The Evangeliad (30:21-25)

 (Click here for an introduction and previous installments of the Evangeliad)

Section 30:21-25 (corresponding to Luke 14:21-23; Matt. 22:8-10)

Then to all of his servants who still remain,

The King, with renewed resolution, will say:

'Those I invited, unworthy have proved,

Yet still there's a feast, the finest of food!

Go out to the markets, alleys and streets,

Call in the outcasts to come and to eat!

Go bring in the poor, the blind, and the lame,

Call in those burdened with heartache and pain.'

So the servants go out, in come the crowds,

But still there is room to gather around.

'Look, Lord,' they say, 'we've done as you asked,

Yet still seats are empty at your repast.'

'Then go further out,' their Master replies,

'Yes, out to the paths of the countryside,

And call everyone, all those whom you meet;

Constrain them to come to the joy of my feast!

My house shall be full, in spite of the fact

That those I invited have all turned their backs.

Of them, at my table, shall none get to feast,

For my joy goes out to the least of the least.'

The Evangeliad (30:16-20)

(This is the first Evangeliad portion I've posted in months; forgive my lassitude. Evangeliad posts, along with occasional essays, should resume with a more-or-less weekly frequency now that my patristics article and the greater part of my book-editing are done. The stanzas below continue a parable of Jesus, begun in the previous sections: Part 1 / Part 2.)

(Click here for an introduction and previous installments of the Evangeliad)

Section 30:16-20 (corresponding to Matt. 22:4-7; cf. Luke 14:21)

But the good king sends even more servants out,

To deliver another message about

The joy of his son, the table prepared,

The lavish event he was longing to share.

But instead of the righteous deference they owe,

The invited ones all contempt start to show.

Some laugh at the servants, some walk away,

Some murder them rather than hear what they say.

Then what will the king, in all his wrath, do?

He'll send armies to where his servants went through,

Root out the murderers, burn down their homes,

Wreak judgment on all the cruelty they've shown.