GOSPEL OF LUKE CHAPTER 1 - 5

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

Luke here denies the thought that I would take,
That Gospels were first oral in the wake
Of fast events, and only later on
Did some few gather sayings, draw upon
Faint memories and rumours and relate
The stories of the Christ that had come late.
Instead he refers to the many who
Have written down the record of the true.
As a text ancient among quite a few
The Gospels seem to have firm evidence.
Most have been discontinued from the fence,
But Luke’s words seem to give weight to the thought
That many Gospels early traced the plot.
Be that as may, I like the words a lot.

LUKE 1

1 Since many took in hand to draw
Up an account concerning a’
The things that appeared in our awe,
2 As those from the beginning gave
To us, as eye-witness and slave
To the Word, 3 it seemed good to me
Also, having searched faithfully
All things from the first, to write you
In order, most excellent you,
Theophilus, 4 so you may know
The certainty of what things show
Of what you have been made to know.

Theophilus is one unknown to me
Except by name, and so I would make free
To guess the man loves You to some degree.
He has been taught that Jesus was a man
Born long ago to live and die a span
And be raised from the dead. I do not doubt
The possibility of such a rout,
Although I’ve never seen the thing take place.
The Tanakh has one or two in such grace.
But if this one who loves You wants to know
The truth about the Christ from all the row
Of many accounts, I applaud the go.
But certainty is something beyond sight,
Even with such a Gospel in the light.

5 In the days of Herod the king
Of Judea, there came to sing
A certain priest named Zachariah,
Of the daily course of Abijah.
And his wife was of Aaron’s own
Daughters, and her name, it was shown,
Was Elisabeth, not on throne.
6 And they were both righteous before
God, walking blameless in the score
Of all ordinances and such
Commandments of the Lord to touch.
7 And no child was born to them, for
Elizabeth was barren sore.
And both were advanced in their days.
8 It happened in his serving ways
As priest in order of his course
Before God, 9 by custom perforce
Of the priests, he went in to the
Holy Place of the Lord freely,
For Zacharias’ lot to be
Was burning incense faithfully.
10 And all the multitude of folk
Was praying outside at the stroke
Of hour of incense in the poke.

This story ignores the complexities
Of Judaism in those centuries.
The people sweetly wait for the priest bent
To burn the incense in the house he went.
The prayers rise in communion to behold
The unity of the folk in the fold.
The truth is that the courses of the priests
In those days followed two calendar feasts
Conflicting and arousing hatred then.
This story is of that faction of men
Who still accommodated to strong Rome
Instead of relying on You and home.
And yet You bless the priest and bless the prayers
Of all the people praying unawares.

11 An angel of the Lord appeared
To him, standing on the right tiered
Of the altar of incense geared.
12 And seeing this, Zacharias
Was troubled, fear fell on his muss.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do
Not fear, Zacharias, in view
Because your prayer was heard, and your
Wife Elizabeth will be sure
To bear a son to you, and you
Shall call his name John, that will do.
14 “And he will be both joy and praise
To you and many in their days
Will rejoice at his birth and ways.
15 “For he’ll be great in the Lord’s eyes
And he shall drink no wine nor guise
Of strong drink. And he will be filled
With holy spirit from the guild
Of his mother’s womb to be wise.
16 “And he’ll turn many of the sons
Of Israel to the Lord who stuns,
Their Ælohim for their home runs.
17” And he will go out before him
In Elijah’s spirit and vim
To turn the hearts of dads to sons,
And disobedient ones to be
Wise in justice and to make free
A folk prepared for the Lord’s spree.”

In times past wine was not given to drink
To Nazirites, what would the people think.
But now the wine is cut off from the lips
Of any holy one the angel skips.
The minder of Samson brings well to mind
The problem of sun worship in the bind.
As Samson lived to destroy all that kind,
John should also, I should not wonder now.
He comes at the announcement made by prow
Of angel at the altar side somehow.
And so without a word of conflict here,
He denies Sadducean thought and gear.
Beloved, I turn with John’s command and seek
The wisdom and the justice of the meek.

18 And Zacharias to the angel,
“By what shall I know this from vaingel?
For I am old and my wife too
Is far advanced in her days’ due.”
19 The angel answered and told him,
“I’m Gabriel, who stands up trim
Before God, and I was sent here
To speak a message in your ear.
20 “See now, you’ll be silent and dumb
Until the day these things in sum
Take place, because you did not show
Belief in my words that will grow
True in their time to come below.”

The archangel called Gabriel himself
Is irritated by the word of elf
That hesitates to believe in the sum
Of what he in his brightness came to hum.
He does not stop considering a man
Might be overwhelmed by his height and span.
He punishes the unbelief before
It raises a head up to window, door.
Beloved, I do well to rage at the man
Who disbelieves what I proclaim in plan,
Your oneness and Your sovereignty to scan,
The truth that You’re reflected in the span
Of I-ness known to every human tan.
I punish them the very best I can.

21 The people waited Zacharias,
And wonder was kept him desirous
To stay in the temple to fire us.
22 But when he came out, he could not
Speak to them, and they knew his lot
Was to see a vision inside
The temple. And so then he tried
To make signs but could not abide.

How the folk knew the man had seen a sight,
A vision in the temple and a light,
Is more than I can see, since he in spite
Of angel could not say a sentence right.
The folk are far too ready to believe
That visions are the fate and to receive
On the part of each priest who rends the air
With incense in the temple to beware.
Beloved, the folk are far too quick to take
The hesitation for mark of Your sake,
Just as the angel is too quick to make
A slight of an old man’s slow sort of gait.
I cry You justice on the priestly pate,
And restitution from the angel’s state.

23 It happened when his work was done,
He went to his house for the fun.
24 And after these days then his wife
Elizabeth conceived a life.
And she hid herself five months, saying
25 So has the Lord done not gainsaying
To me in the days in which He
Looked on me to take the degree
Of my reproach away in spe.

Which is a thing too easy for You here?
To make an older woman conceive dear,
Or make a young one still a virgin bear?
Nothing is too difficult for Your share.
If Isaac was born in a miracle,
The same is not too hard for You to pull
In John from his mum’s womb of years too full.
If You can make two old women give birth,
Then making a young virgin in her worth
Conceive and bear a child, I dash the thought
That the Greeks were too hasty when they brought
A law against the claim the gods came down
To sire all the men of Grecian renown.
Let me doubt or not, You know what’s in town.

26 In the sixth month, the angel called
Gabriel was sent and installed
By God to Galilean town
Named Nazareth for its renown,
27 To a virgin who was engaged
To a man named Joseph and paged
Of David’s house. The virgins name
Was Mary, and one to acclaim.

The rulership of humankind You set
In righteousness, Beloved, is often met
In twelves and sevens, but the Zaydi style
Is that any descendant without guile
May be the one appointed, if he takes
Aggressive role to set up divine stakes.
It seems the principle that anyone
Of the house royal may act under sun
Is what Luke here envisages when done.
It is enough that Joseph is one of
The house of David to gain of Your love.
Beloved, I bear the twelve, the seven, and last
Follow Your great appointed in the blast,
So long as he keeps Decalogue and fast.

