Take good notes

After John 7:14-24 

He speaks; they hear,

they do not listen.

In simple words, he

outlines his authority,

explaining the difference

between Father and self.

He focuses on their intent

to eliminate any perceived

threats. He points out

their hypocrisy, duplicity,

their enslavement 

to appearances, favoring

perception over reality, 

perception over the true.

One might think they would

take good notes; they do,

but the wrong kind:

the notes of condemnation

and destruction.

 

Photograph by Antoine Julien via Unsplash. Used with permission.

They marvel

After John 7:14-24

They marvel, with grumble

implied, at the man who

teaches without learning,

without credential, who

hasn’t studied with experts

but only with those who

fashion wood for a living.

They marvel, with sarcasm

implied, suggesting he’s

a trickster, a charlatan,

a heretic of sleight of hand.

His answer pierces and

punctures, claiming

authority they themselves

desire but dare not claim,

holding up a mirror

to their accusations, seeing 

their real intent poisoning

their hearts, their desire

for worldly acclaim,

their fears for worldly status,

their anger at anything,

anyone,

threatening their station,

threatening their self-perception.

 

Photograph by Saravaswa Tandon via Unsplash. Used with Permission

Festival teaching

After John 7:14-24 

Festival time:

the festival of remembrance,

the time to live in shelters

of lives, remembrance

of wanderings past,

of wilderness past,

forty years of purification.

He waits.

he doesn’t go at first,

avoiding the crowds;

the time is not yet.

When he goes, it’s not

to the festival but 

to the temple, to teach.

When he speaks, 

this uneducated man,

even the learned marvel.

He speaks, and he teaches,

in the midst of wilderness

remembrance, a wilderness

of its own kind.

 

Photograph by Winston Chen via Unsplash. Used with permission.