Then, after that, as Jesus with
His twelve disciples walked
To Caesarea Philippi,
And gravely with them talked,
* * *
He asked them who the people said
The He, Himself, might be;
They answered John, Elias , and
The prophet Jeremy.
* * *
He saith: “But whom say ye am I,
Who long with you have trod?”
Peter exclaimed : “Thou art the Christ,
Son of the living God!”
* * *
Then Jesus answered him : “How blest
Simon Bar-jona, thou,
For flesh and blood hath not revealed
What thou, from heaven, dost know.
* * *
“And I say also unto thee,
That thou art Peter sure,
And on this rock I’ll build my church
From gates of hell secure.
* * *
“Keys of authority and truth
Shall unto thee be given;
What thou dost bind or loose on earth
Is bound and loosed in heaven.”
* * *
From that time forth the Lord began
To tell, and to explain
To His disciples, how He should
Be killed, and rise again.
* * *
But Peter said : “Nay, nay, my Lord
This, surely, shall not be;
Such treatment of the Prince of Life–
Were great indignity.”
* * *
But Jesus turned and said to him :
“Satan, get thee behind,
Thou savorest not the things of God,
But pride of carnal mind.”
* * *
And then said Jesus to them all :
“Who will my servant be,
Must deny self, take up his cross,
And humbly follow me.
* * *
“For who soe’er will save his life,
Shall lose it in the end;
But he who yields it for my sake,
To life in heaven shall tend.
* * *
“For what is a man profited
If he shall gain the whole
Of this world’s pompous wealth and
power,
Yet lose his own poor soul?”
