They Know Not What They Do

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

 It never really struck me before, until tonight, the depth of what lay beneath Jesus word's from the cross  really meant.

I picture the baying crowds, riled up on blood lust and some self righteous sense of betrayal. The very crowds that had welcomed him a week ago with palm leaves. The very best explanation for their motive can really only be this; He had failed to move against Rome and the Roman's occupying Jerusalem. That surely was their expectation when they welcomed him as Messiah, Son of David. It seems a little unfair they had given him not even a whole week to act before they turned on him, but I expect after his arrest (and the cajoling of the chief priests and Pharisees) seeing him so easily captured and humiliated, helped them a little in their vicious pivot.

But when Jesus, from the cross (Luke 23:34) calls out the now famous words, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do", it seems, on the surface, that this is a little misrepresentative at least.

I had not thought about it too much, so forgive me if I am stating the obvious, but they clearly do know what they are doing. They are deliberately approving of, participating in and/or encouraging the murder of an innocent man. They know this. There is no ignorance here that would allow them leniency in God's court, they have blood on their hands and hate in their hearts. Thou shall do no murder. What is the mitigating circumstance that allows them any mercy? Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it. But they are not ignorant. They partake in this foulest of acts informed and whole-heartedly.

Does this ignorance of Jesus' true messianic status really provide a get out for the executors and the baying mob behind them? They are guilty. Come judgement day they will have to answer for their actions. The only voice that can save them is the one of our advocate. The one who died at their behest, who ironically was doing so to provide the only chance of forgiveness they could have for their actions, not just that day, but all of their days.

Is Jesus blanket pardoning the whole crowd for their ignorant actions?

I don't believe so.

If you notice, it is not Christ himself forgiving them, but rather pleading on their behalf that The Father forgive them.

Of course we know Jesus refers to their ignorance of his true identity. But here is the rub. For all their ignorance, they could not be forgiven for this act, as if this were not the very blasphemy that they accused him of, the rejection of God's Son, a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. They knew, but how could they really know? Really, really know?

And without the Son's advocacy, which he so admirably bestows on his aggressors, how could the Father not unleash heaven and wipe humanity from the face of the earth for such a treasonous and brutal act. The son of God, the Darling of heaven, Crucified, humiliated, rejected, beaten and maligned when his very presence among them was an act of mercy. His only mission: to save them.

The Father could have avenged his son in such a way that the great flood would have felt like an under-reaction, and he would be completely justified and righteous for doing so. I think we ought to tremble at this thought.

I believe without Jesus' prayer, this could have been the outcome. They had messed with forces they did not understand, and had no clue how close they stood, that day, to the precipice of the abyss. This was a cosmological event, and without the mercy of Christ, I believe such an act could not have been left unpunished. Only the Son could have persuaded the Father of this.

They know not what they do. 

A child with a grenade who likes the shiny pin. 

Oppenheimer at the results of his invention. Now I am become death.

If they only knew how close they came.

From Stable to Table

From Stable To Table

The famine of the Word of God,

Finished: The word in full: Supplied,

The Word fulfilled, The Word made flesh 

Jehovah Jireh would provide:

Into the House of Bread

Long before the bread was torn

In Bethlehem where he laid his head

He came: The Bread of Life was Born,

Being in very nature God

He took on flesh, to be one with us, 

He took on himself our sin and sorrow

The bread was broken on the cross,

His Body broken now for us

Born into the House of Bread,

Provision of the bread was made,

That would feed us evermore,

And in the manger, the babe was laid.

And on the cross his body splayed

For the bread of God comes down From heaven,

Whoever comes to him, He'll never turn away,

And they will never need go hungry,

And he shall raise them on the final day,

And brethren, we are his body now,

And broken often, yet we are one,

One bread-one body-one church-one Lord,

And so, now in unison we come,

Because we partake of his bread,

We are one,

So to his table, 

We now come

Reflections: House of Bread

This is my final poem. I had half a mind to leave it without further explanation but I gave in to the desire to comment, just for the sake of context really.

This poem was written, unlike the others in the series, in real time. in that it was finished today.

 I had a commission to write something for my fellowship's Christmas eve communion service. As soon as it was mentioned I got a little excited because of the bread connection to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem means 'house of bread'.

