GOSPEL OF JOHN CHAPTER 6 - 10

JOHN 6

1 After these things Jesus went over
The sea of Galilee in trover,
Which is Tiberias by name.
2 A great crowd followed his acclaim,
Because they saw his wonders' fame
Which he did for the ill and lame.
3 And Jesus went up on a hill,
And there he sat with time to kill
With his disciples listening still.
4 The Jewish Passover feast neared.
5 When Jesus raised his eyes and saw
A great crowd coming to his draw,
He says to Philip, “Where shall we
Buy bread to feed this company?”
6 He said this just to test and see,
For he himself knew then what he
Would do. 7 Philip answered freely,
“Two hundred pennyworth of bread
Is not enough all should be fed.”

The greatest question of existence here
Has always been how shall the bread appear,
Except of course in the Americas
Where maize and manioc and not wheat's laws
Nourish and comfort heart, body, and claws.
Sweet Jesus is no different from the race
Of eaters of the planet under grace.
He knows the way to human heart is paved
With sweetmeats for both righteous and depraved.
Beloved, my solace is found every day
In bread of wheat, oats, barley and the sway
Of maize, and though I love better than all
The manioc, Your word is bread in stall.
Jesus was right to question and to say.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, said true,
9 There is a lad here, who has five
Barley loaves and two small fish live,
But what can such a lot contrive?

I've always been a lad with loaves, though fish
Was something in my family and dish
That we did not fancy, acquire or wish.
I am no longer pained as in the days
Of nonage that, despite so much in praise,
My portion was unwanted in the maze.
I'm satisfied as years accumulate
To be a lad with loaves that no one ate.
Beloved, the hills remain, the Saviour's call
Still echoes among the firs growing tall,
The aspens and the birches, and I find
That bread of life arises now in kind.
Time stands still where the questioning words spend
Their laughter and their wisdom on the bend.

10 And Jesus said “Make the men sit.”
There was a lot of grass and fit
In the place, so the men sat down,
About five thousand from the town.
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when
He'd given thanks he gave the men,
His own disciples and his friends
Gave to those sitting on the ends,
And of the fish too just as much
As they could eat or even touch.
12 When they were satisfied, he said
To his disciples, “Take the bread
Left over so no waste is spread.”
13 So they gathered it up and filled
Twelve baskets with the fragments spilled
Of the five barley loaves as left
By all the people unbereft.

Twelve baskets, one for each of Ishmael's sons,
Remained to nourish people in their tonnes.
Twelve baskets, one for each of Jacob's own,
Spread out in mimicry of Ishmael's throne,
Remain to nourish Christian and the Jew,
And every Gentile entering the crew.
Twelve baskets for the judges and good kings,
And twelve for minor prophets on their wings,
And for the twelve apostles' rancourings,
And for the twelve Imams where the crane sings,
Remind me to return to eat the word
That first and foremost in Your sent one stirred,
That I may enter in the twelves to stay
Obedient to You, Beloved, each day.

14 Then those men when the saw the thing
That Jesus did, said on the wing,
“Truly this is that prophet sent
Into the world in mercy lent.”
15 When Jesus noticed they would come
And take him by force and by gum
Make him a king, he went away
Again into the hills to pray.

Reality of politics and grief
Is simply that Jesus could in relief
Avoid the cross and dying to take share
Of kingdom right then when they came to bear
Him to the throne eternal for his share.
He chose to die simply because he failed
To be satisfied with a love that paled
Before the love of bread and fish unveiled.
Beloved, I too need love like every man
And woman, and like the Jesus I scan.
I too need human love, just as he did,
Unsatisfied with what You only hid.
And yet within Your heart of love I find
All loves fulfilled beyond the hopes of mind.

16 When night fell his disciples went
Down to the sea as they were spent.
17 They went into a ship to go
Across the sea toward the glow
Of Capernaum. It was dark
And Jesus had not shown a spark.
18 The sea rose by a great wind blowing.
19 So when they had rowed and been rowing
Twenty-five or thirty furlong,
They saw Jesus walking along
On the sea and toward the ship,
And they were afraid of the slip.
20 But he said to them, “It is I,
So don't fear either storm or sky.”

In days past folk were aware of the fright
That threatened them by everything in sight.
Today the sleepers are lulled more and more
To deeper sleep by pope and priest at door.
In days past the cry from the sinking ship
Was common on the tongue and human lip.
But now while death stalks city street and corner,
There's only the fanatical of warner
To lift a cry to those who pass him by,
Because he too is without which or why.
Beloved, I raise a whisper that the way
Is fraught with dangers where the soldiers play,
The politicians seek the better pay,
And advertisers wonder at their sway.

21 Then they were glad to take him in
The ship, and straight away in bin
The ship was at the land arrived.
22 The next day when the people strived
To stand on the other side of
The sea, they saw none there above
Of any boat, except the one
His disciples went in for fun,
And that Jesus did not go then
With his disciples and their men
When they went in the boat, but his
Disciples went alone on biz;
23 Though other boats from Tiberias
Neared the place where they lunched on grass,
After the lord gave thanks to pass.
24 So when the folk saw Jesus gone,
Also his disciples were drawn,
They also took to ships and came
To Capernaum in the flame
Of seeking Jesus, where he'd gone.
25 And went the found him on that side
Across the sea, they said to chide,
“Master, when did you come to bide?”
26 And Jesus told them and replied,
“Truly indeed I say to you,
You look for me, not for signs true,
But because you ate loaves of bread
And were filled up when you were fed.
27 “Do not strive for the food that wastes,
But for the food that stays in tastes
As far as everlasting life,
That son of man will give on knife
To you, for he's the one that God
The Father has sealed on the sod.”

The people always crave the bread and fun,
And so Jesus accuses them a tonne.
They want the miracles, they want the sure
Foundation of the fat and protein pure.
The hankering for bread instead of flesh
Is enough in the churchly sort of mesh
To claim the bread turns into ration set
For cannibal instead of what we've met.
Beloved, let my desire grasp that bread shown
To be Your word and not the blood and bone.
Meet my trip at the table and the stair
Of temple and seek out the book of prayer:
The Psalm, the Law, the Prophet to beware,
The marbled traces of the heavenly throne.

28 Then they said to him, “What shall we
Do, so we'll work God's works freely?”
29 Jesus replied and answered them,
“This is the work of God in hem,
That you believe in the one He
Has sent to lead His monarchy.”
30 So they said to him, “What's the sign
You show then to keep us in line
And so we can believe you fine?
What do you do and what combine?
31 “Our ancestors ate manna there
In the desert, as written fair,
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Indeed
And truly I tell you and feed:
Moses did not give you that bread
From heaven; but my Father fed
You the true bread from heaven led.
33 “For the bread of God is the one
Who comes down from the sky when done
To give life to the world when one.”

The people sought the metaphor themselves,
They dined in retrospect and filled their shelves
With expectation of the manna's share.
That's why Jesus said he was bread come fair.
The answer was implicit in the way
The folk came to pose questions on the day,
So circular is any task that will
Take this chapter for eucharistic swill
And claim that Jesus' true flesh fits the bill.
I do not doubt the presence of the man
Among the two or three, or even scan
With bread and wine or not, but I resist
The literal in bloody flesh as twist.
Give me the life of word come down by plan.

