Taking Offence

Haiku of confrontation.

He rolled up the scroll.

Here, today, as you hear them,

these words are fulfilled.

He has impressed them.

They speak well of him, amazed

at his gracious words.

This is Joseph’s son,

we watched him grow among us;

done well for himself!

Jesus provokes them

with his stories: No prophet

is welcome at home.

His words offend them;

in anger they drive him out,

threaten to kill him.

The crowd hesitates.

Jesus passes through their midst

and goes on his way.

When I take offence

at Jesus’ words and actions,

Lord, look with mercy.

© Ken Rookes 2022

Signs

Haiku for the hungry

They came seeking signs.

Were not his words sufficient?

Apparently not.

The crowd was hungry

for his words, for the healing

the signs and the hope.

There’s a food shortage;

the hunger is great, it gnaws.

Jesus must feed them.

A boy brings his lunch.

Five barley loaves and two fish.

That will not go far!

Here is mystery!

Somehow all are satisfied;

their hungers addressed.

An impressive sign!

This indeed is a prophet,

the one God has sent.

That is not a sign;

this is a sign! Jesus strides

across the lake

You want a sign? Here,

try this, he says, winking, as

he crosses the lake

Don’t be afraid, it

is I! Jesus says; his words

bringing on God’s peace.

© Ken Rookes 2021

Dining

Haiku for the hungry

Seeking solitude,

he found a deserted place,

but the crowd followed.

Sometimes it’s too much,

we all need time for ourselves;

space to think and pray.

Seeing the people,

he was stirred with compassion,

reaching out to heal.

As the sun went down

his friends spoke: Send them away,

they need to buy food.

They need not depart,

I have fed their souls, we’ll find

food for bodies, too.

They brought it to him,

the five loaves and the two fish;

all the food they had.

That should do, he said.

as he blessed and broke the loaves.

They shared them around.

So many people,

so many ways to hunger;

Jesus feeds them all.

© Ken Rookes 2020

The crowd, hungry for his word.

Haiku of unexpected abundance

The crowd came to him;

saw the signs he was doing,

the sick getting healed.

Up on the mountain

the crowd, hungry for his word;

Jesus will feed them.

Where will we buy bread?

Six month’s wages, said Phillip,

Wouldn’t buy enough.

Five loaves and two fish

that was all they could muster:

a boy and his lunch.

They sat on the grass.

He took the loaves and thanked God,

passed the bread around.

As the story goes

they all had enough to eat,

gathered up the scraps.

Understandably

the people got excited:

He is the prophet!

He made himself scarce,

went further up the mountain

to be by himself.

When evening came

his disciples took the boat,

went out on the lake.

The lake became rough

and the wind blew against them;

they were terrified.

And then Jesus came

with words of reassurance,

Do not be afraid.

© Ken Rookes 2018

Promise asnd hope

Haiku for the shepherdless

They came back to him,

eager, full of their stories,

telling what they did.

We all need a break,

let’s find a deserted place,

away from the crowds.

They went in a boat,

trying to get clean away;

didn’t really work.

They watched them leaving

made haste on foot, got there first

to welcome the boat.

They were a great mob,

like sheep without a shepherd.

His heart ached for them.

And so he taught them

many things. Then he fed them;

meeting their hunger.

And then they sailed on,

landed at Gennesaret;

still more people came.

Wherever he went,

from across the whole region,

they came to be healed.

He came among them

with the prospect of freedom,

a promise of hope.

© Ken Rookes 2018

And all ate

Haiku for the hungry

Seeking to withdraw,

to find peace, he went by boat

to a lonely place.

They came from the towns

trekking around the shoreline

until they found him.

He saw the great crowd,

and their needs. He went ashore

to bless and to heal.

Evening’s shadows

signal that the day has passed.

The people remain.

Hungers are many.

Send the crowds away, they said,

That they may buy food.

They’ve come to be fed;

we’ll supply for their stomachs

as well as their hearts.

Five loaves and two fish

won’t go far among this crowd!

He blessed, broke the bread.

They passed it around.

Somehow it went the distance.

Nobody complained.

© Ken Rookes 2017

Entitlement

Arriving in his home town

Jesus entered the coming-together place

and addressed his people.

A wave of amazement washed over them,

and then receded almost as quickly.

No special favours, he told them.

Like it was with Elijah and Elisha,

it won't be the local people who receive the words,

or the blessings.

It'll be the outsiders, the strangers,

the foreigners and other no-hopers.

Hardly surprising, then,

that a new wave was generated;

one of anger and outrage.

This one took its time passing,

as the throng rode it malevolently

to the cliff at edge of the town;

sweeping the offender before them.

There, to their credit,

they had second thoughts,

and let him walk away.

Which proved to be a good thing

for us outsiders, strangers,

foreigners and other no-hopers.

© Ken Rookes 2016
My apologies. I posted this last week, but for some reason it saved as a draft and didn't post.

Hungers

To get away from the multitudes

and their expectations
the man called Bread
withdraws to the hills.
 
Having eaten their fill,
the crowd still wants more.
They intend to make him king,
to claim him as their hero-leader;
that he might feed them when they are hungry,  
heal them when they are sick,
and deliver them victory over their enemies.
 
Instead he gives them a handful of words:
crumbs of bread to fill them with hope,
and morsels of love to overcome their fears.
Then he offers them platters
laden with small parcels of his own strange life;
topped with generously with sacrifice.
 
None of these  dishes will prove sufficient
to satisfy the imagined hungers of the crowd.
 

 

 

© Ken Rookes 2015

Hunger

Hunger

There’s no escaping a hungry crowd.

Even in deserted places there will be no hiding;

they find him.

To be fair, in our story, it was the disciples

who articulated the need for food.

Maybe the crowd has already

had its metaphorical hunger

satisfied.

Jesus fed me once.

I was hungry; for something

I couldn’t even name.

A spiritual something, an answer,

perhaps, to my bewilderment,

my anger,

my uncertainty.

At least, I think it was Jesus.

Dining on his story

I caught glimpses of hope,

along with tracings of grace.

These intimations

proved food enough to satisfy,

and in time, to value

both the uncertainty

and the anger.

© Ken Rookes 2014.