The Song of Matthew

A strange wild man was seen out in the desert,

Eating bugs and honey, wearing hides.

Stranger still, were crowds of people wand’ring

From Jerusalem and all Judea,

Under a blazing sun, to hear him cry,

Repent, the kingdom of heav’n is at hand!

The silent shout of verses from Isaiah,

A voice is crying in the wilderness,

Prepare the way, the Lord is coming soon!

I wondered, why did all these people come there?

Did they not have other occupations?

This wild man, John the Baptist, was demanding,

And not tactful as he pointed out their defects.

They stood meekly all the livelong day

Waiting to be dipped into the Jordan,

And went back to resume their humdrum lives.

I thought, how is it possible that they

Bowed down by the weight of constant labor,

Hemmed in by innumerable, capricious laws,

Religious laws, Roman laws, traditions, local customs,

Above all by the prying eyes of neighbors,

How could these people perpetrate real sins?

Sins worthy of the wrath, the dreadful threats

They sat upon the dirt to hear from him:

You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee?

Now try to bear fruit worthy of repentance!

Do not cry, We are the seed of Abraham –

God gets Abraham’s children on these stones!

The ax is sharp and thirsting for your sap –

Take care that you be fruitful, and be saved,

For those that bear not fruit will feed the flames!

I baptize you with water for repentance,

But one who is more pow’rful will come after

To baptize you with fire and Holy Spirit,

His winnowing fork he’ll carry in his hand,

He’ll clear the threshing floor and gather grain,

And burn the chaff with his unquenchable fire!

This kind of talk the people meekly took –

More and more came every day to hear it!

One day with all the others on the gravel

There sat Jesus, waiting to be washed.

John said, “Jesus, you should baptize me!”

But Jesus answered, “Let this be so now,

That each of us might righteousness fulfill.”

When Jesus’ head was lifted from the water

The Spirit of God descended like a dove

And lit on him; a voice cried out from heaven,

“THIS IS MY SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”

The Spirit of God, the one shaped like a dove,

Led Jesus up into the wilderness,

And left him there to learn of spiritual things.

For forty days and nights he did not eat.

In his fast a devil came to him.

Devils are the reasons we imagine

For all the things we do to hurt each other.

Some people give them horns and tails and hooves,

But those I’ve seen look just like you or me.

They try to bargain, offering you temptation

Until you pledge to let them take your soul.

First this tempter offered Jesus pride,

Saying, If you are great, then tell these stones

To make themselves into some loaves of bread.

Jesus answered with a quote, for he

Did not take pride in magic, but in teaching.

He said,

One does not live by bread alone,

But every word that issues from God’s mouth.

Then the devil flew them through the air

And found a shaky place for them to sit

Atop the temple in Jerusalem.

Seeing that Jesus could appreciate

Someone skilled in calling up allusions,

The devil said,

He will command his angels

To catch you if you fall, and lift you up

(As did not I myself just lift you up)

So you will not be dashed against the stones.

If you are great, and know this, why not jump?

Jesus said, (again, this is a quote):

Do not put the Lord your God to test.

The devil flew them to the highest place

On a mountain with expansive views,

And showed him all the kingdoms of the world.

Now I believe the devil had made bargains

With every king in every palace out there.

The devil said, All these I now give you

If you fall down and worship me right now.

But Jesus said, Be gone! For it is written,

Worship the Lord your God, and God alone.

So the devil left, and other angels

Lifted Jesus up and took him home.

Be mindful of the powers of this world:

For in this story I have just related

The devil says that all the earthly kingdoms

Belong to him, and Jesus does refuse them,

So even to this day they are the devil’s,

And if a king should ever claim to you

That he is sanctified by God to rule,

Stop and be mindful: pride precedes the fall.

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested

(This is a story told in another place)

He wanted to avoid association,

Not because he feared the walls of prison

But knowing that he had from heaven’s kingdom

A charter and a task. So seeking freedom,

He made a new home in the town Capernaum,

And what Isaiah wrote was thus fulfilled:

Where the road runs there along the sea,

Across the Jordan, down by Galilee,

The people who before in darkness dwelt,

These people have beheld a greater light,

They dwelt beneath the shade of their own death,

And now a light has dawned o’er the whole earth.

From that time henceforth, Jesus said as John:

Repent, Repent, the kingdom of God is near.

But held out, more than flame and retribution

The image of a fount of living water,

A world made new, bathed in the light of souls.

One day, walking down along the shore,

Jesus met two brothers, Simon and Andrew.

They made their living there as fishermen:

Out they threw the net, one at each end,

And pulled it in again to see their catch.

Jesus said, If you two follow me,

I will show you how to fish for people.

So they left their net and followed him.

They soon found two more brothers, James and John,

Sitting in a boat, mending their nets,

And when he called, they came and followed him.

These four with Jesus went through Galilee,

Teaching those who came to synagogues.

Knowing what we do of Jesus’ history,

You may well ask about his expertise:

Most recently he did resist temptation;

Before that, he observed the preacher John,

Was schooled in small-town life, perhaps a trade,

(Tradition says that Joseph was a carpenter)

And agricultural economy;

Because he was a Jew, he studied scripture,

And evidently had a way with words.

He soon discovered that his touch could heal

Every kind of sickness people had,

Becoming famous even over in Syria.

