GOSPEL OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 14 - 18

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW CHAPTER 14

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch
Heard Jesus’ rumours in the dark.
2 And he said to his servants, “This
Is John the Baptist, not to miss
He’s risen from the dead, that’s why
He’s working wonders in the sky.
3 Herod seized John and bound him and
Put him in prison by remand
Of Herodias, the wife of
His brother Philip without love.
4 For John told him, “It is not right
For you to take her in the night.”
5 That’s why he wanted to kill him,
But fearing the crowd which held trim
That he had been God’s prophet grim.
6 But when Herod’s birthday feast came,
Herodias’ daughter danced in flame
And pleased Herod to no end’s shame.
7 So then he promised with an oath
To give her whatever she quoth.

A man’s head’s always turned when dancing girls
Come out to prance and swish their lovely curls.
It never at that moment enters mind
That hair is merely dead skin in a bind.
This time the heads of two men were turned round:
The head of Herod, who politely frowned,
And head of John the Baptist on the ground.
That’s the effect of dancing with the wined.
Beloved, I dance too on the barren earth
And find my head is turned for all it’s worth
By Your appearance on the cloud and sun,
And Your revealing where the small mice run
Across the forest carpet woven fast
By tiny hands untiring at the cast.

8 But her mother encouraged her
And said “Give me on a plate spread
Johannes the baptiser’s head.”
9 The king was sorrowful but still
Because he had sworn to fulfil
Before his guests, he ordered it
To be given her, though unfit.
10 And sending, he beheaded John
In the prison. 11 And his head drawn
Was brought on a plate to the girl,
And she took it where her mum shone.
12 And his disciples took the pearl
Of his body and buried it,
And went and told Jesus to wit.
13 When Jesus heard, he went apart
From there in a boat to the start
Of wilderness. When the crowds heard
Of his address, their hearts were stirred
To follow him on foot and cart
Out of the cities and apart.
14 When Jesus went out, he then saw
The great crowd and with pity’s awe
He healed their ailments at a draw.

I doubt my hand has been led to the touch
That heals a single soul, indeed not much.
But if a grief can bring such power to men,
Then turn my every sorrow come again
To healing for the crowds around my glen.
I turn upon my wilderness in place,
Praying that no crowd may perceive my face,
And take Your bounties with right hand up-raised,
And scatter them abroad with left hand crazed.
The wilderness looks on verst after verst
As far as Vladivostok at the worst,
And whispers not a word before the sight
Of one man whirling in the morning light,
Of one man whirling on the dergah’s night.

15 When evening came, disciples drew
Near him and said “The place is cru,
The hour has fled. Dismiss the crowd,
So they may enter towns allowed
To buy provisions for their stew.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “No need
For them to go away with speed.
Just give them food to eat indeed.”
17 But they said to him, “We have none
Here except two fish and five bun.”
18 And He said “Bring them here to me.”
19 He told the crowds to sit sweetly
Upon the grass and then he took
The five loaves and two fish on hook,
And looking up into the sky,
He blessed them and broke them with sigh
And gave his disciples the loaves,
And the disciples gave the droves.
20 And everybody ate their fill.
And they gathered the overspill,
Twelve baskets full and fit to kill.
21 Those fed were five thousand of men
Besides women and children then.

Given it’s mostly women and offspring
Who go to church to hear the preacher sing,
The ratio to men is twenty to one.
That adds to one hundred thousand when done.
I’ve never been so great at counting up.
My talents, as they are to drink and sup,
Are truly modest. When it comes to You,
I cannot get past one to three in view
No matter what I do. And as for laws
I only count the ten upon my claws.
If You had wanted me to number more,
You should have given me more fingers in store.
So I just throw the number out in rate
And wait for stones to fall upon my pate.

22 And straight off Jesus commanded
His disciples into boat’s lid
To go before him and across
To the other side while he’d toss
The crowds out for their gain or loss.
23 And having dismissed the crowds, he
Went up into the mountain’s lea
Alone to pray. And darkness came
And he was there alone in claim.

The prayer-book of the time, the great Siddur,
Was simple book of Psalms, Tehilim pure.
How many hours did Jesus take to say
All one hundred and fifty Psalms in sway?
It can be calculated in a day
To nearest hour if not half-hour for sure.
My own grandmother read each night at last
The book of Psalms, the prayers in Hebrew cast
In King James English, vigilant and fast.
Myself, I hardly get beyond the first
Psalm in my clamour to be of the worst,
But still I meet the midnight blessings where
You come to join the temple of the air.
The Psalms rise up invisible with care.

