A
Poem a Sunday
Lent
IV – B
March
11, 2018
St. John
3:14-21 - NRSV
14 And
just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man
be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[a]
16 “For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed,
God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that
the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not
condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have
not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the
judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil
hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be
exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it
may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”[b]
Footnotes:
- John 3:15 Some interpreters hold that the
quotation concludes with verse 15
- John 3:21 Some interpreters hold that the
quotation concludes with verse 15
A
Poem a Sunday
Lent
IV – B
Serpent
on a Tree
East of Eden we
raise our eyes
to the one lifted
up
and to our surprise
the serpent that
bites
and poisons our
lives
we look toward for
healing
amidst our cries.
Like Adam, like
Eve,
serpent bitten are
we
and have taken the
fruit
of the forbidden
tree.
Like Israel, God’s
chosen,
the Church succumbs
to temptation
for survival and
self-preservation.
But the Divine uses
the serpent on the
tree
and lifts up the
Christ
on Calvary
so that all
serpent-bitten-ones
can see
and be lifted
from their misery.
Such a godly irony:
the very thing
that does us in
is what sets us
free.
At the Gate of Eden
stands Calvary’s
tree
eat of its fruit
May
be reprinted with the following attribution:
Copyright
2018 @ A Poem a Sunday
by
Pastor Kenn Storck
contact: kennstorck@gmail.com
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