A quarterly magazine for the proclamation and defense of the Gospel
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A quarterly magazine for the proclamation and defense of the Gospel |
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Vol. 4, Issue 4 | Winter 2010 |
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Primum Mobile is a quarterly web magazine. This issue and all its contents are © Copyright 2004-2010 by the editors. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
By Paul Lytle
The poems in this issue will be offered in audio form through the Christian Pilgrimage Podcast. To subscribe to the podcast using iTunes, please click here. To listen to the podcast without iTunes, please follow this link. These podcasts will be uploaded throughout December 2010, so check back for all three.
My son, silence please, and I will start the story again.
Speak if you wish of what has happened and when,
But it changes not what I know.
You babble on about the death of a blasphemer.
Well, if such we have here, the hosts of heaven
Sing praises to this false prophet who has perished.
Means that nothing to you? Is it counted as naught?
The miracles he performed, mean they something?
Ah, yes, he is dead. Declared deceased and buried.
His disciples are divided, driven underground.
And so his claim is crushed? He is no Christ?
The one who raised the dead is dead himself.
There is something to that; I think this is not over.
In the fields we were that night, with the flocks
(As I have done a thousand times), thirty and three years ago.
The sheep were comforted, corralled and put to sleep.
Aaron and I watched, the evening air cool on us.
The sheep were at rest and all remained at peace.
But then, as though busting from beyond the heavens,
An angel was amongst us, his awesome power bared,
And barely a glimpse I got before cowering in the grass.
Bathed in light was he, and beyond doubt beautiful,
But terrible above all, towering tall and mighty.
I cannot explain it more: enough the prophets have said;
You would recognize their ranks, and you would revere them.
The other shepherds stood, but soon to knell,
And upon our faces we trembled, knowing not what terror awaits.
We thought ourselves dead, and him to draw us to judgment.
But, no, my son, such was not the case.
He was there to praise, for here were his words:
“Behold, behold, and fear not, I bring you good news.
Good news of great joy given for all people.
This day is born to you in David’s city a savior.
He is come, Christ, the Lord.
Go and see this sign for you: this savior in swaddling cloths,
Lying in a manger the Messiah is.”
And then he stood in company, a host of angels came,
And as one they sang, the melody sweet in my thoughts:
“May glory be to God in the highest,
For those on whom his pleasure rests peace on earth! Peace!”
Our hearts welled up in praise whilst hearing their hymn.
We did not fear further, but were filled in wonder.
The terror that took us tore at our minds no longer,
For hope had overcome, and hope our hearts upheld.
The Christ had come! Do you comprehend this message?
Our Savior had been brought, born at Bethlehem!
Long had we looked for him, he who would liberate us!
Do you not see, my son? That salvation is at hand?
But salvation has not come as we had conceived of it.
We found the boy in a manger, meager and meek,
Just as the angel assured, and we all were welcomed.
This was the king! He who would conquer all.
And he was a boy, a child at his mother’s breast.
I realized then that it was right this way.
I suddenly understood that Solomon’s palace was too small,
For this was the Messiah, more worthy than all.
He would regard as nothing the most regal of births,
But in humility he came, regarding his heavens as nothing.
It was not what we would have wanted for him.
Our Christ deserves much more – the praises of the masses,
The finest of all things, the fullness of creation.
Yet we wanted our Christ to be our conqueror,
And perhaps not, it seems, the savior of our souls.
We wanted him to run the Romans off the land!
And yet did not assume that he would address us as well.
He was something different than perhaps we desired.
But he was something we needed and not what we sought.
You say he could not be the Christ, for crucified he is.
You say no king could have been so killed;
I reply the ruler you expected perhaps is not real.
The God who stoops to save by standing with his creatures
Is not concerned by garish riches – he had them greater!
He is not worried of possessions – he possessed them all!
The stable is not much lower for him than the loftiest palace.
Bethlehem not much below the best and brightest hall.
They are all much lower than our lord would know.
Think you then that death be outside his worth?
Indeed, yet he has so stooped for us in that stable.
He has bent down to bring us up to him.
Why then does the Cross seem so crass to you?
He has come to save, and the salvation we need
Is not upon the fields of battle, but rather buried within.
It is not the Romans who rule so roughly over us,
But it is the sin we seek for succor.
You have read the law: listen to me on this.
I have shepherded many sheep, sheltered them close.
I have given many to the gates of the Temple,
And left more than I can count to be cut down for sacrifice.
This is the price of our sin – the pervasive pouring of blood.
This is what we owe, what we wish not atone for.
You think you worthy of life because you lift up a lamb?
We have earned death – and the lamb is not enough.
If we want salvation, it is needed within.
The birth of that boy had the angels bellowing praise.
What plan of God could be conquered by a Roman Cross?
This is not over, son; so do not speak quite yet.
Pray, and humble yourself, for he has been humbled, yes,
Yet endure it a time, for he may be exalted in the end.
