Bible In Poetry: Gospel Of St. Matthew (Chapter 23) Poem by Dr John Celes

Then Jesus told his disciples
And crowds, ‘As scribes and Pharisees all sit
In Moses’ chair, do all they tell;
Observe all things they tend to say,
But don’t follow their example,
For, they preach but do not practice.’

‘They place too heavy burdens on
Shoulders of people to carry
But will not help even a bit.’

‘They do things so that they are seen;
They widen their phylacteries,
And lengthen their tassels often;
They love honor at banquet-halls;
Be exalted in synagogues;
Be greeted in market-places;
Get salutation as ‘Rabbi’.’

‘As for you, don’t be called, ’ Rabbi’.
You are brothers with one Teacher.
You have one father in heaven;
Call no one as father on earth;
You’ve one Master, the ‘Messiah’.
Do not be called ‘master’ on earth;
The greatest must be your servant;
Whoev’r exalts shall be humbled;
He who humbles is exalted.’

‘Then woe to you scribes, Pharisees;
You are all hypocrites who lock
The gates of heaven to mankind;
Neither do you enter yourselves,
Nor allow others to enter.’

‘Then woe to you o hypocrites,
You cross the seas and traverse lands
For sake of making one convert
And when that happens, you make him
A Gehenna’s child, twice as you.’

‘O woe to you blind guides who say,
‘To swear by temple is just naught;
But swearing by its gold is not.
Which is greater, gold or temple
That gives the gold its sanctity? ’

‘To swear by altar, it means naught;
To swear by altar-gifts is not.
Which is greater, gift or altar
That sanctifies the gift offered? ’

Blind ones, one who swears by altar,
Swears by it and things upon it;
Who swears by temple, swears by it
And swears by Him who dwells in it;
Who swears by heaven swears by throne
Of God who seated on it.’

‘O woe to you scribes, Pharisees!
You hypocrites who pay the tithes
Of mint and dill and cummin-seeds
But ignored what is important
In law and judgment and mercy
Yet, these you ought to have done then
Without neglecting the others!
You blind guides who strain out the gnat
And swallow the camel wholesome! ’

‘Woe to you scribes and Pharisees
You are like white-washed tombs to see,
Appearing beautiful outside,
With dead men’s bones and filth inside.’
Externally, you seem righteous,
Internally, you are filled with
Hypocrisy and evil-deeds! ’

‘O woe to you, scribes, Pharisees,
You build the tombs of prophets and,
Adorn memorials of righteous;
And you say that if we had lived
In our ancestor’s days, we wouldn’t
Have joined to shed the prophets’ blood! ’

Thus, you agree that you’re children
Of the murderers of prophets
Get what your ancestors measured;
You serpents, you brood of vipers,
How can you ever escape from
The judgment of Gehenna then? ’

Therefore, I send to you wise-men,
Prophets and scribes and yet, you kill
Some and crucify some of them;
Some are scourged in your synagogues;
Some are pursued from town to town.’

‘Therefore shall come upon you all,
The blood of righteous, shed on earth
From Abel to Zechariah,
The son of Barachiah, you killed
Between sanctuary and altar! ’

Amen, I say, all things will come
Upon present generation.
Jerusalem, the murderer
Of prophets, who stones that are sent
How many times have I then yearned
To gather en masse your children
As hen brings young under wings
Yet, you were most unwilling still!
Behold, your house will turn lonely,
Abandoned and desolate soon;
I tell, you’ll not see me again
Until you say, ‘Blessed is He
Who comes in the name of the Lord! ’

Copyright by Dr John Celes 6-11-2007