A bit of bread and water in the cup
Is to give the Creator what to sup.
Beloved, enter and eat a meal with me,
And feed me from abundance of Your spree
Until I learn to share eternity,
The crust, the grape juice, and the lack of thorn
Upon the rose where Your good faith is born.

MATTHEW 11

1 It happened when Jesus had ended
Commanding his twelve men well-fended,
He left that place to go and teach
In their cities as well as preach.
2 But when John had in prison heard
The deeds of Christ, he then sent word
By two of his followers stirred.
3 They said to him “Are you the one
Who should come or should we begun
Start looking for another son?”
4 Jesus answered and he told them,
“Go tell John again what in gem
You hear and see come from my hem.
5 “The blind receive their sight, the lame
Walk, and lepers are cleansed from blame,
And the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
And the poor at last are amazed
To have the good news preached to them.

If what you mean by gospel’s what is sold
Today in churchly places by the bold
To take collections and pass round the plate
Or leather bag, depending on the state,
Then I’d much rather not be poor to hear
The gospel with its jerk of knee and tear.
The good news I’d consider a sound sign
That Jesus was sent by You to assign
Him a place among prophet and sure guide,
Would be that You at last are on the side
Of the oppressed and poor, whose wealth was taken
By the colonials, ships’ sails out-shaken,
And by their off-spring with a deal fast sealed
For corporate oil to the finely healed.

6 “And happy is whoever’s not
Offended in me and my lot.”
7 As they went off Jesus began
To tell the crowd about the man
John, saying “What did you go out
Into the desert to find out?
A reed blown in the wind unstout?
8 “But what did you go out to see?
A man dressed in new fashionry?
See, those who use designer clothes
Are in kings’ houses and such shows.
9 “But what did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you free
More than a prophet. 10 “This is he
Of whom it was written, ‘Now see,
I send My messenger before
Your face to prepare what’s in store
For you.’ 11 Truly I say to you,
‘Among those born of women too
There has not risen prophet greater
Than John the Baptist, no, not satyr.
Yet he that is heaven’s kingdom’s least
Is greater than he is increased.
12 ‘And from the days of John the Baptist
Until now heaven’s kingdom’s wrapped us
In violence, and so such take
The kingdom by force and its sake.
13 ‘For all the prophets and the law
Prophesied until John in paw.
14 ‘And if you can receive the word,
He is Elijah once conferred
To come. 15 ‘Who has ears to hear, let
Him hear. 16 ‘What simile can get
The likeness of this generation?
It’s like children sitting in station
And shouting to their mates a ration,
17 “We played our whistles for you and
You did not dance to hear the band,
We sang laments for you, but you
Did not start to weep as was due.”

John says himself that he is not the one,
Elijah promised to come on the run.
Was that just modesty (perhaps it was),
Or ignorance on his part and his paws?
Or did he really think the flesh and blood
Of good Elijah would come pluck the bud?
Christ’s words deny the coming of the true,
And yet Elijah himself came in view
And vision in transfiguration’s pew.
The spiritualizing of Scripture tells
A tale of foe in exegetic woe.
Keep me, Beloved, from spiritualizing hells
And I shall peacefully hoe out my row
Until reality takes all the show.

18 ‘For John did not come with the feast
Of food and drink and joy increased,
And they say “He’s possessed, the fool.”
19 ‘The son of man came to the pool
Eating and drinking, and they say
“See the man’s gluttonous, his way
Is like the wino’s, he’s a friend
Of tax collectors on the mend
And sinners.” But wisdom’s seen right
By those who follow her in sight.’”
20 Then he began to curse each town
Where he had done deeds of renown,
Because they did not repent then.
21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe men
Of Bethsaida! for if the great
Deeds done in you had found their mate
In Tyre and Sidon, they’d have done
Penance long ago under sun
In sackcloth and ashes to run.
22 “But I tell you that it shall be
Better for Tyre and Sidon, see,
On judgement day than for your plea.
23 “And you, Capernaum, who are
Proud up to heaven, shall fall like star
Down to hell, for if deeds so great
As have been done in you of late
Had been done in Sodom, today
It would be standing in its way.
24 “But I tell you that it shall be
Better for Sodom’s land and tree
On judgement day than for your plea.”

