Just a simple poem, not an epic movie, about violence, betrayal and grace (historical Biblical fiction)

An ambush out of nowhere,

unprovoked and overpowering.

A brutal beating knocks his lights

out for a brief merciful moment.

Incapacitated by the pain, his

resistance is pitiful and powerless.

Ruthless bandits leave him for dead

after they rob, ravage and ruin him.

Gravely wounded and barely alive.

Naked and exposed for all to see.

 

Helpless. Humiliated. Harrowed.

 

He spots his friend from afar.

The scars and callouses from

his friend’s wooden pallet bed

still visible on his injured hands.

He broke the rules and the roof

to bring his friend to Jesus.

Their eyes meet for a split second,

but his friend disconnects, swiftly

switches direction before he sprints

off on his perfectly healed legs.

 

Helpless. Humiliated. Harrowed.

 

His body wounded by strangers.

His soul wounded by a friend—

Too selfish to stop and sit by him.

Too conceited to cover him.

Too preoccupied to protect him.

A stranger shows up, the healed leper

who turned back to thank Jesus.

He stops, kneels, covers, helps up,

and he protects the one left for dead.

Bright bearer of hope and healing.

 

Jesus — Helper. Healer. Hallowed. Hope.