Matthew 14: A bunch of guys
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Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
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The disciples were spiritual students, but it took a comedian friend of mine to point out the obvious: they were a bunch of guys.
When you get a bunch of guys together they talk smack and prank each other.
He said, Don't you know Jesus had to be giggling a little as he walked up on them in the dark on the water?
If he knew all things, then he had to know this was gonna scare the bergeezus out of them.
Somewhere on that walk on the lake Jesus had to be saying, "Hee hee hee! Watch this! I'm gonna mess with their minds!
They'll think they're seeing a GHOST or something!"
That makes so much sense to me.
Every time I make plans for my life, Jesus giggles a little.
When I make predictions, Jesus laughs out loud.
And sometimes I'm convinced, when I get a little too big for my britches, Jesus slaps an archangel on the back and says,
"Watch this! I'm gonna MESS with him!"
In our Pandemic world, the deeper message of this story is still important.
Keep your eyes on Jesus in the middle of the storm.
But keep your sense of humor.
Don't forget to laugh at yourself.
Remember God has a great sense of humor, and the evidence of that is looking at you every day in the mirror.
Don't take the storms too seriously.
As we travel together, laughter might be the deepest message of all.
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Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full on his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
By the light of his glory and Grace