Milk: it comes full strength, semi-skimmed or skimmed. We take our choice. Calves have the choice made for them. Milk is not the only product when we have that kind of choice. Eggs come in different sizes and can be organic or otherwise. And when we talk about purchasing cars, we are talking of entry level and beyond.
According to Jesus, this kind of choice goes to the heart of things. ‘Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts (Matthew 12.35 CEV). The difference is apparent in the words that are spoken.
In a sense this goes beyond – or beneath – religion. It is an observation about human nature and how we react to circumstance. It underlies the overall view of the cosmos as a contest between good and evil. It was with right-handedness (or the other kind), bipedality and ten toes that we come into the world. This is part of what it is to be human. The incarnate Jesus had a numerical blood pressure, a particular blood group, a pulse rate that denoted him as fully human. It was when he spoke – and that not always – that he revealed something different about himself. If you like, this incident makes it clear that religion is not just a hobby for those people who like community singing and cosy get togethers. It is about a way of seeing the world. It is recognising that we are part of a universal system.
If Jesus had admitted some shortcoming in his understanding of human nature, we should be well advised to take this into account when we formed a judgment about him. A sense of humour is part of this; so are the elements that make up a complete package of a human being from one climate or one zone on the earth’s surface. We are different and the difference is worth celebrating.
But under the skin we’re the same. Human nature is nothing if not predictable. We have the same urges, instincts. We are remarkably like each other.
MILK IN CORINTH
Paul accepted weaning as part of a spiritual intake programme. In 1 Corinthians 3.2) he told his friends he could not speak to them as people who had the Spirit. He had to deal with them as infants in Christ. ‘I fed you on milk instead of solid food, for which you were not ready.’ After all, were there not signs enough of infancy in their hero-worship coupled with partisan zeal? Paul, it seemed, did not aim at making Corinth a place of sophisticated theologians. More important was spiritual behaviour – integrity, compassion, kindness, first principles.
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