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

 

Out of the Old Testament into the New

I hope you’ve been following closely, I hope you are aware,

That now comes the transition the New Testament is here;

Beginning with the Gospels and moving through the Acts,

We will follow the Apostles and be guided by their tracks.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God,

And his own refused him did not give as much as a nod;

But to all who came to him all that believe on his name,

To them he gave his power for they were the ‘born again’.

This same Word became flesh and resided with man,

Man did not esteem the Master and from him he ran;

Moses gave the law but Christ brought truth and grace,

Thus Jesus Christ is the answer for all the human race.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell the Gospel story,

How the Saviour Christ did come from his throne in glory;

Mary was betrothed to Joseph in the meantime he did tarry,

But then her strange conception stopped his plan to marry.

Then Joseph was told in a dream, “Take Mary as your wife,”

For that which was conceived in her was not an ordinary life;

A virgin shall bring forth a son, did Isaiah the prophet foretell,

His name, meaning God with us, shall be called Emmanuel.

Mary went to visit Elizabeth way up in the hill country,

Elizabeth was excited to hear the salutation from Mary;

Her babe leapt within her and she asked in all her glee,

Why should the mother of my Lord come to be with me?

Zacharias who was a high priest was one day in the temple,

Performing ministrations when appeared the angel Gabriel;

Told that his wife would have a son and that in her old age,

Was struck dumb when he argued, “no, never at her stage.”

Only at the circumcision would he have his voice again,

So on a piece of paper he was forced to write the name;

They called him Zacharias but Elizabeth said he is John,

The name the angel gave before the baby was born

An Extract from The Bible in Poetry

Stewart Russell (c) 2013