Bible In Poetry: Gospel Of St. Mark (Chapter 6) Poem by Dr John Celes

Then Jesus, with disciples came
Back to his native place to teach
On Sabbath in the synagogue:
And those who heard were astonished;
“What kind of wisdom has this man?
What mighty deeds, His hands can do! ”
“Isn’t He, the carpenter and Mary’s son?
Brother of James, Joses, Judas, Simon?
Are not his sisters here with us? ”

“A prophet isn’t without honor
Except in his native place, house
And amongst his kin, ” said Jesus.
He couldn’t perform mighty deeds there;
Shocked by their lack of faith, He went
To teach the village-folk near-by.

He sent the Twelve in pairs to teach,
And gave them pow’r to exorcise;
They wore just sandals, took a stick
They weren’t to carry food or cash;
To those who did not welcome them,
They were to shake the dust off feet!
They drove out demons, curing sick;
With oil, others were anointed;
They preached to them of repentance.

King Herod heard of Jesus’ fame;
Some told that John was raised from dead;
Some said that he is Elijah;
Others said he was prophet too;
Because John told Herod point-blank
“You cannot wed your brother’s wife”,
Herod had John bound in prison bound.

His brother’s wife, Herodias
Bore grudge against the Holy man,
And wished to kill him but could not;
Herod feared John who was upright;
On Herod’s birthday banquet grand,
Herodias’ daughter danced;
Delighted Herod asked of her,
“Just ask and I will grant your wish”.

He swore to give half his kingdom.
Her mother seized the chance and asked
For John’s head on a platter, dead!
The distressed king had to keep oath;
He ordered to behead poor John;
So, John, the Baptist was thus killed;
The girl was given head of John;
His body was laid in a tomb.

And Jesus told His apostles,
“Come to a lonely place and rest.”
They could not eat because of crowds;
They left by boat to reach a place;
The people arrived before them;
Then Jesus felt pity for them;
They were like sheep without shepherd!

By now, it had become quite late;
The people had to go and eat
In near-by farms and villages;
So, Jesus said, “Give them your food.”
His disciples just wondered how;
He asked, “How many loaves have you? ”
They said, “Just five and two fishes.”
He ordered them to sit in groups
They sat on grass in many rows.

He took the loaves and fishes up,
Towards heaven and blessed them both;
His disciples distributed;
They ate with great satisfaction;
Remaining food filled twelve baskets;
Five thousand men had eaten bread;
By boat, they left to Bethsaida.

Then Jesus went up the mountain to pray;
By eve, the boat was far at sea,
And tossed about by heavy wind;
At night, he came walking on sea;
They got so scared on seeing Him;
“Courage, Be not afraid, ” He said.
The wind died when he reached the boat.

They landed at Gennesaret;
The people recognized Jesus;
They brought the sick from town on mats;
They laid them in the market-place;
They begged to touch His cloak’s tassel;
And those who touched were fully healed!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 5-19-2007