24 But the boat was now out to sea,
Tossed by the waves, wind contrary.
25 But in the fourth watch of the night,
Jesus went out to them in sight
Walking upon the sea’s strange light.
26 When the disciples saw him come
Walking on the sea, every bum
Of them was troubled, and they cried,
“A ghost! A ghost!” Each was beside
Himself for fear of that false ride.
27 But straight away Jesus spoke to
Them, saying “Sit in comfort’s pew,
It’s only me. Don’t be afraid!”

Sir Tyler and Sir Frazer must indeed
Have read with satisfaction the fair need
Of men of magic to believe in ghosts.
So then evolved religion for her hosts.
Although a sudden snap of twig at night
In forests dark and lonely is a fright,
I fail to rise to such grand faith to see
The ghosts come trailing in to grin at me.
Beloved, the visionary way I’ve crossed
Has long since settled to an old-aged tossed
In cynical retreat and doubtful cast.
Still I grasp You invisible to last.
Do not betray me like Your son to blast
The sea with odd lights shining on my mast.

28 And Peter answered him and said
“Sir, if it is you, tell me led
To walk to you across the spread
Of the sea waters raising dread.”
29 And he said “Come on!” So he got
Out of the boat and like a shot
Peter walked on the waters there
To go to Jesus on a dare.
30 When he saw how the strong winds blow
And started to sink in the flow,
He shouted out, “Sir, save me, row!”
31 And right away with outstretched hand
Jesus took hold of him to land,
And said to him, ”So little faith,
Why did you doubt, for just a wraith?”
32 And coming to the boat again,
The wind ceased. 33 In the boat the men
Came and prostrated themselves there
Before him saying, “Truth to share,
You are God’s son, and so beware!”

I’ve heard of those who walk on fire to show
Themselves full of faith in the trance to glow.
I’ve heard of Pentecostal waifs who know
The way to walk on rivers is to go
Out stepping in faith. But the final show
Is emptiness for one, for other row
Of disappointment in emotion’s peal.
Beloved, my heart is made of stone and steel.
I do not doubt reality, I do
Not doubt Your word on Sinai in the dew
Of morning or the evening coming true.
It’s in the noon I doubt, when cares of life
Run over me with labour and with strife.
I prostrate myself now before light’s view.

34 Having crossed over they arrive
In Gennesaret’s land alive.
35 The men of that place knew him and
Sent all around the near-by land,
And brought the sick under his hand.
36 They begged him just to let them touch
The fringes of his robe, not much.
And everyone that touched him so
Was healed of every illness’ low.

If there was blue in those days to be had,
I reckon that the fringes were not bad.
Maybe the lack of blue upon the rate
Is why touching of fringes now in fate
Heals no one that I know of out to gad.
I look about for Jesus’ fringes now,
And think to touch them with both lip and brow,
And find the autumn leaves in colour fling
About me where the little angels sing.
But none of them are blue, though gold is found
And trampled to the earth and in the ground.
And red like ruby can be seen abroad
Where maples brush the morning and the sod
With other colours known to man and God.

MATTHEW 15

1 Then the scribes and the Pharisees
Came to Jesus out of the ease
Of the town of Jerusalem
And said 2 “Why do Your folk in hem
Transgress what the elders hand down?
For they don’t wash their hands gone brown
Before they eat their bread in gown.”

The point is not hygienic, but the rite
Of rinsing hands and coming to recite
The blessing set out in tradition slight
Baruch atta... and following for spite.
Let no one think I focus all my blame
On the Rabbinical in sort of game.
All faiths add to the Decalogue what’s needed
To justify neglect of the unceded.
Beloved, no doubt my own behaviour would
Incite remarks if any stopped or could
Take note of what I do here as a hood.
As soon as Jesus fails to foot the bill
Of custom he’s called on in judgement sill.
The non-conforming is one fit to kill.

3 But he replied to them and said
“Why do you also transgress then
On your part commandment to men
From God for your tradition’s wen?
4 “For God commanded saying thus:
'Honour your dad and mum' for fuss,
'The one who speaks ill of his dad
Or mum, by death let him be had.’
5 “But you say 'Anyone who states
'An offering, what you’d take on plates
From me, 6 “and in no manner rates
Honour to dad or mum in gates’
And you annulled command of God
By your tradition under rod.”

