GOSPEL OF MARK CHAPTER 10 - 13

GOSPEL OF MARK 10

1 And he got up from there and came
Into the borders of the claim
Of Judea and on the side
Opposite of the Jordan wide.
And there again the crowds came by
To him, and so he taught them why.
2 The Pharisees came near to ask
Him if it’s lawful as a task
For a man to divorce his wife,
Just to be difficult for strife.
3 But he replied and said to them,
“What did Moses command your hem?”
4 And they said “Moses did allow
Divorcement by a bill and how.”
5 And Jesus answered and told them,
“Because of your hard-hearted phlegm
He wrote this order on your gem.
6 “But from creation’s start God made
Them male and female on parade.
7 “Because of this, a man shall leave
His father and mother and weave
With his own wife upon his sleeve,
8 “And the two shall be one flesh; so
They are no longer two in row,
But one flesh from both head to toe.
9 “Therefore, what God has joined together,
Let no man put apart with feather.”

Beloved, You married humankind to all
That You once wrote on Sinaitic wall
And spoke so all could hear what You would say.
You never changed the holy Sabbath day.
And so I know that if I come with bill
Of a divorcement and try to fulfil
Another day, You will come to commend
Me for adultery and wait to rend.
What You have joined together, my Beloved,
Whether of flesh or days to meet ungloved,
Let no man, whether Jesus, Pete or Paul
Put once apart to sadden and appal.
Beloved, I meet the Sabbath queen each week
And find all the desires my heart would seek.

10 Again in the house came to ask
His disciples would take to task
About the same matter in cask.
11 And he said to them, “Anyone
Who divorces his wife when done
And marries another commits
Adultery there where she sits.
12 “And if a woman puts away
Her husband and marries to stay
With another, she too commits
Adultery to do such fits.”

According to the Torah law a wife
Cannot give bill of divorce in the strife,
But only men have such a right at all.
So Jesus here envisions at the wall
Emancipation and women’s last rights.
Just think, a wife could divorce from her plights.
The stories Jesus tells fail not to take
Imagination in account of cake,
But this one takes at least two loaves to make.
Your sent one lets us down from the fair heights
Of our enthusiastic human fights
To see that where the liberty instates
Responsibility too claims its rates:
Adultery’s so common in our fates.

13 And they brought children to him so
He might touch them. But then rebuked
The disciples those who had looked
To carry them to him below.
14 But Jesus saw and was he mad.
He said to them, “Allow each lad
And lass to come to me, and do
Not hinder them. For of such crew
Is God’s kingdom, and it is true.
15 “Truly I say to you, the one
Who does not take the kingdom won
Of God as a child may not come
Into it ever, every bum.”
16 He took them in his arms and set
His hands on them and blessed each pet.

It’s just because the waifs are cute that he
Took them in his arms and blessed each and wee.
It’s just because they’re helpless and awaken
The instinct of protection when they’re taken
That Jesus points to children as the measure
Of man and woman in the heavenly treasure.
But fact is children are not innocent,
No more than grown-ups in the way they went.
It matters not, whether a man or child,
Either can be obedient or wild.
I simply do not understand what he
Meant that we should be children in degree,
Especially since the church teaches well
Original sin spoils children that fell.

17 He went out into the highway,
And a man came running to pay
Him obeisance and questioned him,
“Good teacher, what shall I do trim
That I may have eternal life?”
18 But Jesus said to him like knife,
“Why do you call me good? No one
Is good except One, God when done.”
19 “You know the commandments: Do not
Commit adultery, do not
Commit murder, and do not steal,
Do not bear false witness, in deal
Do not defraud, honour your dad
And mother so you’ll not be sad.”

When Jesus took examples from the law
He left out the first ones and spoke in awe
Of later ones, and some take in their craw
To understand the first commandments went
The way of all flesh and left only lent
The final ones they see of social bent.
But surely Jesus referred to the whole
By mentioning a part, that was his goal.
And that is seen because he chose to state
The shorter ones and to abbreviate
The one for dad and mum. Man finds excuse
To make idols and break the Sabbath’s use
If any straw or daw can help the tide
And leave him to his own career and ride.

20 And he replied and said to him,
“Teacher, I’ve observed all these things
From my youth till this day in rings.”
21 And looking at him, Jesus loved
Him, and said to him unreproved,
“One thing is lacking to you. Go,
Sell what you have, and don’t be slow
To the poor. You’ll lay up and keep
Treasure in Heaven. And come creep
After Me, taking up the cross.”
22 But he was sad at the word’s loss,
And went away in sorrow, for
He had great possessions in store.

So Jesus has attraction for the small,
The cute and sweet to climb over the wall.
So Jesus loves the wealthy for their stake
In social and in culture on the make.
I guess he learned his lesson here at last,
After the children failed to reach his cast.
Love not the rich and then when they refuse
To follow righteousness while in their pews,
You will not be in disappointed crews.
Look only on the man that will obey,
Who lives to act in light of every day
According to Your law, and You will say
At last that disappointment in the way
Has never entered Your heart, not a ray.