Crippled people came from near and far;

Pains, demons, epileptic fits he cured,

And soon the noisy crowd of those afflicted

Followed him and watched throughout the night

Outside his door. So, early in the morning,

When he came out, the crowd would be there waiting

To feel the healing touch of Jesus’ hands.

Better to be seen and heard, above

The ever present clamor of their voices,

Jesus found a path upon the mountain,

Sat down on a ledge where they could see him,

And captured thus the crowd’s benevolence:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for

They will hold the deed to heaven’s house;

Blessed are the ones who weep and mourn,

For they will find the comfort that they seek;

Blessed are the meek, for they inherit

What the proud possess’d when yet they lived;

Blest are those who hunger after righteousness,

They satisfy their hunger and their thirst;

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they

Will see God, when they pass away;

And blessed are all those who strive for peace,

For God will call them all his children then;

You are blest when you are most reviled,

Accused and persecuted in my place,

And great will your reward be up in heaven,

As great as what the prophets saw before you.

Because I am myself a decent person,

I know that decent folk obey the law;

I therefore seek to reassure the reader,

That Jesus was not lawless, but did hold,

Instructing all his followers in this detail –

Gentile and Jew – they should obey the law.

So now before repeating many stories

About the deeds of Jesus and his followers,

I give you his interpretation here

Of laws that govern people in community.

In this regard my record is more useful

Than certain other books about his life,

For by and large the others do not mention

Communities and churches of his followers,

But rather they presume, as Jesus told us,

That he would die, and come back from the dead,

And then would come the end of history,

So we would not have churches in his name.

I hope that if I mention this dilemma

I am not making problems for believers

In either his second coming or his church.

At times throughout his earthly ministry

Jesus shared his thought about our laws,

Which topics now I ask you to consider.

First, concerning freedom of expression:

“You are the salt that seasons earthly things;

If salt has lost its taste, what can restore it?

As spoiled salt is trampled underfoot,

So would you your being find discarded

If you tried to be what you are not.

(You cannot be a thing without a spirit.)

Just so, you are the light that lights the world:

A city on a hill cannot be hid.

Do not hide your lamp beneath a basket,

Put it on a stand where we can see it.

Let your light so shine before all others

That they may see your works, and give God glory.”

Second, on obedience to the law:

“I have not come to rid the world of laws,

Or cast aspersions on the words of prophets.

I come not to abolish, but fulfill.

Before the heaven and earth all pass away,

Not one letter, nor even yet one stroke

Will pass, until the scripture is fulfilled.

Therefore, who breaks the least of these commandments,

Teaching others to go and do the same,

Will be called the least of those on high;

(And may not be on high, but down below.)

But who obeys the law in everything

Will hold the highest place of those on high.

Those who seek eternal life must be

More righteous than the scribes and Pharisees.”

Third, concerning anger, strife and murder:

“From ancient times we have professed a law,

You shall not murder, or you may be judged.

But here I say, whether or not you kill,

You may be judged for nursing anger’s plot.

If you are angry with a brother or sister,

Studying insults, marking them as fools,

You too are liable for the fire of hell.

So as you offer up your gift at th’ altar,

Recall the strains that discord may apply,

Leave your gift before the Lord and go,

Reconcile yourself with those in conflict,

Then come and give without a troubled mind.”

Fourth, concerning faithless wives and husbands:

“If it were easy to refrain from straying,

We would not need commandments to forbid it.

Many are they who praise themselves within

For not yet quite completing their desires.

But now I say to you that everyone

Who knows their lust within, still breaks the law.

It’s better if you cut your member off

Than sin with it and be sent whole to hell.”

Fifth, concerning laws about divorce:

“As it is flesh in marriage makes the bond,

So is it flesh betrayed that breaks it too;

And if the husband seeks another cause,

He makes a sacrament of his convenience,

To force his wife into adultery.”

Sixth, concerning those who would make oaths:

“Again, from ancient times we have been told

To carry out the vows we make to God.

But I say, Better make no oath at all,

Neither by the heaven where God sits,

Nor the earth, where God may set his feet,

Nor earthly cities like Jerusalem.

And do not swear an oath upon your head:

You cannot make your own hair black or white.

I advise, say “Yes” or “No,” and mean it;

Any more assurance is the devil’s.”

Seventh, concerning those who take revenge:

“’Tis said when we are injured we can take

Eyes for eyes and teeth for teeth in pay.

I say, do not strike the one who strikes you;

But turn your cheek and let him strike again.

And if he takes the coat off of your back –

Then give your cloak as well to keep him warm.

And if by force he makes you go one mile,

By choice you should continue one mile more.

Give to every one who begs from you –

Lend freely what you have to those who ask.”

Eighth, concerning love for friend and stranger:

“Many upstanding citizens believe

We should love our friends and hate our enemies,

And the whole world now follows this belief.

Except that now we make the world anew:

Love your enemies as you love your friends,

And pray for anyone who persecutes you.

For you, your friend and enemy alike,

All are children of a loving God,

Who makes the sun to rise on everyone,

And sends rain on the righteous and the sinful.

For if you love just them who love you back,

What credit is it for your loving nature?

Tax collectors love their friends this way.

And if you look out for a family member,

How is this attachment judged as virtue?

Even Gentiles favor so their brothers.

The perfect virtue of a perfect person

Loves all God’s children just as God loves us.”

Ninth, concerning ostentatious giving:

“I say beware of practicing your piety

In such a way that others give you credit;

For you may strive to flaunt your generosity,

But in your afterlife get no reward.