Sweet Jesus here refers to Decalogue
In contrast to tradition in a fog.
Disarmingly expression for the like
Is oral law, vocabulary strike.
It’s not clear here if Jesus stands alone
Upon the Decalogue or takes the throne
Of the Mosaic code in its extent
Of applications throughout all the meant.
Beloved, I take the literal as true:
He quotes from Decalogue and brings to view
The one criterion by which on cue
All things can be evaluated too.
What’s good enough for Jesus I admire
And take it for my own winter attire.

7 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah
Prophesy about you and saw,
8 “This folk comes near Me with their mouth,
And with their lips honour the south,
But their heart remains far from Me.
9 “Only in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines man’s own fee.”
10 And summoning the crowd he said
To them, “Hear and understand led.
11 “It’s not the thing come in the mouth
That defiles a man, but what leaves
The mouth man defiling receives.”

The sweet Christian straightway thinks this word gives
Him the permission to eat without sieves
The mouse and swine under the green tree’s hall.
But Jesus speaks against tradition’s call,
Not anything that’s mentioned in the book.
Nor is he talking about diet’s rook,
But about what enters the mouth on hand
Not washed and blessed by the human command.
The fact is that germs are more likely to
Invade the body if tradition’s due
Is so ignored. Defilement is the rate
Of following the human desires grate
Instead of the command of God. Beloved,
Strike dead the exegetes that come so gloved.

12 Then came the disciples to him
And said “You know that hearing trim
The message the Pharisees were
Offended by what did occur?”
13 But he said in reply, “Each plant
My heavenly Father did not grant
Shall be uprooted. 14 “Leave the fer.
They are blind leaders of the blind,
And if the blind lead their own kind,
Both will fall in a pit unsigned.”

Here Jesus states outright he comes opposing
What men spoke and not You in Your bulldozing.
That means what he said does not apply to
A legislation found in Torah due.
But diet is well-marked in Moses’ book,
In Leviticus, You just take a look,
And in sweet Deuteronomy as fair.
Christ did not mitigate what’s written there,
But washing hands with blessing on the air.
A second curse I call down on the church
And on the preachers on their preaching perch,
And bless the Jew and Muslim in their search
Obeying You, Beloved, not in the lurch.
I call a curse and blessing, call with care.

15 Replying Peter said to him,
“Explain us this parable grim.”
16 But Jesus said “Are you also
Still without understanding’s glow?
17 “Don’t you see how what goes inside
By the mouth, in belly to hide
And be cast out in excrement?
18 “But the things that come out in word
From the mouth come from heart unstirred,
And these defile man more than turd.
19 “For out of the heart comes excuses,
Evil things, murders and abuses,
Adulteries and fornications,
Thefts, lies, and blasphemies in rations.
20 “These are the things that will defile
The man. But eating all the while
With unwashed hands does not defile.”

Let me say this just one more time.
The question is not one of rhyme,
Not one of law Mosaic or
Of law that You spoke at the door,
But washing hands. Just take a look.
There’s nothing of that in the book
From Genesis to the end of
The books of Moses for all love.
But claiming Jesus here gives leave
To break the law’s without reprieve,
It is a lie and blasphemy,
And so defiles the one on spree
Defending such a lie as well
As those who hear that lie to tell.

21 And Jesus went away from there
To parts of Tyre and Sidon’s share.
22 And see a Canaanite dame came
Out from those regions with the claim
“Have mercy on me, Sir, you are
The Son of David and a star.
My daughter’s horribly possessed
By demon power, torn and undressed.”
23 But he did not answer a word.
His disciples came near up-stirred,
Saying “Send her away, for she
Disturbs us crying mightily.”
24 But he replied, “I was not sent
But to lost sheep of Israel’s tent.”
25 But she came falling on the ground
Before him saying “Sir, confound,
Help me!” 26 But he replied again,
“It is not meet to take bread then
From the children and throw to hound.”
27 But she said “True, sir, even hound
Eats crumbs that fall from owners’ table,
As many as such hounds are able.”
28 Jesus answered her to resound,
“O woman, your faith’s great in bound,
May it be so as your desire.”
And her daughter was healed that hour.

