Poa Tree Poems
"THE ELDER"
- by
Dichter1
If truth is told, I was His first disciple, That day, on Jordan's bank, I made my choice/ I turned my back on priesthood then to serve Him, I followed close, to always hear His voice. But I was clearly not a Galilean, For here on Zion was my dwelling place. When oft He came to brave our Holy City, It was my home that He was pleased to grace. Whenever He was teaching in the temple You could rely I would be by His side. When my friend, Nicodemus, came to seek Him They talked within the walls where I abide. I walked with Him the roads of all Judea And through Samaria we made our way. I went to Galilee and met the others, The twelve He called, with whom I learned to pray. That last week it was in my house they gathered; I was the man who had that "upper room." And after, when we all went to the garden, I too was with them in the threatening gloom. When temple toughs arrived there to arrest Him It gave them pause to find that I was there. I know my presence made them all uneasy (With Malchus' ear restored, the rest they'd spare.) Yes, Simon Peter went with me that evening To where my former friends were holding court, And no one questioned why I chose to be there They did not think I would their words report. I saw that Peter got into the courtyard But later, when I sought him, he was gone. All through the night the hasty trial was lengthened, As one by one, their venom'd words droned on. Yes, I myself have talked of Him with Pilate, He told me then of all they both had said, And I was one who watched His crucifixion. I wept and prayed till He at last was dead. Then to my home I brought both John and Mary We sat and talked and grieved throughout the night; They stayed my guests until His resurrection, And God triumphant transformed wrong to right! But, in the end, I was not called "Apostle." As twelve of His disciples came to be. For priesthood born, with seganim* as uncles, My status had become calamity! For if I was a leader in His service My life would soon be forfeit, that was sure! I was too close to those in the Sandhedrin For "pious Jews" my "treason" to endure. A fisherman my age is His Apostle, A stalwart, clear-eyed mystic, that same John. I honor him, my Lord's beloved disciple, The one that Jesus often smiled upon. Now John, who was my friend, becomes my master, As his disciple I have sworn to serve. Where John shall choose to go, I shall go with him; Together we Christ's teachings will preserve. *The Hebrew "segan" might be translated "prince-priest" and is a rank next to that of the high priest himself. "Seganim" is of course the plural. _