23 And Jesus looked around and said
To his disciples, “How few led
Into the kingdom of God spread
Before them riches on their head.”
24 And the disciples were amazed
At his words. Jesus was not fazed,
But said to them, “Children, how hard
It is for those trusting in lard
Of wealth to come into God’s reign.
25 “It’s easier for camel to gain
Passage through needle’s eye, than for
A rich man to enter the door
Of God’s kingdom.” 26 They were the more
Astonished, saying to themselves,
“Who can be saved of men or elves?”
27 But Jesus looked at them and said
“It’s humanly impossible,
But not for God. for all things spread
Are possible with God in full.
28 Peter began to say to him,
“See, we left all our gear and trim,
Came following you to the brim.”

In fact Peter was of two minds to see
A wealthy man not join them on their spree.
He wanted the prestige the man would bring,
But feared he would take precedence in sting.
And so he ruminates aloud the thing.
“See, we left all to follow under wing,
So we are better than the wealthy man
Despite our poverty to do and can.
I well know how disciples fear to see
Someone converting to their faith and tree.
I’ve entered doors a-plenty and seen fear
In every place that I’d convert with gear
And distract from their honour with a tear.
No fear! I’m outside every church and ban.

29 But Jesus answered, said “Indeed,
I say to you that none took heed
To leave his house, brothers and all
His sisters, father, mother’s call,
Or wife, offspring or lands for my
Sake and the gospel, 30 who’ll not vie
For hundredfold now in this time,
Of house and brother, sister and
Mother, children as well as land,
With persecutions, come to stand
In the age to come and to climb
Into eternal life I’ve planned.
31 “But many first shall be last then,
And the last shall be the first men.”

I’m not so troubled by the fact one must
According to the word of Jesus trust
In nothing the world offers on the plain.
It’s not the vow of poverty that’s pain.
What bothers me the more is how the words
Can be distorted by the craven herds
To mean that no honour need be paid to
The father and the mother of the crew.
To keep the ten commandments in my view
Is all important, more important than
Relinquishing Beersheba unto Dan.
Beloved, let neither wealth nor poverty,
Loved father, mother, wife, child set me free
To disregard Your law eternally.

32 They were in the highway to go
Up to Jerusalem in row
With Jesus first, the others went
Astonished, fearing what he meant.
He took the twelve once more and started
To tell them how he’d be uncarted.
33 “See, we’re going to Jerusalem,
The son of man, your joy and gem,
Will be betrayed to the chief priests,
And to the scribes before the feasts.
They’ll condemn him to death and will
Betray him to the nations still.
34 “And they will mock him and will flog
Him and will spit at him in cog,
And kill him, and on the third day
He will rise up again in sway.”

Fact is that Jesus needed no word set
In scroll to prophesy the fate he met.
The folk as well as leaders never failed
To crucify those who stood up unqualed
To keep Your law’s commandments in the way.
Fact is that persecution is the pay
Of all on earth who dare stand and obey.
Not only was the Tanach a prediction
Of Jesus’ rejection and crucifixion
In every word and story that it told,
But so was very air to breathe and fold.
Things have not changed a wit in berth and stall.
The crosses are still raised against the wall,
The priests and prophets still eat under pall.

And they came down to Bethany
And there was a woman in spe
Whose brother had died. And she came
Up to him and prostrated dame
Before Jesus said to him, “Son
Of David, mercy on me won.”
But the disciples rebuked her.
Jesus was angered by the stir
And so he accompanied her
To the garden where the tomb lay.
And a great sound then right away
Was heard from the tomb, and Jesus
Went toward it and without a fuss
Where the young man was, stretched his hand
And raised him up by his command,
And supported him by his hand.
The man looked at him and with love
Called him to his side from above
That he might be with him, so they
Went up from the tomb to the way
Of the young man’s house, for in pay
It was a wealthy one in sway.
And for six days Jesus taught him.
And when it was late and come dim,
The young man went coming to him.
He’d put a linen on his form
Of nakedness to keep him warm,
And stay with him throughout that night.
For Jesus taught him secrets bright
Of the kingdom of God with might.
But after he got up from there,
He turned to Jordan’s region bare.

This brief addition to the Gospel sound
Affirms the secrecy I see abound
When Jesus hides his works and orders all
To keep mum about his life and his call.
The Gospel’s here merely to proclaim that
Your sent one taught his secrets on the mat
Of seven days in all, until the vat
Was naked of all self bereft of fat.
The secret teaching itself is unnamed.
The content of the Gospel is ashamed
To meet the light of day, no doubt because
All are slain in this world who keep Your laws.
I take the secret of Bektash and know
That all the world’s illusion of the slow.

35 And James and John came up to him,
The sons of Zebedee, both grim,
And said “Rabbi, we’d ask of you
To give us what we’d ask you to.”
36 And he said to them, “What do you
Desire for me to do for you?”
37 And they said to him, “Grant to us
To sit one on your right for fuss
And for the other, Whig or Tory,
To sit on your left in your glory.
38 But Jesus said to them, “You do
Not know what you’re asking. Can you
Drink the cup which I drink and be
Baptised with the baptism’s key
With which I’m baptised and for free?”
39 They said to him, “Absolutely.”
But Jesus said to them, “Indeed
You will be baptised and with speed
With the baptism that I take.
40 “But to sit on my right in stake
Or on me left is not for me
To give, but for whom it’s prepared.”
41 The ten, when they heard what they shared,
Began to get angry about
James and John for coveting clout.

