m1kinsey
12-01-2008, 09:03 PM
This is a poem by Dr. John Piper. It is set in Bethlehem two weeks before Christ's crucifixion. It is very touching.
Enjoy! I look forward to the criticism.
Here is the link to hear it narrated by the Author:
http://www.haventoday.org/archives.php - The Innkeeper's Answer
The Innkeeper’s Answer
By John Piper
Jake's wife would have been fifty-eight,
The day that Jesus passed the Gate of Bethlehem and slowly walked to the door of Jacob's Inn.
The people talked with friends,
and children played along the paths,
and Jesus hummed a psalm,
and smiled at every child he saw.
He paused with one small lass,
to draw a camel in the dirt. Then said, "What's This?"
The girl bent down her head to study what the Lord had made.
She smiled, "A camel sir.",
And laid her finger on the back where merchant's bind there leather pack.
"It's gotta hump."
"Indeed it does.
And who do think believe it was who made this camel with this hump?"
Without a thought that this would stump the Rabbi Guild and be reviled
She said, "God did!"
And Jesus smiled.
"Good eyes my child."
And would that all Jerusalem within that wall of yonder stone could see the Sons of Peace,
He left the lass with lines of simple wonder on her face,
And slowly went to find the place where he was born.
Folks said that the Inn had never been a place for sin.
For Jacob was a holy man.
And he and Rachel had a plan to marry have a child or two and serve the folks who traveled through.
Especially the poor who brought there meal and turtledoves and sought a place to stay near Zion's Gate.
They'd rise up early,
Stay up late,
To help the pilgrims go and come,
And when the place was full,
To some especially the poorest they would say,
We're sorry there's no room,
But stay now if you like outback,
There's lots of hay and we have extra cots that you can use,
There'll be no charge,
The stable isn’t very large but, Noah keeps it safe,
He was a wedding gift to Jake because the shepherds knew he loved the dog.
There's nothing in the Decalogue, he used to joke, that says a man can't love a dog.
The Children ran ahead of Jesus,
As He strode towards Jacob's Inn,
The stony road that lead up to the Inn,
Was deep with centuries of wear,
And steep at just one point before the door.
The Lord knocked once,
Then twice,
Before he heard an old mans voice,
"Round back!" it called,
So Jesus took the track that lead around the Inn,
An old man leaned back in his chair and told the dog to never mind,
"Ain't had no one to tend the door m'lad for thirty years."
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience to your sore feet."
"The road to Jerusalem is hard ain't it?"
"Don't mind ol' Shem. He's harmless like his Dad, won't bite a roman soldier in the night."
"Sit down."
Jacob waved the stumpof his right arm,
"We're in a slump right now,"
"Have lots of time to think and talk."
"Come sit. Have a drink,"
"From Jacob's Well" he laughed.
"You own the Inn?"
The lord inquired.
"On loan you’d better say. God owns the Inn."
At that, the Lord knew they were Kin.
And ventured on...
Do you recall the tax when Caesar said that each must be enrolled?
Old Jacob winced...
"Are North Winds cold?
"Are deserts dry?"
"Do fishes swim?
"And Ravens fly?"
"I do."
A grim awful year it was for me when God ordained that strange decree.
How could I such a time forget?
Why do you ask?
I have a debt to pay and I must see how much.
Why do you say it was such a grim and awful year?
He raised the stump of his right arm,
So dazed young man…I didn’t know I’d lost my arm.
Do you know what it cost me to house the Son of God?
The old man took his cedar rod and swept it around the place,
Empty,
For thirty years alone. You see?
Ol' Jacob.
Poor old Jacob.
Runs it with one arm, a dog….no sons,
But, I had Sons….Once.
Joseph was my first born,
He was small because his mother was so sick,
When he turned three,
The Lord was good to me,
And Rachel and our baby Ben was born.
A very fortnight before the blessed family arrived,
And Rachel's gracious heart contrived a way for them to stay.