28 And entering, the angel said
To her, “Hail, one with grace to spread!
The Lord is with you. You are blessed
Above all women and the best.”
29 And seeing this, she was disturbed
At his word, and considered curbed
What kind of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “See,
Do not fear, Mary, for you’ve found
Favour from God and all around.
31 “And see, you will conceive in womb
And bear a son, and one to bloom
As you call him Jesus for doom.
32 “This One will be great and will be
Called son of the Most High. And see,
The Lord God will give Him the throne
Of His father David alone.
33 “And He will reign over the seat
Of Jacob forever and meet
And his kingdom have no end fleet.”

The promises to David I take well
To heart as I look back on Israel,
And on the state of this world turned to hell.
But if this Jesus did sit on the throne
Forever, then I have to pick a bone.
Fact is oppression by the Roman sort
As multiplied across the global fort,
And everywhere blood is not shed for sport
The masses are kept as a market crew
To buy the oil that makes the royal brew.
I’m patient as I wait for hand to show
That You still guide the plough upon the row,
But I raise up a witness so You’ll know
That we still need improvements here below.

34 But Mary told the angel, “How
Will this be since I know no plough
Of mankind?” 35 The angel replied
To her, “The holy spirit guide
Will come on you, the power and true
Of the Most High will shadow you,
And that is why that holy one
Born of you will be called God’s son.
36 “And see, your kin Elizabeth!
She’s also conceived in the breath
Of her old age, a son, and this
Is the sixth month for her to kiss
Who was called barren, though amiss;
37 “For nothing is impossible
For God in any trick to pull.”

The pregnancy of good Elizabeth
Served to give Mary confidence and breath
Before the message that she would appear
To give birth as a virgin without fear.
There are many of heroes in the land
Of Greece and Egypt and Chaldean band
Who have for mother humankind and dad
A god according to the stories sad.
But virgin birth is a thing hardly known
To any under David and his throne.
And yet a virgin birth is no surprise
Greater that normal conception in guise.
Both are a thing I would not have invented
If I had been You and never prevented.

38 And Mary said, “Behold, the slave
Woman of the Lord! I am brave
To let it be to me by what
You say.” The angel left her rut.
39 And Mary got up at that time
And went to the hill country’s clime
As fast as she could go into
A city of Judah in view.
40 And she entered into the house
Of Zacharias and his spouse
And there greeted Elizabeth.
41 It happened, Elizabeth heard
Mary's greeting, and the babe stirred
In her womb, and Elizabeth
Was filled up with the holy breath.
42 And she cried out with a loud voice
And said, “You are blessed among choice
Of women and blessed is the fruit
Of your womb to be born to boot!
43 “And why is this to me the mum
Of my Lord will to me here come?
44 “For see, as the sound of your word
Came to my ear, the baby stirred
In my womb in rejoicing heard.
45 “And blessed is her faith, because she
Will see the finishing degree
Of all the Lord spoke in decree.”

Each woman who knows pregnancy knows well
The babe can move and even jump a spell,
But that is not a prophecy to tell
The neighbour woman has a finer son
To be born six months later on the run.
The prophecies are mystery to me,
Irrational for all that I can see,
And yet their word is full of poetry,
Fine utterance penetrating bone to make
A fire within the heart and for Your sake.
Beloved, the prophecy of female speech
From Hagar, Hannah, Deborah and the reach
Of good Elizabeth, I take in store
And read and hear their speaking all the more.

46 Mary said “My soul magnifies
YHWH, 47 and my spirit as it flies
Rejoices in God who’s my Saviour.
48 “For he’s regarded the behaviour
Of His maidservant in her state
Of lowliness and made her great,
Indeed, from now on all men will
Call me blessed through the ages still.
49 “For He who is mighty has done
Great things for me and great things won,
And holy does His name appear.
50 “And His mercy’s on those who fear
Him from age to age. 51 “He has shown
Strength with His arm, and He has blown
Out scattering the proud alone
In heart imagination grown.
52 “He has put down the mighty from
Their thrones, and made the lowly come
Exalted. 53 “The hungry He’s filled
With good things, while the rich He’s billed
And sent them empty all away.
54 “He has helped His servant this day
Israel, minding His mercy’s sway,
55 “As He spoke to our fathers, to
Abraham and his seed on cue.”
56 And Mary remained with her for
About three months, and to the door
Of her own house returned, what’s more.
57 Now Elizabeth’s full time came
For her to be delivered claim,
And she brought forth a son to name.
58 When her neighbours and relatives
Heard how YHWH without fugitives
Had shown great mercy to her, they
Rejoiced with her upon that day.

The fervent prayers for offspring made the birth
A joyous thing, thing infinite of worth
For Sarah, the great paradigm of those
Women who had no children though they chose.
Elizabeth had prayed with tears for child,
And like Hannah moved her lips undefiled
In plaints and praises to Your name, Beloved,
And found herself among the pushed and shoved.
They still come to the tomb of Rachel crying,
Then take their way, some comforted, some sighing.
Sarah, Elizabeth share in the joy
Of aging barren women who employ
Surprising answers to their plaints and prayers.
Beloved, the source of song is in their wares.

59 It happened on the eighth day they
Came to circumcise in the way
The child and called it by the name
Of his father and by the fame
Of Zacharias. 60 And his mum
Replied and said “No way to hum,
But he shall be called John to come.”
61 And they said to her, “None among
Your relatives is called or sung
By this name.” 62 And they made signs to
His father, what they ought to do.
63 He asked for a slate and he wrote,
Saying “John is his name to dote.”
And all were amazed at the view.
64 And instantly his mouth was free
And opened and his tongue’s degree
Was loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.
65 Fear came on all those on the sod
Around them. And in all the land
Of Judea’s hill country spanned
All these things were discussed and scanned.

Some may presume that Zacharias spoke
In tongues most marvellous under the yoke
Of holy spirit that after months broke
The angel barrier and came to stoke
The charismatic fervour of the folk.
But wait a moment, my Beloved, to hear
If he departs from what I have in ear
From Mary and Elizabeth in gear.
It seems the practice of those days was still
A living oral composition’s bill,
And all could speak in wondered ecstasy
With borrowings of phrases in degree
From the pool of all sacred poetry:
Not glossalalia but mystery.

66 And all who heard laid them up in
Their hearts, saying, “What then will win
This child?” And the hand of the Lord
Was with him. 67 And his dad implored,
Zacharias, was filled up by
The holy spirit to prophesy,
Saying 68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God
Of Israel, because His rod
Has come to work redemption for
His people. 69 “And He raised in store
For us salvation’s horn and sent
Into His servant David’s tent.

