Have you seen the dog trick where the owner puts a treat on the dog’s nose and then makes him sit still? “Wait… wait….” The dog sits there in what would seem like agony. “Wait… wait….” Finally his master says go and the dog flips the treat into its mouth to cheering from the crowd.
Why would we give a dog a treat and then tell it not to eat it? It seems really cruel. Can you think of other similar situations? How about telling a small child not to worry about a man putting his hands in his mouth? And to sit still when he adds needles and some machines! Or just to sit still and quiet for an hour every Sunday?
There are other things in life equally as confusing. These so called “hard sayings” of Jesus that we’re studying in Sunday morning Bible study are a case in point. From a strictly human point of view, some make just as little sense as the treat on the dog’s nose.
Recently we looked at the “love your enemy” verses. Sometimes we might manage the “go the extra mile” thing. We can understand “above and beyond” and even rise to the occasion at times – if it makes sense and if we’re in the mood and if it’s not too much trouble. Oprah even gets us to pay it forward and buy a frappuccino for the stranger in line behind us! But! Love your enemies? Forgive them? How could I? Why would I? A person can only take so much but Jesus says to forgive them AND to love them.
What’s up with that? Look at the title again: The HARD sayings of Jesus. You know why they’re hard? They’re hard because Jesus set them as the gold standard of behavior for Christians. Will we ever achieve this while we’re here on earth? Probably not, at least not 100%. However, that’s what we’re to strive for. We won’t make it but every day we try is another step in the right direction of being more like Jesus. And that’s our aim while we’re here waiting on Jesus to take us home.
Until our next togethering,
love ya,
Bret