There in that very stall.
The man was thin and tired,
You look a lot like him,
And Jesus said, Why was it grim?
We got a reputation here that night,
Nothing at all to fear in that we thought,
It was of God!
But, in one year the slaughter squad from Herod came,
And where do you suppose they started?
Not a clue.
We didn’t have a clue, what they had come to do.
No time to pray
No time to run
No time get poor Joseph off the street and let him say goodbye,
To Ben or me or Rachel.
Only time to see a lifted spear smash through his spine and chest.
He stumbled to the sign,
That welcomes strangers to the place,
And looked with panic in his face, as if to ask what he had done.
And then....
Ever lost a son?
The tears streamed down the Savior's cheek,
He shook his head but couldn’t speak,
Before I found the breath to scream,
I heard the words,
I horrid dream,
Kill every child who's two or less. Spare naught for aught nor make excess.
Let this one be the oldest here,
And if you count your own life dear,
Let none escape!
I had no sword,
No weapons in my house.
But Lord, I had my hands.
And I would save the Son of my right hand.
So brave,
Oh Rachel was so brave,
Her hands were like a thousand iron bands around the boy,
She wouldn’t let him go,
So her own back met with every thrust and blow.
I lost my arm, my wife, my sons.
The cost for housing the Messiah here.
Why would he simply disappear and never come to help?
They sat in silence,
And Jacob wondered at the Stranger's tears,
I am the boy,
That Herod wanted to destroy,
You gave my parents room,
To give me life,
And then God let me live and took your wife.
Ask me not why one should live and the other die,
God's ways are high,
And you will know in time.
But I have come to show you,
What the Lord prepared.
The night you made a place for Heaven's Light.
In two weeks they will crucify my flesh,
But mark this Jacob,
I will rise in three days from the dead.
And place my foot upon the head,
Of him who has the power of death.
And I will raise with life and breath,
Your wife, Ben and Joseph too,
And give them Jacob back to you,
With everything the world can store,
And you will reign for ever more.
Enjoy! I look forward to the criticism.
Here is the link to hear it narrated by the Author:
http://www.haventoday.org/archives.php - The Innkeeper's Answer
The Innkeeper’s Answer
By John Piper
Jake's wife would have been fifty-eight,
The day that Jesus passed the Gate of Bethlehem and slowly walked to the door of Jacob's Inn.
The people talked with friends,
and children played along the paths,
and Jesus hummed a psalm,
and smiled at every child he saw.
He paused with one small lass,
to draw a camel in the dirt. Then said, "What's This?"
The girl bent down her head to study what the Lord had made.
She smiled, "A camel sir.",
And laid her finger on the back where merchant's bind there leather pack.
"It's gotta hump."
"Indeed it does.
And who do think believe it was who made this camel with this hump?"
Without a thought that this would stump the Rabbi Guild and be reviled
She said, "God did!"
And Jesus smiled.
"Good eyes my child."
And would that all Jerusalem within that wall of yonder stone could see the Sons of Peace,
He left the lass with lines of simple wonder on her face,
And slowly went to find the place where he was born.
Folks said that the Inn had never been a place for sin.
For Jacob was a holy man.
And he and Rachel had a plan to marry have a child or two and serve the folks who traveled through.
Especially the poor who brought there meal and turtledoves and sought a place to stay near Zion's Gate.
They'd rise up early,
Stay up late,
To help the pilgrims go and come,
And when the place was full,
To some especially the poorest they would say,
We're sorry there's no room,
But stay now if you like outback,
There's lots of hay and we have extra cots that you can use,
There'll be no charge,
The stable isn’t very large but, Noah keeps it safe,
He was a wedding gift to Jake because the shepherds knew he loved the dog.
There's nothing in the Decalogue, he used to joke, that says a man can't love a dog.