The horn of our salvation in the tent
Of David is not visibly now sent
To rule the earth. Behind the scenes perhaps
He does a few runs set in token laps,
But for the most part rebel reigns and lot
Of the oppressed makes gains and losses caught.
The horn of our salvation on the tongue
Of Zacharias long ago is hung
With expectations of two thousand years
That are still in store and seen in arrears.
But I trust that Your guided ones of fate
See better than I every sort of state
And know when to put finger in and hate
Or love the ones who reign commensurate.

70 “Just as He promised through the word
Of His own holy prophets stirred
In ages past as it occurred
71 “Salvation from our enemies,
From the hand of all foes’ decrees.
72 “To make mercy with our ancestors,
Minding His holy pact’s sequesters,
73 “The oaths He swore to Abraham,
Our ancestor, to give a gram
74 “So we set free of enemies’
Hand to serve Him amply in ease,
75 “Consecrated and righteously
Before Him all the days we see.

This prophet Zacharias sees the promise
Of Your Messiah for each doubting Thomas
As a salvation great from enemies,
The ones who overrun the land of ease
And make Jerusalem a place of blood.
He does not promise that where cows chew cud
And shepherds come to bow with angel eyes,
A babe should be born in such a disguise
That no kings fall down dead before his sight,
And rise no greater rule of love and right.
John’s dad predicts the glory and the fame
Of conquering Messiah in Your name.
We’re waiting still, Beloved, the Crusades do
Not answer in fulfilment of the view.

76 “And you, child, will be called to be
Prophet of the Most High, for you
Will go before the face of YHWH
To prepare His ways well and true,
77 “To give salvation’s knowledge to
His people by remission of
Their sins, 78 “through the tender heart love
Of our God, in which the dayspring
From on high will visit and bring
To us, 79 “to come to those sitting
In darkness and shadow of death,
To direct our feet at a breath
Into the way of peace to ring.”
80 And the child grew, and became strong
In spirit. And he went along
In desert places till the day
He came to show Israel the way.

John came to show Israel the holy way,
The lighter path to the Messiah’s sway,
But he himself is butchered by the fane,
Not long before this Christ went on to wane
Upon the crosses of the Romans lain.
But still no longer is the darkness set
About the minds of those who came and met
John and Jesus, for both of them direct
The feet into Islam’s ways and select:
The way of prayer and alms, of fasting bent,
And pilgrimage to Your house or one lent.
I too seek out the desert, whether where
The lines of sand and heat lie on the air
Or where saw-toothed horizon stretches there.

LUKE 2

1 In those days there came a decree
From Caesar Augustus to be
For all the world inhabited
To become a registered kid.
2 This registration first occurred
Under Cyrenius as spurred
The Syrian governor preferred.
3 And all went to be registered,
Each to his own city concurred.
4 Joseph too went from Galilee,
Out of Nazareth the city
To Judea, to the city
Of David now called Bethlehem,
Because he was of David’s hem
And house and kith and kinshipry,
5 To be registered with Mary,
Who was his fiancée and she
Was pregnant, though virginally.

Virginity of Mary is established
At last by the Qur’an, though mainly fablished
According to the Christians who reject
Apocryphal in Gospels or neglect.
All things are testified in golden writ,
The record of each man in the house fit
Of David or in every town to sit
In Roman empire with a record knit
To make taxation easier to draw
Without the use of gunpowder and claw.
Virginity’s no miracle to help
Mankind in rows of Rome’s taxes on whelp.
That’s why I still spend counting of the lot
A day each year as every man is taught.

6 And it happened as they were there,
The days fulfilled for her to bear.
7 And she bore her son, the first-born.
And she wrapped him and to adorn
Laid Him in the manger, because
There was no place in the inn’s floors.

They should have called to make a reservation.
In my experience inns with elation
Hold rooms till six or seven for a ration,
And love to have guests pay of every nation.
If Joseph had just picked up phone and called
The inn beforehand, they’d have been installed
In a place that was worth the money spent.
Instead he neglected to pay the rent.
Beloved, I praise all innkeepers I know,
I’m saddened by the ill-fame of this show.
But if Your sent one needs a place to lay
His head now as he wonders earth astray,
My breast is ready to take him and show
The humble chamber of my heart to glow.

8 And shepherds were in the same land,
Abiding in the fields there and
Keeping watch on their flock by night.
9 And, see, an angel came in sight
From the Lord to them. And the bright
Glory of YHWH shone round about.
And they feared with a fervent rout.

This Gospel’s written more, I’d say to strike
Against the Sadducean sort of mike
And support Pharisean doctrine of
Angels and resurrections than lend glove
To tales of Jesus in themselves in shove.
More interest in polemics of that time
Than in what church councils in poorer rhyme
Brought out to serve the populace for crime
In creeds or iron and swords of the sublime.
So angels showed themselves. That’s proof enough
The Sadducees are wrong. For them that’s tough.
No wonder they have disappeared along
With the regime they fostered to their wrong.
Now we have a united Roman song.

10 The angel told them, “Do not fear.
For, see, I proclaim good news here
To you, a great joy, which will be
To all people, 11 “because you see
Today a Saviour, Christ the Lord,
Was born to you in David’s ward.
12 “And this shall be a sign to you.
You’ll find the babe wrapped up from view,
And lying in a manger too.”
13 And suddenly there came in view
With the angel a multitude
Of heavenly angels praising God
And saying 14 “Glory to God in
The highest, and peace on earth’s din,
Good will among men without sin.”

If Christ is Lord or kyrios, I say,
Does that mean he’s no longer in Your pay,
But God Almighty set upon the shelf,
Along with or in place of Your good self?
Of course, if Christ is Lord, the word implies
More than it does in other texts it lies
To adorn governors, centurions,
And even wealthy businessmen in tons.
The angels proclaim Islam on the earth,
Which cannot be, if Jesus came in worth
Of God Almighty, God the Son by birth.
Since there’s no peace and even less Islam,
Perhaps I can admit the Christian balm
Blows up the concept of God like a psalm.

15 It happened as the angels left
Departing into the sky cleft,
The shepherds said each man to each,
“Indeed, let’s go over the reach
To Bethlehem, and see this thing
That’s happened as the Lord did sing
To us.” 16 They hurried off and came
And sought out Mary with acclaim
And Joseph, and the babe that lay
There in the manger on the hay.

Beloved, I added this one word in print
To Luke’s description of Christ with a glint
Of concern that the many mangers set
Around the world, some of them I have met,
At Christmas season all are filled with hay,
While he forgot to mention it that day
He wrote it down. I now contribute word
Of hay to what was seen then and occurred.
No manger’s worth its salt but what’s interred
In hay for feed to cows and sheep that stirred
About it with such neighings that are heard.
Besides, I wanted Jesus where he lay
To have something more comforting than plank.
It’s all right, Love, You do not need to thank.

17 They saw and broadcast publicly
About the message they did see
Spoken to them about this child.
18 And everyone that heard unguiled
Was amazed by the things they heard
Spoken by the shepherds when stirred.
19 And Mary kept all these words deep
In her heart thinking in her sleep.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying
And praising God for all things vying
Which they heard and saw, even what
Was spoken to them to the cut.
21 And when eight days were done at last
To circumcise the child and cast
His name, they called him Jesus then,
The name called by the angel when
He came before he was conceived
In the womb of his mum received.

