“[Peter said,] ‘This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.'” – Acts 4:11

Your Honor, I am here accused. They say
I spoke of resurrection. Yes, I did.
They say I said this comes from Jesus, and:
I did. They say what you can plainly see.
I am no educated scholar, no
respected sage, no doctor of the law.

Because of this, they take me up before
you as an agitator who disturbs
the peace, the truth, the faith, the way, the light.
They say I should be silenced, voice unheard,
the things I’ve seen forgotten, left untold,
until no one remembers anything.

Were I to make a strong defense, I’d tell
you that your officers misheard our words,
misunderstood what little they had heard.
We made no claims like those of which we stand
accused. We spoke of resurrected hopes
alone, within this man who now can walk.

Alas, I make no strong defense. Instead,
I’ll make those claims again for you to hear.
In Jesus there is resurrection of
the body and of hope, of healing and
of joy restored. And neither John nor I
can hold our tongues from sharing this great news.

I’m sorry, in a way, that my defense
is only to repeat the offense that
has brought me here before you in this place.
I’m sorry that it grieves you, and I hope
beyond imagination, that it moves
you to a mercy given, mercy then

received.

A poem/prayer based on Acts 4:5-12, the Revised Common Lectionary First Reading for Year B, Fourth Sunday of Easter.

The image is a part of the Sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus (ca. 330-335, Palazzo Massimo, Rome): Detail, The Arrest of Peter. Photo by Dick Stracke – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31956813.