Trilogy

He saw the cities alabaster white

Beyond the Jordan, through Philistia,

Jerusalem resplendent from the height,

And aliens banished from Samaria,

Himself as David’s rightful heir, in might

Avenging Judah—Rome, Assyria,

And Babylon—the ancient wrongs made right.

“All these are yours if you will worship me—

Dominion over all the land and sea,”

He heard, but chose the humble shepherd’s rod,

Rebuking: “Thou shalt worship only God.”

The Son of Man could yield to Satan’s wile.

The Son of God perceived the serpent’s guile.

He knew the wondrous story of his birth,

The prophecies, the miracles, the plan

Of life retold about the family hearth.

He knew his destiny to lift the ban

Of death from all the men of earth,

But Satan sows self-doubt in every man.

His legions undermine the prophet’s worth.

The witnesses were chosen well, the Rock,

The Sons of Thunder, Peter, James, and John.

They saw him speak with angels, skies unlock

The kingdom, heard the Father claim his Son.

The Son of Man climbed up the mountain’s side.

The Son of God descended, glorified.

He set his face toward the enemy

In full awareness of his coming fate

And bled his prayers in dark Gethsemane

And felt the hot and gathering net of hate.

He knew his own betrayer’s bloody fee

And Herod’s vitriolic concentrate.

He bore Sanhedrin’s shameful mockery

And heard his friends deny him at the gate.

As Satan shook the world in angry throes

And gnashed his ire in lightning-riven storm,

He drank the cup of mankind’s bitter woes

While darkening sky outlines his failing form.

The Son of Man endured Golgotha’s hour.

The Son of God, triumphant, rose in power.