Although my daughter is not so possessed
By demons that I have come and addressed
Your sent one begging for help of the best,
I still beg for the crumbs of livelihood
Due to the dervish dog, whose faith though good
Extends not to the hopes of future wealth
To be gained by the cunning saints in stealth.
I do not cry to enter heaven’s gate,
Nor do I draw back from the promised fate
Of hell. Instead I sit with my eyes cast
Upon Your table now, Beloved, and fast
With ears forward and tail vibrating, sit
In hopes of getting what You may see fit,
Caught in mid-air or sniffed on the ground lit.

29 Going from there Jesus came near
The Sea of Galilee, and here
Climbing the mountain, sat for cheer.
30 And great crowds came to him with lame
And dumb, and blind, and others came
With defects. And they fell down in
Prostration at his feet to be
Healed among all the company.
The crowds were amazed at the din
Of the dumb speaking, the maimed found
Whole, the lame walking and the sight
Of the blind seeing all around.
And they gave thanks with all their might
To Israel’s God and did it right.
32 But Jesus summoned to come near
All his disciples and said clear,
“I’m filled with pity for the crowd,
Since they’ve already been allowed
To stay with me three days and yet
Have nothing here to eat or set.
And I don’t want to send away
The people hungry, so they may
Not faint on the road where they’re met.”
33 And his disciples said to him,
“From where in such a desert grim
Will we get so much bread to give
To such a great a crowd to make live?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves
Do you have?” And they said in droves,
“Seven, and some small fish from coves.”

Without a prophet in the offing I
Come with a basket and a smile as shy
As if it were not hidden meat and guiding
I shelter in my heart no less confiding.
But seven loaves from Ali to the son
Of Ja’fer is a progress well half done.
And to the loaves are added some small fishes
That magnify their Lord in all their wishes.
Take this basket of bread and fishes, Lord,
And in Your servant’s hands instead of sword
Feed all creation with its barley scales
Till wisdom in the flesh retreats and fails.
I do not ask for banquets and gold dish,
Beloved, when You provide bread and a fish.

35 He ordered the crowds to sit down
Upon the ground without a frown.
36 And taking seven loaves and fish,
He gave thanks, broke them in a dish
And gave to His disciples, and
The disciples gave the crowd hand.
37 And all ate and were satisfied.
They gathered up what came to bide
In seven baskets and beside.
38 Those who ate were four thousand men
As well as dames and children then.
39 After he sent the crowds away,
He went into the boat to sway
Up to the edge of Magdala.

Despite my wondered interest in the things
Of faith and spirit instead of the springs
Of wealth and soil, I too rise and take note
That Jesus was a gallant man in boat.
The greatest barrier to armies now
And then was and is food to serve the POW.
But Jesus solved that military claim
By making bread and fish outdo the game.
Aside from banking armies, I myself
Would have an interest for the cupboard shelf.
One that needs no replenishing would save
Me time and money here before the grave.
Beloved, I thank for daily bread and raise
Petition for a sounder source in maze.

MATTHEW 16

1 The Pharisees and Sadducees
Came testing him to shoot the breeze,
Asked that he would show them a sign
From heaven. 2 He gave answer benign
And said to them, “When it is eve
You say, ‘Fair weather we’ll receive,
For red’s the sky’, 3 “and then at morn,
‘Today foul weather will be born,
For the sky’s red and threatening.’
Hypocrites! You know how to sing
The face of the sky, but cannot
Discern the signs the times have taught.
4 “A wicked and adulterous nation
Seeks after a sign’s generation,
And no sign shall be given it
Except the sign of prophet fit,
Jonah.” And he left them in station.

There is no need of sign from heaven above
Since You, Beloved, once gave the sign in love
At Sinai. Jesus Your sent one is true
Because he came to tell us what to do
In keeping the law that You once provided.
With that criterion the thing’s decided.
A wicked folk look to a thing beyond
The Decalogue, to find a witch’s wand
In this or that issue that’s not at stake,
But has advantage in that it can take
The mind from the ten duties You revealed.
Before the clamour I keep my eye peeled.
Beloved, no sign but that of Jonah’s given:
Repent, O Nineveh, be good to live in.