You’d think a week of meditation spent
With Jesus teaching all his secrets lent
Would have informed disciples of the true.
And yet the fact is teaching’s in the brew
Of wind upon the hill, and every heart
Is filled with the awareness set apart
That there is no I but You in Your art,
And still the masses trample on the gain,
And crush the pearl of truth with idol stain,
And rush to be the leader of the vain.
Awareness of the inner divine law
Is what makes every man think that his claw
Should rule the world and put all in his maw.
The secret half is hidden from the straw.

42 But having called them near, Jesus
Said to them, “You know that the muss
Of nations rule it over them,
And their chiefs wield their power in stem.
43 “But it shall not be so with you,
But the one who wants greatness due
Among you shall take servant’s view.
44 “And whoever of you desires
To become first, he’ll tune his lyres
To be the slave of all the crew.
45 “For even the son of man did not
Come to be served, but serve the lot,
And give his life as ransom sought
For many. 46 And they come not slow
Into the town of Jericho.

The kingdom and the glory are alone
In realizing here before Your throne
That there is no I but You God alone
And all else is illusion on the bone.
Ambition and petition of the wife
And mother does not raise a man from strife,
And seat and council and the sweet in store
Leave neither health nor wealth but in stealth gore.
Beloved, I enter in the palace where
There is no room for any but the fair,
For You alone, and though I sweep the floor,
And whirl a dog upon Your hearth the more,
I’m satisfied to sacrifice my head
Upon the dergah where I have been led.

And the brother of the young man
Whom Jesus loved was there by plan,
As well as his mother and one
Salome. But Jesus when done
Did not welcome them on the run.

Though Jesus vouchsafed secrets to the one
Who remained naked without any fun,
That did not mean his brother and his mum
Were also given glory in the hum.
The nepotism of the world is great,
But in Your kingdom it comes running late,
And finds no crumb to maintain its estate.
In nakedness, Beloved, I clamour in
Your gates and wrap myself to hide my sin,
And find myself stripped from both cover and
The self that I had brought in loving hand.
The wealth of Salome may serve the feast
Of Your sent one to make the world increased,
But I remain before You without band.

As he and his disciples and
A large crowd came out from the strand
Of Jericho, Timaeus son
Named Bartimaeus the blind one,
Sat by the highway begging some.
47 And hearing that it was Jesus
Nazarene as well as wondrous,
He started shouting and to say
“Son of David, Jesus, I pray,
Have mercy on me now, today!”
48 And many cautioned him be still.
But he shouted with greater will,
“Son of David, have mercy on
Me, a blind sinner without dawn!

How many caution me to shut the maw
And keep to myself both the paw and claw,
Unworthy of the son of David’s law!
And yet I clamour at the gate and shout
To see if You, Beloved, are round about.
You do not ask of me any delight
Or any wisdom gained from ear and sight.
In fact You demand nothing of my right
As Your sent one passes me in my night.
My clamour is the only thing that stands.
If I were silent even Your just bands
Would leave me in my darkness on the sands.
And so I clamour all the more and pray,
Beloved, You look on me now and today.

49 Jesus stopped there and summoned him.
And they called the blind one and dim,
Saying to him, “Take comfort now,
Get up, he’s calling you to bow.”
50 And throwing off his garment, he
Got up and came to Jesus wee.
51 And Jesus answered him and said
“What do you want from me and sped?”
And the blind one told him, “Sir, I
Would like again to use my eye.”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, your
Faith has healed you.” and from that shore
He saw again and followed after
Jesus on the road without laughter.

Like young Mark and the blind Bartimaeus
I shed my cloak and naked meet the bus.
I hear the call of Your sent one with fuss
And rush to find the light of faith and hope,
Relinquishing my priestcraft and my pope.
The melody of Jesus' voice I find
Through centuries still calling to the blind,
And where I throw off every weight of kind
I enter in his healing dined and wined.
He asks me what I wish and I reply
That I might regain use of inner eye.
He sends me on my way before Your throne
Assuring that my small faith will atone
For what You left me to for moan and groan.

MARK 11

1 When they came near Jerusalem,
To Bethphage and Bethany,
Toward the Mount of Olives gem,
He sent two disciples to see
2 And said to them, “Go faithfully
Into the town across from here.
And when you get there you will find
A colt tied on which no man deigned
To ride. Untie, bring it to me.
3 “And if anyone says to you,
‘Why do you do this?’ say as due,
The Lord has need of it. And he
Will straight away sent it freely.”
4 And they set out and found the colt
Tied at the door outside by bolt,
Beside the intersection, and
They untied it and brought in hand.
5 And some of those who stood by there
Said to them, “What is this your care
To unbind the colt without share?”
6 And they replied as Jesus said,
And so they let them go as led.
7 They took the colt to Jesus then.
And cast their garments out again
On it, and he sat on the spread.

