Bible In Poetry: Gospel Of St. Mark (Chapter 3) Poem by Dr John Celes

Jesus entered the synagogue;
There stood a man with withered hand;
They waited to see if He cures
On Sabbath, so they could accuse.

Then Jesus asked the man be brought;
He asked them all, ‘which is lawful-
Doing evil or good that day?
To save life or to destroy it?
They could not answer His queries.

Then Jesus looked at them with rage,
Aggrieved by their hardness of heart:
He told the man, ‘stretch out your hand! ’
That moment, his hand got restored!

The Pharisees then went out fast,
And talked with Herodians there,
On how to put Jesus to death.

Then Jesus went towards the sea;
A lot of people followed Him
From Galilee and Judea,
Beyond Jordan, Idumea.

He asked a boat to be readied;
The crowds were surging onto Him;
When unclean spirits saw Him, then,
They fell before Him saying that,
‘You are the Son of God (aloud) .’
Jesus warned not to reveal Him.

And going up the mountain-side,
He chose his twelve apostles there,
To accompany Him and to preach
With pow’r to drive out demons too.

The twelve apostles that He chose
Were Simon, whom He named Peter;
The son of Zebedee called James;
His brother John, now Boanerges;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Simon from Cannan and Mathew;
Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus)
Judas Iscariot, Thaddeus.

When he returned, there stood a crowd,
So huge, they could not even eat;
The scribes from Jerusalem said,
‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! ’
He drives out demons by its prince.

Summoning them, then Jesus asked,
‘Does Satan drive out next Satan? ’
A kingdom divided can’t stand!
If Satan rises on himself,
Divided, that would spell his doom!
No one enters a strong man’s house,
But plunders only with some ties!

Then Jesus said, ‘Amen, I say,
All sins will be forgiven then.
But who blasphemes against one God
And Holy Spirit, shall ne’er be!
An Eternal sin, they commit.

His mother and brothers had come.
A crowd had gathered around Him;
They said, ‘your mother, brothers wait.’
But Jesus looked at all around
And said, ‘Here are my brothers and mother! ’
For, whoev’r does the will of God
Is my brother, sister, mother!

Copyright by Dr John Celes 5-19-2007