The best thing Christ did in his time was curse
The towns that did not repent of the worse
After he’d planted miracles in them.
The best thing Christ did on earth is condemn.
The best thing Christ did when he saw the crowd
Was flee across the sea under a cloud.
The multitude is death among the proud
To prophets and to healers in their hem.
Beloved, I turn to You for mercy’s sake,
And not to Your sent and condemned in wake.
I pity him and love, he knew the stake.
Beloved, I turn to You alone for grace,
Despite the wonder of the Christ child’s face,
The naked sore attracting tooth and mace.

25At that time Jesus answered, said
“I thank you, Father, Lord of spread
Out heaven and earth, because You hid
This things from the wise and smart lid
And showed them to mere babes You bid.
26 “Just so then, Father, for it seemed
Good in Your sight it would be deemed.”
27 All things are given over to
Me by my Father, no man true
Knows the son, but the Father does.
Nor none know what the Father was
Except the son, and the one to
Who the Son will reveal the true.
28 Come to me, all who work and go
Beneath a heavy burden's show,
And I will give you rest below.
29 Take my yoke on you, learn from me.
For I am meek with heart truly
Humble, and you'll find your souls rest.
30 For my yoke's easy at the test,
And my burden's light on the crest.

The burden that You sent one sets upon
His follower may or may not be drawn
By the weak and the lowly, but the welt
That You raise, my Beloved, is duly felt
Not at all by the body in the grave,
Nor by the round of Your child and You slave.
Salvation is no work that man can do,
It's lighter than the light of any crew.
Salvation is Your work alone, just as
Creation's power's not found in human jazz.
You only can bear up the burden to
Create a human being in his pew.
You only can redeem from death and make
A corpse rise up immortal in Your wake.

MATTHEW 12

1 At that time Jesus came to walk
Through the grain-fields with corn on stalk
Upon the Sabbath day. Now his
Disciples were hungry, that is,
Began to pluck the ears of grain
And eat the kernels raw and plain.
2 And when the Pharisees saw it,
They told him “Look, it is not fit
Upon the Sabbath day to do
What your disciples take and chew
Upon the Sabbath!” 3 But he said
To them “And have you never read
What David did when he unfed
And those who were with him hungry,
4 “How he entered God’s house, and see,
Ate the showbread which was not lawful
For him to eat, nor for those who
Were with him, only priests, how awful?
5 “Or have you not read in the law
That on the Sabbath priests in awe
Within the temple profane it,
The Sabbath, without blame, and fit?
6 “Yet I say to you in this place
There’s one greater than temple grace.
7 “But if you had known what this means,
‘I desire mercy, not machines
Of sacrifice,’ you would not have
Condemned the guiltless as you have.
8 “For the son of man is lord of
Even the Sabbath in his love.”

If Jesus’ friends were hungry after church,
That only shows the people left in lurch
Their guests and failed to give something to eat.
The keeping of the Sabbath is a treat,
And hospitality’s the watchword then.
Jesus and company fell among men,
Which means they had to break their fast alone,
Without the help of human heart of stone.
The Sabbath cannot be kept without eating,
And without hospitality for treating,
And failing that, one must take from the field
And eat right there the bounties of its yield.
When all forsake me, My Beloved, You are
The generous host feeding me afar.

9 He went away from there and came
Into their synagogue of fame.
10 And, see, a man with withered hand
Was there. And they asked in demand
Of him and saying “Does the law
Allow a man to heal a paw
On Sabbaths?” They would accuse him.
11 But He said to them, “What man dim
Among you will have one sheep trim,
And if it falls into a hole
Upon the Sabbaths, will his goal
Not be to take hold of it there
And lift it up and out with care?
12 “So how much more then is a man
Worth than a sheep? So if you scan
It’s lawful to do what you can
Of good upon the Sabbath days.”

