"Matthew On Jesus by the Prison Wall" 


Upon an evening Jesus passed by a prison that was in the Tower of David. And we were
walking after Him. Of a sudden He tarried and laid His cheek against the stones of the prison
wall. And thus He spoke: "Brothers of my ancient day, my heart beats with your hearts behind
the bars. Would that you could be free in my freedom and walk with me and my comrades. 

"You are confined, but not alone. Many are the prisoners who walk the open streets. Their
wings are not shorn, but like the peacock they flutter yet cannot fly. 

"Brothers of my second day, I shall soon visit you in your cells and yield my shoulder to your
burden. For the innocent and the guilty are not parted, and like the two bones of the forearm
they shall never be cleaved. 

"Brothers of this day, which is my day, you swam against the current of their reasoning and
you were caught. They say I too shall swim against that current. Perhaps I shall soon be with
you, a law-breaker among the law-breakers. 

"Brothers of a day not yet come, these walls shall fall down, and out of the stones other shapes
shall be fashioned by Him whose mallet is light, and whose chisel is the wind, and you shall
stand free in the freedom of my new day." 

Thus spoke Jesus and He walked on, and His hand was upon the prison wall until He passed
by the Tower of David.