Lamentation and wailing and woe!
Images and storytelling: Jesus’ most common method of instruction
By Steve Hall
From even a cursory glance at the Gospels, we recognize that images and storytelling were Jesus’ most common method of instruction. Obviously, Jesus also gave words of instruction, such as telling Peter that he must forgive his brother seventy times seven. But then there is the account of the Prodigal Son, and we have to ask which - the words or the story - has the greater impact on the heart.
Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin
Ezekiel 2:8-3:4
Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131
Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
Images are much easier to remember than words alone. We recognize this in that oft-quoted truism: actions speak louder than words. Jesus was a master at creating images for the purpose of teaching. From even a cursory glance at the Gospels, we recognize that images and storytelling were his most common method of instruction. Obviously, there are words of instruction such as telling Peter that he must forgive his brother seventy times seven. But then there is the account of the Prodigal Son, and we have to ask which - the words or the story — has the greater impact on the heart. Which is more readily remembered?
Of all the prophets, Ezekiel stands apart as a prophet of images. From him we get the account of God removing the stony heart and replacing it with a heart of flesh. From him we get the account of the dry (dead) bones coming together and being fully restored to what they were meant to be.
Today’s passage from Ezekiel gives us the first of his many visualizations of truth. It is the image of a scroll. Not a blank one, but one filled with words both front and back. And we are led to believe that the words all say the same things in one form or another: “Lamentation and wailing and woe!” The scroll is given by God along with the instructions: “eat what is before you; eat this scroll.”
Ezekiel might just as readily have been instructed to eat what appeared to be a can of worms. YUCH! What else could be one’s reaction when faced with the directive to partake of things so obviously distasteful? Yet, this is exactly what Ezekiel is told to do. Moreover, he is instructed to share it with the house of Israel. The consequences were not those one would expect. “I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.” And our reaction is ‘HUH?’ How can something so distasteful in its appearance be as sweet as honey?
It is this image that we are to ponder. This counter-intuitive directive is what we are to consider. “Lamentation and wailing and woe!” And these are as sweet as honey. How can that be? Paul gives us words to understand the dissonance in this image when he writes to the Romans: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
The ‘everything’ may not coincide with our expectations, but it certainly works with God’s desire to draw us closer to himself. So it was with the “Lamentation and wailing and woe!” that had come and were coming to the house of Israel. So also is it with us today.