In those days a man had a market price
And could be well compared with a sheep nice.
Twenty shekels or thirty in the book
Is a man’s price, depending on who took.
A sheep is somewhat less. And if you look
In Torah, the price of a woman’s nook
Is half that of a man. Perhaps today
A woman’s price is better one for pay,
Since in the sweet and narrow Christian way
She can be sold in Amsterdam for those
Who rule in government and business shows
To muck in glory of red lights and strobes
That go revealing through the lady’s robes.
So Jesus asks what is the price that blows.

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out
Your hand.” And he without a doubt
Stretched it out, and it was restored
As well as the other one scored.

The man had his hand hidden in his cloak
So that no one would see him under stroke
Of punishment divine for sins committed,
Both those that he had not and had admitted.
It was a shame and near pollution that
He came into the synagogue and sat.
But if he kept his hand well out of sight,
Then he was tolerated in the light.
Beloved, Your sent one fails to met the eye
With sensitivity of those who spy.
Without a promise of healing or try
He tells the man to stretch it out and show
The withering congregation and then lo
It had been healed, restored to healthy glow.

14 But as they filed out of the place,
The Pharisees took council’s mace
Against him, how they might destroy.
15 But Jesus, knowing of their ploy,
Escaped from there. And a great crowd
Came after him to be allowed
Healing, and so he healed them all.
16 And he solemnly gave the call
That they should not make advertisement.
17 He did that by the old advisement
Spoken by Isaiah the prophet,
Saying 18 “See My Son not to scoff at,
Whom I have chosen, one I love,
In whom My soul delights above.
I shall put My spirit on him,
And he will publish judgement grim
To nations all around in shove.
19 “He will not strive, he will not shout,
No one shall hear his voice about
In the streets. 20 “A bruised reed he’ll not
Break, and a smoking flax he’s got
He will not quench before he brings
Judgement out into victory’s springs.
21 “The hoping nations name his rings.”

Matthew’s account here fails to give a sop
To the fact Isaiah came in to lop
Off Israel in all as servant’s shop.
The text refers to every Jew and not
To Jesus only, who threw in his lot
With one nation in subject then to Rome.
Matthew’s quotation comes too close to home.
The word of Jesus coming so soon after
His reticence to be centre of laughter
Shows that he would give all Your folk the role
Of serving You by healing on the dole.
The miracles You do through him are done
Not by him only, but the people won
By Your choice and their obeying for fun.

22 They brought him one demon possessed,
Who did not sing, no word confessed,
And he healed him so that the blind
And dumb could see and speak his mind.
23 And all the people were amazed,
And said “Is this not David’s son?”
24 But hearing, the Pharisees crazed
Said “This one does not what he’s done
In casting out demons except
By Beelzebub, ruler inept
Of the demons.” 25 But Jesus who
Knew their thoughts, said to them, “It’s true
Every kingdom divided will
Come to an end at a stand-still.
And every town and house to be
Divided will not stand in fee.
26 “If Satan throws out Satan, he
Was set against himself to be.
How then will his kingdom stand free?
27 “If I cast out the demons by
Beelzebub, by whom do try
Your representatives of late
To cast them out? That’s why in state
They shall be your judges in rate.
28 “But if I cast out demons by
The spirit of Ælohim nigh,
Then Ælohim’s kingdom has come
Down crashing on you like a drum.

The Vatican has always been a house
Divided and caught in nibbling of mouse.
And yet no institution comes to share
With it the long life of the good and fair.
Of course dear Jesus did not know about
The coming of the Vatican with clout,
Or he would not use such an argument,
That house divided is a house forspent.
Beloved, the crew of Babylon indeed
Is so divided among rival creed
That hardly anything there can concede.
For all their beauty, I cast now aside
All faiths that come in livery and pride,
And take alone Your throne where I abide.