St. Mark neglects to note that Jesus sat
On two beasts to fulfil predictions that
Were made by prophets Matthew knew and told.
Mark was not there perhaps and was not bold
To set imagination clear and cold
To see how Jesus could sit astride both
Beasts and unquitted from his morning’s growth.
It was a feat, it was a miracle.
St. Mark fails to take the advantage full.
Beloved, if You send me around one day
To ride a colt never ridden to bray,
Or to ride two beasts, handsome in my way,
It will be a fine show to humble me,
But not a miracle for all to see.

8 And many spread their garments on
The roadway, and others were drawn
To cut branches from trees and spread
Them on the roadway where he led.
9 And those who went before, and those
Who followed after them too chose
To shout out saying in their rows
“Hosanna! Blessèd is the one
Who comes in the Lord’s name to run!
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of
Our father David in the love
Of the Lord! Hosanna on high!”

It’s clear the people of Jesus’ own time
Where waiting for the kingdom once to climb
Back to the throne and power of David’s rhyme.
If I, Beloved, long for that kingdom too,
And wait for David come to life anew
To sit upon his throne as he is due,
According to the prophets’ sayings true,
Do not count me for that a man of crime,
As do the Muslims, Jews, and Christian slime.
I’m hated for Your law, I’m hated for
Exception to usurping states in score,
But I love David and long for his hand
To rule upon the earth again in stand.
Till then I am an outlaw without band.

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem,
And went into the temple gem.
He looked around at all those things,
And seeing it was late in rings,
He went out to Bethany’s town
With the twelve disciples’ renown.
12 And the next day as they went out
From Bethany, he was in rout
Of hunger. 13 And he saw far off
A fig tree with leaves not to scoff,
And so he went toward it to find
Something on it and to have dined.
And when he got there all he found
Was leaves rustling above the ground,
For it was not fig season’s sound.
14 And Jesus’ response to it came,
“Let no one eat your fruit of blame
Any more till the age of shame.”
And his disciples heard the claim.

If I curse anything, Beloved, I hear
The Christians sweetly turning on my ear
To blame me for the things I say for cheer.
The same mouth cannot curse and bless, they say,
Forgetting that their Saviour in his day
Gave cursings and his blessings too, the way
That Deuteronomy once shone the ray.
They also fail to mind their sentence comes
From St. James, who desires above all rums,
Obedience to Your law, and not just faith
Like devils in the hopeless kind of wraith.
Beloved, teach me to curse and with a will,
So I may follow the example shrill
Of Jesus to the fig tree on the hill.

15 And they came to Jerusalem.
And Jesus came into the hem
Of the temple and started there
To throw out those selling their ware
And those buying the temple share.
Also he overturned made bare
The tables of the money changers
And the seats of dove-selling rangers.
16 And he did not allow a man
To bear a pot through temple span.
17 He taught and told them, “It was written,
My house shall be called and not smitten
A house of prayer for all the nations.
But you’ve made it a den and rations
Of robbers.” 18 And the scribes and chief
Priests heard. They sought without relief
How they might kill him, for they feared
Him, because all the crowd was geared
To be amazed at what appeared.
19 When evening came, He went outside
The town to a park to abide.
20 And passing along early, they
Saw the fig tree withered from root.
21 And Peter minding came to say
To him, “Teacher, see how it’s moot,
The fig tree that you cursed is withered.
22 In answer to them Jesus dithered
To say “Have faith of God in boot.
23 “For truly I tell you, whoever
Says to this mountain, ‘Up and sever,
Be thrown into the sea,’ and clever
Not doubting in his heart, believes
What he says will happen, receives
Anything he wants in reprieves.

The Pentecostal preacher, with all power
Of faith told the assembly in an hour
They could walk on the river, if they would.
One dear old lady then thought that she should.
They all went to the riverbank where she
Closed eyes and lifted her hem daintily
And walked upon the lapping marge to see,
All the while saying “I believe, believe.”
When the water came to the knees to grieve,
She opened up her eyes and looked around,
Exclaiming, “Just what I thought would be found.”
Beloved, give me the faith the Christian lass
Had after emptying her full beer glass,
And I’ll keep my feet dry upon the pass.

24 That’s why I say to you, “All things
That you ask praying with the springs
Of faith that you’ll receive the stings,
It will be given to you fast.
25 “And when you stand in prayer at last,
If you have anything to blast
Against anyone, then forgive,
So that your heavenly Father sieve
Your own straying in how you live.
26 “But if you do not forgive then
Neither will your Father again
In heaven forgive you your sin.”

Beloved, that’s why I do not pray on earth.
I have too many things against its worth,
Too many plaints against the ones who run
About the world to slay me with a gun.
I’m willing to live and let live, but see,
This is the reason in eternity
That I do not kneel down in prayer to Thee.
I’ll not forgive the things they do to me.
Beloved, it’s easier far to relent
And claim the blood of Jesus has been spent
For all forgiveness, than to speak the word
Forgiving Hitler’s holocaust in herd.
No freedom from responsibility
I ask, so hold Your justice up in fee.

