The poem opens at a deliberately unspecified date: It is merely “Sometime during eternity” (Line 1), when “some guys show up” (Line 2) in an undisclosed location. The poem’s beginning is important in two respects. First, this opening immediately sets up the satirical and irreverent tone that remains consistent throughout the entire poem. Second, the speaker’s casual vocabulary (“some guys”) and lack of concrete detail infuses the opening with the characteristics of oral tradition, which ties to one of the poem’s themes about how stories take shape and are passed along in different forms over time (See: Themes). The speaker describes how “one of [the guys]” (Line 3) comes from humble social origins and does not appear to be anyone worthy of especial notice. The man in question is merely “a kind of carpenter” (Line 5), who appears to be from “some square-type place / like Galilee” (Lines 6-7). These two hints regarding the man’s identity—the fact he is a carpenter and comes from Galilee—suggest that the man is Jesus, and that the “guys” (Line 2) with him may be his disciples.

Jesus—or the Jesus-figure, since he is never explicitly identified by name—“starts wailing” (Line 8) and makes some startling claims.