Refreshed in the shade
Of the stone colonnade
My friend and I traded the talk of the town
Flustered, I asked with a frown
“Say, who was that Baptist
Whose breakfast was locusts
Attracting those sinners to wash in the mud?”
Defensive, he gushed like a flood
“The fact is, the Baptist
Claimed not to be Savior
But ‘Friend of the Bridegroom‘! In the womb, they first met”
“With Miryam’s (מִרְיָם) sweet greeting
Who too was with Child
Eli-she-va (אֱלִישֶׁבַע) his mother felt dancing within”
I questioned, “So why’d some detest him?”
As prophet, “Yo-ḥan-an (יוחנן)
With words bold and fervent
Had scolded the Pharisees fearlessly, see?”
“But how?” I asked, stifling my glee
“‘Repent!’ he’d commanded
‘God’s Kingdom has landed!
Flee sin! Turn with quickness! God’s litmus? Bear fruit!’“
I pressed him, “And what’d he do next?”
“With passion untamed
Proclaimed to the king
His wife was unlawful! But waffle, He wouldn’t”
“The queen could not listen
The truth did her sicken
To squash it, she started devising a plot”
“Her scheming advanced
At Herod’s great feast
When Salome danced he burst out with a vow…”
I beckoned my friend, “Don’t stop now!”
“‘I’ll grant whatsoever’
He said to impress
‘To half of my kingdom! Now bring me your wish’”
“She sprang to her mother
Who told her none other
Than John’s speechless head on a platter would do”
“His oath Herod kept lest
He look like an oaf
John’s students with sorrow then buried him”
Surprised at my wet eyes
I felt disenfranchised
“So now, who will baptize?” I asked, feeling cold
He laid a warm hand on my shoulder
“‘Behold, God’s own Lamb!’
He’d cried, finger pointing
‘God’s Son, Who out-hurls the world’s sin‘”
“‘I rejoice at His Voice
My joy is now full
Since He must increase, I must decrease’“
“The skies were ripped open
As John washed Ye-shu-a (יֵשׁוּעַ)
Who baptizes now with the ‘Spirit and fire’“
“Let’s search for Him, then!”
I urged him, breath-bated
“And why wait around?”
So off
With abandon
We ran
To seek and be found
*****
“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11, NIV)
Rhymes for the Rejoiceful 