5 Now when his disciples had come
To the other side, they had rum
Forgotten to take bread. 6 Then he,
Jesus said to them, “Take heed, be
Ware of the leaven of Pharisee
And Sadducee.” 7 And they reasoned
Among themselves, saying the fund,
“It is because we took no bread.”
8 But Jesus, being aware, said
To them, “O you of small belief,
Why do you reason like a thief
Among yourselves because you’ve brought
No bread? 9 “Don’t you perceive the drought,
Or remember the five loaves wrought
For the five thousand and how many
Baskets you took up, and if any?
10 “Nor the seven loaves of the four
Thousand, how many baskets more
And you took them up of the store?
11 “How is it you don’t understand
That I did not speak to you planned
Concerning bread? But to beware
Of the leaven found everywhere
Of Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12 Then they understood he did not
Tell them to beware of the plot
Of leaven of bread on the trees,
But of accommodating teaching,
Pharisees and Sadducees preaching.

Both Pharisee and Sadducee made bread
Of meeting Roman suspicion and dread
By saying there was no need of the sent
Of You, since every scholar knows what’s meant
By the law and in Pharisaic bent
Can apply it to every situation,
Or else in Sadducean kind of ration,
That law suffices insofar as it
Be clearly written and it clearly fit.
This teaching lays to rest the Roman fears
That a Messiah might rise to their tears.
The way is paved for selling cheese and bread
And oil so all the wealthy may be fed.
That bread’s still fresh today, so it appears.

13 When Jesus came into the place
Of Caesarea Philippi,
He asked his disciples to face,
Saying, “Who do men say that I,
The Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said,
“Some say John the Baptist, some spread
Elijah, and others say true
Jeremiah or one of few
Prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who
Do you say that I am, say true?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said,
“You are the Christ, the son of God
The Living.” 17 Jesus answered, said
To him, “Blessed are you on the sod,
Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and
Blood has not put this in your hand,
But my Father who is in heaven.
18 “And I also say to your leaven
That you are Peter. On this rock
I will build my group and the stock
Of called out ones, and gates of Hell
Shall not prevail against it well.
19 “And I will give you the keys of
The kingdom of heaven and love,
And whatever you bind on earth
Will be bound in heaven for worth,
And whatever you loose on earth
Will be loosed in heaven above.”
20 Then he commanded all his men
That they should tell no one again
That he was Jesus the Christ then.

Accepting Jesus as Messiah, Christ
Was power to do, and it surely sufficed.
As Christ applied the Decalogue in truth,
His follower could also and with ruth
Bind and loosen according to the rule
Of Decalogue heard and known by each fool.
That rock and foundation of glory stands
In Peter, Christ and ever on the sands
Of Sinai’s perch. As John says, doing Your
Will makes a man Your child certain and sure.
But Jesus is Your son also by what
You sent him to accomplish and to shut.
Beloved, Your key still unlocks treasure store
Within Your will revealed, an open door.

21 From then on Jesus tried to show
His disciples how it would go
For him to come up to the town
Jerusalem and suffer frown
Of many things from elders and
Chief priests and scribes and then to stand
For the death sentence, and be raised
On the third day (may God be praised).
22 After he drew his aside then
Peter began rebuking him,
Saying “God be gracious to you,
Sir, this shall not come down on you.”
23 But he turned round and said to Peter,
“Satan, get behind me, your neater
Words are an offence to me now.
You are not thinking in the way
Of God but in the human sway.”
24 Then Jesus told his students, “If
Anyone has decided stiff
To follow me, let him deny
Himself, and let him come and try
To carry his own cross, and let
Him follow me and not forget.
25 “Whoever hopes to save his own
Life will lose it. But one who’s thrown
His life away for my sake will
Find it again and find it still.
26 “For what use is it if a man
Gained the whole world, but without plan
Forfeits his own soul? Or what will
A man give in exchange for life?
27 “For the son of man will come soon
With his angels in glory’s noon
Of his Father to sound of fife,
And he will then give the reward
To each for what his deeds have scored.
28 “Truly I tell you, there are some
Standing here who will never come
To taste of death, until they see
Man’s son come in his kingdom’s fee.”

The fact is, my Beloved, there never came
The glory of the kingdom’s happy name
During extended lifetime of those there
Before everyone came to have grey hair
And enter in the silent tomb of death.
All tasted of that fickle, fetid breath.
The fact is all are long since dead and yet
The gloried kingdom has not yet been met.
Beloved, if you will tell me now and why
I show still linger underneath the sky
To wait the coming kingdom, I will lay
A psalm of praise upon Your head today.
The only argument I find is that
All earthly kingdoms fail and still taste flat.