29 “Or how can anyone go in
A strong man’s house and break his bin,
If he does not first of all tie
The strong man up, then he can try
To rob his house. 30 “The one who’s not
With me is against me in plot,
The one who does not gather up
With me just scatters like a tup.
31 “That’s why I tell you, every sin
And blasphemy’s forgiven in
Mankind, but the blasphemy of
The spirit’s not forgiven for shove.
12 “The one who speaks a word denying
The Son of Man, for all his trying,
It shall be forgiven. But when
He speaks against the spirit’s yen,
It shall not be forgiven him,
Not in this age nor in the dim
Age left to come. 33 “Either point out
Both tree and fruit it bears in stout
To be good, or the both to be
Spoiled and corrupt, for every tree
Is known by the fruit on it wee.
34 “Children of vipers, how can you,
Being evil, speak what is true?
The heart is full of many things,
And of those ready the mouth sings.
35 “The good man from the blessings’ store
Of his heart brings good things and more.
The evil man from evil store
Sets evil things outside the door.
36 “But I tell you, each idle word
That men may speak, they’ll with heart stirred
Give account on judgement day heard.
37 “For by your words you will be shown
Right, and by your words too alone
Will you be in guiltiness thrown.”

O my Beloved, what hard saying is this?
I had depended on my works for bliss
And thought that what I said would not touch me
On the last day. Now Your sent one makes free
Accusing man for every idle word
And wife for every answer made when stirred.
Shall I be justified or else condemned
By what I say in truth or false when hemmed
About with circumstance? Or by my rhymes
Abundantly repeated between times?
So be it then. Judge me by what I say
And what I say once more on this new day.
There is no god but You, Beloved, I scorn
Invented gods upon the day they’re born.

38 Some of the scribes and Pharisees
Replied to say “Teacher, with ease
We want to see a sign from You.”
39 And he answered and told them true,
“An evil and adulterous crew
Seeks a sign, and no sign shall be
Given to them, except the free
Sign of Jonah the prophet wee.
40 “And even as 'Jonah was in
The belly of the beast of fin
Three days and three nights,’ so shall be
The Son of Man in the earth’s breast
Three days and three nights there to rest.
41 “The Ninevites will stand to speak
In the Judgement with this crew weak
And will condemn it. For when they
Hear Jonah preaching in the way,
Repented. See, a greater now
Than Jonah is here anyhow.
42 “The southern queen too will be raised
In judgement with this crew amazed
And will condemn it. For she came
From ends of the earth to hear game
Of Solomon, and see one greater
Than Solomon is here, though later.
43 “But when an unclean spirit leaves
A man, he goes out through dry leaves
To find rest and finds no reprieves.
44 “Then he says 'I will go again
To the house from which among men
I was thrown out. And when he comes,
He finds its standing in the slums,
Though swept and decorated then.
45 “Then he goes and takes with him seven
Other spirits of greater leaven
Of wickedness than he himself,
And they enter and live on shelf,
And so the end’s worse than the start.
So shall it be also to smart
In this wicked company’s heart.”

The seven devils truly have their names
That show their worth and rightly lay the blames
Of each on each. The first is surely pride,
And lying and to shed blood are beside,
While wicked plans and feet fast to comply
Are devils well enough to satisfy.
False witness and to sow discord among
The brothers make up seven devils hung.
The last state of the human soul is worse
Than the beginning if life is a curse.
But blessing and true guidance among men
Is sevenfold and glorious again
Where truthful spirits make the proclamation
That You, Beloved, are one and without station.

46 But while He still talked with the crowd,
See his mother and brothers bowed
Outside and stood up there to try
To speak to him and give the lie.
47 Then someone said to him, “See there,
Your mother and Your brothers dare
To stand outside and try to speak
With you, at least to have a peek.”
47 Then one said to Him, Now, behold,
Your mother and Your brothers bold
Stand outside to speak to you cold.
48 But he replied and told the man,
”Who is my mother, and who can
Be my brothers? Just take a scan.”
49 He pointed at his own disciples,
And said “See, my mother in striples
My brothers both the quick and span.
50 “For everyone who does the will
Of my Father in heaven’s hill,
They are my brother, sister and
My mother, if you understand.”

