When we read the Gospels, we get a lot of teaching, but surprisingly little emotion from the human side of the Man.
"Jesus wept," of course, the shortest verse in the Bible. And we saw him troubled in the Garden, and angry in the temple courtyard.
But we never see Him smile, let alone laugh.
Was life on Earth just a trial to Him, something to be borne until He could go Home?
I think not. I think He enjoyed the life He lived, for two reasons - one found in Scripture, and one that comes out of my own head.
When he was annointed with oil by the lady with the alabaster jar, and Judas said the oil should have been sold and the money given to the poor, Jesus disagreed. He said that He wouldn't always be there, but the poor would be.
The inference that can be drawn is that he liked, and was comforted by, the physical and symbolic treatment. If He was indifferent, He probably would have said, "Meh, Judas...good point. We gotta be ascetic, after all. Set an example."
From my own head...if He didn't enjoy life, how could He have claimed to have gone ahead of us into death, and through it to life again?
We fear death for two reasons. First, it's scary. Where do we go?
Second, many of us enjoy life...and even those with the meanest lives get some enjoyment - and we don't want it to end.
It must be frustrating for God. We're like kids playing in a vacant lot with old boards and bricks, and He's got an eternal Disneyland all set up for us - and we're afraid to go!
I think Jesus had to enjoy life - and to enjoy it deeply. He had to show that while He loved the smell of flowers and the taste of wine and the feel of doing carpentry, He could give it up...and there was something better waiting.
If it was easy for Him to walk away, how could we, with our trembling attachments, feel that He knew our hearts?
I think that for those 33 years...He had a blast.
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This is good, I'm sorry there were no comments (yet), but keep it up. I think you have to because you have Jeremiah's fire burning inside. Yes, I think Jesus laughed, told clean jokes, and tossed back his head and laughed. How do I know? Because of "Perfect Squelch" things he's said to me to cut me down to size.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you!
DeleteHaving dealt with temperamental aircraft radios, I LOVE the "Perfect Squelch"! I can just see God twiddling the squelch knob.
I recently spent 3 months living in a s/east country. I loved it at first ... but over time a bunch of little things increasingly bothered me.
ReplyDeleteI wondered if I could multiply how I was feeling by 1,000,000 and that would be how Jesus fealt living on earth.
I was worrying about heat/food/traffic/noise ... but with the stark contrast of heaven and earth, what would Jesus have been worrying about.
Jesus had spent eternity in heaven, and now he was amongst all the depravity of earth.
Sure he wanted to be on earth because he was saving mankind ... but did he enjoy his time here?