MATTHEW 17

1 And after six days, Jesus took
Peter and James, and for no crook
His brother John, and brought them up
Into a high mountain like tup.
2 And he was changed before their sight,
His face shone like the sun so bright,
And his robe in the light was white.
3 And see, Moses and Elijah
Appeared to them and talked in awe.
4 Quoth Peter then to Jesus, “Sir,
It’s good for us to see the fer.
If you like, let us make three tents
Here, one for you, one that prevents
Moses, one for Elijah too.”
5 While he still chattered the undue,
See a bright cloud came into view.
And see a voice out of the cloud
Said “This is My son, I am proud
To find delight in him, aloud
Hear what he proclaims to the crowd.”
6 When they heard that, his students fell
Down on their face quite scared as well.
7 When Jesus approached, he touched them
And said “Get up, don’t fear the hem.”
8 When they had raised their eyes, they did
Not see a soul but Jesus hid.
9 And as they came down from the hill,
Jesus commanded them to fill
No ears with the vision until
The son of man be raised from death.

This glory that enshrouded Jesus when
He went up on the mountain with three men
Must be fulfilment of the prophecy
Found earlier that some living should see
The coming with the brightness of the love
Of divine hope and grave come from above.
Inauguration of the Son of God
Is here repeated after on the sod
He had bowed down in baptism to gain
The righteousness that John’s word could sustain.
Beloved, I seek no vision of the great,
Despite my loving Moses and the state
Of good Elijah hidden in the room
Of Muhammad Al-Mahdi for a bloom.

10 And his disciples asked him, saying
“Why do the scribes enter essaying
To say Elijah must come first?”
11 Jesus replied and said to them,
“Elijah truly comes uncursed
Before to restore all in hem.
12 “But I tell you, Elijah’s come
Already, but they did not know
Him, but they did to him in sum
According to their sinful show.
The same way will the son of man
Be cut off by their hands in plan.”
13 So the disciples understood
He spoke to them as plain as could
About John the Baptist, the good.

That’s just what I don’t like about the word
Of oracles and Scriptures that occurred
In every time and place. Here’s no exception.
Your sent one turns the hope into ineption.
Either Elijah comes, the self-same man,
Or anyone on earth can muster scan.
If the prediction’s not in literal vein,
Then it is loose enough for any pain.
But worse than that, each one who brings a file
Of speculations based on Scriptures’ guile
Pretends to greater depth of thought the while,
Or spiritual penetration with a smile
Of fine superiority. To say
Things are not what they are is just fools’ play.

14 And when they came near to the crowd,
A man came near to him and bowed
Down before him and asked petition,
15 “Sir, have mercy on the condition
Of my son moonstruck, suffering sore,
Sometimes falling in the fire’s store,
And often where the waters pour.
16 “And I brought him to your own men,
Who could not cure the lad again.”
17 Jesus replied and said to them,
“O faithless, crooked ones in hem!
How long shall I be here to straighten?
How long shall I bear with your prating?
Bring him here to me, don’t condemn.”
18 Jesus rebuked it, and the demon
Came out of him faster than seaman,
And the boy was healed from that hour.
19 Then the disciples came in dour
To Jesus privately and said
“Why couldn’t we cast out the dread?”
20 And Jesus said to them, “Because
Of your unbelief. A true clause
I say to you, 'If you have faith
As a grain of mustard for wraith,
You'll tell this mountain where to go,
And it will move. Nothing in stow
Will be impossible to show.
21 “But this kind does not go out but
By prayer and fasting with door shut.'”

With prayer and fasting and with faith allowed,
I’ve faced the demon and the human crowd
And failed to make a dent on rum and proud.
The fact is none can work in wonders laid
Except the fine performers with a trade.
The real in miracle is just the hope
Of desperation finding where to grope.
The fact that prayers are answered under moon
And even in the glare of the sun’s noon,
Does not change it a whit. If late or soon,
Your sent one is too conscious of his bit
When he claims lack of trinity to sit
In his disciples’ failure. I’m not blind
To the course of the chicken coop in mind.

