Bible In Poetry: Gospel Of St. Matthew (Chapter 8) Poem by Dr John Celes

When Jesus came down from the mountain-side,
A great crowd followed Him, leper beside;
The leper paid Him homage and begged, ‘Lord,
‘If you so wish, you can make me too, clean! ’

So, Jesus stretched His hand out and touched him
And replied, ‘I’ll do it. You be made clean.’
His leprosy had vanished immediately.

Then Jesus told him, ‘See that you tell none.
Go show the priest that you are fully cleansed.
As proof, you offer Moses’ prescribed gift.’

When Jesus entered Capernaum, there came
A centurion who approached Him and said,
‘My servant lies at home Lord, paralyzed,
For days, he’s suffering most dreadfully.’
Then Jesus told him, ‘I’ll come home and cure.’

The centurion replied, ‘O Lord, I am
Not worthy to have you under my roof,
Just say the word, my servant will be healed.’

‘For, I’m a person with authority,
With soldiers many under my command;
I say to one, ‘Go, ’ and he goes at once;
I order another, ‘Come here, he comes;
And to my slave, I say, ‘Do this, he does.’

When Jesus heard this, He was so amazed.
He said to those who followed Him, ‘Amen,
I say to you, in Israel, none I’ve seen,
With faith so strong as this centurion’s.’

‘Many will come from east and west, I say
To sit with Abraham, Jacob, Isaac,
At the banquet in kingdom of heaven,
But the kingdom’s children will be driven,
Out in the darkness where there will be much
Wailing and grinding and gnashing of teeth.’

Then Jesus told centurion, ‘You may go,
Let it be done for you as you’ve believed.’
That very hour, his servant got well healed.

Then Jesus went to Peter’s house and saw
His mother-in-law in bed with fever;
He touched her hand and fever left at once;
She rose and waited upon Him that day!

By evening time, they brought to Him many
Who were by demons, spirits too possessed;
He drove the spirits out by simple words,
And cured the sick and suffering who came.
Thus, Isaiah, the prophet’s words came true:
‘He took our infirmities, diseases.’

When Jesus saw a crowd large, surround Him,
He gave orders to cross to other side.
A scribe approached and said to Him, ‘Teacher,
I’ll follow you wherever, you may go.’

And Jesus answered him, ‘Foxes have holes;
Birds of the sky have nests but Son of Man,
Has not a place on earth, to rest His head.’

One of his disciples said, ‘Lord, let me
Go first bury my father who is dead.’
But Jesus ordered him, ‘Just follow me.
Let dead bury their own dead by themselves.’

Then Jesus and disciples went by boat.
A violent storm then brewed upon the sea;
The boat was hit by waves, He lay asleep;
They came and woke Him saying, ‘Lord, save us!
For, we’re perishing in the stormy sea.’

He asked them, ‘Why are you so terrified?
You ones of little faith! He then got up.
He chided winds and sea and there was calm.
The surprised men then asked, ‘What sort of man
Is this whom winds and seas also obey? ’

They came to other side called Gadarenes;
Two savage demoniacs from tombs met Him.
No one could dare to travel by that road.
On seeing Jesus, they cried, ‘Son of God,
Why have you come into our habitat?
Do you then come to torment us early? ’

A herd of swine was feeding near-by there.
The demons pleaded, ’If you drive us out,
Then, permit us to enter the swine herd.’
Then Jesus said, ‘Go then, and they came out!
The demons went into the swine near-by;
The whole herd rushed down-slope, the steep bank-side
And fell into the sea and were all drowned.’

The swine-herds ran away to town and told
All that had happened to demoniacs.
The townspeople then came to meet Jesus.
They begged Him leave their place immediately!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 5-30-2007