I had a conversation with a fellow English teacher yesterday. She was telling me about a discussion she had with one of her students, a very good English speaker, incredibly intelligent...and also shockingly jaded at his young age. A good portion of his comments were directed in the form of criticism against his own culture of Korea. At one point he even went as far as to call his fellow students "monkeys" for their playful, silly behavior.
That got me thinking. By his definition, most of us would be considered monkeys. I certainly would be. I enjoy to clown around and be silly and laugh and have fun. And my friend's student would certainly not be the only one to criticize me for my apparent childishness.
But you know what? I'm pretty sure that Jesus had an inner child, too. In fact, He reserved His harshest criticism for the most serious people in His life - the pharisees. There is a time for everything - including both being serious AND cutting loose. It's ok to be silly and have fun. The trick is knowing when to be serious again.
19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
That got me thinking. By his definition, most of us would be considered monkeys. I certainly would be. I enjoy to clown around and be silly and laugh and have fun. And my friend's student would certainly not be the only one to criticize me for my apparent childishness.
But you know what? I'm pretty sure that Jesus had an inner child, too. In fact, He reserved His harshest criticism for the most serious people in His life - the pharisees. There is a time for everything - including both being serious AND cutting loose. It's ok to be silly and have fun. The trick is knowing when to be serious again.
Mark 2:18-28
18 Now John’s disciples
and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How
is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are
fasting, but yours are not?” 19 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.
21 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
No comments:
Post a Comment