I Don't See the Humor

I don't watch many movies. It's just hard to find the time. When I do, it's usually one of those action adventure type films.

I love watching the hero of the movie, whether it's Matt Damon or Harrison Ford or whoever, keeping their head in the face of danger. I want to be that guy! Sometimes they're being shot at from several angles, or maybe zigzagging through city streets at over a hundred miles an hour, or falling off a cliff into the ocean. Whatever happens, they seem to be able to think calmly, as if nothing terrifying is going on.

Incredibly, under what would seem to be extreme pressure, our heroes can joke about what's going on around them. It's as if they already knew they'd survive and thrive.

Of course, my greatest hero of all time is Jesus. On his last trip to Jerusalem, he faced an amazingly tense situation. He knew his opponents were plotting to kill him. He knew one of his closest friends would betray him, allowing his adversaries to arrest him. Jesus even knew this tense situation would end in his crucifixion. Yet I sense that same calm surrounding him that I see in movie heroes.

In Mark 14, a small mob comes after Jesus at night to arrest him. They carry torches and clubs and swords. Where did Jesus find the presence of mind to say, in verses forty-eight and forty-nine, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." You know, I think he had a smirk on his face! He was so calm that he could joke with them.

That's just how at peace Jesus was when he died for our salvation. He was willing, even glad, to go through all he did. What wondrous love is this?