The Children ran ahead of Jesus,
As He strode towards Jacob's Inn,
The stony road that lead up to the Inn,
Was deep with centuries of wear,
And steep at just one point before the door.
The Lord knocked once,
Then twice,
Before he heard an old mans voice,
"Round back!" it called,
So Jesus took the track that lead around the Inn,
An old man leaned back in his chair and told the dog to never mind,
"Ain't had no one to tend the door m'lad for thirty years."
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience to your sore feet."
"The road to Jerusalem is hard ain't it?"
"Don't mind ol' Shem. He's harmless like his Dad, won't bite a roman soldier in the night."
"Sit down."
Jacob waved the stumpof his right arm,
"We're in a slump right now,"
"Have lots of time to think and talk."
"Come sit. Have a drink,"
"From Jacob's Well" he laughed.
"You own the Inn?"
The lord inquired.
"On loan you’d better say. God owns the Inn."
At that, the Lord knew they were Kin.
And ventured on...
Do you recall the tax when Caesar said that each must be enrolled?
Old Jacob winced...
"Are North Winds cold?
"Are deserts dry?"
"Do fishes swim?
"And Ravens fly?"
"I do."
A grim awful year it was for me when God ordained that strange decree.
How could I such a time forget?
Why do you ask?
I have a debt to pay and I must see how much.
Why do you say it was such a grim and awful year?
He raised the stump of his right arm,
So dazed young man…I didn’t know I’d lost my arm.
Do you know what it cost me to house the Son of God?
The old man took his cedar rod and swept it around the place,
Empty,
For thirty years alone. You see?
Ol' Jacob.
Poor old Jacob.
Runs it with one arm, a dog….no sons,
But, I had Sons….Once.
Joseph was my first born,
He was small because his mother was so sick,
When he turned three,
The Lord was good to me,
And Rachel and our baby Ben was born.
A very fortnight before the blessed family arrived,
And Rachel's gracious heart contrived a way for them to stay.
There in that very stall.
The man was thin and tired,
You look a lot like him,
And Jesus said, Why was it grim?
We got a reputation here that night,
Nothing at all to fear in that we thought,
It was of God!
But, in one year the slaughter squad from Herod came,
And where do you suppose they started?
Not a clue.
We didn’t have a clue, what they had come to do.
No time to pray
No time to run
No time get poor Joseph off the street and let him say goodbye,
To Ben or me or Rachel.
Only time to see a lifted spear smash through his spine and chest.
He stumbled to the sign,
That welcomes strangers to the place,
And looked with panic in his face, as if to ask what he had done.
And then....
Ever lost a son?
The tears streamed down the Savior's cheek,
He shook his head but couldn’t speak,
Before I found the breath to scream,
I heard the words,
I horrid dream,
Kill every child who's two or less. Spare naught for aught nor make excess.
Let this one be the oldest here,
And if you count your own life dear,
Let none escape!
I had no sword,
No weapons in my house.
But Lord, I had my hands.
And I would save the Son of my right hand.
So brave,
Oh Rachel was so brave,
Her hands were like a thousand iron bands around the boy,
She wouldn’t let him go,
So her own back met with every thrust and blow.
I lost my arm, my wife, my sons.
The cost for housing the Messiah here.
Why would he simply disappear and never come to help?
They sat in silence,
And Jacob wondered at the Stranger's tears,
I am the boy,
That Herod wanted to destroy,
You gave my parents room,
To give me life,
And then God let me live and took your wife.
Ask me not why one should live and the other die,
God's ways are high,
And you will know in time.
But I have come to show you,
What the Lord prepared.
The night you made a place for Heaven's Light.
In two weeks they will crucify my flesh,
But mark this Jacob,
I will rise in three days from the dead.
And place my foot upon the head,
Of him who has the power of death.
And I will raise with life and breath,
Your wife, Ben and Joseph too,
And give them Jacob back to you,
With everything the world can store,
And you will reign for ever more.