You may recall that Jesus responds to the crowds questioning in John 6 by calling himself the bread of heaven. 

So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ~John 6:30-33

All the allusions to bread are very well known. I don't need to labour the point any more than I already have. But for me it was in the provision of this bread, at the incarnation, (in Bethlehem) that got me buzzing. The famine of the word of the Lord (prophesied in Amos 8) came to an end after 400 years, at the Birth of Christ, In The House of Bread!!

Then, of course there is the joining of the concepts of unity, which is fascinating to me. That Jesus took on flesh to be one with us. That we are united with him through his death. We partake of his body, in communion, and we are one with him. Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf. (1 Cor 10:17). So there is a beautiful complete circle to all this.

The one thing I will say is that this poem has one of the most jarring 'jump-cuts' I have ever written.

I'm not sorry for it. Even if it doesn't feel Christmassy to you. The jump-cut is from the cradle to the cross. The babe laid to the Saviour splayed. But this is the purpose for which he came. There is no getting around it. And it is more powerful for it's juxtaposition.

Like the ram caught in the thicket. Jehovah Jireh provided the sacrifice that was  in our stead.

His one and only son.

~Scripture~

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

~John 3:16~

Borne is The King

 Borne

 

 The manger,

And the cross,

Wooden scaffolds.

Would hold the weight,

Elevate,

The naked state,

Man and God combined.

On wooden arms,

In wooden palms,

 

Christ the saviour is borne.

Reflection: Borne is The King of Israel

Yet another prophetic layer was peeled back when I saw this in the nativity; That the manger, like the cross, was a wooden scaffold. If the type of manger was indeed the sort so often depicted in traditional religious art, the design actually includes wooden crosses. 

Of Course, I enjoyed the word play. Born vs borne. The cross and the cradle both bore him. His weight was borne by them.

I had encountered this notion before (in relation to the cross) some 7 years prior, in my poem Tree-hugger (see link below) when I saw the the cross was a sort of presentation. That in the moment of his crucifixion a saviour was born. Sure he'd been a saviour all along, but here it came to fruition. Here's an exert from that poem (for the whole thing click the link). The tree is, of course, a metaphor for the cross and the use of the word wait rather than weight is intentional.

The tree lent its support,
To the wait of the saviour,
Bore him,
For just a little longer,
As Christ clung,
The Tree's embrace lifted him,
Crimson and Glorified,
Like a mid-wife's hand presents the baby,
To the waiting world.

I saw, in the cross there is an element of presentation. Of course, for the Romans, that was a part of the purpose of this barbaric execution. To make an example of them. And how utterly fitting for the saviour, who through the cross made an example of our sins, by bearing them himself. But I envisioned this presentation, in the 'birth of a saviour' The the cross was like a midwife's hands presenting the new-born baby to the waiting world. 

And we see all through the nativity, echoes of the work he would do on the cross. 

The manger was his crib, and in it, he was presented to the world, the new born King. A King in the manner none had known before. The King of Glory, his glory laid by.

The crib bore his physical weight for a little while, as the cross would later. 

But the true weight of glory be known: 

Wooden Scaffolds

Wouldn't hold the weight.

Nothing in all creation could hold that kind of weight.

~scripture~

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

~Colossians 2:13-15~

Poiema: Tree-hugger (matthewjosephpoet.blogspot.com)

Come On, My Soul

 Oh Come On All Ye Faithful

 

Why so despondent, down cast and downhearted?
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem,
Come and behold him,
Born the King of Angels,
O come on all ye faithful,
O come on all ye faithful,
O come on and adore him,
Christ the Lord,

God of God, however dark the night,
Look he's not too proud for the virgins womb,
Very God, even in dark places,
O come on all ye faithful,
O come on all ye faithful,
O come on and adore him,
Christ the Lord,

Sing choirs of wasters, Sing in degradation,
Sing all forgotten ones: despised and unloved,
Glory to God, in the High street,
O come on all ye faithful,
O come on all ye faithful,
O come on and adore him,
Christ the Lord,

Reflection: Why So Downcast?

Rend Collective have a song on their first album (Organic Family Hymnal) called 'Come on'. It's a very simple response to Psalm 42's refrain "Why so downcast, Oh my soul?" Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God. I will yet praise him, my saviour and my God." The song gives 2 responses.

