Bible In Poetry: Gospel Of St. John (Chapter 9) Poem by Dr John Celes

Jesus saw a man, blind since birth;
His disciples asked Him, ‘Rabbi,
By whose sins was the man born blind-
His own sins or that of parents’? ’

So, Jesus answered them, ‘Neither.
It is so that the works of God
Be manifested through the man.
The day is meant for all to work;
The night is for slumber and rest.’
‘While in this world, I am the light.’

Then Jesus spat on ground near-by
And mixed the clay with saliva;
He smeared the clay over man’s eyes
And said, ’ Go wash in Siloam Pool! ’
The man did so and got vision.

The beggar was able to see!
The neighbors saw and then remarked,
‘Isn’t this the beggar who was blind? ’

The beggar replied, ‘Yes, I am! ’
They asked, ‘How were your eyes opened? ’

The man described the whole story.
They asked him, ‘Where is Jesus now?
The beggar said, ‘I do not know.’

They brought the man to Pharisees;
Now Jesus did the miracle,
On Sabbath day and all knew that.

The Pharisees queried the man;
They said, ‘This man is not from God!
He does not keep the Sabbath-day.
How can a sinful man do signs?
They asked the beggar’s opinion;
He told them, ‘He is a prophet! ’

The Jews summoned his parents then
And enquired about their son;
His parents said, ‘He was born blind.’
But they didn’t know how he saw then.
They neither knew the healer’s name;
They told them to ask the beggar.

His parents were afraid of Jews;
If anyone believed Jesus,
And acknowledged Him, Messiah,
They were expelled from synagogue.

They called the beggar once again,
And asked him to give praise to God,
For, Jesus was a sinner great!

The man replied, ‘I do not know
If Jesus is a sinner great;
One thing was true that I was blind
And Jesus helped to make me see, ’

They asked him for more details then;
The beggar lost his cool and said,
‘Do you wish to be disciples? ’

They ridiculed the beggar-man
And said, ‘We are Moses’ disciples!
We don’t know where Jesus is from? ’

The man answered them quite bravely,
‘Isn’t it amazing that although,
You do not know who Jesus is,
Yet, He had made me to see then? ’

‘God does not listen to sinners;
If one’s devout, God listens then.
So far no one had given sight
To man who was blind, since his birth.’
‘If Jesus did not come from God,
He wouldn’t do miracles like this.’

They told the man, ‘You’re born in sin;
So, do not try to preach to us.
They drove the beggar-man away!

Then Jesus heard of incident;
He found the beggar-man and asked,
‘Do you believe in Son of Man? ’

He queried, ‘Who is he, tell me
So that, I may believe in Him.’

Then Jesus said, ‘You have seen Him;
The one speaking to you is He! ’

The man believed and worshipped Him.
Then Jesus said, ‘I came in here,
Into this world for judgment just,
And make ones who couldn’t see, to see,
And those who see become so blind.’

Some Pharisees who heard him said,
‘Surely we’re blind, are we not then? ’

Jesus told them, ‘If you were blind,
You wouldn’t have sins, but as you see,
Your sin remains and you are blind! ’

Copyright by Dr John Celes 5-23-2007