On the Influence of Q on the Gospel of John
On the Influence of Q on the Gospel of John
Luke 5:1-11
Brad Davis
I tell you, the fragment is spot on.
Whoever wrote it down got it right,
and I should know.
From a boat offshore, my young self
watched the moment unfold:
how the crowd pressed in
upon the Teacher as he taught on the beach;
how he commandeered Peter’s boat
and told him to put out into deeper water;
how we rolled our eyes
when he instructed Peter to let down his fishing nets,
but then we were needed
to help land the crazy haul of fish;
how, the work done, the crowd dispersed,
the Teacher coined the even crazier turn of phrase –
from now on, you will catch men;
and how, hearing that,
we left everything to follow him.
I have treasured that fragment
ever since it was entrusted to me,
holding it as first among the other fragments
I keep rolled in a scrap of leather.
But there’s a new reason I hold it dear.
Early last Shabbat morning, the rains
dampening my eagerness for eldership in Ephesus,
I unrolled the fragment to refresh my sense of purpose –
you will catch men – when suddenly
a few of the words turned themselves inside out
and I became dizzy, like that day
in the upper room with the Spirit-fire.
Suddenly the crowd on the beach
listening to Jesus teach the word of God
became a crowd on a beach listening to God.
And I felt myself melt – as if into a glorious light.
Then later that day words occurred to me –
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God –
along with a compulsion to write them down
and follow them with other words.
And it was as though I were once again
following Jesus up some narrow path
between small towns on the way to Jerusalem.
I tell you this because the idea
these new words convey will be called blasphemous,
and I may suffer for writing them.
But I know they are true
and must be shared with the Teacher’s friends,
which makes me nervous,
since none of the other eyewitnesses have spoken as plainly
of him in this way – as the great I AM.
I have awakened you all
because I’d like a few of you to sit with me and pray
as I begin to write whatever I am led to write.
You know how tired I get by early afternoon
and how much I’ve needed your help
to shepherd our little flock here in Ephesus.
My beloved children, I will need you even more
to help me complete this new work.
By Brad Davis
Poet
Brad Davis’ poems have appeared in a wide variety of journals, including Poetry, Paris Review, Image, Michigan Quarterly Review, Anglican Theological Review, and many others.
Photography by Judith Pavón Sayrach