22 And while they walked in Galilee,
Jesus said to them and freely,
“The son of man is soon to be
Delivered in the hands of men.
23 “And they will come to kill him then,
And on the third day he’ll be raised.”
And they were sorrowful and dazed.
24 When they came to Capernaum,
Those who received the temple drachm
Came to Peter and asked him if
His teacher did not pay tax stiff.
25 He answered them, “Yes.” And when he
Came in the house Jesus sweetly
Caught him and said “What do you think,
Simon? From whom do earthly twink
Of kings receive customs and due?
From their sons or strangers in view?”
26 Peter answer him, “From the crew
Of strangers.” Jesus said to him,
“Then truly sons are free on brim.
27 “But so we don’t offend the lot,
Go to the sea and what you’ve got
In way of hook throw in and take
The first fish that swims in its wake.
And open its mouth then to find
A coin. Take that and go to bind
Their tax for you and me in stake.”

The world goes after wonders of the fish,
And how Jesus could know and Peter wish
A coin into its mouth. But I am blessed
To gaze rather at what Jesus confessed.
Since You, Beloved, are Father of mankind
As well as bird and fish upon the Wynd,
No tax laid down by ruler of the state
Or civil servant to collect in rate
Is justified. But so’s not to offend
Their sensitivity in the back end,
We pay up with a smirk behind the hand.
It’s much the same as with the robber band.
Beloved, as Your son on the thousand hills,
I owe You only, and no other bills.

MATTHEW 18

1 Right then the disciples came to
Jesus, saying “Say now then who
Is greater in the kingdom of
Heaven here or there up above?”
2 And Jesus called up a wee child
And set him among them unguiled.
3 And he said “Truly I tell you,
Unless you change and be in view
Like little children, none of you
Can even enter then into
The kingdom of the heavenly crew.
4 “Then whoever will humbly be
As this wee child, this one truly
Is greater in heaven’s kingdom’s spree.

The Lord does not command his own to be
As lacking in knowledge as a child wee.
He does not order lack of competence,
He does not order sweetness in the tents.
Humility alone is what he makes
The way of children for disciples’ sakes.
Discussion of who’s greater in the group
Is the most burning issue in the loop.
Without its contemplation, there is no
Confederation in the human show.
By the requirement of humility
The Lord dissolves all acts of unity
And in one word disbands both church and state
And takes the reins himself of small and great.

5 “And whoever receives one such
Wee child in my name comes to touch
Me. 6 “But whoever causes one
Of these wee ones with faith well won
In me and so offends the mite,
It would be better in his sight
For a millstone that turned by ass
Be hung on his neck and like bass
Be sunk in the deep sea to pass.
7 “Woe to the world from its offence!
Offence will come, yet woe’s expense
To that man through whom comes extents.
8 “And if your hand or foot offend,
Just cut it off and cast a bend,
It’s better you come into life
Lame or maimed, than to come in strife
Of two hands or two feet to be
Thrown in fire of eternity.
9 “And if your eye offends you, pluck
It out and cast it from your luck,
It’s better you come into life
One-eyed than having two with knife
Be thrown into hell’s fire with fife.
10 “Make sure you do not despise one
Of these wee ones, for when all’s done
I tell you that their angels won
In heaven constantly look upon
The face of my Father in heaven.

Beloved, I praise You for these words unkept,
Expression of the son of man who wept.
Those who offend the wee ones on Your earth
Look for a judgement and a punished berth.
It’s not that I remark how many small
Children are offended by man and pall,
But that I know in that society
Where I live I am truly of the wee.
I’ve been offended daily by the spree
Of folk who do not dream that they await
Enormous punishment at coming gate.
My preaching has led few to You and life,
But many times more to the coming strife.
I’m gate of hell to all those holding knife.

11 “For son of man by bread or leaven
Has come to save the lost and gone.
12 “What do you think? If any man
Has one hundred sheep in his span,
And one of them wanders away,
Will he not leave ninety-nine gay
Upon the mountains and go out
To look for the one left in doubt?
13 “And if he happens to find it,
Truly I tell you he comes fit
Rejoicing greatly over it
More than over the ninety-nine
That did not stray to line and pine.
14 “So it is not the will before
Your Father in celestial score
That one of these wee folk should die.
15 “But if your brother comes to sin
Against you, go reprove and win
Him just between the two of you.
And if he hears you, you have gained
Your brother from the baned and stained.
16 “But if he does not hear, take one
Or two more with you, so what’s done
May be in the mouth of the two
Or three witnesses standing true.”
17 “But if he fails to hear them, tell
It to the congregation well.
And if he also fails to hear
The assembly, let him appear
To you as Gentile and the one
Who comes to collect taxes done.
18 “Truly I say to you, what you
Bind on the earth will be shut too
In heaven. What you forgive on earth
In heaven too receives such worth.