The ones who claim that Jesus is their god,
Or God the Son or Trinity with prod,
Ought to consider that the circumcision
Was performed on his penis with a vision.
If he was God before that operation,
Then he was God uncircumcised in station.
If he was God, they cut some God off him
And dropped it in the gutter for a whim.
That piece that was cut off, now I ask still,
If that ceased from god being on the hill,
Or if it lies in solemn case to fill
The service of an adoration’s bill.
If some can worship the paten god cookie,
Then why not also foreskin playing hookie?

The eighteen churches, some in Italy
And some in France and others faithfully
Around the European panoply,
Have all lost their claims to the foreskin bought
In Palestine or given as gift sought
Or by a miracle sent at the hand
Of cantillating and angelic band.
Beloved, I seek the foreskin of Your son
To worship since nothing else can be done
Since You accepted such associate
In Your divinity of Godly state.
But none is left in any land to find.
I must be satisfied to remain blind
To others. To Your worship I'm resigned.

22 When the days of her purity
By Moses’ law were done, you see,
They took him to Jerusalem
To present him to the Lord’s hem,
23 As it is set down in the law
Of the Lord: “Every male with claw
That opens the womb shall be called
The holy of the Lord installed.”
24 And there to offer sacrifice
According to that Lord’s law’s splice,
A pair of turtledoves or two
Nestlings of doves by the law due.

If Mary’s conception’s immaculate
And she bore yet a child by virgin state,
Then she should have brought no sacrifice here.
A sin offering, the one dove for her cheer,
Is cancelled by her pure virginity.
The burnt offering, the other in the spree,
Is cancelled by immaculate to be.
Luke does not seem to notice how the way
He describes Jesus makes his form and pay
An inconsistency on fortieth day.
No dove was brought for me at all, my Dear,
Perhaps because there was no temple near.
But I was brought up in Your love and fear,
And Dad and Mum still hope I’ll age with gear.

25 See, a man in Jerusalem
Whose name was Simeon, a gem
Of righteousness and so devout
He eagerly expected clout
Of Israel’s consolation, and
The holy spirit shook his hand.
26 It happened to him, that same spirit
Told him he’d not see death come near it
Before he’d see the Lord’s Messiah
Come down on earth to be pariah.

Those who think Jesus is Lord God Almighty
Have not read Luke except they were too flighty.
He is the Lord’s Messiah, which means that
He cannot be the Lord YHWH where He sat.
That argument is threadbare now since it
Has been used by the generations fit
At least since Reformation came to hit
The Vatican and turn it into guile.
But those who live and cannot reconcile
This Jesus with the promises of smile,
How do they take this prophecy of late?
It’s one thing to deny Jesus in state,
But quite another to say Simeon
Was wrong when inspired by the spirit’s gun.

27 Led by the spirit he came in
The temple as the parents win
Their entrance with the Jesus child
For them to do as reconciled
By the customs of legal piled.
28 And Simeon took him in arm,
And he blessed God words without harm:
29 “Now, Master, let your servant go
In peace according to the show
Of Your word; 30 “for my eyes have seen
Your great salvation on the scene.
31 “You have prepared it in front of
All peoples on the earth to love;
32 “A light for revelation to
The nations, and the glory view
Of Your folk Israel in their pew.”
33 And Joseph marvelled, mother too,
At the things said about his view.
34 And Simeon blessed them and said
To his mother Mary instead,
“See, this one is set for the fall
And rising up of many, all
In Israel, and for a sign
Spoken against or to resign;
35 “A sword indeed will also pierce
Your own soul, so the thoughts of hearts
Of many shall be shown with darts.”
36 And there was one Anna there too,
A prophetess, daughter of true
Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years to crash her,
Since she had lived seven years with her
Husband from virginity’s stir,
37 To be a widow in her time
Of eighty-four years of the climb,
Who never left the temple, but
Served night and day and being shut
In fastings and prayers to the glut.
38 She came up at that very hour,
And gave thanks to the Lord in power
And spoke of him to all those in
Jerusalem waiting to win
Redemption from the worldly din.
39 When they had accomplished the rites
According to YHWH’s law of lights,
They went back into Galilee
To Nazareth their own city.

At first Luke spoke about the law as named
By Moses, a prophet and a man famed.
But after that one mention, he makes out
The law is Yours, Beloved One, without doubt.
If Moses’ law is Yours, then those who take
It always with the epithet to make
Out it is just a human law at stake,
Not to be read or followed or in wake
Of wonder loved recited on a day,
Those people ought to stop and think and pay
Attention to the fact that Luke is bound
More often to say the Lord’s law when found.
Of course those who desire that Christ be Lord
Must then take it as his law too adored.

40 And the child grew, and became strong
In spirit, being filled along
With wisdom. And the grace of God
Was on him everywhere he trod.
41 His parents went back year by year
Up to Jerusalem with gear
To the feast of Passover’s cheer.

If Jesus kept Passover, why do such
As claim to follow him among the Dutch
Keep Easter instead and without a crutch?
The world of faith is full of wonders I
Could mention in public or on the sly.
The Jews keep Passover and yet deny
The Christ that kept it with them in the try.
The Muslims fail to paint Christ face to face,
Because of the commandment not to trace
The divine in an image, yet believe
He is no God at all come to receive.
By the same token Christians paint him well,
Believing He is God the Son to dwell.
Faith is an inconsistent sort of hell.

42 And when He was twelve years old, they,
Went up to Jerusalem’s sway
By the customs around the feast
To see if their faith was increased.
43 And when the time had passed they left
In their return, the boy bereft,
Jesus, stayed in Jerusalem.
And Joseph and his mother gem
Did not notice his stratagem.
44 But they thought he must surely be
Among the travel company,
And so they travelled on a day.
And when they looked for him astray,
They asked both kith and kin and friend.
45 Not finding him, they in the end
Went back up to Jerusalem
To seek in sorrow their own gem.
46 It happened after three days they
Found Him in the temple to stay
Among the teachers to hear them
And question them at wisdom’s hem.
47 All those who heard him were amazed
At how much his wise answers dazed.

To judge by answers that report would say
That Jesus gave his questioners in pay
Twenty years later perhaps to the day,
I reckon there’s more cunning to be found
Than wisdom in the teachings on his ground.
Render to Caesar, yea, render to God
Is not a wise word but a cunning prod
Escaping from the traps and snares on sod.
Beloved, the boy was snotty in the way
He answered his own betters gone astray.
If the Messiah is David’s son, why
Does David call him lord? That’s merely sly.
My concept of wisdom is over high
Compared to Luke’s, Beloved, until I die.

48 And seeing him, they were astounded.
His mother said to him, “Child founded,
Why did you play this trick on us?
See, your dad and I with great fuss
Have looked for you in all the muss.”
49 And he said to them, “Why did you
Need to look for me? Did not you
Know that I’d be busy with crew
Of my Father’s business in view?”
50 They did not understand the word
He spoke to them and which they heard.
51 And He went with them and came to
Nazareth and was subject to
Them. And his mother carefully
Kept all these words in her heart free.
52 Jesus increased in wisdom and
In stature and favour as planned
Before God and humanity.

