“Dad, you’re not funny.”
I had just finished telling a joke to my college-aged daughter. I thought it was funny and was still snickering when she made that observation. I quickly retorted.
“Oh Sweetheart! My residents laughed at it!”
“Dad!” she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “They HAVE to laugh at your Dad jokes!”
“What’s a Dad joke?” My daughter explained that a Dad joke is an unfunny joke told by a middle aged or older man. No wonder I didn’t understand, the joke was on me! Corny, predictable…that’s what being a dad means! The irony is these are the types of jokes I have told all my life, long before I was ever a dad or even married. The only difference is the passage of time. Guess I have never been funny! However, I have heard many of these same jokes shared and laughed amongst others who are my daughter’s age. Clearly it is not the message, it is the messenger!
When Jesus Christ lived on this earth, He often quoted the great saints and prophets like Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah, all recorded in the books of the Old Testament. In this following passage, Jesus was beginning His ministry and was invited to speak in the synagogue in Nazareth, His home town. He quoted the prophet Isaiah.
The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
Luke 4:17-21 (CSB)
Unlike the day when these words were first spoken by Isaiah, Jesus was met with hostility when He spoke these same words. Even though the same words were spoken and taught in the synagogues by countless rabbis for hundreds of years, the listeners violently reacted to them. It was not the message, it was the messenger!
Everything Jesus did in His life proved that He was the Messiah. He was the fulfilment of hundreds of prophecies written by their same prophets. Hearing, believing, and acting upon these words is the path to salvation and eternal life. One can choose to listen and obey His words and receive salvation and eternal life or ignore them and accept separation from God and His saving grace and love.
And that is no joke!
Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 