Plenty of people know about a guy named Jesus. To some people, he
was just a guy who lived years ago, a prophet. But to others, He is known as
God in human form. He is the promised Messiah, the savior of the world.
I am one of those people who believe He is God. Growing up in a
Christian household, I was raised with understanding and knowing this man to be God. As I started to get older and read the Holy Bible for myself, I learned something interesting about Jesus.
He can be generous, kind, bold, and salty!
He’s got these sassy, quick responses to hypocrites and people who distract from His message goals.
People know Jesus as the loving, sweet Jesus, but here are some moments where Jesus really was the salt of the Earth.
In the first story, Jesus has cast out a demon from a man in the village He and His disciples were visiting. The crowd that saw this, was amazed but some of them accused Jesus of casting out this spirit in the name of the prince of demons. Some even demanded that He do a miracle to prove He wasn’t.
Jesus then tells this crowd of people, “Every kingdom divided
against itself is headed for destruction, and a house divided against itself
falls.” (Luke 11:17).
He actually starts to deflate the crowd’s assertion and shares
with them His knowledge. Telling them if He casts demons out in the name of
Beelzebul, who’s name does their people use?
Then here comes the part I find so funny.
Luke 11:27-28 As he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you!” 28 He replied, “Blessed, rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
This random woman, I imagine an old gossiping hen, interrupts
Jesus’ teaching to say this statement. Why do I imagine a gossiping hen?
Because they tend to be people who say things half-heartedly just to be heard,
or put on a pretense so they can gain juicy gossip to tell someone else.
The fact that Jesus was talking about some important principles
and this lady randomly shouts this, is so peculiar to me.
But I love Jesus’ response. 1, when I read it, the sass is on a
whole other level, and 2, He directs the attention from His mom (although
amazing) to God.
Jesus' saltiness, or his straightforward way of teaching, cuts the fluff, calls out people's intentions, and refocuses attention to the message at hand. Rather than glorifying the people whom God blessed, I feel like Jesus was making a point for people to turn our attention to Him, from where the blessings came.
_________________ _____________________ _______________
In the second story, Jesus has just come down from a mountain top with His disciples Peter, James, and John and they see a crowd arguing with the
other disciples. In seeing this, Jesus asks, “What are you arguing with them about?” (Mark 9:16).
This man speaks up from the crowd and tells Jesus about his son,
who is possessed by a spirit. This spirit causes the boy to be mute, he foams
at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and his body becomes rigid. He says to Jesus,
“I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.” (Mark 9:18).
Now Jesus’ response was so unexpected. He doesn’t just go, let me see the kid. No, Jesus said, “You unbelieving generation, how long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” (Mark 9:19).
To hear those words, I would have been shocked, like what?! Isn’t that unnecessarily intense to say? But this was probably a moment where Jesus, after all the miracles He did and all the wisdom He had given people, was fed up. He and His disciples have done so many things that helped people, and yet they did not trust in His words enough to believe.
They doubted.
They bring the boy to Jesus, and the craziest thing happened. The
Bible says that when the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into
convulsions where he fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the
mouth. Jesus then asks, “How long has this been happening to him?” (Mark 9:21).
The father tells him his son has been like this since childhood saying, “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him.
But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22).
This is the part I absolutely love! Jesus comes back with an
answer that, at least when I read it, is so salty. Jesus says this,
Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can? Everything is possible for the one who believes.”
I just like to imagine the expression Jesus must have had on his face when he said this.
The man then cries out, “I do believe; help me with my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
Like the powerful and amazing man He is, Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.” (Mark 9:25). The Bible says in Mark 9:26-27 that it came out (rather dramatically), shrieking and throwing the boy into terrible convulsions to where he became like a corpse. People started to think Jesus had killed the boy. But Jesus took him by the hand, and he stood up.
What a wild situation.
For those wondering what the disciples said after all this happened in Mark 9:28-29 you can see them ask Jesus why they could not drive out the spirit.
To summarize, these were two of my favorite accounts of Jesus
where He is being salty but in the best way. Just as important to notice, Jesus
is really confident. He is talking about God in such a profound way and
calling people out, challenging their beliefs. Of course, at the end of the
day, Jesus is a man who showed love and kindness to the people around Him, but
I love that by reading the Bible, we get to see other sides of His character.
To read the stories fully, you can read,
Luke 11:14-28 Blessed rather…
Mark 9:14-29 If you can?
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