So do not sound the trumpet when you give,

As hypocrites may do in synagogues;

That brassy knell is all that they will hear

Now and hereafter; but when you give alms,

Let not the left hand wait upon the right;

So see that you your alms may do in secret,

And God, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

Tenth, concerning secrecy of prayer:

“You should be wary of your piety

If you are drawn to practice before others

An incremental portrait of devotion.

The hypocrites so love to stand and pray

In synagogues and corners of the street;

They raise their voices, banishing reflection,

Like boys on whom their mothers love to dote.

I say that in their lust to gratify

Their hunger to be recognized for praying,

They have received their answer. When you pray,

Go into your room and shut the door,

Pray to your Father silently, in secret,

And when you pray do not heap empty phrases,

Climbing the pile of words to be near God.

God knows what you need before you ask it,

So say, Our Father, hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom cometh, and your will be done,

Here on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread to eat,

Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors,

And do not bring us to the time of trial,

But rescue and deliver us from evil.”

Eleventh, concerning abstinence from food:

“When you fast, wear not a dismal face,

As if to show that pain inside your gut

Reserves a higher chair at God’s long table.

When you fast, put oil on your head,

Wash your face and keep your visage calm.

Your Father knows in secret what you do,

And will reward you with a heavenly food.”

Twelfth, about accumulating treasure:

“Lay not up on earth your worldly goods,

Where moth and rust consume and thieves do steal,

But store up for yourself a heav’nly treasure,

Where neither moth nor rust nor thief do go.

Where your treasure is, your heart will follow.”

Thirteenth, concerning soundness of the eyes:

“The eye is a lamp, shining into the body.

The healthy eye will fill the body with light;

Unhealthy eyes fill the body with darkness.

If the light inside of you is darkness,

Think how great, how dark this darkness is!”

Fourteenth, concerning service to two masters:

“There is nowhere a slave can serve two masters,

But must love one and so despise the other.

So must you choose between wealth and your God.”

Fifteenth, concerning self-sufficiency:

“I tell you, do not fret about your life,

Wherefrom will come your food and what you drink,

Or how your body finds what it will wear.

Is not life more than food and drink,

And your body more than what it wears?

Consider the birds, flying across the sky:

They neither sow nor reap nor gather sheaves,

And yet your heavenly Father finds their food.

Are you not of greater worth than they?

And can your worry add a single hour

To the span of life that God appoints?

Consider the lilies, flourishing in the field,

They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you

Even Solomon in all his glory

Was not clothed as rich as one of these.

If God so clothes the grasses of the field,

Which are alive today and dead tomorrow,

Will He not clothe you, you of little faith?

Therefore do not agitate and struggle,

For God knows that you need all of these things.

Strive first for God, and for his righteousness,

And what you need to wear and eat will follow.

And do not worry what will come tomorrow;

Tomorrow will bring worries of its own,

And evils met today are quite sufficient.”

Sixteenth, about a private search for justice:

“Judge not, that you may not be judged by others,

And by your standard measured with their eyes.

The testing that you give, you will then get,

And circumstance may find you a worse bargain.

And can you, in the chamber of your mind

Truly see another as yourself?

The speck that flaws your neighbor’s enterprise

Is larger than the beam that flaws your own,

Yet you are driven to expunge that speck,

And make the world as if it had never been.

You hypocrite, first drag away your beam,

Then perhaps see clearly to that speck.”

Seventeenth, about profaning of the holy:

“We know what holy is, and what it’s not.

Do not give your holy things to dogs,

Nor throw your holy pearls before the swine;

For dogs will turn and maul you for your gift,

And swine the precious trample under foot.”

Eighteenth, about the need to be persistent:

“If you ask, it will be given you;

What you search for, that is what you find.

If you knock, the door will open to you,

Persistence in all cases is your friend.

If your child asks for a loaf of bread,

Do you instead provide your child a stone?

And if your child asks for a fish to eat,

Would you give the child instead a snake?

Even evildoers, (which you are),

Know enough to give a child good things,

And how much more will God above in heaven

Give all good things to those who ask of him.”

Nineteenth, concerning all the law and the prophets:

“Strive in all things you would do to others,

As you would likewise have them do to you.

So says all the law and all the prophets.”

Twentieth, of spiritual progress:

“Many are the souls who take the high way

Leading to destruction and damnation.

The gate to hell is wide, the road is easy.

A narrow gate to paradise leads in;

The road is hard, and there are few who find it,

Adversity the beacon on their path.”

Twenty-first, on knowing from their fruits:

“Beware false prophets lurking there in ambush,

Ravenous wolves bedeck’t with wool of sheep.

Always you will know them by their fruits:

Grapes are never gathered from a hawthorn,

Nor from a thistle can you pick a fig.

Of trees, ‘tis said that some are sweet, some bitter,

But no tree bears its fruit both good and bad.”

Twenty-second, concerning self-deception:

“Not everyone who cries aloud, ‘Lord, Lord,’

Will enter heaven when the judgment comes.

Many on that day will lay their claim:

From long rehearsal they themselves persuaded,

‘Did we not prophesy and cast out demons?

Did we not deeds of power in your name?’

Alas, I do not know them, evildoers,

They have themselves rejected all the same.”

Last, on those who hear and those who do:

“If you hear these words and do likewise,

You will build your house upon a rock.

The rain may fall, the flood may roar and pound,

The wind may blow and beat against your door,

But the house you built will never fall,

Because it has been founded on a rock.