34 “Then they said to him, “Sir, then give
To us this bread that we might live.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “It's I
Who am the bread of life to try;
The one who comes to me shall not
Be hungry ever in the plot,
And the one who believes on me
Shall never more become thirsty.
36 “But I said to you, you've seen me
Also and did not believe me.
37 “Everything the Father gives me
Shall come to me; and the one who
Comes to me I will never shoo
Away. 38 “For I came down from heaven,
Not to do my own will of seven,
But the will of Him who sent me.
39 “This is the Father's will who's sent
Me, that of all which He has lent
Me I should lose nothing at all,
But raise it up again in stall
In the last day and at the call.

The idea is that if a man can eat
The very flesh of Christ, who is no beast,
But very God, that God within the paunch
Will make the grave the merest place to launch.
That pagan thought beguiles nearly elect,
And lays low those who should have known unchecked.
Beloved, I take the bread of life on tongue
In the word I've recited and I've sung
From Psalter and from Gospel and from rung
Of Torah and even Qur'an on lung.
I'm ravenous to sip the tender dew
Of daily mentioning the names of You,
And see that hunger and that thirst come true,
Abiding in the very book and decked.

40 “And this is His will who sent me,
That everyone who sees freely
The son and believes on him, may
Have everlasting life one day
And I'll raise him up the last day.”

I fill my belly well from day to day
With reading of Your word so's not to stray,
And with that filling find the word of life
Is brought into my flesh and bone of strife.
I fill the heart and mind, the chamber bare,
Where my small lamp burns brightly with the share
Of sweetness from the Massoretic ware,
The Grecian cadences, Arabic script,
All divine utterances heavenly shipped.
Beloved, as I fill heart and hand with zeal
For life eternal on fortuna's wheel,
I raze the fortresses of flesh appeal,
Of spirit in the many things I feel,
Turn to the last day with living to dare.

41 The Jews then murmured against him,
Because he said, “I'm bread in vim
Come down from heaven to be trim.”
42 And they said “Is this not the son
Of Joseph, this Jesus for fun,
Whose father and mother we know?
How is it he then says for show
'I've come down from heaven to glow?'”

The Jews did not complain that Jesus spoke
As though his flesh were bread upon the stroke,
As though his blood were wine brought in for broke,
But for the claim that he came down from bright
Heaven to appear before them in their sight.
They could not stomach the celestial claim,
Cannibalism was no problem flame.
Not bread for flesh was troubling to the soul,
But that the carpenter Joseph once stole
Upon the midnight hour to touch the brow
Of the boy to be sure of health and how.
The human touch is what refused to wake
In them before the load and laughing stake.
Beloved, a man's enough for my heart's wake.

43 So Jesus answered them and said,
“Do not murmur among your bred.
44 “No man can come to me, except
The Father who sent me has swept
Him up, and I will raise him too
At the last day and the last view.”

No man can come to Jesus except You,
Beloved, enlighten him among the crew.
The story's so encrusted with the late
Despairs of mystery cults come from the great
And solar myths of dying god-men that
Made fertile Canaanite-Phoenician flat.
The doctrines that are spread about his head
Blind all to the truth of his life instead.
The ones who read the Gospels still are led
To worship solar deity when fed.
Indeed, it takes a miracle of spirit
For anyone to know the real or near it.
It's greater miracle indeed that waking
The body from the dead and tomb's forsaking.

45 “It's written in the prophets too,
'And they shall all be taught of God.'
So every one who's heard and learned
Of the Father, comes to me earned.
46 “Not that anyone's seen the Father,
Except the one which is of rather
God, he has seen the Father spurned.
47 “Truly indeed I say to you,
The one who believes in me true,
Has everlasting life in view.
48 “I am that bread of life come due.
49 “Your ancestors ate manna in
The wilderness: they're dead in bin.
50 “This is the bread which now comes down
From heaven: any man in town
May eat some and not die in frown.”
51 “I'm living bread that came from heaven:
If any man eat this bread's leaven,
He shall live for ever: the bread
That I give is my flesh instead,
Which I give for life of the world.”
52 So the Jews fought among themselves,
Saying “How can this man on shelves
Give us his flesh to eat like elves?”

At last the people wake up to raise stink
About the very option on the blink
That they forced with their question of the task
To prove that Jesus was the one to ask.
If argument that's circular is wrong,
Then so too is this argument in song.
It's no use to complain that Jesus said
He was the bread of life come down instead
Of manna, if I raise the issue spread
Of demanding some miracle in bread.
Beloved, I taste the word and find it good,
The Psalm, the Torah, and what Jesus could
Speak of the word of life, and so I go
Into eternal life without a show.

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Truly
Indeed, I tell you, except ye
Eat the flesh of the son of man,
And drink his blood, you never can
Have life in you by God's own plan.
54 “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks
My blood, has life eternal's links,
And I'll raise him at the last day.
55 “For my flesh is food truly and
My blood is drink truly at hand.
56 “The one who eats my flesh in sway
And drinks my blood, dwells in my way,
And I in him. 57 “Just in the way
The living Father sent me, and
I live by the Father's command,
So he that eats me, even he
Shall come to live always by me.

To eat the flesh of Christ is not to take
A wafer from a drunken priest in stake.
It's rather to live by Your great command,
As did the one sent by You out of hand.
I eat his flesh by my obedience
To ten commandments given in good sense.
I drink his blood by doing what You say.
It's hardly Eucharist he meant that day,
Because he offered his flesh right away
And long before the final meal before
The show of cross and crucifixion's gore.
Beloved, the word has always been to eat,
When the two trees stood in the garden heat,
The manna came, and Jesus took his seat.

58 “This is the bread come down from heaven,
Not as your ancestors with leaven
Ate manna and are dead; but he
Who eats this bread eternally
Shall live.” 59 These things also said he
In synagogue, and as he taught
In Capernaum's town and plot.
60 Many of his disciples, when
They heard this, said “This thing again
Is a hard saying; who can hear?”
61 When Jesus knew himself that his
Disciples murmured at the biz,
He said to them, “Does this offend?
62 “What if you see the son of man
Go up again to stand in span
Where he was before and by plan?”
63 “It is the spirit quickening,
The flesh profits not anything:
The words that I speak to you are
The spirit and the life by far.

The words that Jesus speaks are flesh and life,
The blood that I should drink before the strife.
The words he speaks are the same that in past
Were written in the Psalms and Law to last.
The recitation of the word of faith
Is what keeps one out of the land of wraith.
The flesh upon the paten profits not,
Nor does the alcoholic sort of plot,
The blasphemies of pagan stories taught.
And yet the word must have the spirit's way
Before it give the life I need today.
Beloved, I breathe Your spirit as I sing
Creation’s story on the raven's wing,
And turn back from my fruitless wandering.

