FEATURE
CUTTING TO THE BONE
In today’s comedy, satire – particularly
political satire – is a key weapon used
to prick the pomposity of the vain, selfrighteous and powerful, to highlight
hypocrisy and to expose truth. It can
be traced back right the way through
history from today’s Have I Got News
For You and Private Eye, through
the 18th century political cartoons
of Hogarth and Gillray, Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales, to the Roman and
Greek poets before Christ.
It’s also clearly seen in Jesus’
concerted verbal attacks on the
Pharisees in Matthew 23. As religious
leaders who prided themselves on
not just being holy, but being seen to
be holy, Jesus takes great delight in
pointing out the ludicrousness of their
focus on outward appearance at the
expense of what is within.
If Matthew 23 was delivered by a top
contemporary stand-up, it would be
a barbed rant by the likes of social
activist Mark Thomas, skewering
targets along the way with a passion
for justice and integrity, yet a tender
heart for truth. This must have been
something like the way it sounded
for Jesus’ hearers, even as they were
stunned by his insight and courage at
confronting the Pharisees with their
inconsistencies head-on.
33
‘You give a tenth of your spices – mint,
dill and cumin. But you have neglected
the more important matters of the
law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.
You should have practiced the latter,
without neglecting the former. You
blind guides! You strain out a gnat but
swallow a camel’ (verses 23–24).
talking with Moses and Elijah. Peter
enthusiastically suggests a little
tented village, then ‘while he was still
speaking, a bright cloud enveloped
them…’ Essentially, this is God sighing
and saying ‘Ye-es, Peter, nice idea, but
maybe concentrate on listening to
what Jesus tells you?’
It’s observational humour: picking
up the minutiae, but targeting
their hypocrisy and the fact they’ve
completely missed the law’s priorities.
And he ends it with a classically
surreal image: straining out a gnat,
and swallowing a camel! That’s the
line shared down the pub.
There’s so much more to be explored
(check out 1 Corinthians 12:1–26 for a
Body of Christ analogy for the local
church that always makes me think
of Mr Potato Head in Toy Story),
and Jesus’ parables are an absolute
goldmine. The God who invented
laughter, and who has consistently
used the most unlikely men and
women in his plans, has left wit and
humour all over his Word. I’m not
kidding.
J John comments on Jesus’ use of
exaggeration: ‘There’s an ingredient in
Nurofen that is probably disgusting.
If we actually had to swallow the
liquid, we wouldn’t be able to. But it’s
covered in sugar in order to make it
soluble. What we are trying to do is
help deliver the message to make it
accessible and soluble.’
‘Jesus was doing this; a lot of people
don’t recognise Hebrew humour, as
it is humour by exaggeration. Before
you take the speck out of someone’s
eye, take the telegraph pole out of
your own. It was all exaggeration.’1
One of my favourite incidents takes
place in Matthew 17 on the Mount
of Transfiguration: Jesus is seen
1. www.premierchristianity.com/Past-Issues/2016/
March-2016/J.John-filling-the-football-stadiumsagain
Russ Bravo
Russ Bravo is editor of
Inspire magazine. He’s based
on the Sussex coast where
he runs Matt’s Comedy Club
and helps lead worship at St
Matthew’s Church, Worthing.