It happens to musicians. It happens to authors. It even happens to scientists. I’m talking about extreme pressure to conform, to fit the mold. Musicians are pressured to be more commercial. Authors are pressured to imitate John Grisham. Scientific research is more likely to get published if the results are “sexy,” whatever that means to the guys in lab coats…

It happened to Jesus, too. He got slammed because He didn’t fit the mold, the religious expectations of the leaders. But Jesus knew it’s moldy in the mold. He said:

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ (Matthew 11:16–17)

Notice, it is “we played” and “we sang.” The people wanted to call the tune, to define what Jesus and John the Baptist should be like. Jesus compared them to spoiled children who fuss if they don’t get their way.

People still object to Jesus because He doesn’t fit their expectations. Rejecting eyewitness accounts, they redefine Him to fit their own mold. That’s why you hear some say Jesus was married, that He was mistaken about His identity, that He was merely a prophet or a good man. But it is Jesus who calls the tune. He proclaimed Who He was and His actions smashed the moldy molds.

He said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.“. (John 14:9b)

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Matthew 11:6)