64 “But there are some of you who do
Not believe.” For then Jesus knew
From the beginning who was not
Beloved and who'd betray the plot.
65 And he said “That's why I tell you,
That no one can come in my view,
Except it's given to him to see
By my own Father faithfully.
66 From that time many of his own
Disciples went back and alone
Walked with him no more gratefully.
67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Will
You also go away and spill?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him,
“Sir, to whom shall we go for vim?
You have the words of life eternal.

The good and simple Peter could rely
On what he heard and what he would reply.
He did not take offence that Jesus said
He had come down from heaven like the bread,
Nor that he ordered all to eat his flesh
Dripping with the blood of the slain afresh.
He understood that what was necessary
Was words of life eternal to the wary.
I take the words of life on tongue and heart
And leave off every pagan sort of art
Before the hopeful and the better part.
Beloved, give me the Simon Peter way
Of turning from what great and scornful say
To hear the words of life now and each day.

69 “We do believe among infernal
And are sure that you are the Christ,
The son the living God has spliced.”

Just as the flesh of Jesus was not meant
To be eaten in literal blood spent,
So Jesus is not made of divine sperm
Somehow ejaculated with a squirm.
Jesus is not the son of God as spilled
By Trinitarian in pagan guild.
But by the generation of that word
By which all things were made and all occurred,
That word that rested on the man was set,
The divine word before the worlds were met.
By that word dwelling within him Jesus
Is son of God and has the life for us
That You, Beloved, vouchsafed to him alone
To sit at Your right hand upon the throne.

70 “Jesus replied to them, 'Have I
Not chose just you twelve to rely,
And one of you's a devil's spy?
71 He meant Judas Iscariot
The son of Simon in his lot,
For it was he who should betray,
Being one of the twelve in sway.

As soon as any home church grows to be
As many as twelve on the sinners' spree,
As soon as there are more than two or three,
Then devil's present in infirmary.
The presence of Your sent one is allowed
When two or three are gathered as a crowd,
But twelve includes a devil, that is sure,
And that is why each church is one impure.
Beloved, keep me in a group never more
Than the eleven on Galilee's shore,
So I shall not participate in meal
With devils who come in to spy and wheel.
Beloved, come with Your spirit now to heal,
Preserve from infiltration in appeal.

JOHN 7

1 After these things Jesus was walking
In Galilee, for he was balking
From walking in Judean land,
Because the Jewish leading band
Lusted to kill him out of hand.
2 The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles
Was near. 3 This his brothers like grackles
Said to him, “Get away from here
And go to Judaea with gear,
So that your disciples also
Will see the works you do to show.
4 For no one works in secret and
Himself seeks to make public stand.
If you do these things, then reveal
Yourself to all the world's appeal.”
5 For his brothers did not believe
In him that they might have reprieve.
6 Then Jesus said to them, “My time
Has not yet come, but you would climb
On every occasion in crime.
7 “The world cannot hate you, but it
Hates me for I bear witness fit
That its works are wicked and vile.
8 “Go up yourselves in this feast's style.
I shall not go up to the feast
Yet, for my time's not yet increased.”
9 He said these things to them, and he
Remained behind in Galilee.

The way to be hated in this world's just
To point out how much evil's in the dust
Of those who buy and sell and those who trust
In governments and churches and their rust.
In fact, the only hate I see is this.
All others love each other in the bliss
Of jungle law, pretence of help and kiss,
But Judas-like, out to make silver miss
If only by betraying those who fail
To conform to the hopeful, lawless grail.
Beloved, my brothers are of all mankind,
My sisters are all of women I find,
And yet I know the scorn of those who fight
Against Your Decalogue, against the right.

10 But when his brothers went up, then
He also went up among men
To the feast, but not openly,
But as in secret not to see.
11 The Jewish leaders looked for him
At the feast and said “Where's the grim?”
12 And there was much talk about him
Among the crowds. Some said with vim,
“He is a good man,” others said
“No, but he deceives the crowds led.”
13 But no one publicly took stand
For fear of Jewish leaders' band.
14 But in the middle of the feast,
Jesus went to the temple fleeced
And taught the people and increased.

Unless he changed his mind, the dear lord here
Lied to his brothers as though without fear
Of You or Your commandments I've held dear.
Which shall I choose? I might just throw some dice
And take the even for the greater nice,
And take the odd for lying in his teeth.
Chance is as good as the most common wreath.
Of course I could give benefit of doubt,
And say he changed his mind to find him out.
So many spoke and rumours flew around,
And some were for and others on the ground
Of chance or prejudice. Beloved, I take
The change of mind, and for Jesus' dear sake
Remind my steps Jerusalem is found.

15 The Jews were surprised and they said
“How does this one know letters spread,
Not having been in college fed?”
16 Jesus replied saying “My teaching
Is not mine, but His who sent preaching.
17 “If any wish to do His will,
He'll know about the teaching still,
If it is of God or I speak
From myself and out of my cheek.
18 “The one who speaks from himself seeks
His own glory. But he who peeks
At the glory of the One who
Has sent him, then this one is true,
Unrighteousness is not in him.
19 “Has not Moses given you trim
The Law, and yet not one of you
Works according to the Law true?
Why do you lust to kill me too?”
20 The crowd answered and said “Now you
Must have a demon. Who tries, who
To kill you for the things you do?”

Beloved, take now a lesson for the style
Of human governments set out to smile.
Behind the scenes mid-level management
Is set about to destroy every tent
Of those who do not conform to their way,
And yet their minions scoff as though in play,
When someone speaks to expose evil rife.
They slit the fool with blade of sharpened knife
And pay the police to report a life
Gone in the suicide records with fife.
The very ones who claim the law their own
Are exposed to the inner flesh and bone,
And with a sneer of triumph still pretend
To be peace-makers on earth and defend.

21 Jesus replied and said to them,
“I did one work and you in hem
All marvelled at the thing I do.
22 “Because of this Moses gave you
The circumcision; though it's not
Of Moses, but ancestors taught,
And on the Sabbath you will come
To circumcise a man or bum.
23 “If one gets circumcision done
On Sabbath so Moses’ Law's won,
Are you angry with me because
I made a man whole without flaws
On Sabbath? 24 Do not judge by sight,
But by the judgement that is right.
25 Some Jerusalemites then said
“Is this not the one whom they're led
To kill?” 26 And see, he speaks as bold
And public as they have not told.
Maybe the rulers really know
This is the Christ come down below.
27 And yet we know this one, from where
He is. But when the Christ is there,
No one will know what is his share.”

Beloved, the argument is that the man
Cannot be Christ, because he came in plan
Known by all in his parentage and caste.
But the Messiah has no fame that's past.
So every man takes some criterion
In quaint inspection of the things he's done,
And measures prejudice against what's won,
As though he could judge You Yourself for fun.
Beloved, let me take no decided point
Of logic or my expectation's joint
To make evaluation of all things.
Let me take for criterion the wings
Of Decalogue alone. The faithful guide
Shows who and who is not beside Your side.