27 They found Jerusalem again.
And as He was walking in den
Of the temple, the chief priests and
The scribes and elders came in band.
28 And they said to him, “By what power
Do you dare to do these things dour?
And who gave you authority
To do all the things that we see?”
29 And answering, Jesus told them,
“I’ll ask you one thing, haw or hem,
And answer me, and then I’ll tell
You by what power I come to spell.
30 “The baptism of John, was it
From heaven, or from men? Answer fit.”
31 And they argued among themselves,
Saying, “If we say heavenly shelves,
He’ll answer why don’t you believe?
32 “But if we say, from men,” they feared
The people. For all held appeared
John really was a prophet steered.
33 And answering, they told Jesus,
“We do not know.” Jesus replied
To them, “Neither will I provide
By what authority I bide
To do these things here by your side.”

My neighbours in the church ask me to say
By what authority the Sabbath day
Is binding duty and a golden ray.
I ask them whether You spoke on the way
Of Sinai or not. They refuse to pay
Attention, knowing that if they say yes,
Then I’ll say to obey Your own address.
And if they say not, then I’ll come to curse
Them for their blasphemy or something worse.
So we remain in silence Quakerly
In hope that You will speak and end the spree.
But You are silent, simply because You
Have said already all You wanted to.
Blessèd are those who say as well as do.

MARK 12

1 And He began to speak to them in stories.
A man planted a vineyard for his glories,
And set a fence around it, and he dug
A wine vat and he built a tower’s plug.
And then he leased it to vinedressers there,
And went away to enjoy of his share.
2 When the time came he sent a slave to see
The vinedressers and to collect in fee
The profit of the vineyards fruit in spe.
3 They took him and they beat him there,
And sent him out empty and bare.

I understand the Christians sent me out,
Because I deny Trinity and flout
The human sacrifice releasing from
Responsibility for what men hum.
I understand the Jews do not claim me,
Because I was not born upon their tree.
But why the Muslims reject equally,
I cannot fathom, since I’ve kept Islam
In every tenet and practice and balm.
No doubt the Sabbath in addition makes
Me suspect and for that and for its sakes
They sent me like a slave out empty, bare.
I should be happy they did not beat nor
Kill. I thank the Shirazis on that score.

4 And so he sent another slave
To them, and they threw stones, and struck
Him in the head, and so they drave
Him off insulting him for luck.
5 And once again, he sent another,
And they killed that one and his brother,
Beating one and killing the other.
6 But he had one son, his beloved,
So he sent him too last one shoved,
Saying “They will respect my son.”
7 But these vinedressers said when done
To one another, “This one’s heir,
Come, let us kill him, take his share.”
8 The took him and they killed him and
They threw him outside vineyard’s land.
9 What, then, will the lord of the crop
Do? He will come and he’ll not stop
Till he’s destroyed vinedressers there,
And he’ll give the vineyard for share
To other vinedressers to bear.
10 Have you not read this Scripture’s word,
The stone the builders had deterred
Became the chief cornerstone’s share?
11 This came about from the Lord, and
It’s marvellous to our eyes’ band?
12 And they sought to seize him, yet feared
The crowd. For they knew that he geared
The parable against them. And
They left him, went away and planned.

The master of the vineyard is Yours truly,
And all the slaves are prophets sent out duly,
And the son is the Son of God well met,
But rarely in the words of Jesus set.
If I take this to mean the guy is yet
A deity to be killed when they get
Their hands on him, I then deny Your word
In the first of commandments that You stirred.
Beloved, I do not follow pagan herd,
But bless You in Your vineyard with both son
And prophet, servants all when said and done,
And yet not slaves, for that too is a pun.
Reality goes unexpressed because
We cannot see the real till we have claws.

13 They sent some of the Pharisees
And of Herodians to please
Him and catch him in traps with ease.
14 They came to him, they said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you’re not dim
But true, and you care not to rate
A person by his clan or state,
But teach the way of God in truth:
Is it lawful to give tribute
To Caesar, or not, say with ruth?
15 “Should we give or should we not give?”
But he knew hypocrisy’s sieve
And said to them, “Why bate me now?
Bring me a dinar anyhow.”
16 When they brought one, he said to them,
“Whose image and signature’s hem
Is this?” They told him “That one's Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus replied to those geezers,
“Render to Caesar Caesar’s own,
And to God what is due His throne.”
And they were amazed by his loan.

Your sent one in the end fell in the trap
Set by Herodians to shut with snap.
He may have stopped the mouths of questioners,
But what he said now rankles as it blurs.
It seems to give the place of government
On earth to any who comes to present
Enough arms to force everyone to bow.
That weakens Your own sovereignty somehow.
The exegete always goes far beyond
The teaching of Your word to wave a frond
In sop to whoever’s atomic wand
Is graceful in the air and on the pond.
I cry thee nay, and stay to find the great
Law of Your speaking on Sinai a rate.

