Posted in Different Scriptures, Spoken Word

Matthew 27:57–66

When someone dies before their time
Not a single person is ready
We allow anyone to offer help
For their hands can be more steady

A disciple from the fringes?
A rich man just converted?
Joseph of Arimathea came
When he had been alerted.

He helped to wrap the body
As all creation watched and mourned
The heaviest of weight in grief
In their stomachs continued to form

Yet even as their tears were moist
Rome was staying in the loop
The Pharisees has warned them
Of deception possible by His group

The worst thing that could happen
Would be to let them pretend He rose
And so the tomb was well guarded
By His enemies and foes.

The heavy stone was rolled in place
And guards stood just nearby
The women slowly walked away
As all the cosmos sighed.

I wonder if creation could
Feel something New was brewing?
Or if even the birds and fish
Had no idea what the creator was doing…

Posted in Different Scriptures, Spoken Word

John 18:1-19:42

It was in the garden
Where humanity disobeyed
And it would be a garden
Where Jesus was betrayed

Judas came with soldiers
Armed with knife and sword
To come and arrest Jesus
Our calm and loving Lord

He admonished Peter quickly
To put his sword away
And healed his wounded captor
Though this didn’t cause delay

They took him before Annas
And Caiaphas the high priest
Who’d said it was better for one to die
As an offering of peace

They wanted to kill Jesus
A threat to balances of power
But they needed a valid reason
And all their arguments turned sour

They took Jesus to Pilate
Who asked what He had done
They said Jesus deserved to die
But they could not be the ones

Only Rome had authority
To wield the tool of death
But Pilate found no reason
To take Jesus’ final breath

He had him flogged and bleeding
But this didn’t please the crowds
Jesus was their sacrifice to Rome
And so they shouted loud

“Crucify him, Rome is our King!”
And He, to die was sent
The most humbling death imaginable
Forgiving as He went…

Posted in Uncategorized

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

The bitterness of knowing
His time had come to pass
Sharing a final Passover
He stepped up to the task

By kneeling before each of them
Even his betrayer
To wash their feet as servants do
Even though this seemed unfair

“Not my feet” Peter declared
“But all of me instead.”
Jesus looked at Him with Love
(Though perhaps shook His head.)

As mortar to the bricks of slaves
So my Love fills the gaps
And you will build a Kingdom, freed
To love beyond all maps

The meal started with thankfulness
But turned bitter again
When Jesus said where He was going
They could not come with Him

He would become the spotless lamb
Redeeming every story
And very soon, the Father would
Receive redemptive Glory

Not only new beginnings
But a promised New Creation
As God transformed & flourished in Love
A New and Global Nation