Sweet Jesus must be David on the throne,
Since he has the authority alone
To make law in application his own.
If my mum stood outside and knocked aloud
On any door of mine, I would be proud
To open it, at least if I had heard,
Or anyone had brought me in the word.
Commandment says to honour mum and dad.
It seems to me what Jesus did was bad.
But who am I to say what’s right and wrong,
Since I’m not any king above the throng?
Let Jesus be interpreter and bold
Of all of Your commandments known of old.
Then I’ll be faithful servant and not sold.

MATTHEW 13

1 When Jesus left that house he went
And sat down by the sea intent.
2 And great crowds gathered near him, so
He went into a boat to row
And sat down, and the multitude
Stood on the shore where things were viewed.
3 And he spoke to them many things
In parables and in sayings.
See, one went out to sow in rings.
4 And while he sowed, some seed fell by
The roadside and the birds that fly
Came up and ate them to their fill.
5 And other seeds fell where the stone
Choked up the soil, so when they’d grown
Up quickly they’d no depth of earth.
6 So when the sun rose in its dearth
It scorched them without root of worth.
7 And some seeds fell among the thorns
And thorn bushes grew round their bourns
And choked them. 8 And some seed fell on
The good ground to yield fruit, outdrawn
A hundredfold, and sixtyfold
And thirtyfold when it was sold.
9 Anyone who has ears to hear
Let him hear what these things appear.

Beloved, Your sent one was a mason sure,
Or carpenter as many say for cure.
That’s why he seems to know hardly a thing
About the way of planting in the spring,
Or autumn as may be. My neighbour took
His sack of seeds on shoulder by the brook
And set to sowing all the field laid bare.
There were both stony places and thorns there,
But his hand was so sure no seeds fell out,
But all fell on the good soil like a clout.
The man was a school teacher too and not
A farmer with a practiced hand in plot.
Methinks now Christ was joking and the crowd
Must have crowed then with laughter at the ploughed.

10 The disciples said and came near
To him, “Why do You speak unclear
In parables to them in fear?”
11 He answered and he said to them,
Because it has been given in hem
For you to know the mysteries
Of heavenly kingdom by degrees,
But it’s not been given to these.
12 The one who has shall get the more,
And have overabundant store.
But one who does not have, what he
Has even shall be shaken free.
13 That’s why I use parables’ sign
When I speak to them by design,
Since they do not see, and their ear
Though listening does not know to hear,
Nor do they understand or fear.
14 What Isaiah predicted then
Is fulfilled saying of these men,
“In hearing you will not hear and
In no way will you understand,
And seeing you will see indeed
Without perceiving thought or need.”
15 For this folk’s heart has gone to seed
In grossness, and with heavy ears
They close their eyes because of fears
Of seeing with eyes, or with ears
Hearing and understanding by
The heart and be converted nigh
To healing from me as appears.”

It’s not so much prediction as the note
That humankind are worse than billy-goat.
Stupidity is more the attribute
Of Homo sapiens than ration’s root.
The crass of men ride on the tails of those
Exceptional ones who write and compose.
To call it prophecy is hopeful shows,
But like to disappointment in the boot.
Beloved, though I have ears and eyes, I stay
In darkness and in silence, in the sway
Of love to You, while I ignore the way.
The routes of high theology miss me
As much as parable in those times free
When people listened to the folktales wee.

16 But your eyes are blessed since they see,
And your ears since they hear freely.
17 For truly I tell you that many
Prophets and righteous ones, if any,
Hoped to see what you see and did
Not live to see lifting of lid,
And to hear what you hear and failed
To live to hear the word prevailed.
18 Hear the sower’s story regaled.
19 The ones who hear the kingdom’s word
And fail to understand it stirred,
Then comes the evil one and takes
Away what’s sown for their heart’s sakes,
Are shown in the seed sown beside
The road and there not to abide.
20 And that sown on the stony ground
Is this; those who hear the word’s sound
And take it straight away with joy,
21 But have no root in self employ,
But only for a brief time wakes,
Till tribulation and the quakes
Of persecution for the word,
He’s straight off hurt by what occurred.
22 And the seed sown among the thorns
Is this: the one who hears its bourns,
And the care of this world and lies
Of wealth choke the word where it flies
To bear no fruit or realize.
23 But that seed sown on the good ground
Is this; the one who hears the sound
Of the word and grasps in his mind,
Who bears and yields fruit of his kind
A hundredfold, or sixty or
Thirtyfold, is the one in store.

