Matthew in Rhyme, Chapters 7-8

Text and image by Rick McVicar

Chapter 7 v. 1 Do not judge  Or you will be fudge. If any judgment you make,   

Your fudge will burn as it bakes. Neighbor’s eye might have a speck When your flaws measure a peck.   

Do not take a speck out of their eye When your own flaws make you cry. First dry away your tears   

Then squash your neighbor’s fears. Be careful with the truths you find, Do not throw pearls before swine.     

Do not mess with mean hogs, “Do not give what is holy to dogs”  (NRSV, v. 6).   

v. 7 “Search, and you will find” (NRSV) That God will be kind. Knock on God’s sturdy door. You will then have much more.   

You will not turn bread into rock, God’s prayers will not be blocked. You will not deny a child a fish Ask God to fill your empty dish.   

If you ask for bread God will fill your head With loaves of wheat And ideas that leap.   

God will not give you a slimy snake. Enter heaven by the narrow gate.   

v. 12 Treat all those you meet, Just as you want to be treated. Take the hard road onto life, The easy road leads to strife.     

Watch you are not late  To enter the narrow gate. Travel past the gate that is wide, Its promises are full of lies.   

v. 15 Watch those in sheep’s clothes, They can be terrible rogues. Do not eat their rotten fruit   Or fall under their boot. 

Grapes do not come from thorns, Figs in thistles will make you sore. Good fruit comes from good trees Good fish comes from good seas.   

v. 24 False prophets will loot They will know you by your fruit, Build your house upon a rock,

  Never upon a shifting dock. Pay attention to Jesus’ words Or your house will be unearthed.   

“If you do what I say  Your house will surely stay.” 

Chapter 8 v. 1 Jesus then went healing With a whole lot of dealing, Touching a leper to cleanse, Treating him as a friend. 

v. 5 Jesus then met a centurion, Who was rushing in a hurry. He had a servant who was ill. Being paralyzed, he lay still. 

Centurion said he did not have worth. His Roman duties could not be shirked. Jesus was compelled any way To recognize his faith. 

Jesus healed the one who was paralytic, Without becoming frenetic. 

v. 14 Jesus then went to Peter’s house To find Peter’s mother-in-law on a couch, The woman had a fever Jesus was quick to relieve her. 

The sick and demon-possessed Came to Jesus to confess. He uttered kind words of hope That lassoed demons with a rope. 

v. 18 A scribe asked to follow along. Jesus sang him a bluesy song About a fox and a bird With homes upon the earth. 

They had more than Jesus had, Following him could be sad. Too bad if your father died, Giving disciples heavy sighs. 

Jesus had nowhere to lay his head, Leaving behind all that was dead. 

v. 23 Jesus got into a boat, Upon stormy seas it would float, He calmed the wild waves. With his words he would save. 

Disciples were all perplexed By Jesus’ powerful hex. 

v. 28 Two demoniacs from a tomb Said they were tired of their room. Demons begged to be left alone Jesus sent them to roam 

Inside a herd of hogs That ran headlong into a bog.