Come on my soul
Come on my soul
Let down the walls
And sing my soul

Come on, come on
Come on, come on
It's time to look up

Come On My Soul • Rend Collective (spotify.com)

Firstly: let down your walls Secondly: sing. The 'protective' layers we build up are often a hinderance. Isaiah says he will give us a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Very often, as we sing, we drop our guard, and praise does it's job. It elevates him and it releases us into hope.

Secondly It's time to look up. Get your gaze on God.

And it's all very well, you say, but easier said than done.  Sure. I appreciate that. But David knew a thing or two about encouraging himself in God. I can only speculate, but I like to think this was maybe written around his experiences at Ziklag (1 Sam 30), where his family and the families of his men were kidnapped by the Amalekites. Having lost his family and his men (who blamed him for their loss) ready to stone him, he weeps until he has no strength left to weep any more (that's a lot of weeping) and then we are told, David encourages himself in The Lord. If I am right, then the manner of this encouragement was in giving himself, his soul, a good talking to. Even if I am wrong about the occurrence this is still clearly the approach David has.

And in this poem, I am yet again adapting existing Carols to make my point. I am singing 'Come on, all ye faithful' instead of 'Oh Come, all ye faithful'. An Encouragement rather than an invitation. An exhortation to exaltation.

Because it is for our own good. It is what we need.

~Scripture~

As the deer pants for streams of water,

    so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God

When can I go and meet with God?

My tears have been my food

    day and night,

while people say to me all day long,

    “Where is your God?”

These things I remember

    as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go to the house of God

    under the protection of the Mighty One[d]

with shouts of joy and praise

    among the festive throng.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

    Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

    for I will yet praise him,

    my Savior and my God.

My soul is downcast within me;

    therefore I will remember you

from the land of the Jordan,

    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep

    in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

    have swept over me.

By day the Lord directs his love,

    at night his song is with me—

    a prayer to the God of my life.

I say to God my Rock,

    “Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

    oppressed by the enemy?”

My bones suffer mortal agony

    as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long,

    “Where is your God?”

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

    Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

    for I will yet praise him,

    my Saviour and my God.

~Psalm 42~

See Him King

 

See King Him

In the beginning,
The word was light,
Beyond the darkness,
beyond sight,
And that light
was the light
of the life of men,
And we best behold it
and start living then,
In all it's fullness
He is life,
Why is it then,
We feel such strife?

He came to his own,
But we beheld him, not,
And turned away,
and turned it off,
the voice that said,
we should seek him,
but we turned our hands,
to shallow things,
that did not hold
the depth of love
that could not fill,
The volume of,

All his fullness,

But in all we do,
we're seeking him,
though we know it not,
Beneath our skin,
The yearning that comes,
when we cannot sleep,
The restlessness in
the deepest deep,
as our souls call out
to him,
To save his sheep,
We are lost,
but cannot reach,
home's safety.
and can not even call out 'save me',

When we cant find answers,
and even when we have already found it,
When we cant separate out the Love
From the religion that surrounds it

We are seeking truth,
we are seeking hope,
We are seeking life,
We are seeking love,

We are seeking him,

at the heart of it,
when deeds are done,
when all our battles ,
are lost or won,

we have been seeking him,

seeking him,

See King Him

King Jesus,

I want to see the king
soon and very soon,
I want to see the king,
Heart; prepare him room,
I want to see the king,
High and lifted up,
I want to see the child,
Born to be lifted up,

I want to see the king,
Soon and very soon,
I want to see the king
I wanna sing his tune,


The wisest of men,
Will be seeking still
Seeking for what,
The world cannot fill,
And bringing their gifts,
They worshipped him there,
The King in baby-grows,
The Son and Heir,

To see the light,
The light of life,
the full life of everything,
We should stop seeking him,
and instead,
We should see him King,

See him at the centre,
ruling everything,
see him working for the good,
of those that do love him,
see him ruling still,
through every situation,
kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall,
Nations fighting nation,
See him holding power,
when all about seems lost,
see him counting hours,
see him thawing history's frost,

until
one day,

We all shall see him king,
every one,
on bended knees,
with confessing tongues,

When the King is on the throne,
His loyal subjects,
Will feel at home,


Soon and very soon,
We are going to see the king,
Soon and very soon,
We are going to see the King,
Soon and very soon,
We are going to see the king,
Hallelujah,
Hallelujah
 We are going to see the king,

So See him king.