18 And Sadducees came to him, who
Say there’s no resurrection due.
And they questioned him, saying true,
19 “Rabbi, Moses wrote for us too,
That if a brother of a man
Should die and leave a wife in span
But no child, then his brother ought
To take his wife and raise up lot
To his brother, that is the plot.
20 “Then there were seven brothers, and
The first one took a wife as planned,
But died with no child on the sand.
21 “The second took her and he died,
Without siring a son in pride,
And the third likewise, till the lot
22 “Of seven had her on the spot
Without offspring, till at the last
The woman died too in the blast.
23 “Now in the resurrection cast,
When they rise up again, which one
Will have her as his wife when done?
For all the seven had her well
If only for a little spell.”
24 Jesus replied and said to them,
“Do you not err in haw and hem,
Not knowing the Scriptures nor yet
The power of Ælohim to get?
25 “For when they rise up from the dead,
They neither marry nor are led
In marriage, but like angels sped
Across the heavens for their bed.
26 “But as for the dead, that they’re raised,
Have you not read Moses’ book praised,
As God spoke to him at the bush,
Saying ‘I am the God to push
Of Abraham, God of Isaac,
And the God of Jacob to stack?’
27 He is not the God of the dead,
But God of the living instead.
Therefore, you greatly err unled.”

When Jesus answered Sadducean tale
About the seven husbands once to fail
In bringing from one woman new-born male,
He does not want to convince them at all.
If he had been convincing on the ball,
He should have given a Sadducean call.
Instead he answers with another quibble
Between the Pharisees and questers’ nibble:
He compounds resurrection with the ploy
That angels exist and answer the boy.
It is no strategy to prove one’s point
By bringing up a second doubt in joint.
For doubter in the resurrection there
Doubted also that angels have a care.

28 One of the scribes stepped up when he
Heard the argument in degree
Of answers well-given in spree,
And questioned him, “What is the first
Commandment of all that’s rehearsed?”
29 And Jesus answered him, “The first
Of all commandments is when pursed:
‘Hear, Israel. The Lord our God
Is one Lord, and He bears one rod.
30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God
With all your heart upon the sod,
With all your soul, with all your mind,
And all your strength of every kind.’
This is the first commandment lined.

Ah, my Beloved, the one You sent said well
The most important thing the Scriptures tell
Is that You are the Lord and You are One,
And no one is God but Yourself, and done.
You claim the love of all my heart and soul,
You claim my mind and strength and my life’s goal.
This is the first commandment and the best.
Who fail in its obedience and test
Fail then in all, for You are jealous of
The idol that would steal away the love
Due You alone. You weep the Trinity
Of Roman gods should make so fast and free
With human hearts. I hear the word of him
You sent and sip it deeply from the brim.

31 “And the second is like this: ‘You
Shall love your neighbour man as due
Yourself.’ There is no other law
Greater than these on which to draw.”
32 And the scribe said to him, “Well said,
Rabbi. You’ve spoken the truth spread
That God is one and there is none
Beside Him for sadness or fun.
33 "And to love Him with all the heart,
With all the mind and all the part
Of one’s strength, and to love the other
As oneself and just like a brother,
Is more than all burnt offerings and
The sacrifices in the land.”
34 Jesus noticed his wise remark
And said to him, “You’re not in dark,
But near to the kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to lay a prod
In question on him, old or mod.

The man is near the kingdom but not in
Because he has only the first in bin,
The knowledge that You’re one and it’s a sin
To set another up as God with You.
The man is near the kingdom, yet he lacks
The love of neighbour to cover his tracks,
And that is why he’s still got a few cracks
Despite the fact he’s faithful in his pew.
Beloved, I think the love of neighbour comes
Before the love of You, when I add sums.
It’s seeing the divine grace in such bums
That makes me know You to the point of love.
Without the neighbour I could not give glove
Or face to You, You are so far above.

35 Jesus taught in the temple and replied
With such speech: “How do the scribes say
That Christ is David’s son beside?
36 “For David himself said by stay
Of the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord
Said to my Lord, “Sit for reward
On My right hand until I place
Your enemies to be in trace
Of a footstool for Your feet’s pace.’”
37 “Then David himself calls Him Lord.
And from where is he his son scored?”
The crowd heard him gladly for grace.

This Jesus loves to torment with the speech
Of surface meanings of the Scriptures’ peach
To draw out paradoxes each to each
And stop the mouths of men and priests who preach.
So David calls his son Lord, that is not
Unthinkable except within the plot
Of patriarchal social bounds, I fear.
It’s like the way the Sadducees would steer
For seven husbands of one wife in death.
Tibetan shamans see no rising breath,
No problem there at all. They might see more
If there were seven wives to fill the score.
Beloved, Your sent one is a little fink
Who loves to laugh and raise a crazy stink.

38 He said to them in what he taught,
“Beware of the scribes in the plot,
Those who desire to walk in robes,
And show their greeting in the lobes
Of public squares 39 and the chief seats
In synagogues, and the retreats
At feasts, 40 those who devour the living
Of widows, and for pretence giving
Long prayers. These will receive at last
A greater judgement on them cast.
41 Jesus sat down across from where
The treasury was and regarded
How the crowd threw in it their share
Of copper coins and unretarded.
And many rich ones threw in much.
42 And one poor widow came in touch
And threw in two pennies unguarded.
43 Jesus called his disciples near
And told what had come to appear.
“Truly I say to you that this
Poor widow has thrown not to miss
More in the treasury than all
Of those casting over the wall.
44 For all threw in out of their much,
But she in poverty to touch
Threw in all she had left to live,
And she had nothing more to give.