See now, Beloved, I told You that the lad
Was cheeky. You doubted me then, by cad!
See what he told his mother who was sad.
So when I read these words, I’m only glad
The boy increased in wisdom, which does not
Mean that he ever accomplished a lot.
Increase does not imply abundance there.
I’d hope at twelve his stature was the share
Of boy rather than man, so increase nair
Did any harm for that. But favour set
Before You and the populace he met
Is something to be glad about, you bet.
Beloved, let me too keep in solemn heart
All these words like Jesus’ mum did her part.

LUKE 3

1 In the fifteenth year of the rule
Of Caesar Tiberius’ school,
Pontius Pilate held the rod
Over all the Judean sod,
And Herod ruled as the tetrarch
Of Galilee, his brother dark
Philip ruled as tetrarch to stand
In Iturea and the land
Of Trachonitis, and there stood
Lysanias tetrarch of the good
Region of Abilene, 2 priesthood
In chief of Annas and the hood
Caiaphas, there came the word
Of God to John ben Zacharias
In the desert there living pious.
3 And he came to the neighbourhood
Of Jordan proclaiming as should
Repentance’ forgiveness of sins,
4 As it has been writ by the shins
Of the scroll of words of Isaiah
The prophet saying like a crier,
“The voice of one that shouts aloud
In the desert before no crowd,
'Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
And make His paths straight for adored.'
5 “Every valley shall be filled up,
And every mount and hill like tup
Shall be made low; the crooked places
Shall be made into straighter traces,
And the rough into smooth ways’ faces;
6 "And all flesh shall see the salvation
Of Ælohim upon our nation."

Salvation is a thing that Christians preach
But rarely think about in terms to teach,
Define and understand in common speech.
Salvation is when Your word comes to one
And then he proclaims to all those who run
Repentance is their due, and finally
Salvation’s the result of such a spree.
That’s all there is to it apparently.
Beloved, I love salvation in abstract,
But I’m not so sure of salvation’s act.
It’s not a pretty execution on
A cross or contemplation of the drawn
And quartered, but what’s worse evaluation
Of my own sins before final elation.

7 Then he said to the crowds that came
Out to be baptised by his fame,
“You sons of snakes, who warned you to
Flee from the coming wrath that’s due?
8 “Then bring forth actions that are meet
For such repentance, don’t retreat
To tell yourselves, ‘We’ve Abraham
As father.’ For I call your scam
Since God is able to raise up
Children to Abraham to sup
Out of these very stones in cup.
9 “The axe too is already set
At the treeroots, therefore each met
Not bearing good fruit will be cut
Down and thrown in the fire to strut.”

See, that’s exactly what I feared from what
Luke said about salvation on the rut.
The first thing that I hear’s name-calling and
Humiliation on the river’s sand.
Repentance is a call into the dark
Of the destruction of commercial park.
It’s not a happy message that You come
To accept every human with a hum
Just as he is or she is, every bum.
Salvation and my self-esteem depart
Each from the other at the very start,
And I am left with salvation in pocket
Or self-esteem to fake the judge and docket.
I’m not sure that salvation’s sweet to heart.

10 And the crowd asked him, saying “What
Then shall we do to gain and get?
11 He answered them and said “The one
With two shirts, let him give for fun
One to the one who has not one.
And the one who has food to share,
Let him give to the one who’s bare.”
12 And tax collectors also came
To be baptised. They said aflame,
“Rabbi, what shall we do in claim?”
13 And he said to them, “You just do
Exactly what’s commanded you.”
14 Some soldiers asked him, saying then,
And what about us slaying men?”
And he said to them, “Do not take
Anyone in violent stake
Nor accuse falsely in the wake,
And be satisfied with your take.”

The call to be satisfied with the take
Of one’s own salary in modern stake
Is just to bolster of the right-wing break
To help the rich oppress the poor in wake.
John could have been adviser to the bloke
Who sits in the White House to lay a stroke
On Middle Eastern population’s folk.
Soldiers who do without complaint and make
No fuss to enrich themselves in the lake
Of oil are just the sort to wield the poke.
I’m missing something in the situation,
Or in John’s message to violent nation.
He who gives the shirt off his back is thanked
By all but wife and children and untanked.

15 The waiting crowds thought in their hearts,
Whether John might not play the parts
Of the Christ coming to their marts.
16 John answered everyone and said
“I truly baptise you with water,
But one greater than I instead
Is coming to this place of slaughter,
Of whom I’m not fit to untie
His shoestrings. And you can rely
On him baptizing you at last
In holy spirit and fire’s cast.
17 “His winnow is held in his hand,
And he’ll make bare his threshing stand,
And gather the wheat in his store,
But the chaff he’ll burn up the more
With fire not to be quenched in score.”
18 And he truly preached many things,
The gospel to the folk in rings.

The thing I hate about the gospel word
Is that it’s never defined when it’s stirred.
Repentance is invoked, the kingdom heard,
But nothing like a definition blurred.
A hundred times this testament allows
The word of gospel to print on its brows,
But only in the last instance it says
What five points are found in the gospel ways.
The book of Revelation finally
Tells what the gospel’s content is freely.
Perhaps that is because in fact that book
Was the first written down in Christian nook,
Despite it’s being listed and the end
Of the writings by apostle and friend.

19 But Herod the tetrarch, was blamed
By him for the issue unnamed,
Herodias, wife of his brother
Philip, and one thing and another
Of evil things that Herod did.
20 On top of all his wicked bid
He shut John under prison’s lid.
21 It happened in the crowd of folk
That were baptised, Jesus too spoke
Up to be baptised, and he prayed,
The sky opened, 22 and on him stayed
The holy spirit like a dove.
There was a voice from heaven above,
Saying “You are My son of love,
In whom I delight on parade.”

I do not doubt, Beloved, that You then spoke
To Jesus from the Jordan when he woke
From small death of baptism's dunking’s stroke.
There is a precedent in Sinai’s sound
When You came down to meet men on the ground.
I do not doubt, Beloved, your spirit’s form
In coming like a dove pure white and warm,
Although there is no precedent unless
The burning bush of Moses at a guess
Contained the fire of Your sent spirit when
You spoke out of the bush to birds and men.
Fact is that Jesus joined the Baptist church.
He was not too proud for that lower perch
Than the Episcopalians in search.

