A testimonial dinner was arranged for a woman who was retiring after many years of faithful service as the town librarian. On the night of the event, the toastmaster introduced her with lavish words of praise. He spoke of her loyalty to her job, her superior intelligence, her marvelous sense of humor, her outstanding knowledge of modern library systems, her remarkable patience with the children who used the library, and more. Finally, when the toastmaster had finished, feeling totally overwhelmed as she stood before the applauding dinner guests, she smiled and said, “After such an introduction, I can hardly wait to hear what I’m going to say.”
In the Gospels, the sacred authors often introduce Jesus to us as the “main speaker,” so to speak. For example, Matthew begins the story of the Sermon on the Mount, saying, “Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when He sat down His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught…
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