A STRANGER IN JERUSALEM
And as they walked, they asked Him:
"Do you alone dwell as a stranger in Jerusalem
And know not the things that occurred there?"
He said to them, "What things?"
And they said to Him, "About Jesus of Nazareth?
Was it not fitting that the Christ should suffer these things?"
He came to His own and His own received Him not,
Neither did they entertain Him or share the comforts of their homes.
O Hope of Israel, why should you be as a wayfarer
Who spreads His tent to tarry only for a night?
They opened the gates of the city, laid branches before Him,
but let Him ride no further in their hearts.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, city that murders the prophets!
Would that you had known the day of your visitation!
He taught in the temple and they heard Him awhile,
then returned many to their own way.
He drove away the traffic and moneychangers from the holy place
And made Himself a thoroughfare for those in need.
They tried to trap, trick, and kill Him to no avail
Until it was given into the hands of His enemies to put Him to death.
They spat in the face of Moses' friend.
They crucified Him and thought they had finished with Him,
but reckoned not on an empty tomb and an Indestructible Life.
Then the Unknown One did abide with them at Emmaus.
And He said to them as they broke bread,
"Take, eat; this is My body."
Their eyes were opened to behold their Lord,
And they saw Him not as a stranger.
by
Sarah Maitland
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