Santa Biblia

I have been recklessly neglecting the reading of scripure lately. The other night I was inspired to read, however, and I was truly blessed by what I read. I read Matthew chapter 11 and the corresponding story in Luke 7:11. I felt compelled to paraphrase it here for you. I think I am harbouring a distant hope that you will feel inspired to dust off your copy of The Good Book next, and maybe even point me toward some highlight of your own.

We start with a really cool scene that talks about Jesus having compassion on this greif-stricken woman who had lost her son and is already a widow. He says to her "Do not weep", and then He promptly turns, goes over, and brings the young man back from the dead. An awesome display of understated power to be sure.

The story of this Resurrection and other miracles make their way back to John the Baptist. John is feeling down and is stuck in prison. He sends out his friends to figure out if Jesus is the real McCoy. Specifically he gives them a question, "Are you 'The One who is to come' or shall we look for another?". Miracles are fine, but John wants to know if Jesus is The Messiah. John's emissaries are shown a dizzying display of God's power. More to the point Jesus fulfills very detailed prophecy concerning himself in front of their eyes. After His incredible display Jesus goes back to them and tells them to go tell John that he is the fullfillment of the prophecies.

John's disciples were not the only ones who were watching Jesus on this day. There was a whole crowd there and the crowd was aware of John's people, and their purpose. Our Saviour sends John's disciples on their way, and what follows is a loose speech by The Christ with a fantastically conversational tone. These are the moments in the Gospels that tend to catch my eye and curiosity. I love seeing examples of how human Jesus Christ really was.

He addresses the crowd again, maybe he sees them all peering after John's guys walking away, and He starts talking about John. I get the feeling that people were wondering why he went out of his way to send such a sure message to John the Baptist. So He asks them a string of rhetorical questions: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?", "A reed shaken by the wind?", "A man dressed in soft clothing?", "A prophet?". There, that's the one. He takes it one step further. Jesus tells them that John is more than a prophet. In fact, at the time he was the greatest man ever born of a woman. (This has a polarizing effect on the people. The ones who were baptized were excited by it. The ones who weren't said that it was all a bunch of phooey). He then calls them out for whining like a bunch of spoiled kids who are never pleased.

In true paradoxical form, Jesus then switches things up making grand sweeping statements. He warns the cities, that he has performed miracles in, that they should not harden their hearts. Saying to one city that they are even worse than Sodom.

He ends his speech with reassuring words of comfort for those of us who believe: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

I said earlier that I like reading scriptures like these ones because they display how human Jesus really was. In truth, that is only half of it. What makes the story so fascinating is the continual display of the complexity of His nature. He performs wondrous signs, and then he is graciously, and beautifully condescending to us with plain speech.

The Bible is the living Word of God, and we must be careful not to take it for granted. Let us all try to remember what an incredible gift it truly is.



- Posted from my iPhone

Every Cat Has A Silver Lining

Ever since that fateful November day, when the American people clamored for King Obama, I have witnessed a lot of people living in a bit of a pall.

We should be looking on the bright side! Having a democrat president has it's moments. For instance, anti-Bush songs are no longer cool and relevant. Another positive is that anti-war movies have to be more tempered so they don't come off as racist criticism of our black president. One final benefit is that old jokes and gags about president Clinton started sounding relevant again.

We have waited eight years to laugh at well timed jokes with democrats as the butts. I will get you started with one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time Eek! the Cat.

Now go recycle your own jokes. It's all about being green right?

- Posted from my iPhone