Call me Benji

 

 

Benji, as you know,

Is the short for Benjamin

As in the Animal Farm satire

Also made into a film.

 

Call me Benji if you like

Since this case is not formal

And as you know,

Donkeys are not people.

 

I played a support role

In a number of Bible events

But two in particular

Better illustrate my intent.

 

 

I could speak of Saul

Who became Israel’s first king

And his search for asses…

Oh boy, isn’t that a thing?

 

 

 

I could talk of Balaam

And about his talking jackass

That had more sense than he,

Boy, wasn’t that class?

 

I carried a king twice:

To his birth and to his death,

If you read the Bible often

You’d know the rest.

 

I belonged to Joseph;

He was a respectable man

Thus, one of my supporting roles

Was in redemption’s plan.

 

Mary was pregnant

But they had a problem

And because of a Roman census

They went to Bethlehem.

 

 

I had to carry Mary

And her unborn child

Whom many would refer to as,

Jesus meek and mild.

 

At the time of the census

I did not know this

But carrying the Christ child,

I’d never want to miss.

 

That was some honour,

Oh, it was so sweet,

God’s mode of transportation

Was Benji’s footsure feet.

 

Call me a jackass

But I felt like a king

When I carried the King of kings!

Wasn’t that something?

 

I was in the stall too

When the shepherds came,

They were joyful and happy

Praising Jehovah’s name.

 

No wisemen were there;

Not in that stall,

Contrary to popular belief,

There were none at all.

 

Some years after

A close relative of mine

Also played a supporting role

In an event in his time.

 

 

His name was also Benji

Just like most donkeys

So, I will let him tell his experience

For posterity.

 

I was tied up

When these men came,

I believe they spoke to my owner

And mentioned a name.

 

All I heard was master

And having need of me,

And then thy took me away

This master for to see.

 

None had sat me before

So this was an honour,

Just four spindly legs

But I was carrying all power.

 

Jesus was fully grown then,

Not a baby anymore

But Benji, the second, back then,

Was just as footsure.

 

At Jesus’ birth

The town was Bethlehem

But this was the capital city,

Specifically, Jerusalem.

 

I walked on palm leaves

And on people’s clothes,

Nothing like as with Balaam

Delivering those blows.

 

I can still hear shouting

As the people rejoiced

Not knowing a few days later

They’d be another choice.

 

 

“Hosanna,” they shouted,

As I carried him

But later it was “Crucify him!”

Though he had no sin.

 

 

 

No fault had been found

But Jesus had to die

And so, “Hosanna in the Highest”

Changed to “Crucify!”

 

Two life-changing events

In fulfilment of prophecy:

The latter: The Triumphal Entry

The former: The Nativity.

 

Two premiere events

In which Benji took part

So next time you see a jackass,

Please have a heart.

 

Stewart Russell © December 10, 2024

 

Four Journalistic Accounts

 

 

Four men with pens and parchment

Set out to do the Master’s bid,

Moved by the Holy Spirit

Exactly as they were told they did.

Out of this came four pictures

Though of cameras, they had none,

In the Bible, we have the evidence

Of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Two were primary reporters

Of what they had witnessed and seen,

Two were not far from the action

And wrote the account as streamed.

Matthew and John were disciples

And had walked beside the Christ,

They received his teachings firsthand

Without conditions or price.

Mark and Luke were followers

And most likely knew Christ’s disciples

But they all had the Spirit’s guidance

And in such a recording, there is no rival.

Way back in the Old Testament

The accounts were given their themes,

Two prophets had declared them

Long before Christ came on the scene.

These were Isaiah and Zechariah

And they, led by the Spirit of God,

Penned these themes in their books

And preached them to one and all.

They were not completely au fait

With all that these themes had meant

But simply declared the word

As the messengers that God had sent.

In Zechariah chapter 6 verse 9

There we read, “Behold the man”,

This was pertaining to Christ’s advents

And his work re the redemption plan.

  

The next declaration comes from Isaiah

As recorded in Isaiah 42 verse 1,

“Behold my servant” is the theme

700 years before Christ was born.

Zechariah is back: chapter 9 verse 9

“Behold your King,” he declares,

“Riding upon a colt the foal of an ass,”

Prophetic of that first Palm Sunday.

The 4th is recorded in Isaiah 40 verse 9

And that theme is, “Behold your God,”

A clear indication of the deity of Christ

And this to all would be spread abroad.

And so with eyes as roving cameras

And ears completely tuned to the Spirit

These four wrote as the Spirit led

Ever conscious of their God-given remit.

Behold Your King

Matthew, though the first as presented,

Is really the second journal penned,

A study of this account would reveal

“Jesus the King,” as Zechariah declared then.

As a king, his genealogy was presented

Making him an heir to David’s throne,

Starting at the first verse of Matthew

By verse 16 this is clearly shown.

In Matthew 5 he came to fulfil the law

Regarding its spirit and not its letter,

The liberty to do what is righteous

And not by its rule to be fettered.

Murder was anger for a brother

Adultery was committed in the heart,

Swearing of an oath was forbidden

And to love our enemy we should start.

