Good Monday morning! Once more I greet you in a humorous mood. Ach! This is a devotional, we must be serious and calm! Why? Must we always be so serious when studying God's Word? Let's check today's verse for abject seriousness.
It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. (John 2:13)
Hmm, well this verse does have a couple of serious subjects. The Passover celebration was for an event that had happened in Egypt, the passing over of the angel of death. You will recall from Exodus that the first born offspring of the Egyptians and even their cattle was slain in a night of terrible woe. The Israelites placed lamb's blood on their door posts as a sign for that dreadful angel to pass over their homes. As a part of an annual celebration of this event, every Jewish family was to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jesus fulfilled the law and did his duty which is a serious matter. Do these serious subjects mean that we are to put aside all humor in studying the Word? If you need to do so to be respectful and learn, then yes, you probably should get into a mood or mode to allow you to come prayerfully to God's word each day. On the other hand, I don't personally believe that Jesus was without humor in all that he said and did. Perhaps that is trying to put to much of myself into God's Son. But if that is true, then where did my sense of humor come from?
Like our other emotions, humor or laughter can be misdirected or misplaced or even misused, but that does not make humor evil or sinful. Love can be directed at the wrong object, such as loving money, or even at a person in a wrong way, such as falling in love with another man's wife. Humor need not be set aside when studying the Bible; I believe that many of the things we do make God laugh. We don't laugh at God, and I don't believe that God laughs at us, but we can laugh together. We must admit that some of the mistakes we make in this life are just plain funny. Of course, a solemn celebration like the Passover would not be the time or place for humor. Even the Israelites escaping slavery in Egypt would not have found the death of so many first-born children of their overseers to be a laughing matter. We strive to laugh only at the good humor, not at a person's loss of life. We laugh with each other at a barbecue, but we remain composed and respectful for a ceremony. There is a time for the right emotions, and a time to go
where we must. The time had arrived for Jesus to make a trip to Jerusalem.
What time is it for you on this fine day?
Bucky
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