If you hear, but match not word with deed,

You build your house upon a spit of sand:

When the storm comes, it will never stand.”

So did Jesus from the mount conclude,

Fulfilling the commandments and the law,

Not written in a scroll, or cut in stone,

But spoken out before the common folk,

In words that every one could understand

Every word, that they might hear and do,

According to the dictate of the heart.

He taught them as the keeper of their soul,

Not as a scribe, the keeper of a scroll.

It may not make a difference whose law

Prevails among the Jews, the Pentateuch

Or this new covenant that Jesus gave us.

The Romans are our masters now, and they

Have laws enough to tell us what to do

And not to do, and power to enforce them.

But I believe our Roman conquerors

In some fashion we cannot yet know

Will sicken and die betimes as their corruption

Burns and eats them slowly from within.

They are not the same as Jewish folk:

They do things to other human beings,

Even slaves, that we would never do.

I am told, in Herculaneum,

Among the villas of the very wealthy,

Are cisterns holding water from the mountains,

Where Romans take their aged slaves and servants

Before they die, and chain them in the water,

There to sit as food for captive lampreys,

Because the flavor of these worms, so fed,

Cooked and served at noble Roman banquets,

Is thought to transcend every delicacy.

And Romans after battle march the soldiers

Of the defeated army under a bar,

A spear held fixed and low over the path,

And if they do not bow, they are all killed.

The God of Israel, if he has a name,

May this God never exercise a will

To let his chosen people do such things

To any human being, living or dead.

And when we pass beyond the rule of Romans

Let us love the law that’s best for us

And let it lead us so to do God’s will.

At the very bottom of their being,

These Romans worship death, and all aspire

To power over life, by force or guile.

Down the long succession of command,

From emperor to lowly legionary,

Each one preserves a right to kill the next

Which masquerades as justice when applied.

And that decree, sent out by Caesar Augustus

That all the world should pay a Roman tax,

Subverts the souls God gave us into numbers,

Equal specks flung ‘cross a Roman grid,

So for their purpose we are only increments

Of pow’r expressed, and future revenue,

Not souls unique and born to live forever.

And all our Pharisees and priests forsook

Whatever moral authority they yet had

When they permitted Roman governors

To duplicate their tithe and so oppress us.

But Jesus does not beckon with a sword,

Exhorting us to thirst the blood of enemies,

And revel in his pow’r to take a life.

His hands reach out to heal us, every one.

He glorifies our lives by giving life,

And fears not death, and does not look for glory,

But manifests the living will of God

By redeeming each of us our sins,

And proving for us immortality,

Not merely as a province of our fantasies,

Or as a salve for aging emperors,

But as the birthright of a child of God.

No more are we or Romans meant to die

Crushed by the cold machinery of heaven

In a world where dictates of the Gods

Are fixed, and there will never be redemption.

A great crowd followed Jesus down the hill;

Suddenly a leper blocked the path,

Who knelt and said, Lord, heal me if you choose.

Jesus touched him, saying, I do choose.

And then the leper’s ravaged skin was clean.

Jesus told the leper, Keep this secret,

Do not tell the people how I healed you;

Go, and show yourself to all the priests,

Offer them the gift Moses commanded,

But do not claim in my behalf great powers.

As I start to tell how Jesus healed them,

Looking carefully at the way things happened,

There is a limit to my comprehension.

In this case, I find my thoughts arrested

By his instruction that the deed be secret.

Healing a very visible skin disease

Amid a watching crowd of postulants,

And saying to the healed man, Do not tell:

What is the purpose of this exhortation?

Did not Jesus just begin his sermon

By telling them to let their lights shine brightly

And not to hide their lamps beneath their baskets?

Lord help me to complete my understanding:

I have arrived through prayer and meditation

At an inner place, from where I see

The very sacred and the very sinful

Can, like faces of a common coin

Be subject to a bar of secrecy,

And many are the souls who hoard them both.

When Jesus came back to Capernaum

A Roman soldier met him in the street,

Saying, Lord, my servant is at home,

Paralyzed, in terrible distress.

Jesus said, Then I will come and cure him.

The soldier, a centurion, answered him,

Lord, my home is not a worthy place

To house you. May you only speak your word,

And I am sure my servant will be healed.

For like you, I am accustomed to authority,

The soldiers under me do come and go,

And the slaves obey me. Speak your word.

When Jesus heard this speech he was amazed,

Turned and said to those who followed him,

None in Israel have shown me such faith!

Gentiles come from everywhere on earth,

To share in heaven’s kingdom with our fathers,

While the heirs who should have joined the banquet

Will be thrown into the outer darkness,

To weep and wail and gnash and grind their teeth.

Then to the centurion Jesus said,

Let it be done according to your faith,

And the slave was healed within the hour.

Then Jesus came to Peter’s mother-in-law

Who lay in bed with fever, and he touched her

And the fever left her, and she served him;

They brought him many people wracked with demons

He cast out spirits and he cured the sick,

So fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy,

He took away our ills and our diseases.

And so fulfilling, Jesus did establish

A different way of understanding healing

By making these afflictions and diseases

Gone, as if in fact they’d never been,

Ended, once for all, creating a vision

Of a world made healthy by God’s will;

And not as private benefit for Jews,

Or Jews observing written laws in detail,

But free to every human soul,

Slaves, gentiles, lepers, tax collectors,

Approaching him with faith, asking for help.