Beloved, there is no treasury where I
Might throw a mite into the coffers dry.
There is no temple now under the sky,
Unless you mean Al-Aqsa standing by,
Or the dome of the rock under the glare.
But there’s no treasury standing up there.
Besides the one time I came there to pray,
I have no chance to throw my pence away.
My heritage is small and filled with care
Of winter darkness and the summer air,
And I give day by day the life that runs
Until at last all of it in its tonnes
Is Yours alone when I lie down to sleep.
I close the doors and lock the dungeon’s keep.

MARK 13

1 As Jesus left the temple place,
One of his disciples in trace
Said to him, “Teacher see how great
Are the stones of this temple rate!”
2 And Jesus answered him and said
“Do you see these great buildings spread?
Not one stone shall be left upon
A stone but all destroyed and drawn.”

I think I’ve seen some stones still standing where
Jesus said all would fall in disrepair.
I guess the prophecy may still come true,
Since all things built by human hand in view
Eventually disintegrate and fall.
So far the pyramids and Chinese wall
Still stand, but everything else on the ball
Is off to a good start in its decay.
And even those two monuments in sway
Have seen the ravages of time and scene.
Beloved, the prophecy is safe to make
As long as no time limit in the stake
Comes to claim that the words have failed and passed.
All stones fall when the judgement comes at last.

3 As he was sitting on the mount
Of Olives across from the fount
Of the temple, Peter and James
And John and Andrew came in claims
And asked him the thing privately.
4 “Tell us then when these things shall be?
And what’s the sign when all these things
Are on the point of fulfillings?”
5 And Jesus answered them to say
“Be careful no one lead astray.
6 “For many will come in My name,
Saying, ‘It’s me!’ and lead to flame.”

So far I don’t know how many have come
To say they are the Christ, many a bum.
Ahmed of Qadian’s not least or last,
And that is why he remains an outcast
Among the Muslims. But of Christian fame
There are a dozen more who make the claim.
Though Sabbetai Zwi regarded his own wake
Fulfilment of the prophecies at stake,
I have a heart to forgive him and plead
You not to judge him harshly in his need.
But all messiahs come to earth today
To fill the internet with filth and spray
Of warning that You wait upon Your ray
To polish them and make their faces gay.

7 But when you hear of wars and more
News of wars, do not fear the gore,
For it must happen, but the end
Has not yet come here to extend.
8 For nation will rise up to fight
Nation, and kingdom against site
Of kingdom. And there shall come by
Earthquakes in many places nigh.
And there shall be famines and grief:
Just the beginning sans relief.
9 But take care for yourselves, for they
Will deliver you to the sway
Of sanhedrins and synagogues.
You will be beaten, set in cogs
Of governors and kings for me,
To them for a testimony.
10 The gospel must first be proclaimed
To all the nations where it’s aimed.

The proclamation of the gospel is
What the great spirit says before the fizz
Of kings and governments who will arrest
The good and true, the fairest and the best.
The good news is that Your kingdom is here,
And they are all usurpers with their gear,
The ones who make war and cause famines and
Make grief and mischief in the sea and land.
Beloved, I proclaim no gospels until
The synagogue comes to take and fulfil
This prophecy of beating not just breast
But the backside until I have confessed.
It’s not likely to happen where I live
Or anywhere else that the world can sieve.

11 But whenever they take you off,
Delivering you to rake and scoff,
Do not be anxious beforehand,
Of what you should say to the band,
Nor meditate, but you’ll receive
In that hour words of your reprieve.
For you’re not speaking of yourself,
Of Holy Spirit and not elf.

The spirit that You poured on Israel’s folk
Out in the wilderness to keep off stroke
Is that mind of Your own and power for broke
That’s always given testimony wide
Against idolatry and sinful pride.
Your Spirit is expression of Your Word.
But even then there were those who preferred
To condemn others in the camp who stirred,
And even then You broke in to reply
That You wished all the folk would prophesy.
I prophesy with ukulele and
The raising of the Psalms from David’s hand,
And build a temple for Your Spirit still
Beneath the quartzite knobs of Puijo Hill.

12 A brother will hand out his own
Brother to death, and without groan
A father his own child. A child
Will rise against his parents wild
And put them to death as beguiled.
13 And you’ll be hated by all for
My name. But the one stayed in store
Until the end will be kept safe.
14 But when you see coming to strafe
Desolation’s abomination,
The one spoken of in relation
Of Daniel the prophet to stand
Where it ought not, let every manned
To read it understand the plot,
Then let those in Judea’s lot
Flee to the mountains, not be caught.

The rise of golden dome under the rule
Of Abdul Malik sent us back to school
To see if that might be abomination
Set up by Daniel’s word of desolation.
The Byzantine dung heap was taken off
By Omar himself, I’m asked not to scoff,
Sixty years before that. I’d think the stink
Of Rome abomination in a wink.
Since Antiochus Epiphanes that
Word has been focus of eternal spat.
Beloved, abomination is set up
Each time the human heart come out like tup
Refuses to grant You Your sovereignty,
And makes an idol or a trinity.
15 The one on the housetop let not
Go down into the house to take
A treasure out for a keepsake.
16 And the one in the field, let him
Not return to the things left dim
To take his garment out with him.
17 But woe to those who’re pregnant then,
And giving suck those days’ again!
18 And pray your flight will not come in
The winter when it’s cold to skin.