28 As he was teaching, Jesus spoke
Aloud in the temple for stroke,
And said “You both know me and you
Know where I come from, it is true,
And I have not come from myself,
But He is true, who took from shelf
And sent me, the One you don't know.
29 “But I know Him, because my show
Is from Him, and He sent my row.”
30 Then they tried to arrest him there,
Yet no one could lay a hand bare
On him, for his time was not there.
31 But many of the crowd believed
In him and said “The Christ received,
When he comes will he do more signs
That these which the one only deigns?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd's words
About him, and Pharisee herds
And the chief priests sent officers,
To catch him, if they might like curs.
33 Then Jesus said to them, “A while
I am still with you, but soon I'll
Go back to Him who sent my style.
34 “You'll look for me, and will not find,
Where I am, you are not assigned.”

Another great criterion at stake
In the mouths of the rabble for the cake
Is that a man who does enough tricks here
Is one that's worthy for the folk to hear.
Will the Christ do more miracles than this?
Conclusion's right perhaps, but one could miss
The truth full well by focusing a kiss
On signs and wonders come from the abyss.
Beloved, I do not look for resurrections,
Nor for the miracles in their selections,
But for the fact that Jesus' word is true
When he speaks wonders to the chosen few.
His word conforms to Decalogue and so
I know it is the better way to go.

35 Then the Jews said among themselves,
“Where is this one going with elves
Where we cannot find him ourselves?
Will he turn to the Gentile folk
And teach the Greeks doctrines he spoke?
36 “What is this word that he said 'You
Will look for me, not find in view,'
And 'Where I am, you cannot come?'”
37 On the last day of the great feast,
Jesus stood up and cried increased,
Saying “If anybody thirsts,
Let him find me and drink till bursts.
38 “He who believes in me as said
The Scripture, 'Out of belly bred
Will flow rivers of living water,
Eternally to each that's caught her.'
39 But he said of the spirit so,
Whom the believers in his show
Might get, for holy spirit's row
Was not yet here, because Jesus
Had not yet been made glorious.

Search as I may, I do not find the verse
Of Scripture to which this refers as curse
Or blessing, in fact belly does not sound
Among the sacred writings I have found.
That makes me think this Gospel's really set
In the time before the canon was met
In Jamna for the Jews who came to get
The knowledge of which books were on the ground.
Beloved, whatever Jesus quotes I see
Is better than the sum of pageantry
That his detractors and followers now
Pretend to foist upon the sacred brow.
Let living water from Ali's fair cup
Swell stomach till my belly is filled up.

40 When they heard the message many
Of the crowd said “This one's really
The Prophet.” 41 Others said “The Christ.”
But others said “But does the Christ
Come out of Galilee sufficed?”

The people of the time waited it seems
For both the Christ and for the man of dreams,
The Prophet, the Desired, and so they stood
In undecided groups to see which should.
The people of the day looked for the one
To come as a Messiah on the run,
And for the Hemda who from former times
Was the focus of their desires and rhymes.
Beloved, unlike that ancient crowd, I know
Who is that Prophet in the cunning show
And who is the Messiah on the go.
I hide the pair within my heart and flee
Away from all the sects' in pageantry,
And find in their words life from Your decree.

42 Has not the Scripture said that Christ
Comes from the seed of David spliced,
And from Bethlehem and the town
Where David was and did come down?”
43 So there was disagreement there
In the crowd because of his share.

So often those who bolster unbelief
With Scripture have not laboured with the chief
To find the truth behind the issue met.
They did not know, who pointed to the set
Of Bethlehem that Jesus was born there,
But thought he came from Galilee to spare.
Of course today one might retort in kind,
That Gospels were adjusted in the bind
The such critics. There's always hook to find
To hang excuses on. But to my mind,
Come what may and do what Jesus decrees,
The Decalogue is always here to please.
I take the Master of that far off day,
Join Jesus with the Decalogue and pray.

44 Some of them wanted to arrest him,
But no dared lay hand to test him.
45 The officers came to the priests
And Pharisees like ranging beasts.
And they asked them, “Why did you not
Bring him back to us as in plot?”
46 The officers replied, “No man
Ever spoke like this one in span.”
47 The Pharisees replied, “Have you
Not been deceived too in his crew?
48 “None of the rulers or the band
Of Pharisees believe his hand.
49 “But since they do not know the law,
This crowd is cursed in hand and claw.”

When Jesus spoke the truth in temple court,
The people believed who came to resort
There and to listen to the teaching taught.
The rulers and the scholars in their plot
Only were too wise in their own eyes to
Accept the reasonable sort of view.
The argument that those who claim to be
The elite do not accept the decree
Is argument still spread about the world.
It's old as Sodom and Gomorrah furled.
Beloved, let me not trust my wisdom's share,
Nor wisdom of the practised and the fair,
But find my refuge in Your heart alone,
And in Your Decalogue written in stone.

50 Nicodemus said to them then,
The one who came by night again,
As being of the leading men,
51 “Does our Law judge the man unless
It hear from him first and confess
To know what he's done, and not guess?”
52 They answered and said to him too,
“Are you also from Galilee?
Search and see that no prophet's crew
Has been raised from Galilee's lee.”
53 Each to his own house left angry.

In the most wicked of courts always one
Raises a timid voice or thunder's gun
For righteousness, but he is overruled.
His function is to teach the over-schooled.
As Perrin lifted up a voice to free
Miguel Servett from the evil decree,
So Nicodemus spoke up for our lord.
If he had been heard by the gross adored,
There would have been no sacrifice for sin.
And yet I trust, Beloved, under such din
There would have been no need of sacrifice,
No need to give a sop to Roman vice.
The virtue of mankind hangs on the hair
Of tragically ignoring those who care.

JOHN 8

1 Jesus went to Mount Olives then.
2 At dawn he went back to the den
Of the temple, and all the folk
Came to him. He sat down a stroke
And taught them every dame and bloke.
3 And the scribes and the Pharisees
Brought him a woman who in ease
Was taken in adulteries.
They stood her in the middle there.
4 They said to him, “Rabbi, with care
This woman was found in the act,
Committing adultery in fact.
5 “Now in the Law, Moses commanded
That such be stoned when they were landed.
But you, what do you say unhanded?”
6 But they said this to trap him so
They might have cause to have a go
Accusing him. But bending down,
Jesus wrote with his finger brown
Upon the earth as with a frown
He did not hear the question low.
7 But as they kept on asking him,
He stood up and he said to hem,
“The one among you without sin,
Let him cast the first stone in din
At her to kill and put in bin.”
8 And stooping down again, he wrote
Upon the earth that he had smote.
9 But hearing and being convicted
By their own consciences evicted,
They went out one by one, the first
To go the older ones and worst
Until the last. So Jesus stayed
Alone with the woman waylaid
And standing in the middle frayed.
10 And Jesus standing up saw none
But the woman, said to her won,
“Lady, where are those who came to
Accuse you? Did no one incrue
A judgement against you in view?”
11 And she said “No one, sir.” And then
Jesus said to her, “Neither then
Do I judge you. Go, sin no more.”
And so he showed them all the door.

Of course Jesus could not give the death sentence.
That was a Roman privilege and bentence.
The trap was far too visible for him,
Who had faced more than one or two things grim.
But why not state the fact? He could have said
He had not jurisdiction in the spread,
Especially since he had not fallen down
To worship Satan from the temple's crown.
The fact is he used all the power he had
As son of David, king and little lad.
He had the right to free any brought in
Before his royal throne accused of sin.
That fact escapes the liturgist today
Who wants to sacrifice the bread to pay.