Reflection: See Him King

So, as I mentioned yesterday, there is a small glut of 'event poems', of which this is one. Written specifically for a performance. But I like the central idea of it enough to share it.

I believe the theme of Seeking him  (or something similar) was set for our Christmas outreach that year and I played around with it a bit. The poem pivots on the word play when I switch from seeking him, to see King him, to see him King.

I suppose, in all our wondering and wandering, we are seeking him. I don't doubt that at our soul's core, he is the often missing piece. So in a sense in all we do we are really looking for him, and if not then we are suppressing the need of him.

I think I pictured this as an issue of perspective. If we are, in our troubles seeking him for answers and reassurance, I feel we can at times miss the point. MY little terrier used to try and get hold of footballs that were far too big for her mouth, and with every attempted bite she would propel the ball further away. I feel sometimes when we 'seek God' possibly for wrong (but understandable) motives we need to come to the end of ourselves and accept his sovereignty:(as Job says) will not the judge of all the earth do right?

To see him King, to see his sovereignty and to trust in his love and compassion (even when we have reason to believe the contrary) to take our eyes from ourselves (and our need) and to look to him on his throne will give us more answers than all our questioning ever could. Perspective is restored.

And then of course to see him King. As in 'I would see him (become) King'. That is to endeavour in all our lives to acknowledge him. To see out those areas of our lives that we are yet to surrender to his rule and see him King in these places. This is ultimately what we (Hopefully) daily pray. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done.

~Scripture~

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil

~Matthew 6:9-13~

 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?” Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within you.

~Luke 17:20-21~

Living Word

Word

 

In the beginning was the living word,
Before a word was spoken,
Before a sound was heard,
There was a nothingness,
A great and awesome void,
Pre matter, pre planet, pre asteroid,

And the word was spoken
Into the darkness
and "out of this darkness
The Father has sparked this",
The word was the light and the life of men,
We behold his glory, now as then,
Jesus, One of us; no more us and them.
So he was born in the town of Bethlehem,

"And yeah, the world was made through him,
To redeem the world, the word became human,
He's more than a phonetic sound,
Gods word is a tangible, living kinetic, energetic noun,
An extension of God, so he's always been around"
To reclaim your soul from the lost and found,

The Word became human, became flesh and blood,
Left his throne and moved into the neighbourhood.
 Not sitting at the ringside, he joined the fight,
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light,

He walked where I walk, so he understands,
He feels what we feel, we call him the son of man,
But also the loving, Son of God,
Born to save his people,
To uplift the down trod,

He knows us, he's human, in every single way,
Yet somehow, God, able to save the day,
Not stood back, or far off, or judging from the sidelines,
But bloodied, and bruised, and walking on our time-lines,
God in it, with us, Immanuel,
The end of fear and lonely hell,
Flesh and blood, human, not God in human shell,
Not selfish, or power hungry,  nothing to sell,

This God-Man unlocks the paradox, Two opposites side by side
The first shall be last. Serving to rule, the flipside of pride,
He wouldn't ask you to do, anything He wouldn't do,
He proved it, improved it, He has done it too,

This baby, this manger, this unassuming scene,
Not fit for a noble, let alone the king of Seraphim,
But he did not consider it unworthy, of someone like him.
Because, like the lottery, you have to be in it to win it, and take it back again,

And that's exactly what he did.








*Quotes from Hazakim ''Crown' & DC Talk "Free at last"

Reflection: Living Word

I am publishing these poems mostly in the order I selected them for a book I had been planning. What I had missed in compiling them was that there would be a group of them that were written specifically for performance at Christmas events. They tend to be something akin to bombastic (though, because of the subject matter, I wont go that far) and a lot of the power is in the delivery, which, of course, will be lost here.

But there is something in the performance, the spoken word, which brings life to the potentially dull words on the page. You can judge how well it translates, especially if you were there for the original performance and are now reading this. I am often told it helps to hear my poems.

