As I was getting out of the shower, I was pray-chatting and came up with the thought, "What would I have done different (actually, and more to the point, I said, what would I have messed up) if I were Jesus?" Believe it or not, I did get some productive thoughts out of this...
I said, "Some".
First off, start at the start. The whole diaper thing would have had to have gone through some adjustments. Momma wouldn't have needed band-aids or (gakk) hydrogen peroxide in the bathroom. Papa Joe coulda kept his power tools in the "medicine cabinet."
Speaking more reverently of Joseph, we know from the genealogies that he was rightful King of Israel by blood. Do you suppose he and Mary knew that? I mean, before the angel let it out of the bag? "You know, dear, this whole "royal privalege" thing with the TV remote is getting old..."
I wonder, too, how that part about being left at the Temple talking to the leaders could have played out. "Here, let me show you," the boy says, and opens a portal to 1300 BC. "Hey, Moses? Let me borrow that tablet a sec. Boy, I sure wish we'd taught you about papyrus back then!"
One thing that did hit me seriously was about when the Devil tempted him after His 40 day fast. Somewhere in between, "Rocks into bread? I'll just pop a Five Guys up here!" and "Worship you? Imma turn you into a soccer ball and kick you back to Babylon!", they went up on top of the Temple and Satan said, "Cast yourself down! The angels will lift You, that you don't dash your foot on a stone!" What we don't get taught is that there was a Jewish tradition that the Messiah would reveal himself BY standing on the Temple top. But Jesus wasn't interested in fulfilling the Jewish made up traditions- only in fulfilling the Word of God through the prophets.
I had to think about all the times I would have wanted to whip out the ol' Thanos finger-snap on the Pharisees...
...which just goes to show the amazing mercy towards mankind that Jesus had... and I would have ended up purple and alone.
How many times would I have given Peter noogies for the dumb stuff he pulled? How about the time he told the Jews Jesus paid the Temple Tax, and then went to Jesus and said, "We do pay the Temple Tax, right?" Jesus told him to go catch a fish, and when he opened its mouth, he'd find a coin to pay for the two of them. I'd have let him catch a fish with NO coin, snuck up behind him, and said, "Oh, look, it's in your ear..." Or how about when Jesus went to wash his feet, and Peter made a big deal about not letting Him? I would have said, holding my nose, "You know, you're right. Let's just go down to the coin wash and spray you down proper..."
I would have had a hard time not being snarky right back at Pilate. When he scoffed at Jesus, "What is truth?" I would have gave him the 'fastest 60 seconds in history", starting with 'let there be light' and ending with, 'and then we end up right here.'
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"Hang on a sec, willya? I think I hear Caesar calling..."
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What about the Transfiguration? Peter down there trying to get some pup tents up, and Jesus leans over to Elijah and says, "You think he's trippin' now, wait until he hears My Father's voice in the cloud..."
But you know what I really learned? Another layer of how much He loves us, another few layers of the mercy I am constantly astounded by, And how little of both I've really learned to do.
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