The four ways are four gates of being here:
The road, the stony ground, the thorn as spear,
And the good ground. The road is tarikat,
Where love is plucked up quickly like as not.
The thorning earth is living just by law,
The stony ground is in awareness awe,
But only that gate where the good earth stays
Is full of divine wisdom and its praise.
Beloved, I walk upon the road and find
Both love and stony hearts, I do not mind.
I glimpse beyond the earthly cares the light
Of Your awareness far but shining bright.
But my heart and my love dissolve at last
In that fresh earth upon which I am cast.

24 He set before them one more story,
Saying: Kingdom of heaven’s glory
Is like a man sowing good seed
In his fields in view of his need.
25 But while the household slept, a foe
Came secretly with tares to sow
Among the wheat, and went his way.
26 And when the sprouts met light of day
And put forth fruit, the tares too showed.
27 The household servants came and told
The master, “Sir, did you not sow
Good seed in your field? Then from where
Do we see growing up the tare?”
28 And he told them, “Some enemy
Has done this.” And the servantry
Said to him, ”Do you want us to
Go and gather the tares in due?”
29 But he said “No, for fear you might
In gathering tares out of sight
Pull up the wheat as well with them.
30 “But let the two both grow in hem
Until the harvest. In the time
Of harvest I will tell the prime
Men of the reapers first to take
The tares and tie them up for sake
Of burning, but gather the wheat
Into my barn and keep it neat.”

When I was a child we had gardens where
The corn and beans and squash were growing fair
In hills, and all around them could be seen
The weeds that had to be hoed on the scene.
Eurasian agriculture sows instead
Of planting, and that is a difference bred.
If Your kingdom had been a better shoe,
A turtle-backed one, as I have in view,
The tares might have been hoed out of the pew.
Beloved, I’m not a man to hoe or reap.
Though I was not forced to the fields to creep.
My grand-dad ran away from home to flee
The hoeing of the corn, but after he
Saw the world’s face, he hoed then gratefully.

31 Another parable he set
Before them saying kingdom met
Of heaven is like a mustard seed
A man sows in his field with heed,
32 Which truly is smaller than all
The other seeds, but when in stall
It grows it’s greater than the plants,
And turns into a tree askance,
So that the birds of the air come
To sit in its branches and hum.
33 He told them one more story then.
The kingdom of heaven among men
Is like some yeast a woman takes,
Hides in three cups of flour cakes
Until the whole begins to rise.
34 Jesus spoke all these things in guise
Of parables to the folk and
He did not address them in hand
Without a parable to stand;
35 That it might be fulfilled as spoken
By the prophet, saying awoken,
“I’ll open mouth in symbols’ signs,
And utter things kept in confines
Of secret from the very start
Of the world to bottom of heart.”
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude
Away and went not to intrude
Into the house. And his disciples
Came to him, saying in their griples,
“Explain to us the parable
Of the tares of the field in full.”

The Psalm is not a prophecy, but yet
The master took its word as something set
For him to follow, and that’s a fine thing.
Let me, Beloved, also define the ring
Of my life by the things found in Your word.
Let me too go beyond commandment stirred
And above mere predictions to adhere
To any hint of an example dear.
Beloved, let me adhere, but let no man
Come after me and think the divine plan
Is set in close prediction of my fate.
It’s joy in Your commandments I await,
Not some determined, hopely clause to fear
Or act mechanical to eye and ear.

