I recently noticed a pattern with Jesus Christ in the Gospels:
Martha once complained to him, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Jesus refused to dismiss Mary from his presence but instead urged Martha not to be anxious and pointed her to the superiority of holy intimacy over hard labors.
A man in a crowd once said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” Jesus declined to declare a verdict in the matter but warned, “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
A pagan mother once begged Jesus to free her demon-tormented daughter. Christ’s annoyed followers said, “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” Instead, Jesus engaged her in a challenging repartee, granted her wish, and showed his disciples that his mission extended beyond just the Jews.
On Palm Sunday, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, his disciples loudly acclaimed him. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd demanded, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” But Christ replied, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out,” insisting that his critics’ recognize his supreme worthiness.
And so it seems, where we have been asking Jesus to change another person in our world, we would do well to consider what our Lord may be wishing to see changed in ourselves.
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