When Disraeli made his maiden speech in the House of Common, the members jeered at him. His response was: ‘Though I sit down now, the time will come when you will hear me.’ Disraeli was not a man to be ignored. He had great capabilities and in time he came to exercise them. Look up quotations from him and you will find depth and wit and a sense that he and others like him were governed by an invisible hand rather than their own decisiveness.
It takes time for this to become apparent. It takes time for cartoonists to decide on a noticeable nose, chin or eyes. These features are not recognised immediately when celebrities change like the weather. There is a pause while a conspicuous feature is noticed. Once that happens the celebrity is dead meat. Floppy hair was the trade-mark of Boris Johnson. Dapper is the style of Jacob Rees-Mogg. Cartoonists never let us forget these things.
Perhaps some politicians like being lampooned. None of us likes to be taken seriously all the time. But there are differences in approach. Some politicians are amusing. Others are happy to amuse others.
Jesus was laughed out of court (Luke 8.53). When he said, ‘She’s not dead. She’s asleep’ they laughed. They knew better than this new prophet, they thought. The woman’s parents, we read, were astounded, as well they might have been. The woman, too timid to make a direct approach to Jesus, had merely touched the hem of his garment. ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace,’ he said. He commended her faith.
The difference between ‘laughing at’ and ’laughing with’ is part of the lubricating oil of our social lives. Get it wrong and we are little short of being clumsy idiots. Get it right and we are useful members of society like our praiseworthy bin men.
Jesus had no intention of becoming a showman or exhibitionist. He warned the parents in this episode to keep quiet about the event. But a number of those got to hear about it or Luke would never have been able to include it in his Gospel.
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