And if the healed ones tell abroad these miracles

Are they not in a sense keeping alive

Diseases and afflictions, even in memory,

Which are no more, providing God’s will be done?

The next day, they were standing by the water,

And Jesus, wanting to escape the crowd,

Said, ‘Cross the water we should sail away.’

I saw this as a kind of understanding

That with his power over human life,

Came power over human death also.

So, when a scribe approached and told him, Rabbi

I will follow wheresoe’er you go;

Said Jesus to the scribe, Foxes have holes,

Even a bird of the air has built a nest;

The Son of Man nowhere lays his head.

And from this I think I heard him say,

“I will not rest, even when I die.”

When one of his disciples said to him,

Before I follow you across the water,

Let me first go back and bury my father.

Jesus said to him, No, follow me,

Now let the dead go bury their own dead.

By this I think he meant for all of us

That in our doings we must make a choice

Whether we are the living or the dying.

When they all had got into the boat,

And they were sailing out across the sea,

A windstorm came and lifted up the waves

So the boat was taking water in.

Jesus was asleep up in the stern,

But they awoke him, saying, We will drown!

He rebuked the winds, the rising waves,

Until around them everything was calm,

Amazed, they said, What sort of man is this

That even winds and seas obey his words?

When they came to the far shore of the sea,

On the strand they found a field of tombs

And there two wild and manic men did live,

They were so fierce that none would pass that way.

Suddenly they shouted, Who are you?

Son of God, what will you do with us?

Will you torture us before our time?

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there,

And the demons said, Now cast us out,

But send us into yonder herd of swine.

So Jesus sent the demons from the men

Into the swine, and suddenly the herd

Rushed down the bank and jumped into the sea

Where they all perished. And the swineherds ran

Into the town nearby, telling the tale.

Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus,

And when they saw him, begged that he would leave.

So I think it always is with miracles:

That common folk will hear and leave their houses

Drawn by the chance of seeing something new,

But in their hearts, before the eyes of neighbors,

Fearing the strange, the captivating other,

They bend and search to find a handy stone,

First one, then three, then many, reaching upward,

Flinging their hail of death from out the sky

Into the healing pool where stands the stranger.

Jesus and his band of fishermen

Chose not to die among the Gerasenes,

But crossed the sea again, back to Capernaum.

Now I think their time had come to meet

The self-appointed guardians of virtue

Who would become their greatest enemies,

The priests and scribes, Pharisees and elders,

Who saw in Jesus’ fundamental difference

A force disintegrating and rebellious,

Offensive to the one who has no name,

And presumptive of the heav’nly will.

Some people brought a man upon a bed.

The man was paralyzed and lay quite still.

Jesus, seeing their faith that he could heal,

Said Take heart, your sins are all forgiven.

But there were scribes nearby who heard him say it,

Who said among themselves, This man blasphemes,

Jesus read their inner thought and said,

Why do you think this evil in your hearts?

Which do you think is easier to say?

“Your sins are forgiven.” Or, “Stand up and walk.”

So that you may know I have authority,

I will take the harder path with him.

So saying, Jesus turned and healed the man,

Saying, Stand up, take your bed and walk.

The man stood up and went back to his home.

All the people saw this, and were awed,

Glorifying Jesus’ healing powers.

The tax collector Matthew from his booth

Got up and followed Jesus to his home.

And as he sat at dinner in the evening

Many tax collectors came and ate

With sinners and others of bad reputation.

The Pharisees then asked of his disciples

“Why does Jesus eat with these bad people?”

But Jesus answered, People who are well

Do not need to visit a physician,

As those who suffer illness come to doctors,

These people look for mercy on their sins.

And as physicians strive to heal the sick,

I come to help the sinner, not the righteous.

John the Baptist’s followers came to Jesus

And put to him a question about fasting:

Why do we and the Pharisees fast so often

While you and your disciples do not fast?

Jesus said, As wedding guests should feast,

Not mourn while they the bridegroom entertain,

So should these people have their joy with me,

Before the day comes when I will be taken,

And then may they all fast and mourn at will.

No one takes a patch of unshrunk cloth

And uses it to fix a worn out cloak.

For the shrinking cloth will pull away

Leaving a bigger tear than what there was.

New wine is not put into old wineskins

For they burst, and then the wine is spilt.

Rather put new wine into new wineskins.

I am something new under the sun

So to suit the need for knowing me

We should make the laws’ observance new

And so preserve the law, and all my teaching.

As Jesus said these things to John’s disciples,

A leader of the synagogue came in,

He knelt and said, My daughter has just died,

But if you come and touch her, she will live.

Not minding that the scribes had claimed before

That he blasphemed when he forgave a sin,

But seeking to help the man in his distress,

Jesus stood up, and went to see this girl,

To render his power over life and death.

On his way, a woman crept behind him;

The woman had been bleeding for twelve years,

And said to herself, If only I can touch

The hem of his cloak, then I will be healed.

Jesus turned, and seeing her, he said,

Take heart, your faith has made you well again.

And instantly the woman was made well.

When Jesus came to where the sick girl was,

He heard the flutes and instruments make mourning,

People were gathering to keen and wail,

And he cried above the crowd’s commotion,

Go away, the girl is only sleeping,

They laughed at him, but he sent them out.

Inside the house, Jesus took her hand,

Her eyelids fluttered open, and she awoke.

He left her house, and walked along the street;

Two blind men saw him, and they cried aloud

Have mercy on us, Son of David, please!

