Bible In Poetry: Gospel Of St. Matthew (Chapter 21) Poem by Dr John Celes

At Bethphage on Mount of Olives,
Then, Jesus sent two disciples,
Into the village opposite,
To find a tethered ass and colt,
And bring them to Him, for His use.
If anyone should ask them then,
Reply, ‘Master has need for them.
He will return them soon after.’

This happened so that what was told
Through prophet might be fulfilled thus:
‘Say to daughter Zion, behold,
Your king comes meek, upon an ass,
And on a colt, beast of burden.’

His disciples did as He told.
They brought the ass and colt and laid,
Their cloaks upon them and He rode.

The large crowd spread their cloaks en route,
While others strew cut branches green,
En way to town Jerusalem.
They walked ahead of Him saying,
‘The Son of David, Hosanna,
Blessed‘s He who comes in the Lord’s name;
Hosanna in the Highest.’

On entering Jerusalem,
The whole city began to ask,
‘Who is this who shakes the town? ’
The crowds replied, ‘Prophet Jesus,
From Nazareth in Galilee! ’

Jesus went into the temple,
And drove out those who bought and sold;
He overturned their tables, seats,
Of money-changers, dove-sellers.

He said unto them, ’ ’tis written,
My house shall be for just prayer;
You shall not make it den of thieves! ’
He cured the blind and lame who came,
To Him, to the temple area.

On seeing Jesus do wonders,
And hearing children cry aloud,
‘Hosanna, Son of David king! ’
The scribes and chief priests turned angry!

They asked, ‘Do you hear what they say? ’
And Jesus said, ‘Yes, haven’t you read:
‘Out of the mouths of infants, kids,
You have brought forth praise unto God! ’

Then Jesus went to Bethany,
And there, He spent the night that day!
And being hungry, when dawn came,
He saw a fig-tree by the road;
But when He went over to it,
He found just leaves and not a fruit!

The angered Lord, then cursed the tree,
‘May you never fruit forth again! ’
The tree withered immediately.
This astonished His disciples;
They asked him what He had just done?

Then Jesus said, ‘Amen to you,
If you have faith and don’t waver,
You can do things similarly;
And if you tell the mountain, ‘Be
Lifted and thrown into the sea,
It shall be done too, instantly! ’
‘Whatev’r you pray along with faith,
You will receive, ‘the Lord, saith.

When He approached the temple place,
The chief priests, elders asked Him then,
‘By what authority, you do?
And who gave you authority? ’

Then Jesus told them, ‘I’ll ask you
One question and if you answer,
I will tell you what you ask of me.’

‘Tell where was John’s baptism from,
Was it of earth or from heaven? ’
They discussed ’mongst themselves and said,
‘If we reply, from heaven, then
He’ll ask, ‘why don’t you believe him? ’
‘If of human origin, then,
We fear the crowd for they regard
The Baptist John as a prophet! ’

So, they told Jesus, ‘We don’t know! ’
He replied, ‘Neither shall I tell,
Who empowers me to do these things.’

Then Jesus asked their opinion:
A man with two sons, said to first,
‘Go, work in the vineyard today! ’
He said, ‘I can’t, ’ but changed his mind
And went to work as father told.

The man then came to his other
Son, gave a similar order;
He said, ‘Yes, I’ll.’ But never went.
‘Which son obeyed his father’s words? ’
They answered in reply, ‘The first! ’

Then Jesus said, ‘Amen, I say,
Tax-collectors and prostitutes
Are entering Heaven ‘foe you! ’

When John had come and preached to you,
The righteous way, you didn’t believe;
Tax-collectors, prostitutes did.
Yet, even after seeing it,
You did not change for the better.

He told another parable:
A vineyard owner raised a hedge
Around it, dug a wine-press too
And erected a watch-tower;
He leased it to some tenants then
And went off on a journey far.

When vintage time drew near, he sent
His servants to obtain produce;
The tenants seized the servants all:
They beat one man and stoned the next;
They killed one servant from the group;

The owner sent then more servants;
They treated them in similar ways;
He sent his son finally then
Thinking, ‘They will respect my son! ’

On seeing son of landowner,
The tenants told one another
‘This is the heir to the vineyard;
Let’s kill him and acquire the land.’
They killed the boy and threw him out.’

‘How will the owner deal tenants? ’
They answered him, ‘he’ll put to death
The wretched tenants; lease vineyard
To other tenants who will give
Him produce at the proper times.’

Then Jesus asked them, ‘Didn’t you read
What scriptures said long ago then:
‘The stone, the builders rejected,
Became the cornerstone and chief
And this was done by God, most High,
And looks wonderful in our eyes! ’

Therefore, I say to you again,
‘The kingdom shall be tak’n away
from you and giv’n to people who
Produce its fruits as per God’s word.
The one who falls upon this stone
Will be to pieces dashed at once
And it will crush on whom it falls! ’

When Pharisees and chief priests heard,
The parables that spoke of them,
They wanted to arrest Him but
Feared the crowds that followed Him,
Regarding Him, Prophet of God.

Copyright by Dr John Celes 6-7-2007