As a King, he was greater than Moses

And over the Sabbath he was Lord,

He showed his authority over demons

As demonstrated in the Word.

He was much wiser than Solomon

And far greater than Jonah,

At birth and death, he was called a king

And showed his authority over nature.

Behold My Servant

Matthew to Mark was a quantum leap

From king down to “Jesus the Servant”,

No genealogy was required in this case

But key persons were used as a reference.

First a testimonial from John the Baptist

Re: coming after but preferred before

And God Himself was a reference,

Tell me, who could ask for more?

The Holy Spirit testified of him

This occurred at the baptism of John

And Jesus himself said he came to minister

As a reference, he must be accepted as one.

In one encounter with a blind man

He requested of him what to do,

No doubt he knew what the man required

But his was a servant’s point of view.

When questioned regarding the end

He indicated that was in the Father’s hand

He knew quite well a servant’s place

And stuck to the Master’s plan.

Behold The Man

He carried a two-fold nature

Not two natures as some may suggest,

Luke presented him as “Jesus the Man”

And as a man, he passed the test.

In Luke there is another genealogy

That goes all the way back to Adam

Luke chapter 3 verses 23 to 38

Definitely shows that he was a man.

He identified with each one of us

He showed complete dependence on God,

Even in the wilderness when tempted

By the sinister devil, that fraud.

In Luke his humanity is prominent

Even from the recording of his birth,

His compassion and sympathy were evident

As he reached out to all the earth.

Once as he stood overlooking Jerusalem

He looked down on the city and wept,

How he longed to gather them to himself

But for him, they had no respect.

His humanity was shown in Gethsemane

In that agonizing session

As he prayed in earnest to his Father,

O how he revealed his human passion!

There his sweat was like drops of blood

As he prayed the more earnestly,

Demonstrating again his humanity

As he previewed his pending agony.

Behold Your God

Matthew, Mark and Luke most may believe

But not John’s account of “Jesus as God”,

A perfect human or the archangel for some

But as God, they would never applaud.

Jesus’ use of I AM incensed the Jews

That claim was reserved for only God,

Such was their anger that they angrily declared

Jesus was a blasphemer, liar and fraud.

Yet John stated in the beginning was the Word

And the Word was God

And that the Word became flesh

John also spread it abroad.

At his arrest, Peter didn’t know the man

Though he had acknowledged him as the Christ,

But Thomas referred to him as Lord and God

When he saw the evidence of his sacrifice.

Jesus had not only come from God Himself

But God Himself who had come,

The Son of God means God Himself

The Son in the Father and the Father in the Son.

Behold a virgin shall be with child

And she shall bring forth a son,

And they shall call his name Emmanuel

Meaning, God Himself, with us has come.

He who has the Father accepts the Son

Along with the Holy Spirit these three-in-one,

God was in Christ reconciling the world

And through the Holy Spirit, the work is done.

Stewart Russell © April 2018

The Gospel

The Gospel according to

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Was conceptualized in heaven

Long before they were born.

The Gospel is the Good News

About our Saviour, Jesus Christ, 

It was he who died on the cross

To pay our sin’s price.

But from the dead he arose

Praises to God we shout and sing

That Jesus, our Lord and Saviour

Is our soon coming King.

Back in the Old Testament

Long before Jesus had come

Prophets character sketched him

With accurate information.

One of these was Isaiah

From whose writings we often quote,

The other prophet was Zechariah,

Of him too we should take note.

Isaiah was more extensive

In his fore telling of the Christ

But Zechariah’s nonetheless

Will also adequately suffice.

God gave to Zechariah

Precise insight into His plan

And in chapter 6 verse 12

We have “Behold the man!”

An on the “nail-head” caption

Regarding the humanity of Christ,

The title to the Gospel of Luke

So apt and so precise.

Or check Isaiah 42 verse 1

Where there is yet another instant

When God reveals his purpose

Embodied in “Behold my servant.”

Isaiah must have been unaware

And pretty much in the dark

That he was writing the caption

Of the Gospel according to Mark.

In Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9

To our attention the prophet brings

Jesus as he comes riding on a colt

Entitled, “Behold thy King!”

Zechariah surely did not know

Though he captioned this preview

Of the Gospel that was ascribed

To the tax collector, Matthew.

Last but not least we explore

The most debated of them all

As we turn to Isaiah 40 verse 9

And there see, “Behold your God!”

Could Isaiah have known, I doubt

That in his mind it had dawned

That several centuries before the time

He had cited the Gospel of John.

As one studies these four Gospels

Apparent differences will appear

Hence the need to have right focus

With the Spirit to guide you there

The one who came was fully God

And yet, he was fully man

To bridge the gap betwixt us and God

This was the Divine plan.

He was the King of all kings

But his splendor was laid aside

As he became the servant of all

Then was finally crucified.

He was the God-man who came to us

His servant-king’s name was Jesus

He came to minister, not to be minister to

The Gospel shows this as his purpose.

For the four Gospels is really one

Depicting the Lord as the risen Christ

Who died to save us from our sin

In offering himself as our sacrifice.

It is the Trinity at work

To ensure God’s salvation plan,

It’s the chronicles of His Son’s life

And his redemption of man.

Stewart Russell © January 2018