J.C.

Jesus Christ didn’t want to be a celebrity. But he was the purest forms of one. In one of the gospels Mark 1:40…I’ll paraphrase it – A guy with an illness came to Jesus asking him to heal him. Jesus did. Then Jesus told him not to tell anyone about what happened. The guy that was cured, began publicizing everything and did the exact opposite of what Jesus told him to do. After this incident Jesus could no longer enter a town openly he stayed in lonely places. People STILL came to him from EVERYWHERE.

I read this story today and it made me think of the modern celebrity. Kim Kardashian. I wonder if she always wanted to be famous? Or if it was something that just fell in her lap from her “good” deeds. I probably sound spiteful, because for as long as I remember all I wanted to be was famous. But famous for what? Every time I asked myself that question I got nowhere. Until, one day I realized, “I want to be known for a good deed.” That’s kind of like this story about the guy with an illness and Jesus. Publicizing the good should be praised upon. However, I never stopped to think about the one people would be praising. What if they didn’t want that attention, what if they weren’t “ready” for it. What if that said person was afraid? I like to think Jesus had an inkling that the guy that was cured would shout from the rooftops and let everyone know that Jesus had cured him, if I had an illness and a man cured me, I would want others to know too. The tricky part is when the curer asks to not tell anyone. I sympathize with both parties. On one hand you have someone ecstatic about recovery. On the other hand you have an individual that healed someone and you don’t know their intent. Perhaps the guy cured wanted people to know he was cured in case of insurance, in case he dropped dead the next day. Maybe the guy cured wanted people to know he was cured because he was in such shock he didn’t believe life was “real” whatever the case I sympathize. But, I also sympathize with Jesus. When you ask someone to do or to not do something. You expect that they have a basic moral obligation to oblige by your wishes. Sometimes this is not the case. Because of this incident, Jesus could no longer openly and freely enter into towns. He was watched and monitored by what today would be considered the paparazzi. He was forced to stay outside of towns and seclude himself to lonely places. And people still FLOCKED to him. People still wanted to be around HIM.