Sunday, November 22, 2015

The weapon


After Acts 22

He tells his story
at the temple, and
they listen attentively,
even respectfully, until
he says what God told him
to do: go to the Gentiles. Then
follows the familiar uproar, as
it always does when truth
is spoken. They pick up
their stones, the soldiers prepare
to lacerate his back, until he asks,
do you flog a Roman citizen who
has committed no crime?
In fear, in shock,
they stop at this brandishing
of a weapon they did not expect.


Illustration via The Dore Bible Gallery.

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