12 Then Jesus spoke again to them,
Saying “I am the world's light's gem.
The one who follows me will not
Walk in the darkness of a plot,
But will have light of life unsought.”
13 The Pharisees said to him then,
“You witness of yourself to men,
So your witness is not truth taught.”
14 Jesus replied and said to them,
“Though I witness by stratagem
Concerning myself, what I say
In witness is the truth in sway,
For I know where I've come from and
To where I go. You understand
Not at all where I've come from and
To what place I go from the land.
15 “You judge according to the flesh.
I judge no one nor catch in mesh.
16 “But even if I judge, what I
Judge is true, simply because I
Am not alone, but I and my
Father who sent me from the sky.
17 “And in your Law it has been writ
That two men's witness is true fit.
18 “I witness of myself for one,
And he who sent me when I've done,
The Father, bears witness of me.”
19 Then they said to him, “Where's your dad?”
Jesus replied, “You neither had
Known me nor my Father. If you
Had known me, then you'd know too
My Father.” 20 Jesus spoke these words
Inside the treasury with herds
Of people where he taught within
The temple, and no one could win
To take him, since his time had not
Yet come for him once to be caught.

As I follow the conversation where
The Pharisees and Jesus come to bear
On each the other, I am saddened when
I see that he began to speak again
Of light as a deep truth among earth's men.
Instead of asking what he might have told,
They sneered and quibbled in scholastic fold.
So is it in this world and everywhere.
Beloved, I turn from discourse and its rate,
I turn from love of laughter and from hate,
To find in contemplation of Your word
That my heart is for ever anew stirred.
Let that like what Jesus began to spark
Continue in my mind to leave its mark.

21 Then Jesus said to them again,
“I go and you will seek me then.
And you will die in your sin's sum.
Where I go, you can never come.”
22 The Jewish leaders said “Will he
Kill himself, because he says free,
'Where I go you can never be?'”
23 He said to them, “You're from below;
I'm from above. You're worldly show,
I am not from this world below.
24 “That's why I said you'll die in sin.
For if you do not believe in
My being, you'll die in your sin.”
25 Then they said to him, “Who are you?”
And Jesus told them the start true,
“What I also have said to you.
26 “I have many things to say and
To judge concerning where you stand,
But the One who sent me is true,
And what I heard from Him, I do
Say to the world and bring to view.”
27 They did not realize he spoke
To them of the Father in stroke.

The quandary and questioning began
With those who meant to slay as slaying can
And went on in the early church
To define sons and gods on pagan perch.
Who are you is a common thing to ask,
But even simple questions can in task
Initiate the wicked and untrue.
So church fathers join with the ancient Jew
In the sarcastic search in iron pew
To bring discredit on Your sent and You.
Beloved, I do not ask Your Jesus who
Do you think you are to be ruling folk,
Pretending to be David's son awoke
With rod of iron and kiss on the boy's stroke.

28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you
Lift up the son of man, then you
Will know how I am, and from me
Myself I do nothing to see,
But as my Father has taught me,
Such things as these I speak freely.
29 “And He who sent me is with me.
The Father did not leave me lone,
For I do the things which atone
To please Him always when they're thrown.”
30 He spoke these things while many there
Believed in him and took his share.

I too believe, Beloved, what Jesus spoke,
And I find in my soul what faith awoke
Before the witness that he is and You
Are God alone who's please with what men do.
I too believe, Beloved, that when he taught
The listeners beforehand what they'd brought
In crucifixion, he spoke from the thing
That You had spoken when You made him king.
You sent him to the world to act alone
According to Your word in flesh and bone,
And so give the example to atone.
I too like every man am sent abroad
Into this world a witness of his God
To be obedient on the frozen sod.

31 Then Jesus told Jews who believed
In him, “If you keep the received
Of my word, you truly shall be
Of my disciples faithfully.
32 “And you will know the truth and see
The truth will come to set you free.”
33 They answered him, “We're Abram's seed,
And we've never been or decreed
In slavery. How then can you say
'You will become free of the sway?'”
34 Jesus replied to them, “Truly,
Indeed I tell you, everyone
Who does sin is sin's slave undone.
35 “But the slave does not remain in
The house forever, but with grin
The son remains as long in bin.
36 “So if the son will set you free,
Then you are truly free to see.
37 “I know that you are Abram's seed,
But you try to kill me indeed,
Because my word's not given room
In you. 38 “I speak what I've seen bloom
With my Father. And you do too
What you have seen your father do.”
39 They answered and said to him then,
“Abraham's our father again.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were
Abraham's children, you would stir
To do the works of Abraham.
40 “But now you try to kill my ham,
A man who spoke the truth to you,
Which I heard from God in His pew.
Abraham did not make such stew.
41 “You do your father's works in crew.”
They said to him, “We were not born
Of fornication and of scorn,
We have one father, who's God true.”

Why do the sweet Christians who claim that You
Make Jesus God by taking him in clue
As son of God, not also claim the Jew
Who says God is his father makes claim too
To be a deity and number person
In trinity or infinity's worsen?
They use the accusation of blasphemy
As evidence that Jesus was not squeamy
About the claims that he was God Almighty.
Such inconsistency is something flighty.
Beloved, make me Your child obedient,
And I shall sing Your praises in the tent
Of David by the Psalms that You have sent
To grace the Scriptures and the air in scent.

When argument failed, the critic arose
To say that Jesus' mum in harlots' throes
Conceived him in sin. So my horror grows.
And yet I see the same in every place.
Few are ready to take argument's grace,
But stoop to calling names instead, because
It's easier than reason and its laws.
How many still find bastard the best term
To make their own opponent bow and squirm!
Beloved, sanctify my tongue for a day
Not to call evil men who now bear sway
According to their origins and sin.
Let me take only reason and so win.
That is more trenchant for words anyway.

42 Then Jesus said to them, “If God
Were your Father, you'd love my prod,
For I went out and have come here
From God. For I've not come in gear
Of myself, but that One sent me.
43 “Why don't you know my speech and see?
It's because you cannot hear my
Word. 44 “You're from your father the Devil,
And the lusts of your father level
You want to do. That one was just
A murderer from the start's bust,
And he has not stood in the truth,
Because in him there is no truth.
When he speaks a lie he speaks from
His own, because he's liar come,
And the father of it in sum.
45 “And just because I speak the truth,
You do not believe me uncouth.
46 “Who among you reproves my sin?
But if I speak the truth to win,
Why don't you believe with a grin?
47 “He who is of God hears the words
Of God, for this reason in herds
You do not hear, because you're not
Of God, but of another lot.”

Those who refuse obedience to You,
Beloved, and forsake in the things they do
Your ten commandments spoken in Your love,
Are not the sons of God standing above.
They are the Devil's children. I beware
Of all such people I find everywhere.
The many churches and establishments
Of faith are full of the spawn in their tents
Of demons come to trouble me and mine,
And all who love Your law and forsake wine.
Beloved, though sin may be found in my hand,
And I cannot maintain my truth to stand
As Jesus did, I still repent and come
To claim You as my Father, though a bum.

