St. John Baptist (Thomas Merton)

 When, for the fifteenth year, Tiberius Caesar 

Cursed, with his reign, the Roman world, 

Sharing the Near-East with a tribe of tetrarchs, 

The Word of God was made in far-off province: 

Deliverance from the herd of armored cattle, 

When, from the desert, John came down to Jordan. 

  

But his prophetic messages 

Were worded in a code the scribes were not prepared to understand. 

Where, in their lexicons, was written:  Brood of vipers, 

Applied, that is, to them? 

  

Who is this Lamb, Whose love 

Shall fall upon His people like an army: 

Who is this Savior, Whose sandal-latchet 

This furious Precursor is afraid to loose? 

To read the rest of Thomas Merton’s poem, 

St. John Baptist, click here.

Image source:  El Greco, St. John the Baptist, ca. 1600, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
See also:  https://uploads7.wikiart.org/images/el-greco/st-john-the-baptist.jpg

Poem source