23 And Jesus himself had just turned
About thirty years old, discerned
To be the son of Joseph, who
Was the son of Heli, 24 who grew
The son of Matthat, Levi’s son
The son of Melchi, Janna’s son,
The son of Joseph, 25 who was son
Of Mattathias, Amos’ son,
The son of Nahum, Esli’s son,
The son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath,
The son of Mattathias’ path,
The son of Semei, Joseph’s son,
The son of Judah, 27 who was son
Of Joannas, who was Rhesa’s son,
The son of Zerubbabel won
The son of Shealtiel, the son
Of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi,
Who was himself son of Addi,
The son of Cosam, the son of
Elmodam, the son of Er’s love,
29 The son of Joses, who was son
Of Eliezer, Jorim’s son,
The son of Matthat, Levi’s son,
30 Who was the son of Simeon,
The son of Judah, Joseph’s son,
The son of Jonan, who was son
Of Eliakim on the run,
31 The son of Melea, the son
Of Menan, the son of Mattatha,
The son of Nathan, and whose father
Was David, son of Jesse, son
Of Obed, son of Boaz won,
The son of Salmon, who for fun
Was born and bred son of Nahshon,
33 The son of Amminadab, son
Of Aram the son of Hezron,
The son of Pharez, Judah’s son,
34 The son of Jacob, Isaac’s son,
The son of Abraham, the son
Of Terah, son of Nahor, 35 son
Of Serug, son of Reu, son
Of Peleg, son of Eber, son
Of Salah, 36 the son of Cainan,
The son of Arphaxad, a man
The son of Shem, the son of Noah,
The son of Lamech in the shoah,
37 The son of Methuselah, son
Of Enoch, son of Jared, son
Of Mahalaleel, the son
Of Cainan; 38 son of Enos,
The son of Seth, of Adam’s cross,
The son of God without a loss.

Jesus was lucky in this ethnic day
When everyone wants to know how to play
His origins in such a racist way.
Jesus was lucky to have family tree
That went back to beginning of the spree.
But Jesus’ luck ran out when he looked past
To see the genealogy was fast
Under the name of his step-father cast.
I’d think it was a better thing for him
Not to know anything, than to sit trim
Upon the laurels of step-father grim.
Beloved, so many in this vale of fears
Are like You and Your son of hope and tears
Without a family tree to stoke their gears.

LUKE 4

1 And filled up with the holy spirit,
Jesus came from Jordan or near it,
And he was led up by the spirit
Into the wilderness to fear it.
2 There forty days of test and trial
By the Devil with word and smile,
And he ate nothing in those days,
And at the end of the time’s ways
Then he was hungry. 3 At a stroke
The Devil came to him and spoke,
“If You are God’s son, tell this stone
To become a loaf of your own.”
4 And Jesus answered him and said
“It has been written down instead,
‘Man shall not live alone on bread,
But on each word that God has said.’”

When I was a child no one lived on bread,
But on tv dinners around the spread.
The freezer served to keep them fresh and new,
The oven served to heat them overdue.
Given the supper that five thousand ate,
Jesus could easily have filled his plate.
He had a point to make. Your word is true.
And all he had to think or speak or do
Was quote You on the spot and Satan’s mouth
Was stopped from speaking either north or south.
Beloved, I keep the way of Jesus spent
In just the opposite sort of a bent.
I eat my bread by day and in the night
I meditate Your words in my heart’s light.

5 The Devil led him to the peak
Of a high mountain, and showed there
All the kingdoms of the world fair
In a flash moment and to seek.
6 And Satan said to him, “I will
Give all this power to fit the bill
Of glory to you, since it’s mine
Delivered up to me and fine,
To give to whom I may incline.
7 “So if you fall prostrating here
Before me, all is yours and clear.”
8 And Jesus answered him and said
“Get behind me, Satan ill-bred!
For it is written and it’s said
‘You shall prostrate yourself alone
To YHWH your Ælohim in throne,
Him only shall you worship spread.’”

The supposition is the story told
In Enoch’s book of the watchers in fold.
The ruler of this earth descended to
Gene splicing on the tender human crew.
But he is willing to give up his own
If Jesus will prostrate before his throne.
Jesus might well have taken the grand place
Remaining an immortal of the race
By only bowing as in kingly trace.
He could have used excuse that bowing meant
Only the recognition of the sent
That Satan was the chief of appointment,
And not divine upon the frozen sod.
But Jesus refused to make claims of God.

9 He took him to Jerusalem
And stood him on the temple gem,
And told him, “If you’re son of God,
Throw yourself down here on the sod,
10 For it is written: “He’ll command
His angels round you to take hand,
Protecting you from all that’s planned.
11 “So in their hands they’ll bear you up,
So’s not to bruise your foot like tup
Against a stone upon the sand.’”
12 And Jesus answered and told him,
It has been said “You shall look dim
On tempting YHWH your Ælohim.’”
13 The Devil finished tempting him
And left him for the time as grim.

The Devil doubts that Jesus is Your son,
Which is a rational thing when he’s done,
Since You are not one circumcised at best,
And never were a husband or so dressed.
The Devil quotes the Scripture like a preacher,
They all follow his great example feature
To twist Your word to make the sin seem right,
Obedience to Your law seem like a fright.
But Jesus has an answer for the pard,
Which is to keep Your law is not that hard.
It is no good excuse that one can read
Into the text justification’s seed.
No matter what the Psalm says for a creed,
Simply obeying Decalogue’s the card.

14 Jesus went back to Galilee
By the power of the spirit free.
And rumours flew around the place
About him with the populace.
15 And He taught in their synagogues,
Praised by all of their demagogues.
16 He came to Nazareth where he
Was brought up. And by his decree
Of custom went in on the day
Of Sabbaths to stand up to pray
And read. 17 And the scroll of Isaiah
The prophet was brought to him nigher.
And he unrolled the book and found
The place where it was written bound:
18 "The spirit of the Lord’s on me.
Because He has anointed me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He’s sent me to heal brokenhearted,
Release to captives, to the blind
To see again, and so to find
Saving of those oppressed and crushed,
In the salvation where they’ve rushed,
19 “To preach a year acceptable
To YHWH when the cycle is full.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, and gave
It to the attendant to save,
And then sat down. And all the eyes
Of everyone came to arise
On him in the synagogue’s wise.
21 And He began to say to them,
Today this Scripture’s stratagem
Has been fulfilled here in your ears.
22 And all bore witness of his word,
And marvelled at the grace that stirred
All who heard what came from his lips.
And they said “Is this for hardships
Not the son of Joseph we’ve heard?”
23 And He said to them, “No doubt you
Will tell this parable as true
To me, ‘Physician, heal yourself.
The rumours of what things on shelf
Took place in Capernaum brown,
Also do here in your home town.’”
24 But He said “Truly I tell you
No prophet’s accepted in pew
Of his own country’s retinue.
25 “I truly tell you, there were many
Widows in Israel for a penny
A dozen in the days when came
Elijah shutting heaven’s claim
More than three years and six months’ time,
When a hard famine came in prime
On all the land, 26 “and yet was sent
Elijah to none of them meant
Except to Sidon’s Zarephath,
And to a widow woman’s path.
27 “And many lepers came to stay
In Israel in Elisha’s day,
And none of them the prophet made
Clean but the Syrian Naaman paid.”