48 Then the Jews answered him and said,
“Do we not say well you instead
Are a Samaritan and filled
With a demon to be unspilled?”
49 Jesus replied, “I am not filled
With a demon, but honour my
Father, but you dishonour me.
50 “But I do not seek my glory.
There's One who seeks and judges by.
51 “Truly indeed I say to you,
If any keep my word in view,
He'll not see death forever, true.”

I think it wonderful Jesus Your son
Denied that he might have a devil done
In heart and mind and hand, but did not say
He was no Samaritan on the way.
He was a Jew. And yet he did not slight
Samaritan for hope or love or light.
Beloved, let me deny no ethnic load,
Identities falsely plotted with goad,
But let me be any and all that come,
The black, the white, the Indian sort of bum.
Beloved, perhaps You too share that sweet way
Of welcoming all colours in to play,
And casting out no ethnic herd to be
Pariah on the earth or heavenly sea.

52 Then the Jews told him, “Now we know
You have a demon for the show.
Abraham died, the prophets too,
And you say 'If any in crew
Keeps my word, he'll not taste death's rue
For ever.' 53 “Are you greater than
Our father Abraham in span
Who died? And the prophets died too.
Whom do you make yourself in view?”
54 Jesus replied, “If I should give
Myself the glory, I'd not live
To benefit, but it's my Dad
Who glorifies me, whom you're bad
To say is your God. 55 “And you've not
Known Him; but I know him a lot,
And if I say that I do not
Know Him, I'll be like you, a liar.
But I know him and keep on fire
His word. 56 “Your father Abraham
Leaped for joy he should see my dram,
And he saw and rejoiced like lamb.
57 Then the Jews said to him, “You're not
Yet fifty years old in the lot,
And have you seen Abraham's plot?”
58 Jesus told them, “Truly indeed
I tell you, before Abraham
Came to be at all, there I am.”
59 Because of this they saw the need
To pick up stones that they might throw
At him. But Jesus hid to go
Out of the temple, going through
The middle of them, left their crew.

When was it Abraham saw the day come,
The day of Jesus, day to sing and hum?
Perhaps it was when Pharaoh sent him out
With wife reproved, though enriched with a clout.
Maybe it was when Ishmael came to light,
Or Isaac was weaned from his mother's right.
It may have been when Haran out of sight
Sent him to Canaan's land to earn a mite.
Perhaps it was when angels stayed his hand
And saved the son from knife upon the land
Of fair Moriah. Do not give a clue,
Beloved, let me still guess at all things new.
When I have stilled my tongue and heart, then say
When was the gloried and the joyful day.

JOHN 9

1 As he passed by, there came in view
A man blind from his birth in cue.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying
“Master, who sinned this one in playing,
Or his parents, so that he was
Born blind, say now what was the cause?”

The ancient question was not as today
Why is there evil in the world and way?
We now assume that we deserve the best.
In olden times they thought sufferings invest
To punish the deserving for their crimes.
So now they ask how can deserving times
Be on one blind from birth? A cunning thought.
Solution might be in the parents sought.
Beloved, I do not think the world deserves
A better fate than the ball in its curves.
Nor do I think the sufferings in the dell
Are punishment from Your created hell.
Keep me, Beloved, from fair philosophy,
And more from its more modern sophistry.

3 Jesus replied, “Neither this one
Nor his parents sinned out of fun.

Jesus denies the ancient ticket and
The elegant solution they had planned,
And wittingly gives them to understand
That unlike Paul, he thinks some men have manned
The law to its perfection and unbanned.
If Joseph, Job and Daniel had no sin,
It's not too hard these three are in the bin
Of righteousness with them, despite the wait
Of blindness on the poor man's face and pate.
Beloved, let me not think the evil rate
That falls on me and neighbour is the pile
Of punishment from You to weigh the while.
I think instead in evil and in good,
May I obey You law as all men should.

But that the works of God might be
Revealed in him, 4 “it behoves me
To work the works of Him who sent
Me while the day is not yet spent.
Night comes when no one's here to work.
5 “While I'm in the world I'll not shirk
From being the world's light and lent.”

The reason Jesus gives that sufferings come
Upon the earth is not punishment's rum,
But without explanation of the cause.
Indeed to give excuse for pain in paws
Is to deny the evil of the way.
I'd rather it not be explained a ray.
Instead of explanation, Jesus calls
The shot that its an opportunity,
And where there's suffering in the crowd, then he
Finds room to save the sufferer from its thralls.
Beloved, I'm not a healer nor have I
The wherewithal alleviating cry,
But may my mouth give comfort where there's rue,
And never to deny the thing that's true.

6 Having said these things, then he spat
On the ground and made from the scat
Of clay and spittle to anoint
The blind one's eyes around the joint.
7 And he said to him, “Go and wash
In Siloam's pool and well slosh,”
The name translated means the sent.
And so the blind man up and went
And washed and came back seeing all.
8 The neighbours and those who before
Had seen him being blind to core,
Said “Is this the one who once sat
And begged beside the dog and cat?”
9 Some said “This is the one”, and others,
“It's someone like him, perhaps brothers.”
That one said “I'm the one who sat.”
10 They asked him then, “How were your eyes
Then opened as by a surprise?”
11 He answered and said “A man called
Jesus made clay and unappalled
Anointed my eyes and told me,
'Go to the pool of Siloam free
And wash.' I followed the decree
And washed and came again to see.”
12 Then they said to him, “Where is he?”
He said “I don't know, I am stalled.”
13 They brought him to the Pharisees,
The one once blind, if he could please.
14 And it was on a Sabbath day
When Jesus came to make the clay
And opened his eyes in that way.

If I'd been Jesus, I'd have not made clay,
Despite the folksy remedies that say
To do so helps sore eyes. No, I'd betray
No act at all upon the Sabbath day
But only raise my eye silent to pray.
Then I could not be blamed for any ill.
I'd do that since I would not send a bill.
If I'd been Jesus, I'd have healed the lot
So secretly that none would hear the plot.
Beloved, I too fear Pharisee instead
Of You only. I need the Gospel spread
To fear none but You for judgement of dead.
If You open my eyes to all around,
Just wait to hear what I will say and sound.

15 The Pharisees then too again
Asked him how it came about then
That he could see now once again.
And he told them, “He just put clay
On my eyes, and I washed that way,
And now I can see light of day.”
16 Some Pharisees said “This man is
Not from God, since upon the sod
He does not keep the Sabbath day.”
Others said “How can a man who
Is a sinner do such signs true?”
And so they argued in that way.

The fact is that a man who does not keep
The Sabbath day is not from God. I weep.
But reasons are blind in the way they sweep
Through logic with agenda on the peep.
Conclusion was not false for premise but
For antithetic proposition's strut.
Jesus simply did not break Sabbath day,
And that assumption was the falsehood's stay.
Beloved, I know of many who do not
Keep Sabbath, yet they claim they are Your shot.
Jesus did not deny the Sabbath, yet
These preachers do deny and place a bet.
Beloved, I rush to Sabbath's joy and know
That Jesus too is standing in the row.

