What's Your Verdict?

  

 

The gold says King of kings,

The frankincense: High Priest second to none,

The myrrh, the death he would die

First advent of God’s Son.

 

Mary, his pregnant mother,

Was told by God’s messenger, Gabriel,

Joseph, in a vision while he slept,

Was informed by another angel.

 

They had to go to Bethlehem

As a Roman census required,

There they settle for accommodation

That was less than they desired.

 

An innkeeper made room in a stable

The animals gave up their trough,

Emmanuel, meaning God is with us,

Had come from heaven aloft.

 

The animals, they stood in awe

Their Creator had come to earth,

And, if only they could speak,

They would tell of Jesus’ birth.

 

 

The angels announced his arrival

The shepherds received their word,

The wise men had travelled from afar

Hence, Herod had also heard.

 

Simeon held Jesus in his arms

Anna’s waiting was vindicated,

The wise men returned another way

While jealous Herod waited.

 

A massacre of Hebrew males

Of just two years and under,

Herod’s attempt to kill the Messiah

And give vent to his livid anger.

 

Your Honour, I have presented,

A case for the birth of Christ,

The foregoing bears clear evidence

And should quite easily suffice.

 

But should you need more proof

Consult his written Word

Which he by the Holy Spirit authored

And by which many have heard.

 

 

I await your verdict, Your Honour,

What I have presented is truth,

I have confidence in your judgment

Given these reliable proofs.

 

And the verdict is, dear people,

Jesus did come to earth

And that is why for thousands of years

We celebrate his birth.

 

He had to be born to have lived

He had to live to have died,

He had to be entombed to have risen

And in his resurrection, I abide.

 

In as much as he died, I died,

In as much as he arose, I am raised,

And because of his Spirit that lives in me,

I cannot help but give him praise.

 

 

And the verdict is, I repeat,

Christ did come to save such as I

And in the light of such evidence

Only a fool would dare deny.

 

Stewart Russell © December 11, 2021

 

These All Saw and Believed

 

 

 

A few people saw baby Jesus

And all that saw him believed,

Whether in the stall or at the house

These persons were received.

 

First it was the shepherds

That rushed to the Saviour’s side,

It mattered not their lowly state

They were not to be denied.

 

 

There was the devout Simeon

Who eagerly anticipated the event,

As soon as he laid eyes on the child

Simeon knew he was God-sent.

 

Right then he was ready to go

For his eyes had seen God’s salvation:

To the Jew first and the Gentile;

The ushering of their redemption.

 

 

There was Anna, the prophetess

That served in the temple at Jerusalem,

She too, “coming in that instant”

Testified of man’s redemption.

 

Not only were there Jews

But some Gentiles had followed a star,

After about two years they saw the child

Proving they had come from afar.

 

 

Nativity scenes showed them in the stall

But this could not have been so,

Matthew said they saw him “in the house”

And surely Matthew would know.

 

Herod had decreed the slaying

Of all males two years old and under,

Matthew chapter 2 verse 18

Gives an indication of this slaughter.

 

 

The magi gave the Christ child gifts

Of gold, frankincense and myrrh,

This child born to be both king and priest

In a tomb would be later interred.

 

These all saw the Christ child

And no doubt they were filled with joy

And still today that opportunity is open

To every man, woman, girl and boy.

 

Let this Christmas be an opportunity

When you also will see and believe

That Jesus came to call the unrighteous

And hence, sinners he will receive.

 

 

Such is the status of every man and woman

Until they have been born again,

Jesus, sinners will receive

Let us raise this joyous strain.

 

Like the message of the first Christmas

It is still the message for today,

Were it not for that natal star

The wise men would have gone astray.

 

May this Christmas tide find you

Believing in the reason for Christmas

And like the magi that followed his star,

Seek out the Saviour, Jesus.

 

A Christ filled Christmas to all

Do not over-stuff yourself,

You will be needed again in 2021

So please stay in good health.

 

Stewart Russell © December 25, 2020

 

 

Just Once

There is no such star today

In the east or in the west

To guide the seeking traveller

In pursuit of his quest.

No angel song announcement

To shepherds in the field

Or light resplendent in the heavens

To guide wise men in their zeal.

No Simeon in the temple

To indicate the Lord has come,

No Anna, the aging prophetess

To confirm this revelation.

No inn in Judea’s Bethlehem

No Joseph and no Mary,

No decree from Caesar Augustus

No need to make that journey.

No baby in a manger

Surrounded by smelly animals,

No nativity scene in a stable

With just a few unimportant people.

No star standing watch above

Having led to Bethlehem,

No angry King Herod on his throne

Startled by the visit of wise men.

Though rehearsed and recounted

Up to and on Christmas day,

None of these events still happen

In this very same way.

No repeating of the history

Of that wonderful incarnation,

Once Christ came and once he died

To bring to us salvation.

However, wise men still seek

To be shepherded by the Christ,

Both the high and the low

Are saved through his sacrifice.
  

One price, once and for all time

One price for a soul’s redemption,

Paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ

God’s only begotten Son.

Once he suffered without the wall

Just once his precious blood did flow,

Once, he purchased our salvation

The Bible tells me so.

Let this Christmas time find you

Immersed in his wonderful love,

The Love that came down at Christmas

The Love that came from above.

To be covered for time and eternity

Just once is all you need,

Like the shepherds and the wise men

Haste to the Saviour, with speed!

Stewart Russell © December 2019

The Birth of Jesus

 

Out on the Judean hills where shepherds watched their sheep,

There came a brilliant light piercing through the darkness deep;

Hosts of angels had descended to tell of the Saviour’s birth,

Good tidings and great salvation and peace to all on earth.

Fear not said the angel for unto you the Savior has come,

None other than Christ the Lord who is God’s eternal Son;

They found the baby Jesus in the stable where he was born,

With Mary, his mother and Joseph that first Christmas morn.

Next there were the wise men that journeyed from afar,

All the way to Herod’s palace while guided by the star;

Herod attempted to fool them and feigned a spirit of worship,

But the wise men warned in a dream had given him the slip.

They gave the baby gifts and worshipped during their stay,

Then returned to their homelands by going another way;

Gold, frankincense and myrrh were the gifts they gave to him,

Each one had a meaning for the one that saves from sin.

The gold was given to the baby to show Jesus as their king,

Frankincense to show his priesthood the one of whom we sing;

Myrrh to anoint his body the death he would die for all,

And salvation bring to many who on his name would call.

  

The wise men never returned thus Herod was hot with rage,

“Kill every child under two and all them that be that age!”

Joseph took them to Egypt after he was warned in a dream,

And only returned to Nazareth after Herod was off the scene.

In accordance with the law they journeyed to Jerusalem,

There they met a devout man whose name was Simeon;

Shown that he would see the Christ before he met his death,

Right in the temple court that day he drew him to his chest.

His eyes had seen God’s salvation prepared for all people,

A light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Israel;

A blessing he gave to the parents and also the little child,

In his arms he held our Saviour, so gentle, so meek, so mild.

There was the prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel,

She was eighty years and four and living in the temple;

When she saw the child she rejoiced with exultation,

Giving thanks to God for the redemption of Jerusalem.

An Extract from the Bible in Poetry

Stewart Russell (c) 2016