I’ve learned one thing perhaps that Jesus failed
To find out on the shores where he impaled
Offended his own lot. As for myself,
I offend more the foreigner and elf.
But Jesus does not seem to know that when
He is among the racist sort of men,
The last thing one should do is to remind
Them of their own failings among the blind.
Beloved, I’ve seen the separation made
Between the loved and unloved in their grade,
And known that none should ever hope to see
The justice that each heart knows in degree.
There is no soul but contains by Your will
Awareness that Your I-ness comes to fill.

28 And all were filled with wrath to hear
These things in their synagogue dear.
29 And they got up and threw him out
Of the town and led him about
To the brow of the hill on which
Their town was built to find a ditch
To throw him in without a stitch.
30 But he went his way, passing through
The crowd and left them out of view.

I know now why You are not to be seen
In churches and in synagogues to ween.
You know that those who listen sweetly there,
And those who speak as though without a care,
All would rush in a crowd to beat Your share,
If You were a God seen beneath the air.
When You came as they say in human form,
Believers were the ones who made it warm.
Beloved, I too pass here invisibly.
I am Your comrade in arms of the free.
By Your great blessing no one looks at me
As I come in the square or turn around
To find my paths along the leaf-strewn ground
That waits for winter silent, without sound.

31 And he went to Capernaum,
A town of Galilee and rum,
And taught them on the Sabbath’s hum.
32 They were amazed at what he taught,
Because his word with power was fraught.
33 And in the synagogue a man
Was who had a spirit in span
Of an unclean demon. And he
Cried out with a loud voice in spree,
34 Saying “Aha! What’s between us,
Jesus of Nazareth, for fuss?
Did you come here to destroy us?
I know you, who you are, you are
The holy one of God and star.”

It’s nothing new to me to hear the case
Of someone deil-possessed on the White race
Make such a fuss in every church for spiel,
A pew and cry for Trinity’s appeal.
The Sabbath is the time when demons come
Together to report and sigh and hum
About the way that You appear or should
In human form as holy and as good.
Invention of God the Son was in fact
A truly demonic, unsavoury act.
Just wait and see what Jesus says to him
To make his act remove from Sabbath trim.
Today the synagogues are free of such,
While churches love the Trinity for crutch.

35 Jesus rebuked him and he said
“Be still, come out of him instead!
And casting him down in the crowd,
The demon came from him aloud,
Without harming him for their dread.”
36 Amazement fell on all around.
They address each other as found,
Saying “What word is this, that he
Commands unclean spirits’ decree
With power and authority,
And they depart upon the ground?”
37 And rumour of him went around
In every place, in every bound.

I too could cry against that demon thought,
The word and doctrines that the devil taught
To the Church Fathers in the things they wrought.
And if I should, I know amazement too
Would fall upon that holy, worthy crew.
And rumour would fly round in saintly due,
If I should cry against unholy hue
Of God the Son while sitting in my pew.
I would cry aloud, if I came to be
Within those pallid palls on a Sunday.
Instead I meet the Sabbath in my home,
To hear the Tanakh read, unlike in Rome,
In Hebrew syllables and in the tone
Of sweeter singing than before Your throne.

38 He left the synagogue and went
Into the house of Simon spent.
And Simon’s mother-in-law there
Was lying in great fever’s share.
And they asked him about her care.
39 He stood beside her and rebuked
The fever; and it left her cooked.
She got up right away and then
Started to serving all those men.

The care that man will lavish on a wife
Has motives both ulterior in strife
And motives recognizing right to life.
No man would have his wife’s mum cured at all,
Except that when cured she gets on the ball
And serves him bread and meat in dining hall.
So Jesus cured the lady who was ill,
And she got up to serve and fit the bill.
Beloved, if I were shaking in my bed
With fever, though a mother-in-law spread,
If I were cured, I’d come out to the table
And wait for someone else to serve as able.
You crown salvation in celestial stew
With promises of laden tables too.

40 The sun went down and everyone
Who was ill with each sickness won
Brought such to him, what could be done.
He lay his hands on each one then
And healed them both women and men.
41 And demons also came out from
Many, shouting, not keeping mum,
Saying “You are the Christ, the son
Of God!” And he rebuked each one,
And did not let them speak at all,
Since they knew him as Christ and call.

It’s almost always demon or a priest
Described in Luke, who calls out like a beast
To say Your sent one is the Son of God.
So was it then upon the city’s sod,
So is it now. It’s hard to hear the diff
Between the preacher’s preaching in the stiff
And demon’s giving witness in a tiff.
Beloved, may Your sent Christ rebuke today
The bishops and the reverends for the way
They lie like demons for their paltry pay.
Let me bear no demonic witness here,
Beloved, but speak Your own commandments dear
In my heart, mind and soul, and when I take
Them on my tongue, be it for Your sweet sake.

42 At the start of the day he went
Into a desert place as sent.
And the crowds looked for him as bent
To come to him and hold him fast,
Not to lose him or be outcast.
43 But he said to them, “It is right
For me to spread the Gospel light
To other cities, because I
Was sent for that aim from the sky.”
44 And he preached in the synagogues
Of Galilee to demagogues.

In that time and that place it was not hard
To preach in synagogue and temple scarred.
I’ve seen the circles of students unbarred
In mosque of Al-Aqsa in years just past.
It takes no decision voted and cast
By Presbytery or Baptist committee.
One could just sit down, teach and so make free.
If there’s a place on earth for me to preach
Or listen to the words of those who teach,
It is the grove of fir and pine above
My yellow cabin I look on with love.
No human ear but mine is there to hear
The whispers that You sigh upon my ear,
The wonders that You speak and that appear.

LUKE 5

1 It happened that the crowd pressed hard
On him to hear the Word God starred.
And he was standing by the lake
Gennesaret, 2 and saw in wake
Two boats lying along the shore,
Where fishermen had left in store
While they washed out their nets before.
3 And he got in one of the boats,
Which was Simon’s, and asked for groats
To put out a little from land.
He sat down and then took in hand
To teach the crowd from the boat’s stand.

The point of speaking from a boat is this:
First of all, the folk can see and not miss
A bit of the sight without rock and tree
To hide the vision sent from Almighty,
And second, the acoustics are just right
To hear over the water without sprite.
I don’t think there was anything at all
To the accusing of one at the wall
That Jesus set some distance from the thrall
So none could touch him and push him in stall.
Beloved, where I live most of the year I
Would not sit to hear sermons on the sly
Beside the lake. I would get chilled no doubt,
And have to leave not hearing all about.

4 When he stopped speaking, he told Simon,
“Row out a way and be no shy man
To let down your nets for a haul.”
5 And Simon answered him in call,
“Sir, we worked through the night in thrall
But caught us nothing here at all.
But at your order I’ll let down
The net now before all the town.”
6 They did so and they caught a full
Net of fish, till it tore by pull.
7 They motioned for their friends to come
From the other boat there in sum,
And help them. And they came and filled
Both boats to point of sinking thrilled.
8 Simon Peter saw that and fell
At Jesus knees and said a spell,
“Depart from me, sir, for I am
A sinful man, indeed I am.”
9 For his amazement held on him,
And on all those with him not dim,
And the catch of the fish they took.
10 And so too were both James and John,
The sons of Zebedee to look,
Who were the partners with Simon.
Jesus told Simon, “Do not fear.
From now on you’ll catch men with cheer.”
11 They brought the boats up on the land,
Abandoned everything they’d planned,
And followed him on every hand.

