And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him

 

The stern Jesus;

a half-frown upon his divine countenance
and voice lowered to underline the seriousness
of the situation.
You’ve got to keep it secret, he tells them,
lest people get the wrong idea.
Which wrong idea, Jesus?
there must be a handful to choose from.
 
The inner circle got one of them,
anticipating their share in the glory
of his earthly rule.
You are the Christ, declared Peter;
and we are your right-hand men, so to speak.
We will hear no more talk of suffering,
so please desist.
 
The Scribes, Pharisees
and sundry religious associates
managed to get a wrong idea, too;
frightened, as they were, of these new teachings
that put grace ahead of law.
He cannot be from God! they protest,
as they make plans to prove it.
 
Two millennia later
there is still no shortage of wrong ideas.
Power and Wealth conspire with Polite Christianity
to pretend that its founder
never said anything disturbing, or challenging;
being only really interested
in good order and respectability.
 
Don’t tell anybody.

 

 

© Ken Rookes 2015