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“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa
Note: This edition of
Person-2-Person has been edited from its original form
because, once again, our Pastor decided it was too icky
for public consumption. As a result, even with the
edits, it will still never be included in the church
newsletter. However, be assured that you can always read
my thoughts right here every month.
- David P. When Jesus told his followers they would have to eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:35-59), many of them said, “‘This is difficult stuff! Who can bear to listen to it?’” (vs. 60b New Testament for Everyone). Other translations render it as “‘This is a hard saying;’” or something similar. And it’s true that his sayings or teachings can sometimes be hard to understand and often even harder to follow. Beyond his hard sayings, he also did some hard doings. His teachings were frequently hard to take and sometimes he was hard to take. In fact, I believe there were times when Jesus was simply unpleasant. Because he was not only fully divine, he was fully human. Further, I believe he was also emotionally human. That means there would have been times when he was tired, hungry, crabby, or out of patience. I don’t just mean times like his response when would-be disciples made excuses for why they couldn’t follow him (Matt. 8:19-22) or when he drove the money changers from the Temple (John 2:14-17), but times when it appears he just wasn’t particularly nice. One evening, he and the disciples were in a boat (Mark 4:29-41) when there was a storm (vs. 37). The disciples were afraid (vs. 38). And since some of them were fishermen, they wouldn’t have panicked for no reason. They found Jesus asleep in the stern (vs. 38), and said, “‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’” (vs. 38b NTE). Jesus “rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Silence! Shut up!’” (vs. 39b NTE). Then he said to the disciples, “‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” (vs. 40b NTE). Clearly, he was angry and out of patience but were they supposed to wait until the boat sank? I’ve often wondered if he wasn’t really addressing the disciples when he said, “Shut up!” no matter what the text says. A Canaanite woman begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter, and initially he simply ignored her (Matt. 15:23a). Then, “‘I was only sent’, replied Jesus, ‘to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” (vs. 24 NTE). She knelt before him and begged him to help (vs. 25). And in what appears to be outright bigotry: “‘It isn’t right’, replied Jesus, ‘to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’” (vs. 26 NTE). She reminded him, “‘But even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table.’” (vs. 27b NTE). In the end, he relented. “‘You’ve got great faith, haven’t you, my friend!’ replied Jesus. ‘All right; let it be as you wish.’” (vs. 28 NTE). While we may never know his motives, this instance certainly doesn’t cast him in a positive light. I believe we can think about these incidents in one of three ways: there’s something going on that we don’t know or understand, the situation is exactly what it appears to be, or—a rabbit hole I’d rather not explore—the Gospel writer simply got it wrong. To be honest, my own inclination is to take the situation at “face value,” i.e., if it looks like Jesus isn’t being very nice, he probably isn’t. I admit it feels weird to “judge” the one who died for my sins but I believe we need to worship the whole Jesus—the man who was prone to human emotions and the loving savior, the one who comforted and the one who challenged—in all of his sometimes-frustrating complexity and not just some idealized part. There’s another aspect though: Have you ever been around someone who was always right or at least thought he or she was? He or she was pretty annoying, right? Now imagine if he or she really was right all the time. Think how much more annoying he or she would be. That was the case with Jesus and not everyone was happy about it. Their inner, sinful nature was opposed to him (John 3:19-20). Honestly, I admit I probably wouldn’t like him much myself. But sometimes he had to tell people hard truths about their, lives, their sin, and the paths on which he found them. We don’t like the sting of antiseptic or the hunger that comes with dieting. Children often don’t care for the taste of vegetables. Jesus’ sinlessness reminds us of all that we’re not and sometimes we don’t like it. But it should also remind us that we don’t have to remain as we are. Antiseptic stings but it brings healing, criticism doesn’t feel good at the time but it can promote growth. So too, we can be healed and grow, until we are more and more like him. “For everyone who does evil hates the light; people like that don’t come to the light, in case their deeds get shown up and reproved. But people who do the truth come to the light, so that it can become clear that what they have done has been done in God.” (John 3:20-21 NTE.) |
