January 29, Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (Matthew 5:1–12)
I don’t like this. When I mourn I want to not mourn anymore.
While I love Jesus, I can’t guarantee that if I lived in first-century Palestine, I would like him. Let me explain why. Most of us tend to prefer people who are predictable. We like the person we know we can count on for a well-timed joke. We like the person who will show up when they commit to something.
We tend to prefer people we can read; either they tell us outright what they’re thinking or their expressions do. We like it when people say what they mean and mean what they say.
We tend to prefer people who are logical and draw understandable conclusions. Basically, we like people we can easily peg.