And they followed Jesus to his house,

They came inside, and Jesus said to them:

Do you believe that I can make you see?

Yes, Lord, they said. And so he touched their eyes,

And said, By your faith, let this now be done,

And their eyes were opened, and they saw.

And Jesus sternly told them, Tell no one.

But they went away and spread the news.

Lord help me to complete my understanding:

If I had spent my life with darkened eyes,

And by the touch of Jesus was made new,

Except through means of some transcendent grace,

How could I even know what a thing was

If I but saw it, and I did not know

How all my other sense would apprehend it?

So as the light of day did smite their souls,

Reflected glory so consumed their being,

They could not hear or understand his words;

Neither of them heard his prohibition,

But told the truth to all as they did know it.

Then some people brought to him a mute,

Whom they believed was silenced by a demon,

For when Jesus cast the demon out,

The mute spoke clearly. People were amazed.

Saying, Israel never saw the like.

I think that what these people said was true,

And since in both their origin and consequence

His healings had no precedent for them,

The Pharisees claimed Jesus was a demon,

They said he had such power over demons,

That the Lord of Darkness must be in him.

For even if the Pharisees believed this

Honestly, and not from jealous spite,

That Jesus was the evil one incarnate,

This swelled their own importance as his foes;

As likewise they would lose their influence

If they acknowledged him the Son of Man.

Sour men, why was it such an easy task

To see the prince of darkness as a man

Walking amongst them, healing with his hands,

And not believe he was their God made flesh?

Then Jesus went to all the nearby cities,

Taught the people in the synagogues,

Proclaimed to them the good news of the kingdom,

Curing their diseases and afflictions.

When he saw the crowds he had compassion,

Walking through their midst with arms outstretched,

For they were like lost sheep without a shepherd,

Harassed by evil, helpless to defend,

So to help them, he said to his disciples

Though they are numbered like the stalks of grain,

Few labor for a harvest of such plenty,

Therefore let us ask our heav’nly Husband

Send us laborers to reap this bounty.

10.

Jesus summoned to him his disciples

Gave them power over unclean spirits,

To cast out devil, sickness, and affliction,

So he gave his power to these twelve:

Simon Peter and his brother Andrew,

James and John the sons of Zebedee,

Philip, Thomas and Bartholomew,

Simon the Canaanaean, also Matthew,

James, Thaddaeus, and Judas Iscariot.

These he sent out with his own instruction:

Go you nowhere out among the Gentiles,

Nor enter any town of the Samaritans,

But to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Proclaim, the kingdom of heaven now comes near!

You will cure the sick and cleanse the leper,

Cast out demons and revive the dead,

As I gave these gifts without your payment,

So shall you freely give these gifts to them.

Take not gold, silver or copper coin;

Nor bag, nor change of clothes, sandals or staff;

For your labors ask your daily bread,

Whatever town or village you may enter,

Find out who is worthy, and stay there.

Greet the people wheresoever you enter,

Let your peace descend upon their heads,

If they prove not worthy, turn away

Shake off the dust as you tread out their door

And on the day of judgment they will know

Worse than what fell on Sodom and Gomorrah.

For I am sending you out now like sheep,

Into the midst of cruel hungry wolves,

Be wise as serpents, innocent as doves,

Beware of them, for they will tie you up

To judge and flog you in their synagogues,

Drag you before their governors and kings,

To make examples for both Jew and Gentile.

But when they hand you over, do not worry

What to say, or how to preach the good news,

God is with you and will words supply,

It is not you who speaks in time of trial,

The Spirit of your Father speaks through you.

Brother will give brother to the sword,

Fathers and mothers will betray their children,

And children have their parents put to death.

Everyone will hate you for my name.

Endure until the end – you will be saved,

And flee one persecution for another,

For truly, you will not see every town

Before the Son of Man comes to redeem you.

Disciples are not ranked above their teachers,

Nor yet does the master serve the slave;

Enough that they resemble one another,

Teacher and disciple, slave and master.

Now see, Beelzebul they call the master,

Much more they will malign those of his household.

Have no fear of those who seek to hurt you,

For that which is concealed will soon be open.

What I say in the dark, you tell in light,

What I whisper, you shout from the housetops;

They kill the flesh but cannot kill the soul,

So do not fear them. Rather fear the one

Inside you, who can kill both soul and body.

Two sparrows may be sold for just a penny,

Yet not one of them will fall to earth

Without your father marking where they fall,

So every hair on every head is counted,

Do not be afraid, you have more value

Than hairs or sparrows to your loving Father.

Watch to see who testifies for me:

Those who openly acknowledge me

I also will acknowledge up in heaven;

But if they stubbornly my name deny,

I also will deny with like persistence.

(Excepting Peter, who for some good reason,

Our story soon will make a special case,

Lord help me to complete my understanding.)

Do not think that I bring peace on earth

For I come not in peace, but with a sword.

I will set a man against his father,

I will set a daughter against her mother,

A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,

Make enemies of people in one household.

And if you love your parents more than me,

Then you are not worthy of my service,

If you love your children more than me,

Then you are not worthy of my service,

Whoever does not lift and drag the cross,

However heavy, is not worthy of me;

For those who think they recognize their life,

And seek to find it, they will surely lose it;

While those who know not what their life will be,

But lose themselves for my sake, they will find it.

Whoever welcomes you, this one knows me,

Welcoming also the one who sent me here.