37 He answered and said to them, “He
Who sows the good seed is the wee
Son of Man. 38 “The field is the world,
The good seeds are the sons unfurled
Of the kingdom, but the tares are
The sons of the wicked one’s star.
39 “The enemy who sowed them is
The devil, the harvest of his
Is the end of the age, and yet
The reapers are angels, you bet.
40 “Therefore as the tares are gathered
And burned in the fire undeterred,
So it will be at end of age.
41 “The Son of Man will send, engage
His messengers, and they’ll take out
Of his kingdom all things and rout
That offend, and those who practice
Lawlessness, 42 “and cast in abyss
Of fire. There will be wailing and
Gnashing of teeth in that hot land.
43 “The righteous then shine like the sun
In the kingdom their Father won.
Who has ears to hear, hear what’s done!

Ha! sons again without a mother, father!
I wonder why Trinitarians bother.
I guess the devil makes them do the thing
Since they remain such tares tied up with string.
May angels fine or messengers return
To take the tares and throw them out to burn!
Beloved, I cling to You to know You’re one,
And cannot be divided when they’ve done.
The messengers are many, angels fly
Hither and yon about the crowded sky.
The seeds are minion, and the tares reply
In myriad voices raised up till the doom.
But in divinity there's only room
For You alone, Beloved, forever shy.

44 Again, kingdom of heaven is like
A treasure hidden under spike
Of grassy field, which a man finds
And hides again for joy that minds,
And goes and sells all that he has
And buys that field for all his jazz.
45 Again, heaven’s kingdom’s like a man,
A merchant seeking pearls to scan.
46 And when he finds one precious pearl,
He goes and sells all to last curl,
And buys the precious one by plan.
47 Again kingdom of heaven compares
To a drag net thrown out as snares
Into the sea and brings in all
Of every kind into the stall,
48 And when it’s full, is drawn to shore,
And there they sit and put in store
What’s in it, and throw out the poor.
49 So it will be at age’s end,
The angels go out to attend
And separate the wicked from
The righteous by the rule of thumb.
50 They’ll throw them in the burning fire,
Where there will be both weeping dire
And gnashing of the teeth to come.

It is a mercy, my Beloved, that You
Do not throw men in hell according to
This word before the end of time and age.
The Baptist deacon on my youthful page
Wrote that men go to hell as soon as death
Comes in to steal the slender human breath.
You are more merciful than Baptist crowd,
Blood-thirsty though they be when they’re allowed
To spread their doctrines with their heads unbowed.
In life and sleep of death all men remain
In equal share of joy and silent pain.
Let some what for reward in loss or gain,
Beloved, my love to You is all I need
Of both, I swear, beyond my word and creed.

51 So Jesus asked them, “Did you now
Understand all these things somehow?”
And they replied to him, “Yes, sir.”
52 And he told them, “Because of this,
Every scribe learnèd in the bliss
Of heaven’s kingdom’s like a man,
The master of a house in span,
Who brings out of his treasure store
The new and the old from before.”
53 It happened when Jesus had done
These parables, he moved his bun.
54 And coming into his own land,
He taught them in their synagogue,
So that they were surprised in band
And said “Where did the dialogue
Come to this man and wisdom lurk,
As well as every mighty work?
55 “Is this not just the builder’s son?
Is not his mother Mary won,
And his brothers, James, Joses too,
And Simon and Judas in pew?
56 “Are not his sisters all with us?
Where then did he get such a fuss?”
57 And they were offended in him.
But Jesus told them on their limb,
“A prophet is not without glory
Except in his own land and story,
And in his own household and grim.”
58 And he did not do many great
Works there because of doubt and hate.

The prophet is a word expressing all.
No man is favoured in his own home stall.
That may explain the rush to emigrate,
And why new cities are filled up of late.
The home fires are kept burning by the rate
Of those who saw boys playing by the grate
And thought them boys eternal there to play.
Men do not see the changes of a day.
And yet they ought to have minded the times
When as a child his miracles in rhymes
Made all the neighbours fear his anger then.
So brief is memory of child and men.
My doubt, no doubt prevents my share in knowing
The miracles of Your own show and going.

AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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