HE WENT

He went to the temple,
Asked and answered,
And asserted His bond to His Father's affairs.

He went to the Jordan,
Joining with the pious,
And receiving heaven's word of delight.

He went to the synagogue:
The demon obeyed Him
But He would not countenance its witness.

He went to Gadara,
Restful in spirit,
Despite Fury of the gale and billows.

He went to Bethany
To bring His friend to life;
And to receive His burial preparation.

He went His guest-chamber,
Shared the ultimate Supper,
And left the memorial which divine love chose.

He went to Gethsemane,
Was pressed, oppressed, depressed
And expressed again His bond to His Father's will.

He went to Golgotha,
The cross weight on His shoulder
To bear our sins in His body on that cross.

He went into death,
The Just for the unjust,
And death was rent as one rends a kid.

He went from the tomb,
As no one had gone from a tomb,
"By the glory of the Father and His own inherent right".

He went to the place
Where His disciples huddled
Bringing the peace and breath of a risen Man.

He went to Bethany,
Encircled by beloved lovers
And ascended with hands outstretched in blessing.

He went above all the heavens,
And all heaven's host
Acclaimed the Accomplisher of all God's will.

He has sat down,
Acclaimed by the Father,
Awaiting the Father's time for His coming again.

(Number 37 bus)

More around Mellerstain House

TRUE

There was a Man

Amid a world lying

In the wicked one; all

He said was true .

Amongst gainsayers,

Self-seekers, and those at enmity

With truth, He could

Be named the Amen.

Among disciples He could start,

As He could with Pharisees,

Sentences of high intent,

"Verily, verily ...".

Before His Father He could

Acknowledge One in glory

And in intimacy as

The only true God.

[Being Scots I'm a bit thrifty and try to get my poems to work more than one way!]

In the grounds of Mellerstain House

BEFORE HIS FATHER

Before His Father He could
Acknowledge One in glory
And in intimacy as
The only true God.
 
So that His Father was
Constrained by love to accord
What accords to His nobility
The title "Lord and Christ".
 
Having completed the work
To the satisfaction of Him
Who loved Him He could
Address, "Righteous Father".
 
He was the expression of all
God would convey, consonant
With the divine thought that every
Word of God is pure.

Why is He the Beloved?
Because God saw in every act
And thought He was true,

Noble, just and pure. 

Mellerstain House, Scottish Borders

Designed by Robert Adam

(probably Scotland's greatest architect)

AMONG DISCIPLES

Among disciples He could start,
As He could with Pharisees,
Sentences of high intent,
"Verily, verily ...".

If the world - or disciples -
Criticised one who anointed, He
Showed that He would stand
To such a noble thing.

To those who would condemn
Mary He would readily
Answer: He reflected the divine
View of a righteous action.

"They shall see God", He
Taught His disciples. Not
Those washed in the doctors' teachings
But "the pure in heart".

So His own gathered together
In His absence: forming for
His presence an atmosphere
Of delighted affection.

Loanhead is a former mining town; so it has an annual children's day and gala week; these are from last year.

AMONGST GAINSAYERS

 

Amongst gainsayers,

Self-seekers, and those at enmity

With truth, He could

Be named the Amen.

While the world destroyed,

Sin damaged, Satan corroded,

This was the Man who

Devised noble things.

 

Before an earthly ruler

The Just One stood. Crowds 

Clamoured for injustice; He

Accomplished righteousness.

Three times Satan essayed

To sully that man by

Guile. Failing, he attempted

Violence. And failed again.

Amid a world of hatred,

Crucifying God's Man,

A few, attracted by Him,

Gathered around His cross.

Views of the Firth of Forth from Fife

THERE WAS A MAN

 

There was a Man

Amid a world lying

In the wicked one; all

He said was true.

There was a Man

Amid the world's

Churls. God saw each

Of His acts was noble.

There was a Man

Whom the world's injustice

Pinioned. Because every thought

And deed, was just.

There was a Man

Untainted by the rot

Of this world's sin. For

All was pure.

There was a Man

Who incurred man's hatred

More than any. But to His own,

And to God, entirely lovable.

(Reposting one of several Phil 4:8 contemplations.)

More of the view from Culross and area over the Forth.

A brief contemplation, relating the life of the Lord Jesus to the things to be thought of in Philippians 4:8

The King of the Jews

Born; all the prophets' words

Verified in the Amen.

Taking His place among

The poor of the flock, see the Just One

Fulfilling all righteousness.

Acclaimed in baptism;

Acclaimed on the mount:

See God's Beloved!

Never have words been said

With such dignity: "Not my will

But thine be done".

Without blemish;

Without spot:

The Lamb for the offering.

Where the excellence

Always existed, the fire

Released the fragrance.

The four evangelists

Wrote, by the Holy Spirit,

Their holy narratives.

Worthy of homage;

Worthy of honour:

The ascending Man.

(This is another thinking of the things in Philippians 4: 8)

More of Culross, Fife

ANSWERS

The Firstborn of creation
Rejected by His nation
Secured a new relation
  For men of Adam's race;
Ascended undefeated,
His work for God completed,
The Son of Man is seated
  Upon the throne of grace.

The Father was delighted
And heavenly hosts united
To give the Man once slighted
  The place that is His own;
The One who had descended
In whom all good was blended
Sits, risen and ascended,
  Upon the Father's throne.

His glory is eternal;
Things earthly and infernal
Will own He is supernal
  And bow to Him above;
But how much more the measure
Of His unbounded pleasure
In that peculiar treasure
  That answers to His love! 

l

Views from Culross Palace

and the great old windows to see them from.