Tag: Matthew 16

Duped

Then Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

Matthew 16:21-27
Take up your cross, the savior says.
Beneath his own, he stooped,
and we who follow in his steps
must let ourselves be duped.

For it is madness, is it not,
to be so crucified?
A folly and a stumbling block,
yet we'll be lifted high.

We fight the weight that comes to us
and kick against the trace,
but soon or late we'll each be crushed,
and we will call it grace.

For there in sorrow and in grief
Christ lays his wounded head
on purpose to receive the thief
and walk among the dead.

The cross that is our pain and death
he came intent to share,
accepting from his first-drawn breath
the weight he was to bear.

His madness joins us on the cross;
his folly shares our fate,
so he could hold us in his arms
through all we can't escape.

Jeremiah By Ephraim Moses Lilien – E. M. Lilien, eine künstlerische Entwickelung um die Jahrhundertwende, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49628661

Who Do We Say You Are?

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and
he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:13-20
From east and west, O Lord, we come,
from all points near and far
to answer this in every tongue:
Who do we say you are?

A prophet like all those before
touched with a holy flame?
You prophesy and yet are more
than any prophet's claim.

A king to reign o'er every land,
a sword in hand you take?
You are the king, yet in your hand
is bread you bless and break.

A great high priest to stnd for us
before the face of God?
Both priest and victim, fire and blood,
and true God from true God.

You are the Christ, God's living Son;
there is no other word.
You are God's own beloved one,
God's love itself, our Lord.

Then we will go from east to west
announcing who you are:
God's love for every one of us,
light shining in the dark.

Jesus Christ – detail from Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul By Edal Anton Lefterov – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15165689