17 They said to the blind man once more,
“What do you say about his store,
Because he opened up your eyes?”
And he said “He's a prophet wise.”
18 The Jews did not believe the thing,
That he'd been blind and then seeing,
Until they called his parents there,
Of the man who now saw with care.
19 They asked them saying “Is this your
Son whom you say was blind before?
Then how does he now see the score?”
20 His parents answered them and said
“We know that this is our son bred,
And that he was born blind before.
21 “But how he now sees, we don't know,
Or who opened his eyes to show,
We do not know. He is of age,
Ask him. He'll speak himself a page.”
22 His parents said these things because
They feared the Jews, for the Jews laws
Already agreed that if one
Should confess him as the Christ done,
He'd be cast out of synagogue.
23 That's why his parents like a frog
Said “He's of age, ask demagogue.”

I guess I'd be cast out of synagogue
Like any sort of ham or hock of hog,
Or any sort of wet or dry of dog.
It's not so much I'm convinced Jesus is
The cock's crow or the hock's throw in the biz,
But that I am a personality
Who always turns for underdog in spree.
I am ashamed to admit that in score,
Since I was once offended on the shore,
When one Adventist leader said of me
My wife had married me out of pity
Because she's one to serve the underman
Or underdog as the expression ran.
I was offended, I've got pride in pan.

24 A second time they called the man
Who had been blind, and said in plan,
“Give glory to God. We know that
This man's a sinner where he sat.”
25 Then he replied and said “If he's
A sinner, I don't know or tease.
One thing I do know, I was blind,
And now I see front and behind.”
26 And they asked him again, “What did
He do to you? How did he, kid,
Open your eyes?” 27 He answered them,
“I told you once, you did not hear.
Why do you want to hear the gem
Once more? Do you also desire
To believe in him, join his quire?”

The man who's made to see becomes like this,
Willing to speak to bishops not to miss
With scorn and awful wit, without respect.
That's why it's better to sit in neglect,
Without Your blessing and without the light,
Content to follow every bishop's blight,
And comforted in shadows of the night.
To pray for healing and celestial sight
Is a prayer that requires forethought with care.
It's like to lead to persecution's share.
Beloved, keep me benighted in my room,
The darling of the preachers of no doom,
Kept sweet and humble, not to speak a word
Against the false shepherds of the false herd.

28 Then they reviled him and they said
“You're his disciple, but instead
We're Moses' disciples well-bred.
29 “We know God spoke by Moses, but
This one, we do not know what gut
Brought him from where to here to strut.”
30 The man replied and said to them,
“For there's a marvel here, that you
Do not know from where he is true,
And he opened my eyes to view.

Another marvel is that those men knew
That You spoke to Moses before the crew,
When he lived centuries before their view,
And yet they could not take or misconstrue
Whether this Jesus had come down from You.
I doubt they knew aught of Moses at last,
But only treasured him because the blast
Of what he had to answer had been stilled
By the grave after Moses had been killed.
The bosses love to take what they control,
But living prophets are left on the dole.
Beloved, by prophets living or the dead,
Let me by Your own love and law be led,
And let me do everything You have said.

31 “But we know God does not hear those
Who are sinful upon their toes,
But if anyone fears God and
Does his will, He hears out of hand.
32 “From age to age never was heard
That anyone, as it occurred,
Opened the eyes of one born blind.
33 “If he was not from God behind,
He could not do a thing in bind.”
34 They answered and they said to him,
“You were born wholly in sins dim,
And do you teach us here with vim?”
They cast him from the synagogue,
As though he had been a wet dog.

Methinks both sighted man and Pharisee
Are wrong in their assumptions of the spree.
It does not follow that there is no sin,
Just because You hear someone in the din.
You may choose mercy on the outward spin.
A miracle is not good evidence
That someone still abides within Your tents.
The Pharisee errs when he thinks the man
Was born in sins because of blinded plan.
Accusing You of punishment before
The sin's an accusation on the floor
I would not dare to make, Beloved, in score.
Beloved, the people I know think too much,
And yet they are too thoughtless at the crutch.

35 Jesus heard they had thrown him out,
And finding him, he asked him stout,
“Do you believe God's son's about?”
36 And he replied and said “Who is
He, sir, so I'll believe his biz?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You now
Have seen him and he anyhow
Is the one who speaks at your brow.”
38 And he said “I believe, sir, true.”
He fell down in obeisance too.

Because the man falls down in worship's sting
The Trinitarian finds fruit to fling,
And claims that Jesus is divine in wing,
The God Almighty of which Christians sing.
The fact is the word's used for every king
And what his subjects do in loyal ring.
I kiss the hand of Jesus and I take
Him for Messiah and Master in wake,
I bow and scrape and fall flat on the ground,
But I take only You, Beloved, when found
To be my God Almighty all around.
You are no man and no man can be God.
But Jesus is Your sent one on the sod.
I follow You through him as by a rod.

39 And Jesus said “I came into
This world for judgement, that those who
Do not see may see, and the ones
Who see may be blinded, by guns.”
40 And Pharisees with him heard this,
And asked him, “Are we blind to miss?”
41 And Jesus said to them, “If you
Were blind, you'd have no sin in view.
But now you say 'We see!' so you
Remain in your own sinful pew.”

I've chosen blindness, my Beloved, and so
I am a sinless one here in Your tow,
Nor for my right and righteousness in glow,
But by the grace that You come to bestow.
I've chosen blindness, but I peek around
And see the streams of light upon the ground,
And know Your love and law come to resound
Within my heart and soul, and I am bound.
Beloved, though I choose blindness without sin,
I find I'm cast out of the temple's din,
Out of the synagogue, the mosque and church,
And all men leave me lounging in the lurch.
But as I grope my way toward the true,
I find me whirling ever around You.

JOHN 10

1 Truly indeed, I say to you,
The one who does not enter through
The door into the sheepfold true,
But goes up by another way,
That one's a thief and robber gay.
2 The one who enters through the door
Is shepherd of the sheep in store.
3 The keeper of the door will come
To open to him, for the hum
Of his voice that the sheep can hear
Calls his own sheep by name to steer,
And leads them out by hand and ear.
4 And when he brings out his own sheep,
He goes in front of them to keep,
And the sheep follow him, for they
Recognise his voice in their way.
5 But they don't follow strangers' voice,
But flee from them when they have choice,
Because they do not recognise
The voice of strangers in its guise.

I'm not sure that I want to be a sheep.
I'd rather be a wild donkey to leap
Across the little hills and then to keep
A rendez-vous with evening on the sands
Of Cyprus where the monastery stands.
A sheep's so doleful, my Beloved, while I
Am one adventuresome beneath the sky.
Let me not follow You with heavy heart,
With bleating and with complaint from the start.
Let me rather look skittishly and turn
To find You vanishing where my loves burn,
To find Your joyful tracks across the page
Of scrawling Hebrew letters' acreage
In fields and meadows under skies that yearn.

