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A
What's black and white and re(a)d all over? A newspaper.
Knock knock
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo Hoo.
Don't cry.
Why aren't those joke funny anymore? Because we've heard them so often.
What jokes could be heard even longer? The jokes in a 2000 year old book.
"Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." Funny stuff! First, the name Peter means stone or pebble. Some rock! lol Second, four verses later, Christ is calling Peter Satan. Third, this is the same Peter that denies him three times before the cock crows.
And then there's the comparison between a whitewashed tombstone and Pharisees. Jesus had the gift of sarcasm. We simply miss it often because we know the jokes way before we realize there is humor in his words.
Knock knock
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo Hoo.
Don't cry.
Why aren't those joke funny anymore? Because we've heard them so often.
What jokes could be heard even longer? The jokes in a 2000 year old book.
"Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church." Funny stuff! First, the name Peter means stone or pebble. Some rock! lol Second, four verses later, Christ is calling Peter Satan. Third, this is the same Peter that denies him three times before the cock crows.
And then there's the comparison between a whitewashed tombstone and Pharisees. Jesus had the gift of sarcasm. We simply miss it often because we know the jokes way before we realize there is humor in his words.
Humor is always a difficult subject.
Mockers are not given a good image. Blasphemers, those who wish to party and have fun when repentance and grief are more appropriate. Those who repress their emotions, find humour opens them up and all the stuff they deny exists comes out.
It is very hard to be seriously religious and have humour. Without humor you often do not understand how important some issues are, or how tragic. I think humor is linked to love and joy, but is too often miss-placed in the world and used as a weapon of bitterness and rebellion.
The Lord uses jokes all the time, but many are not funny, they can be rather ironic, truthful, with a point.
Jesus and the wine at the wedding. The Son of God called to answer a lack of wine, that is a joke, but Jesus after showing irritation does respond very well, which is just fantastic, what a Lord.
A prophet cries out to see what God has in store for Israel. The answer is the babylonians. This kind of humor is not our humor. So we have to be very careful here, because we do not often see as the Lord sees things.
Mockers are not given a good image. Blasphemers, those who wish to party and have fun when repentance and grief are more appropriate. Those who repress their emotions, find humour opens them up and all the stuff they deny exists comes out.
It is very hard to be seriously religious and have humour. Without humor you often do not understand how important some issues are, or how tragic. I think humor is linked to love and joy, but is too often miss-placed in the world and used as a weapon of bitterness and rebellion.
The Lord uses jokes all the time, but many are not funny, they can be rather ironic, truthful, with a point.
Jesus and the wine at the wedding. The Son of God called to answer a lack of wine, that is a joke, but Jesus after showing irritation does respond very well, which is just fantastic, what a Lord.
A prophet cries out to see what God has in store for Israel. The answer is the babylonians. This kind of humor is not our humor. So we have to be very careful here, because we do not often see as the Lord sees things.
Matthew 5:39 --- “But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” --- In an honour/shame, domination/submission culture such as existed in the first century in the middle East, this saying has a far different meaning than a straightforward reading of it might indicate. If a man were to strike a social equal, he would strike him with the palm of his right hand on the left cheek. However if a man were to slap a social inferior he would do so with the back of his hand to the inferior’s right cheek. If the inferior were then to turn his other cheek it would force his assailant to treat him as a social equal by striking with the palm of his right hand. Since slapping is no longer a widespread cultural practice, it can be helpful if you could actually act this out with another person. Jesus’ audience likely would have had a good laugh at his comment. Jesus is not counseling humility here, he is counseling a covert defiance.
Matthew 5:40 ---“If someone sues you for your coat, give up your shirt as well.” --- In Jewish law if you fail to repay a debt you may be taken to court and if you are still unable to repay, the lender is entitled to take your coat. The lender holds the coat during the day but he is obliged to return it at night because the coat or cloak doubled as a blanket at night. In a two-garment society this would be highly embarrassing to the debtor. However it would be even more embarrassing to the court and the lender if the debtor were to turn over both garments and stand there naked. Remember this was a society with a strong taboo against public nakedness. Using this somewhat risque humour Jesus is once again counseling covert defiance and taking the part of the poor against the rich. I'll bet his audience laughed out loud. Humour is a great aid to the memory.
Matthew 5:41 --- “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” --- In Roman law a soldier had every right to have a civilian carry his pack for one [Roman] mile but no further. For the civilian to carry the pack a further distance would be to embarrass the soldier and possibly to get him in trouble with a superior officer. Once again Jesus takes the part of the small against the powerful by suggesting covert defiance. I suspect that Jesus’ listeners ‘got the message’ especially since it was couched in such sarcastic humour.
Matthew 5:40 ---“If someone sues you for your coat, give up your shirt as well.” --- In Jewish law if you fail to repay a debt you may be taken to court and if you are still unable to repay, the lender is entitled to take your coat. The lender holds the coat during the day but he is obliged to return it at night because the coat or cloak doubled as a blanket at night. In a two-garment society this would be highly embarrassing to the debtor. However it would be even more embarrassing to the court and the lender if the debtor were to turn over both garments and stand there naked. Remember this was a society with a strong taboo against public nakedness. Using this somewhat risque humour Jesus is once again counseling covert defiance and taking the part of the poor against the rich. I'll bet his audience laughed out loud. Humour is a great aid to the memory.
Matthew 5:41 --- “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” --- In Roman law a soldier had every right to have a civilian carry his pack for one [Roman] mile but no further. For the civilian to carry the pack a further distance would be to embarrass the soldier and possibly to get him in trouble with a superior officer. Once again Jesus takes the part of the small against the powerful by suggesting covert defiance. I suspect that Jesus’ listeners ‘got the message’ especially since it was couched in such sarcastic humour.
M
I remember years ago that was part of a sermon and it was explained the city gates were locked
at night. But there was a small gap or gate built into city walls in which a person could just
squeeze through. He explained that was the needle and it would not have been possible
for an animal to squeeze through it.
at night. But there was a small gap or gate built into city walls in which a person could just
squeeze through. He explained that was the needle and it would not have been possible
for an animal to squeeze through it.