No one I know seems to take note of this:
The court of justice from beginning’s bliss
Does not take in account the conflict that
Arises when the brother denies flat
That he has sinned at all. It only goes
To serve when there’s agreement in the rows
That one has sinned against the other’s toes.
What shall I do, Beloved, when hurt to core
And find the perpetrator of that score
Will not admit the wrong he’s done to me?
Should he then be allowed to go scot-free?
Of course the punishment this new law brings
Is social ostracism in the wings.
All sinners go scot-free in Jesus springs.

19 “Again I say to you, if two
Of you agree on earth for due,
Whatever they ask, it shall be
Awarded from my Father free
In heaven as a gift faithfully.
20 “For where two or three gather in
My name there I’m with them to win.”

The kingdom of Christ and of David too,
The follower of Abrahamic crew,
Is found today as then among the few,
The gathering of two or three in pew.
The musahip, the pair that prays together,
Is the only church that can bear the weather.
As soon as more are taken in the launch
They must quarrel about who is the craunch.
Beloved, though I may complain of the fact,
My congregation’s too small in the pact
Of me and spouse and daughter and grandson,
Truth is it is too numerous by one,
Fact is we could divide in half to be
Two churches independent from the spree.

I hereby institute the heavenly church,
The true church for all those left in the lurch,
The Church of the Beloved, where two or three
Gather in Your mercy's eternity
To covenant in promises to see
In Decalogue by David's throne and perch.
I meet the son of David day by day
To read Beloved and I without the pay,
And find the Sabbath temple in time come
Each week to fill my pleasure and my sum.
My only law's the ten commandments here,
My only love is You whom I hold dear
And see in the face of the ones come near
To cantillate Your Word, to pray and hum.

21 Then Peter came to him and said
“Sir, how many times being bled
When my brother sins against me
Shall I forgive him and freely,
Up to seven times hit in the head?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t say
To you, up to seven times a day,
But up to seventy times seven’s sway.

When I have learned to keep Your law for good
And obey each command as well I should,
And when the legal practices that bind
And shore up all the principles in mind
Are well established in my good behaviour,
And I can finally dispense with saviour,
Then there shall still be amply seven times
And seventy and more of all my crimes
Since I so often breathe a breath without
Remembering what Your name’s all about.
Forgive that I add little mind to breath
As I go rushing onward and toward death.
And yet I whisper with each breath Your name,
And in my sleep say Huu and so acclaim.

23 Because of this the kingdom of
Heaven is like a man, king for love,
Who wanted to take an account
Of his slaves. 24 And starting amount,
One debtor of ten thousand grand
Was brought to him in the demand.
25 But he had nothing to repay,
So the ruler ordered in sway
For him to be sold and his wife
And all his children, goods and fife,
All he had so that he could pay.
26 The slave fell in prostration and
Bowed the knee to him saying grand
“Sir, have patience with me, and I
Will pay all back to you or try.”
27 And filled with pity then the king
Of that slave released him to sing,
Forgiving him the loan and thing.
28 But as he went out that slave found
One of his fellow slaves around
Who owed him one hundred dinars.
He seized him and he choked to scars
And said “Now pay me what you owe.”
29 The fellow slave was not one slow
To fall down and beg saying so:
“Have patience, I’ll pay all I owe.”
30 But he would have nothing of that,
But cast in prison where he sat
Till he should pay back all he owed.
31 But his fellow slaves saw what stowed
And were grieved by it greatly too.
And they went to report it to
Their master, all that had come true.
32 The master summoned him and said
“You are a wicked slave and bred,
I released you from all the debt
Because you begged with your heart set.
33 “Should you not have had mercy then
On your fellow slave among men
As I had mercy on you then?”
34 His master was then filled with wrath
And set him in the gaolers’ path
Till he should pay back all his debt.
35 My heavenly Father’s heart is set
To do so to you with regret
Unless each of you from the heart
Forgive his brother of sin’s part.

Beloved, your sent one’s here at last
Betraying Christendom’s false blast
That sacrifice vicarious
Is the only path to the bus.
By parable he gives command
In the most warning kind of stand,
That we must forgive and must be
Forgiven only by mercy
Without a sacrifice at all.
When the slave pushed against the wall
Demanded even restitution,
The master vanquished his solution.
Beloved, forgive me now indeed
As I forgive who do not plead.

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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