The conquest of Omar took three full years,
So three winters went under Al-Quds’ tears.
The prayer in Anno Domini seventy
Was brief enough to set the winter free.
Yet it too was a vacillating tree.
Woe to the pregnant and those who give suck
In every time of fleeing from the duck
Whoever takes his turn at persecution
Of humankind in poverty’s pollution.
Beloved, I flee from my own crime and tale
Of the abominations still on sale,
The desolations of Your Word and house.
I turn and nibble silently like mouse.

19 For there will be affliction then
Such as has not in life of men
Been from creation which God started
Till now and never yet departed.
20 And if the Lord had not made short
The days, not any flesh in sort
Would be saved, but for those who’re chosen,
He shortened it not to be frozen.

So many times of great affliction rise
That this one seems to take on a disguise.
Is it a future thing not to despise?
Or did it happen when the Romans came
Destroying town and people with the flame?
Or did it come in later Byzantine
Wrath on the place covered in dung and wine?
Or did the crusades represent the work
Of the destroyer not indeed to shirk?
The Ottoman regime was bad enough
And caused the folk to suffer and be tough.
Jerusalem looks on the wrath of years
And finds its history in flood of tears.
The prophecy is easy as it steers.

21 And if anyone says to you,
“See, here’s the Christ or there in view,”
Do not believe it, it’s not true.
22 For false christs and false prophets be
Raised, and they miraculously
Will give signs and wonders to lead
Astray if possible indeed
The very chosen ones in seed.
23 But you be careful. See, I’ve told
You beforehand of all things roled.

Beloved, Your sent one warns that those who work
Their miracles in every kind of quirk
Are such impostors that will fill the earth.
Yet now the masses of men without mirth
Rush after anyone who can raise hand
To work a miracle upon the land.
The prophet now most visible that came
After these words were spoken in acclaim
Is sweet Muhammad. Is he one to blame
As false or is he true? I take in trust
The fact he worked no miracle in dust,
But yea called all men to keep the fast law
That You once spoke on Sinai for men’s awe.
By those tests he is one of righteous paw.

24 But in those days, after that time
Of great affliction, the sun’s climb
Will be made dark, and the moon’s light
Will never then come into sight.
25 The stars of heaven will fall down right,
The powers of heavens shaken with might.
26 And then they’ll see the son of man
Come in might and glory clouds’ span.

The sun has been darkened now more than once
Since Jesus was killed and the Roman dunce
Sat there beneath the cross to cast his lots.
The moon has been divided and made clots
Of blood, and the stars fell like rain, and yet
Your sent one on the clouds has not been met.
I’ll not be of the faithless who cry woe,
The coming of Your Christ is something slow.
Beloved, I wait the falling of the stars,
The darkening of sun, the bronze-like bars
Upon the moon to usher in the news
That Your Messiah comes with angel crews.
Until then I cry more for justice here
Than looking for the future without fear.

27 And then he’ll send his angels and
Will gather his chosen in band
From the four winds, from the earth’s end
To the end of the sky to bend.
28 And from the fig tree learn the tale.
When its branch is tender and hale
To put out leaves, then you all know
The summer is coming to glow.
29 So you also, when you see these
Things happening, know its decrees
Are near and at the doors appease.
30 I tell you truly, not at all
Will this generation in call
Pass out until all these things come
Upon the world to sing and hum.
31 The heaven and earth will pass away,
But my words will not go astray.

Each prophet who predicts the end of time
Upon a generation come to climb
Is shown wrong by the course of history.
To me that is an ample mystery.
Of course the grand destruction of the state
Under the Romans was the city’s fate
Within the generation not too late,
And only forty years there intervened
Until the horrors fell down and careened.
Beloved, I make predictions week by week
That this next Sabbath is the one I seek
To end the war of seeming and of rail
And usher in a new day on the pale.
One day that generation too will fail.

32 But of that day and hour no man
Knows, not the angels under span
Of heaven, nor the son himself, but
The Father only keeps it shut.
33 So watch and wake and pray, for you
Do not know when the time is due.
34 As a man goes away and leaves
His house under hand of his slaves,
And to each work appointedly,
Commanding the doorkeeper, see,
35 So watch, for you do not know when
The lord of the house come again,
At evening or midnight or at
The time of cockcrow, or dawn set,
36 So he may not come suddenly
And find you sleeping cravenly.
37 And what I say to you, I say
To all. Watch, and watch in the way!

If Jesus is God Almighty, I’d think
That he would know the times upon the brink.
But he does not. The reason’s clear to see:
You did not tell the man in secrecy.
All that Jesus has depends on Your grace,
And in that he is like the human race.
The word the rises to create, sustain
The universe and fall to help the pain
Of Jesus may well not be thing created.
But the incarnation of it elated
Is still the flesh of soil and sod and bone.
You, my Beloved, You are a God alone.
Let Jesus be the first of angels and
Of men, but You alone have divine hand.

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.

To purchase the books, please go to:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-genesis-to-maccabees/paperback/product-20136835.html

http://www.lulu.com/shop/thomas-mcelwain/the-beloved-and-i-job-to-revelation/paperback/product-20050862.html