6 And Jesus spoke this parable
To them, but they did not see full
What he was saying that was wise.
7 Then Jesus said again to them,
“Truly indeed, I say a gem
To you, that I'm the sheep door here.
8 “All who before me would appear
Are thieves and robbers of the gear,
But then the good sheep did not hear.
9 “I am the door. If any man
Comes in through me and by my plan,
He will be saved and will go in,
And will go out and without sin
Will find the pastureland and win.
10 “The thief just comes to steal and kill,
Destroying all upon the hill.
I came so they might live and still
Live more abundantly to grin.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good
Shepherd lays down his life or should
For the sake of the sheep that stood.
12 “A hired man who's no shepherd, who
Does not own the sheep, when in view
Sees the wolf coming, he forsakes
The sheep and runs away from stakes.
And the wolf seizes them and scatters
The sheep, and that is all that matters.
13 “A hired man runs away, because
He is a hired man, in his paws
There's no care for the sheep from claws.
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I
Know those who are mine, also my
Own know me when they come to try.
15 “Just as the Father knows me, I
Also know the Father in sky,
And lay down my life for the sheep.

When good Muhammad came to preach, he said
That Ali was the door of grace that led
Into the city which Muhammad was.
And after that in pain and sorrow's claws
Imam Hussein come out to lay his head
Upon the altar of sacrifice, bled
And died for the folk that stood round his bed.
What Jesus did as one man on the earth,
These three came once again and in their worth
Accomplished in a trinity the rest,
The fold, the door, sacrifice of the best.
Beloved, I take Your sent one on my breast
And weep to see the anguish and the calm
Enveloping the four beneath the palm.

16 “And I also have other sheep
Which are not of this fold to keep.
I also must lead those, and they
Will hear my voice and will not stray,
But there will be one flock one day,
And only one shepherd in sway.

When the kind reader balks before the name
Muhammad and Ali, Hussein of fame,
Remember, my Beloved, sweet Jesus spoke
Of other sheep he had before the stroke
That cut him to the quick by Roman hand.
Turn back the bias and the bigotry
From both the Roman and the Meccan band,
And make the church and mosque both come to see
That You called all back to the faith You planned
And gave to Abraham to seek and hold.
Beloved, wake in each breast the heart now cold
To take Your sent one and step out more bold
To Your obedience despite the shame
Of epithet and the sectarian claim.

17 “That's why my Father loves me, for
I lay down my life at the door,
So I may take it up once more.
18 “No one takes it from me, but I
Lay it down of myself and cry.
I have the power to lay it down,
I have the power without a frown
To take it up again, for I
Received this order come from my
Father.” 19 And then an argument
Arose among the Jews who spent
Their time opposing these words sent.
20 And many of them said “He's got
A demon, he's insanely sot.
Why do you listen to the rot?”
21 And others said “But these are not
The words of one demon-possessed.
A demon, it must be confessed,
Cannot open blind eyes addressed.”

Both parties in the argument let by
The crux of the matter in pun and sly.
It's neither demon nor the healing hand
That's evidence upon the questioned land.
It's rather that he could lay down his life
And take it up again before the strife,
And with his taking give to all and more
The right to enter in Paradise door.
Beloved, in every argument around
Discussing doctrines on a greener ground,
The issue that's neglected is the one
That is the central and the vital done.
May I turn from the way of which and what
And find Your loving heart is never shut.

22 It was the Feast of Dedication
In fair Jerusalem, and station
Of winter. 23 And then Jesus walked
In the temple, in the unlocked
Court of king Solomon for ration.
24 And the Jews gathered round about
Him saying, “How long keep in doubt?
If You are Christ, say with a shout.”

John’s Gospel’s writer is no Jew when done,
Or he would not draw boundaries for one.
And yet he knows throughout the book to show
When every festival arrives in glow.
The feast of dedication, Hanukka
Is what they say now at the light and draw.
So Jesus celebrated that feast’s light
By walking in the temple in Your sight.
Beloved, no one then thought of Christmas eve,
Or what a child should or should not believe
About men decked out in miraculous
As gods or santa clauses in the fuss.
They walked as I today the winter streets
Jerusalem provides for feastly treats.

25 Jesus replied to them, “I told
You, and you don’t believe cajoled.
The deeds I do in my Dad’s name,
They testify about my fame.
26 “But you do not believe, because
You’re not my own sheep in my paws,
As I told you. 27 “My sheep hear my
Voice and I know them, since by choice
They follow me. 28 “And I grant them
Eternal life so like a gem
They'll never tarnish, none shall stand
At all to grab them from my hand.
29 “My Father who gave them to me
Is greater than the company,
So nobody can grab them out
Of my Father’s hand with a shout.
30 “I and as my without a doubt
Father are one in goal and clout.”

St. John above all writers of the tale
Of Jesus who have ever set the sail
Remembers to bring up the victory
Of Jesus' life over the deadly sea.
I hear the rustling of a ready mark
Of reason thrust upon the earthly dark:
One cannot come back in the pleasant park
By carrying out regulations stark.
It takes a human hand to lead and bring
Into the filling sanctuary ark.
It takes a mediator on the wing
Who's tasted death and rose again to sing.
The victory of life and death in sum
I sip and startled find what I become.

31 The Jews again gathered up stones
To kill him and to break his bones.
32 Then Jesus came to answer them,
“I showed you many good works from
My Father, for which work of them
Do you stone me by stratagem?”
33 The Jews answered him saying “We
Do not stone you for good work's fee,
But only for your blasphemy,
Because you, who are but a man,
Make yourself to be God in span.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not
Been written in your Law some spot,
'I said, you're elohim in lot.'
35 “If He called those gods with whom that
Word of God was, and with whom sat,
And Scripture's not broken by that,
36 “Do you say of the one the Father
Sanctified and sent the world rather,
'You blaspheme, because I have said
'I am the son of God and led?'

The meaning of the broad word elohim
Is key to understanding things that seem.
It opens up the first verses of John,
And shows the trinity as merely pawn.
The cry of blasphemy is too fast made:
Only You, my Beloved, are on parade
To show the true, and so the judgement's stayed
Until You rise to made a newer dawn.
Beloved, as I read here and there Your word,
Let me not understand it like the herd
Who drink the Roman wine and tipple down
Into the lanes in maze beneath the town.
Beloved, bring Jesus' wonder and new light
Illuminating Your word in the night.

37 “If I do not do the works of
My Father, don't believe my love.
38 “But if I do, even if you
Do not believe me, believe true
The works, that you may see and so
Believe that the Father does show
In me and I in Him to go.”
39 Then once again they tried to take
Him. And he went out of their stake.
40 And he went out again across
The Jordan to the place where boss
John was at first baptising and
So he remained there in that land.
41 And many came to him and said
“John truly did no sign instead,
But all the things that John has said
About this one were truly led.”
42 And many came to believe then
In him beside Jordan again.

Though Jesus is Your word again made flesh,
I see it ever again shining fresh
In all the works divine on earthly mesh:
The patterns of the diamonds in snow
That lie in acres infertile to glow,
The twist of birch, the straight of fir, the ply
Of pine against a lapis lazuli
Domed crazily incredible of cloud
And the deception of the wind aloud.
Beloved, the very works speak wordlessly
Across the hopes of my eternity
Announcing on the pages left unbare
The writing of divinity on air.


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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