To swallow a camel

Was Jesus funny? 

He had to be, didn't He? This blurb from “The Jesus of History” by T.R. Glover helped me think of Jesus in a new way. No thank you, Hollywood -- I can't imagine Jesus with blue eyes and a British accent. It takes work to reach back through time and language barriers for a more candid understanding like this, but it's so worth it. 

"A more elaborate and more amusing episode is that of the Pharisee's drinking operations. We are shown the man polishing his cup, elaborately and carefully; for he lays great importance on the cleanness of his cup; but he forgets to clean the inside.

Most people drink from the inside, but the Pharisee forgot it, dirty as it was, and left it untouched. Then he sets about straining what he is going to drink--another elaborate process; he holds a piece of muslin over the cup and pours with care; he pauses--he sees a mosquito; he has caught it in time and flicks it away; he is safe and he will not swallow it. 

And then, adds Jesus, he swallowed a camel.

How many of us have ever pictured the process, and the series of sensations, as the long hairy neck slid down the throat of the Pharisee—all that amplitude of loose-hung anatomy--the hump--two humps--both of them slid down--and he never noticed--and the legs--all of them--with whole outfit of knees and big padded feet.

The Pharisee swallowed a camel--and never noticed it (Matt. 23:24, 25). It is the mixture of sheer realism with absurdity that makes the irony and gives it its force.

Did no one smile as the story was told? Did no one see the scene pictured with his own mind's eye--no one grasp the humour and the irony with delight? Could any one, on the other hand, forget it?"

Imagery. Story. Metaphor. Jesus knew a thing or two about how to capture the imagination. This little revelation was only a starting point for me. I want to know more! But for now, that is all.

A Conversation with Jesus

Do you ever wonder what it was like to talk to Jesus one-on-one? In John 4 we have details of His conversation with a Samaritan woman. He asked her for a drink, and her response was to put up the guard of the cultural barrier between them. “Jews have no dealings with me.” Most likely she said this while looking at the ground between them.

He said, “If you knew who you were talking to, you’d ask me for a drink, and I would have offered you living water.”

She was skeptical. She asked, “Are you greater than my ancestor Jacob who built this well?”

He said, “Whoever drinks from this well will get thirsty again. I can give you everlasting life.”

He asked for her husband, knowing she didn’t have one, deliberately treating her with a dignity some would say she didn’t deserve. That led to discussing her marriage status. She lived with a man who wasn’t her husband, and she had had five husbands before that.

Jesus acknowledged the entirety of her past, but He didn’t berate her for it.

He saw the grief of a broken heart.

He saw her wounded spirit.

He saw self-esteem in shambles.

He told her, “If you knew who I was, and what I could give you, you would ask me for water.”

He talked to her in monumental terms of the ancient promises and world-changing prophesies about to be fulfilled.

She resonated with those words because she believed the Messiah was coming to reveal these things. She was perceptive enough to know that Jesus was important, but she couldn’t fathom that the Messiah was already close enough to touch.

Can you imagine her shock when He said, “That’s me.”

HE was the Messiah.

He didn’t elaborate on the gravity of her sins.

He simply offered her everlasting life.

In few words, He offered freedom from emotional bondage

He offered healing for her brokenness.

He offered fulfilment for her all her needs.

He made her a promise.

He gave her hope.

The next thing we know, this outcast sinner woman was running around town telling everyone, “Come see a man who told me all the things I ever did.”

Was she excited to tell everyone about her heartbreak? Her brokenness? Her sin?

No. She was excited because someone offered her unconditional love and eternal life. After just one conversation with Jesus, she was no longer ashamed of who she was. She wanted everyone to know about this gift of hope. 

As a follower of Jesus, I want to be able to interact with people like He did. I want a heart of compassion that will overstep the same boundaries and offer the same hope.

I can only speculate, but I would like to think that this lady in return gave her life as an offering to Jesus. I’m sure she was devastated at His crucifixion, and elated at His resurrection. I hope she was in the upper room for the first outpouring of the Spirit. Or maybe she was in the crowd when they asked Peter, “What should we do to be saved?” Either way, she had a story unlike any other. Her life changed on an ordinary day, in an ordinary place, after just one conversation with Jesus.