They welcome prophets in the name of prophets,

And so receive a prophet’s just reward.

Regardless of the depth of their belief,

If they welcome you as righteous people,

They will have the fruits of righteousness.

And if their hospitality is small,

Cold water for a child in your name,

None of them will lose their just reward.

11.

Jesus too went out among the people,

Teaching and proclaiming the good news.

John in prison heard of Jesus’ teaching,

And sent his messengers to speak to Jesus.

Are you the one who is to come, they asked,

Or are we still in search of the Messiah?

Jesus asked them, What do you hear and see?

The blind receive their sight, lame people walk,

Lepers are cleansed, the deaf their ears unstop,

Even the dead are raised again to life,

And good news is brought to all the poor.

And to John I say, Blest be the one

Who hears this and takes no offense at me.

Jesus spoke of John then, to the crowd:

Why did you go forth into that wilderness?

To hear the sound of reeds against the wind?

What searched you for, out walking in the desert?

A prince or kinglet, preening in soft robes?

They wear soft robes up in their royal palaces,

But not I think out on the desert sand.

I think you were looking for a prophet.

Yes, and more, you sought to find some truth,

And did, for John did bring with him fulfillment

The one of whom ’tis written,

See my messenger,

Who will prepare the way before I come.

Among those born of woman, I tell you,

None has been greater than John Baptist is,

And since he came there has been war in heaven,

The violent seek to take God’s house by force,

Prophets and the law prevailed till John came,

And now if you are willing to accept him,

He is Elijah, the one who is to come.

Let anyone with ears to hear this, listen.

To what can I compare this generation?

They are like children sitting in the marketplace,

Calling to the crowd and one another:

“We played the flute, and yet you did not dance;

We cried and wailed, and yet you did not mourn.”

For when John came he did himself deny

Neither ate nor drank, but sparingly,

And so they said, He is possess’d by devils!

And when the Son of Man did follow him,

Eating and drinking as he pleased with sinners,

They said, now see a glutton and a drunkard!

Nothing that we do can please them now,

And wisdom’s vindicated by her deeds.

Then as Jesus thought about the cities

Where he had healed and raised folk from the dead,

He reproached the people living there

Because they saw but they repented not.

“Woe unto you, O Chorazin, Bethsaida,

For if the deeds of mercy done for you

Instead had been vouchsafed on Tyre and Sidon,

All of them would wear sackcloth and ashes,

And so when judgment comes, then you will pay.

Will Capernaum be lifted up to heaven?

Never, she will slide into the pit!

I say now, if my deeds of pow’r be done

In Sodom, it would last until today!

Even so, you cities, in that judgment

Sodom would fare better than yourselves.

Then Jesus said a prayer of thanks to God:

Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

For you have hidden all these holy things

From the wise and the intelligent

And have instead revealed them to the children.

Father, such has been your gracious will,

All things have been handed down to me,

No one knows the Son except the Father,

And no one knows the Father but the Son,

And those to whom the Son reveals the Father.

I say come unto me all you that toil,

Come ye weary, ye with heavy burdens,

Come unto me and I will give you rest,

Take my yoke upon you, learn from me,

For I am gentle and my heart is humble,

Here you will find comfort for your souls,

My yoke is easy and my burden light.

12.

Jesus went through grain fields on the sabbath.

His disciples followed. They were hungry

And they plucked and ate the heads of grain.

And when the Pharisees beheld them eating,

They said, This is not lawful on the sabbath.

Jesus said, You know what David did

When he and his companions needed food?

They ate the bread of presence in the temple,

Which was against the law, except for priests.

You know that in the temple these same priests

May break the law and still are not found guilty.

And if you say that this is not the temple,

I tell you, as I stand among this grain,

I am something greater than the temple;

But if you Pharisees knew what this means,

That I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

Then you would not so condemn the guiltless.

The Son of Man is Lord of all the sabbath

And those who follow Him break not the law.

Then Jesus went inside the synagogue.

There was a man who had a withered hand.

The priests and scribes approached him and accused him,

“Can you cure this man here, on the sabbath?

Jesus said, Suppose you had a sheep,

Only one sheep, that fell into a pit

On the sabbath: would you lift it out?

So how much more of value to you priests

Is a human being than a sheep?

He said then to the man, Stretch out your hand!

He stretched it out, and Jesus healed him then,

One hand was just as sound as the other hand.

Silenced, the scribes and Pharisees went out,

Conspiring to destroy the Son of Man.

Yet everywhere he went the crowds were waiting,

And every one who came there to be healed,

All of them were cured and went their way,

And he ordered them to keep it secret.

The verses of Isaiah were fulfilled:

Here is my servant, one that I have chosen,

My Beloved, with whom I am well pleased,

I will put my spirit in his mouth

And he will offer justice to the Gentiles,

He raises not his voice nor cries aloud,

And will not make a tumult in the streets,

My servant will not break a bruised reed,

Nor quench a smoldering wick, until he brings

The victory of justice to God’s children,

And in his name the Gentiles will have hope.

Then they brought Jesus a demoniac

Whom the devil had made blind and mute.

At Jesus’ touch, the man could speak and see.

The people in the crowd were all amazed

Asking, Can Jesus be the Son of David?

But the Pharisees claimed yet again,

That Jesus was in legion with Beelzebul.

Jesus said, A kingdom against itself,

A city or a house against itself,

So divided, each of these will fall.