The way to fish is always in the night
If nets are used upon the lake in sight.
But Jesus was no fisherman to boot,
But rather was a mason on the toot.
Beginner’s luck, it may have been. That’s why
His followers, for all the go and try,
Rarely catch any man and bring him in
To dunk in lake like fish with scale and fin.
The dunking is no doubt why Christians then
Drew fish upon the wall of house of men.
Beloved, I serve me better on the land,
Without the net, without the hunting hand,
Without the converts whirling on the sand,
Without the Bacchanalia round again.

12 It happened in one of the towns,
See, a leper came from the downs.
When he saw Jesus, he fell down
On his face and begged him by crown,
Saying “Sir, if you only will,
You can cleanse me from being ill.”
13 He stretched his hand out and touched him,
Saying “I will. Be cleansed and trim!”
And straight away the leprosy
Departed from him completely.
14 And He charged him to tell no one.
“But go and show yourself for fun
To the priest and offer the gift
For cleansing as Moses would lift
In law for a witness in rift.”
15 But rumours of him spread the more.
And large crowds came to hear before
Receiving cures from him in store.

This Jesus so respects Mosaic law
That he tells the man to go show his paw
To the priests to get clearance in their awe
To come into the synagogue and draw.
He missed the opportunity right then
To start an ecclesia among men,
Called out ones from the synagogue of fate
That would not let a leper ruminate
Upon the law within the bound of late.
Beloved, the pride rabbinical in state
Is not beyond the help of divine rate.
I find the chores set up by folk in time
Are no more difficult that chosen rhyme,
No harder than the metre of my climb.

16 But He was drawing back into
A desert place and praying too.
17 It happened on one of the days
When he was teaching, without praise
Of Pharisees and lawyers near,
Who came out of each hamlet drear
Of Galilee and Judaea,
Jerusalem to stand in awe.
And YHWH’s power came upon them there
For curing of each one in share.
18 And see, men coming in to bear
A stretcher with a man to lie
Paralyzed. And they came to try
To bring him in, and lay him down
Before him and before the town.
19 And they could not find a way through
The crowd, and so they went up to
The top of the house, and they let
Him down through the tiles they could get
With stretcher and all there among
The folk in front of Jesus’ rung.
20 He saw their faith and said to him,
“Man, your sins be forgiven grim.”
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees
Began to reason at his pleas,
And said “Who speaks such blasphemies?
Who can forgive sins with such ease
Except God only, if He please?”

Your sent one did not say that he was right
To forgive sins of people in Your sight.
The forgiveness he laid down for the man
Might well have been forgiveness of Your plan.
There was no grasping of Your honour there.
Responses of the Pharisees in share
Went far beyond the claims he came to bear.
And yet those claims are echoed in the mouth
Of Trinitarian both north and south,
Who join the jealous leaders in the way
They seek excuses to be led astray.
Beloved, I claim Your great forgiveness now
For the crowds than surround my whirling brow,
And mediate Your blessings here somehow.

22 But Jesus knew their thoughts and said
To them in his reply instead,
“Why do you reason in your hearts?
23 “Which is easier said in parts,
‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’
Or say ‘Get up and walk as due?’
24 “But so you’ll know the son of man
Has power on earth and in his span
To forgive sins,” he said then to
The paralytic man in view,
“I tell you to get up and take
Your stretcher and go home and bake.”
25 And he got right up in their sight
And picked up the stretcher as light
On which he lay, and he went home
While praising God. 26 Under the dome
Astonishment seized all, and they
Praised God and were filled with the sway
Of fear, saying “We’ve seen today
Wonders and miracles in chrome.”

If Jesus was out just to heal the man,
Then why should he mention the plague and plan
Of sin? I’ve pondered that and think I know.
The Pharisees in their own healthy show
Thought illness punishment. To heal at all
Implied forgiveness of sin under pall.
The righteous way was patiently to take
The punishment for the atonement’s sake.
Despite the fact that in the Christian spell
The death of Jesus leaves the blood to tell
Forgiveness without rate of hope or bell,
Sweet Christians still love to see hand of God,
Or finger at least when the evil prod
Of some catastrophe splits open pod.

27 And after these things, he went out
And saw a tax collector stout
Named Levi, sitting at his table.
And he told him, “Follow me able!”
28 And he left everything, got up
And followed him just like a tup.
29 And Levi made him a great feast
In his house. And there were released
Crowds of tax collectors to lie
There with their cronies standing by.
30 And the scribes and the Pharisees
Complained to his disciples' breeze,
Saying “Why do you eat and drink
With sinful, tax-collecting stink?”
31 And Jesus answered and replied,
“The healthy need no healer’s guide,
But sick people come to abide.”
32 “I’ve not come to call righteous ones,
But sinners, to repentance’ runs.”

Strange thing today, the ones that I have known
Who work in the tax office like a drone,
Are far more morally upright in tone
Than bishops by their altar, on their throne.
First off, their pay is less, and modesty
Of means has become almost virtue, see.
I hardly know a tax collector here
Who is not both upstanding to appear,
But also funny to the point of tear.
Beloved, this Roman state changes with time,
The waves of social upheaval in prime
Set different souls now to the same old crime.
That’s to speak of a European set.
America may be another bet.

33 Then they said to him, “Why is it
John’s disciples fast as is fit
Often and make prayers, likewise those
Of the Pharisees as they chose,
But yours eat and drink?” 34 And he said
To them, “Can you make the sons led
To the bride-chamber then while he,
The bridegroom is with them sweetly?
35 “But the days will come when the bride-
Groom will be taken from their side,
Then they will fast in those days dreary.”
36 Then he spoke a parable weary
To them, “No one puts a piece from
A new cloth on an old one’s bum,
Because the new will make a tear,
And also the piece that was there
Of the new does not match the old.
37 “And no one puts new grape juice sold
Into old wineskins to unfold,
Because the new grape juice will burst
The wineskins and be spilt for worst,
And the wineskins will be spoiled too.
38 “But new grape juice must then accrue
To new wineskins, and both are saved.
39 “And no one, having drunk old waved,
Straightway desires the new, for he
Says ‘The old is better for glee.’”

All these stories and allegories told
Are just here for one thing and to be bold.
And that’s to explain why Yours do not fast
And say their prayers so ardently as cast.
The presence of the prophet will suffice
It seems to lay off fasting and be nice.
Sons of bride-chamber seem to indicate
That sons there may be other that the state
Of fatherhood for wedlock. So the rule
That Your sent one must also be a spool
Chipped from a block and thus a god among
Men is a song that has been falsely sung.
Beloved, now he is gone from sight and view.
Does that mean I should fast and pray to You?

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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