Bombastic implies that there is a lot of hot air. Empty words, as such. We humans are full of these. Some more so than others.

But not God. His word is action. Literally. In the beginning he spoke. He spoke, and he said 'Let there be light', and there was light'. HIs word is true. If he commands it, it happens. He is and it does. And so John's portrayal of Jesus, at the beginning of his, quite frankly, stunning opener, as The Word, ties him in with this Greek concept of the Logos, but also the The Word of God. 

God gave his word. Jesus is the promised one, from Genesis where he tells the snake, 'You will strike his heel and He will crush your head'. We know that though this is the earliest record of the Messianic prophecies which permeate the whole of scripture, John asserts again, in Revelation, that he was slain before the foundation of the world. This is to say, he is the eternal word of God. There is no difference between God speaking and it happening. And Jesus Christ was not plan B. For in him all things were made, we are told in Colossians. In him and through him and for him, and in him all things hold together.

And all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. 

Hallelujah.

Hold fast people. Hold fast to the hope you have in Christ.

And The Word became flesh, and dwelled among us.

~Scripture~

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

~1 Peter 1:20-21~

The Emptiness

 

The Emptiness

An empty place in heaven,
The Son has left for a while,
The absence of his laughter,
is everywhere,

An empty space in a manger,
The child has grown into a man,
The place of his arrival,
Is but a stepping stone,

An empty place on the cross,
The saviour has come to nothing,
The jeering winds of mocking tongues,
Still whistle past its wood,

An empty ache in disciples hearts,
Their world has fallen apart,
They've been woken with a start
From the sleeping where they dreamt of thrones,

An empty place within a tomb,
He is risen from the dead,
An empty claim death had on him,
He's back just like he said,

An empty sky where they stand,
And stare...

Reflection: Absence makes the Heart Grow Fonder

This poem is a series of turnings up, only just too late. Jesus has just been here.  In my mind, you can almost smell the baby scent or the aroma of pure nard.

Apologies to long term readers if I repeat this story, but when I studied art at A level (It did not last long) I was surprised in our first class when we were led into the art room and saw a plie of chairs in the middle. And when I say a pile, its not a euphemism for 'a lot'. I mean chairs were upended and heaped one on top of the other in all kinds of positions. 
The teacher, once they had handed out our drawing materials, asked us then asked us to draw what we saw, but with this one stipulation. We could not draw the chairs themselves. We had to draw the spaces in between. Draw the gaps. And, if you're any good, lo and behold, as you draw the gaps, the space where the chairs were not, the chairs themselves emerge on the paper.

It is quite a lesson in perspective. In looking from different angles. One can learn a lot. It applies, certainly, as a poet and as a follower of Christ, and, as all followers of the same must be, a student of humanity.

I remember a preachers tale where a similar principle applies, but this one is with a sculptor. He has a block of marble and  is chiselling away at it when a child wanders in and asks him 'what are you doing?'. The sculptor replies that he is 'making a horse'. The child asks how he will do that, to which he replies 'By knocking everything off that does not look like a horse. This was supposed to be an illustration of the process of refinement God uses on us, knocking off the edges of us, until we look like Jesus.

Negative spaces teach us much.

And these spaces within my verses, where he is not, teach me something of Christ. 

He left heaven and took on flesh. There is a cost to that for The Father and for him.

He left the manger. He grew up, became a man. His mission was yet to be accomplished, but he learned obedience, and grew in stature and in favour with man and God. This baby of the nativity has purpose. It's more than a sweet story with 'cattle a lowing'.

He did not stay on the cross. The cross was empty. The job was done. It was finished. His body was taken down and buried. There was a moment where the universe held it's breath. The king who created all things was dead. Had he failed? He had certainly paid. Was payment received?

The emptiness of Easter Saturday. The disciples having to live with the crushing disappointment and the devastation of the apparent failure of Jesus' mission.

The emptiness of the tomb. Jesus is not there anymore. He is no longer dead. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is alive, He has risen! Payment received.

And the empty sky....... from where he will return. He is coming back. The question to the disciples, (the rather unfair question) 'why do you stand and stare?', tells them they have a job to get on with!


And, of course, so do we.

 ~Scripture~

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

~Acts 1:6-11~