What have we to do with you?
Our skin crawls, bristles, blisters
Shrieks well from within our spine
Gall and wormwood in our bones
Before we see you we know you’re there
We know who you are
The dreaded and bloody lamb
Anointed wielder of the sword
Bane of your bastard brethren
The Holy Terror of God
Have you come to destroy us?
Nothing is as it seems
Eternal, silent and cold
Sinister and lovely
Yes, take it from us
What can you do to us
That we have not done ourselves?
This is a double-POV piece, a reflection on Luke 4:31-41 and Peter’s first encounter with Jesus as Exorcist/Healer. In putting myself in Peter’s shoes, he sees much of himself in the demon’s reaction to Jesus — so he in turn writes from the demon’s POV.
Yes, I know this is weird. But aren’t we all afraid of the control we will lose by yielding to Jesus? Aren’t a great many of us really afraid that he will tear our comfortable little worlds apart? Even those of us who have very little are frightened by the story of the widow’s mite. It all sounds good in Sunday School lessons… but how many of us really want to give literally everything over to God? We are all somewhat demonic in our response to Messiah.
I would tend to agree: we’re all confronted by the change Jesus wants to make in our lives. It’s beautiful and it hurts. And more often than not, it’s not the last change Jesus is going to demand of our perspectives and actions. Well done, Greg.
Thanks, Jacob. That means a lot, coming from you.