Camel Swallowing

Josh Osborn | JUL 26, 2026

Scripture: My Friend, Jesus

Categories: The Kingdom of God, Be with Jesus, Spiritual Practices

Sermon summary

We picked up right where we left off last week, with Jesus coming up out of the water at his baptism and heading straight into forty days in the wilderness. No food, no comfort, just the devil waiting for him at the end of it. Where Adam failed in the garden, Jesus stood firm in the desert, and he did it using the same practices we talked about last week: prayer, scripture, fasting.

From there we followed him into Galilee, where he started preaching that the Kingdom of God had come near. That phrase shows up over a hundred times across the Gospels, and it meant something specific and dangerous to the people hearing it. These weren't people wondering what happens after they die. They were living under Roman occupation, watching their neighbors get crucified along the road, and waiting for God to actually do something about it. When Jesus said the kingdom was already here, he wasn't offering comfort. He was making a claim that could get him killed.

We talked about why Jesus taught in parables and why he called himself the Son of Man instead of announcing himself outright. It kept him one step ahead of Rome while still speaking directly to anyone who knew their Scripture, especially Daniel 7.

Then we shifted to something we don't talk about enough. Jesus had a sense of humor. We walked through the plank in the eye, the camel and the gnat, the fish with a coin in its mouth, and Jesus letting his friends think he was a ghost before he strolled out onto the water. We looked at him showing up on a beach after the resurrection, cooking breakfast like nothing had happened, recreating the very moment he first called those same disciples.

This is the real Jesus. Not the solemn figure we've flattened him into, but someone playful, subversive, and fully human. The invitation is the same as always: come and know him, not as a concept, but as a friend.