Sunday, March 4, 2018


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:
  1. John 3:15 Some interpreters hold that the quotation concludes with verse 15
  2. 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
and live eternally.

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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