Advent Seven

Grave Painting - 1st Century Roman.

 Jesus had a number of younger brothers. Here is an account of how his brothers thought they might be able to help Jesus on his mission.  It reflects their view of what was going on around them, and their realisation that their brother is ‘playing with fire’.

 Meet My Big Brother

 My brother, now he is something else!

You would think that he should be the responsible one,

the one to care for the old folks.

No - he's the one who lives off hospitality,

and wanders around the desert sleeping rough.

 

Anyway, he's been staying over.

Great to have him about; he always lends a hand.

With his posse, he's been out doing good as usual.

They are always up to something sensational...

I do look up to him; a genuinely good guy.

 

I was telling him that this year he should go to 'The Festival'.

It's really big over in Jerusalem.

Masses of people there.

It would be great if he could get the audience he deserves.

 

But no. He says the honchos don't like him.  Got it in for him.

I don't see it myself.  My brother?  Wouldn't hurt a sparrow.

 

Well, the rest of us are going.

A bit of a nostalgia-fest I know, but all the cool people will be there.

 

Turns out he did go.  I thought he wouldn't be able to resist it.

Some of my mates saw him on one of the side stages.

Yes, and he did pull in the crowds.

Most people think he's really great.

He gets straight to the point.  Says the stuff that really counts.

He hates hypocrisy, and our society is full of it.

What he says really needs to be said, and he's the one with the guts.

 

I guess that's what gets on their wick, the honchos.

They have us all pretty much tied round their little fingers.

Best to play ball...but my older brother?

No way - he won't dance to their tune.

He says his Father is the one he is loyal to.

Now we share fathers... I think, but I know he is talking about the Creator, not Dad.

I get it, but those dunderheads don't.

 

By the end of the festival, big bro is 'main staging'.

He's really on a roll saying stuff like

"Come to me, anyone who is thirsty, and I will give you rivers of living water that will flow from you to all people."

 

That's just fantastic isn't it?  I like it.

But our leaders think he is putting himself above the Creator.

They think he has to be stopped pretty quick, and they're mean.

 

Bro was lucky to get out of that one in time.

My mate says he thinks I'm related to The Messiah!

Wow I say, “Do you know our family and where we were dredged up?"

Not Galilee.  It's a dump.

Living a precarious life- Jesus does not keep his head down!

In August 2020 Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition politician was attacked with poison.  He fights for his life in a Berlin Hospital.  The story comes out of a brave man who stands up for the truth, and has not hurt anyone.  Why is he such a threat?  Evil people are exposed by the truth.

Jesus lives such a life of courage.  He is as vulnerable as any human, despite the immense power witnessed in his life.  He is able to restore sight, but is also a ‘hairs breath’ away from being snuffed out.

Albert Camus recorded these thoughts,

“I see many people die because they judge that life is not worth living. I see others paradoxically getting killed for the ideas or illusions that give them a reason for living (what is called a reason for living is also an excellent reason for dying). I therefore conclude that the meaning of life is the most urgent of questions.”

Jesus was not living for an ‘Idea’ or an ‘illusion’; he was just living.  My thought is that with the spirit of Jesus in our lives, we cannot fail to live in a similar way. 

PRAYER -                     Every morning we have the same choice.  To live?  May I live today.