If Satan casts out Satan, so is he

Against himself, and so his kingdom falls.

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul

Then who do your own exorcists employ?

The Spirit of God within me drives them out,

And the kingdom of God now comes to you.

If I were to plunder someone’s property

First I would take care to bind the master.

If you are not for me, you are against me,

And if against me, I can still forgive you,

Every sin and blasphemy save one:

Whoever speaks against the Son of Man

Will be forgiven if they so confess;

But those who speak against the Holy Spirit

Will never be forgiven in this age,

Nor in all ages till the end of time.

Good trees yield good fruit, and bad trees bad,

Can a viper offer me a blessing?

The mouth speaks from the fullness of the heart,

This fullness good or evil will reveal,

So see your utterance before you,

And judge yourself what careless words you utter.

For when you come at last to hear your judgment

For careless or for mindful words you said,

You will be judged as worthy or condemned.

The scribes and Pharisees then sought a sign,

To prove that Jesus was the Son of God.

O evil and adulterous age! said he,

You have no sign except the prophet Jonah,

The one who was three days and nights held fast

In the belly of the giant fish;

For so the Son of Man will be enclosed

For three days in the belly of the earth,

In a place that stands outside of time.

The people of the city Nineveh

Will rise up and protest this generation,

Because they did repent when Jonah came,

But you do not repent the Son of Man,

Though you have treated him far worse than Jonah.

The Queen of Sheba also will condemn you

Because she came here from the end of earth

To listen to the wisdom of King Solomon,

And greater things than Solomon are here!

You have seen me drive forth unclean spirits:

When such spirits leave a person’s heart,

They wander out across the desert waste,

Searching for their rest, but find it not,

Then says the unclean spirit, “I return,

To go back in my house, from whence I came.”

The house it finds is empty, swept, in order,

So the unclean spirit goes and rallies

Seven other spirits yet more evil;

Together they all move into the house

(Which is the person’s heart seeking salvation),

And so that person’s heart becomes at last

More corrupted than it was at first;

So is it with this evil generation.

While he spoke, his mother and brother came.

They stood apart, and sent a message in,

That they were waiting there to speak to him.

Jesus did not go, but asked the messenger,

Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?

And pointing to his followers he said,

Here are my mother and my brothers also,

For they who do my Heavenly Father’s will,

Are all I need of family here on earth.

13.

Jesus went and sat beside the sea.

Such a great crowd gathered on the shore

He waded out and jumped into a boat,

To tell his parable across the water,

While the crowd collected on the beach.

A sower went to plant, and seeds were scattered,

Some fell on the path, where birds did eat them,

Some fell on the rocks, and found not soil,

They sprang up quickly, for they were not buried,

But when the sun came, burned the sprouts away;

Some fell midst the thorns and vines, and choked,

Yet some fell on good soil, and grew apace,

And brought a harvest of a hundred fold.

Let anyone with ears attend my story.

His disciples stopped him here and asked:

Why do you speak the truth, but in these parables?

Jesus said to them, You know my secrets,

But in this crowd such knowledge is not found.

For you, the ones who have, yet more will be,

But they who know but little, will know less,

And what they know will be forgot in time.

I speak in parables to fulfill Isaiah:

They will listen, never understanding;

They will look, and never yet perceive;

A people hard and fast against persuasion,

Their ears are blocked, and they have shut their eyes.

Their eyes are not for searching out the truth;

Their ears are not for listening; yet should they

Turn with understanding in their hearts,

They would see and hear, and I would heal them.

Blessed are your eyes, they search and see;

And blest your ears, for listening and hearing.

The multitude of prophets and the righteous

Have longed to see and hear what you now know.

Who hears my word and does not understand it,

The devil comes and steals away the seed

Snatches away the seed sown in his heart:

This is where the seeds fell on the path.

Who hears my word and burns at first with joy

May then see their excitement pass away

When their belief engenders opposition:

This is where the seeds fell on the rocks.

Who hears my word but then lets earthly cares,

The lure of wealth, or yoke of family duty,

Choke and starve the word so it yields nothing:

This is where the seeds fell ‘mongst the thorns.

Who hears my word and understands it well,

And gives it room to flourish in the heart

Then bears fruit and yields a bounteous harvest:

This is where the seed falls on good soil.

A farmer sowed his seeds out in a field

When everybody slept, his enemy came,

Sowing weeds among the wheat, and fleeing

In the night, unseen by anyone.

The plants came up with weeds and wheat together.

The farmer’s slaves said, Master did you sow

Good seed and bad together in this field?

An enemy has done this, says the farmer.

Shall we master, then, remove the weeds?

In doing this you would uproot the wheat.

Let the weeds and wheat grow up together,

And at harvest time, instruct the reapers,

Collect the weeds, bind and burn them first,

Then gather all the wheat into the barn.

So shall their souls be brought to heaven’s kingdom.

I am the one who sows the seeds of wheat.

The good seeds are the children of the kingdom,

The weeds the children of the evil one,

The enemy who sows them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of all the ages,

And they who reap and burn are heaven’s angels.

These angels cut and bind from all the earth

All cause of sin, and every evildoer,

And throw this evil harvest in the fire,

Where they will weep and writhe and gnash their teeth,

And then the righteous souls will shine like suns,

Beacons in the kingdom of the Father.

Let anyone with ears now hear me speak!

If someone sowed a little mustard seed,

And tended it till it became a tree,

So big the birds would nest among its branches,