There is nothing more aggravating than notions about Jesus Christ that present Him as a weak, emaciated, anemic pacifist. I was quick to blame this diluting (or defamation) of Christ's character on the pattern of the modern world, but I recently found out that this simpering, tepid notion of Jesus is nothing new. In fact, it can be traced back at least as far as 1909, when the poet Ezra Pound composed a poem about this very issue.
While I don't normally condone using Wikipedia for research, in this case it does present the best summary of Pound's comments about his poem:
"Pound wrote the poem as a direct response to what he considered inappropriately effeminate portrayals of Jesus, comparing Jesus—a 'man o' men'—to 'capon priest(s)'; he subsequently told T.P.'s Weekly that he had 'been made very angry by a certain sort of cheap irreverence.'"
I respect that. Such a portrayal of Jesus is desperately needed today. Jesus was not the emaciated, perpetually crucified Roman Catholic notion, nor is He the modern, emotionalized "Jesus is my boyfriend" nonsense either. He was and is a man among men - He is THE Man, the Second Adam.
That said, I am going to post the poem here for the edification of others. I should note that the poem is not 100% doctrinally accurate; for example, if references Christ as "a son of God" rather than THE Son of God, and it takes some creative liberties in quoting Him. Oddly, it also chooses not to recount events from the life of Christ in chronological order. However, the poem stills serves as a thoughtful (albeit artistic) way of re-calibrating our notions about the kind of man Christ is.
Unfamiliar Words
There are a few words that have fallen from regular usage in English that will be beneficial for understanding the poem:
fere - (noun) a companion
capon - (noun) a castrated male chicken
hale - (adjective, used as a noun in context) health or vigor
cow - (verb) to overpower or intimidate
Without further ado, here's is Pound's moving (albeit doctrinally imperfect) poem:
"The Ballad of the Goodly Fere" by Ezra Pound
Ha' we lost the goodliest fere o' all
For the priests and the gallows tree?
Aye lover he was of brawny men,
O' ships and the open sea.
When they came wi' a host to take Our Man
His smile was good to see,
"First let these go!" quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Or I'll see ye damned," says he.
Aye he sent us out through the crossed high spears
And the scorn of his laugh rang free,
"Why took ye not me when I walked about
Alone in the town?" says he.
Oh we drank his "Hale" in the good red wine
When we last made company,
No capon priest was the Goodly Fere
But a man o' men was he.
I ha' seen him drive a hundred men
Wi' a bundle o' cords swung free,
That they took the high and holy house
For their pawn and treasury.
They'll no' get him a' in a book I think
Though they write it cunningly;
No mouse of the scrolls was the Goodly Fere
But aye loved the open sea.
If they think they ha' snared our Goodly Fere
They are fools to the last degree.
"I'll go to the feast," quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Though I go to the gallows tree."
"Ye ha' seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead," says he,
"Ye shall see one thing to master all:
'Tis how a brave man dies on the tree."
A son of God was the Goodly Fere
That bade us his brothers be.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men.
I have seen him upon the tree.
He cried no cry when they drave the nails
And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue
But never a cry cried he.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men
On the hills o' Galilee,
They whined as he walked out calm between,
Wi' his eyes like the grey o' the sea,
Like the sea that brooks no voyaging
With the winds unleashed and free,
Like the sea that he cowed at Genseret
Wi' twey words spoke' suddenly.
A master of men was the Goodly Fere,
A mate of the wind and sea,
If they think they ha' slain our Goodly Fere
They are fools eternally.
I ha' seen him eat o' the honey-comb
Sin' they nailed him to the tree.
Recommended Reading
If you want further doctrinally sound exposition on the manhood of Christ, I recommend the following:
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