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Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer Biography
I’m a big Will Ferrell fan. He’s a great and clever comedian.
In his movie “Talladega Nights” he jests about praying to baby Jesus: “Dear eight pound, six ounce, newborn baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled-up little fists pawing’ at the air…”
In his recent HBO special last week, “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush” he jested about praying to a white American Jesus: “Dear Lord Jesus Christ, and by Jesus Christ I’m referring to blond, good looking, lightly bearded or clean shaven Jesus Christ. Not hippie looking Jesus. Or swirly, more middle eastern looking Jesus.”
As Christians we are to not to passively take in entertainment, but to actively engage and enjoy it to the glory of God. That involves thinking about what we see and hear, submitting it to the gospel, and redeeming it in us. This entry is devoted to doing that with the simulated prayers of Will Ferrell.
Blaspheming Jesus
To be sure there is something blasphemous about Will Ferrell’s address of Jesus. There is a tone of mockery and disbelief implicit in it. He speaks of Jesus as though Jesus’ very person was a joke and not just the prayers of those who seek him, perhaps sometimes half-heartedly or hypocritically. It is surely not the language of praise or the way Mr. Ferrell would speak to Jesus if he were visibly present before him. There is no doubt Mr. Ferrell’s demeanor would quickly change if he beheld Christ face to face.
However, I say Will Ferrell’s blasphemy is helpful for this reason… Will Ferrell’s mock-up imaginary prayers point out something very important and useful to us as Christians. And that is the question of who we are praying to. What Jesus do we have in our head when we pray? What of the biblical portraits of Jesus are we to have in our mind? Are there certain attributes or characteristics we ought to keep before us when we address him? These are good questions and ones I believe the Bible does in fact give us answers to.
The Age of the Jesus We Pray To
Will Ferrell wonders whether we ought to pray to Jesus as a baby? The good thing about this question is it recognizes that Jesus was worthy of prayer even as baby because he was the divine Son of God who came into the world.
There are two instances of individuals who recognized the divinity of Jesus as a baby and prayed to him. The first is Elizabeth, Jesus’ aunt. While Jesus was still in his mother Mary’s womb, Elizabeth blessed him and called him “Lord” (Lk 1:44-44). The second is the magi, the wise men from the east. When they saw Jesus as a two and half year old boy they fell down and worshipped him (Mt 2:11). This “worshipping” would have included prayerful address.
These two brief accounts only make up an extremely small percentage of prayers made to Jesus from the recorded accounts of his life and ministry. Nearly all the prophecies, gospel accounts, and epistolary references to Jesus are of him as a full-grown man. Thus, since the bulk of the picture of Jesus in the Old and New Testaments are of him not as an infant or child, it seems God’s general intention is for our primary idea of Jesus when we pray to him to be that of a mature adult male.
The Race of the Jesus We Pray To
Will Ferrell not only points out the divinity of Jesus as a baby but also points out his facial or racial complexion in a very historically and culturally accurate manner. Mr. Ferrell is correct to point out that drawings or paintings of Jesus as a white Caucasian with perfectly brushed hair is incorrect. Most likely these paintings were done that way in order to emphasize a particular person or people group’s identification with Jesus as being their savior who saves people like them. Interestingly, in that vein there are also paintings and artistic expressions of a black Jesus, an Asian Jesus and even an Indian Jesus.
Since Jesus was born a Jew in Israel of the Middle East and since Jesus spent most his time outside, he undoubtedly had a dark complexion. The only physical description of Jesus is in Isaiah 53:2-3, which is a chapter of messianic prophecy with seven explicit fulfillments in the Jesus’ life and death. Both because of these fulfilled prophecies and because the prophets tended to see things in the form of pictures God would reveal to them, the description of Isaiah 53:2-3 is most likely accurate. It says Jesus was not physically attractive, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him…as one from whom men hide their faces.”
Jesus apparently did not look handsome or kingly. So how do you picture Jesus when you pray? For that I think it is best to think of the physical descriptions the Bible offers to us that are chief to his character. Jesus consistently throughout his earthly ministry recorded in the gospels, presents himself as a prophet, priest and king. So when I pray to him I envision the features which accompany each of these traits in Scripture.
The Picture of Jesus as Prophet
As prophet, the Bible repeatedly says people were amazed at Jesus’ teachings because he “taught as one with authority.” So imagine Jesus’ face full of confidence. His lips do not quiver. His eyes are direct and piercingly truthful. His gaze invokes my silence, looking to him to listen and learn. Jesus speaks and his word is trustworthy and true. By his powerful word the whole universe is held together and operates (Heb 1:3) and with his word he speaks life into our souls (Jn 6:63).
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer Biography
I’m a big Will Ferrell fan. He’s a great and clever comedian.
In his movie “Talladega Nights” he jests about praying to baby Jesus: “Dear eight pound, six ounce, newborn baby Jesus, in your golden, fleece diapers, with your curled-up, fat, balled-up little fists pawing’ at the air…”
In his recent HBO special last week, “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night with George W. Bush” he jested about praying to a white American Jesus: “Dear Lord Jesus Christ, and by Jesus Christ I’m referring to blond, good looking, lightly bearded or clean shaven Jesus Christ. Not hippie looking Jesus. Or swirly, more middle eastern looking Jesus.”
As Christians we are to not to passively take in entertainment, but to actively engage and enjoy it to the glory of God. That involves thinking about what we see and hear, submitting it to the gospel, and redeeming it in us. This entry is devoted to doing that with the simulated prayers of Will Ferrell.
Blaspheming Jesus
To be sure there is something blasphemous about Will Ferrell’s address of Jesus. There is a tone of mockery and disbelief implicit in it. He speaks of Jesus as though Jesus’ very person was a joke and not just the prayers of those who seek him, perhaps sometimes half-heartedly or hypocritically. It is surely not the language of praise or the way Mr. Ferrell would speak to Jesus if he were visibly present before him. There is no doubt Mr. Ferrell’s demeanor would quickly change if he beheld Christ face to face.
However, I say Will Ferrell’s blasphemy is helpful for this reason… Will Ferrell’s mock-up imaginary prayers point out something very important and useful to us as Christians. And that is the question of who we are praying to. What Jesus do we have in our head when we pray? What of the biblical portraits of Jesus are we to have in our mind? Are there certain attributes or characteristics we ought to keep before us when we address him? These are good questions and ones I believe the Bible does in fact give us answers to.
The Age of the Jesus We Pray To
Will Ferrell wonders whether we ought to pray to Jesus as a baby? The good thing about this question is it recognizes that Jesus was worthy of prayer even as baby because he was the divine Son of God who came into the world.
There are two instances of individuals who recognized the divinity of Jesus as a baby and prayed to him. The first is Elizabeth, Jesus’ aunt. While Jesus was still in his mother Mary’s womb, Elizabeth blessed him and called him “Lord” (Lk 1:44-44). The second is the magi, the wise men from the east. When they saw Jesus as a two and half year old boy they fell down and worshipped him (Mt 2:11). This “worshipping” would have included prayerful address.
These two brief accounts only make up an extremely small percentage of prayers made to Jesus from the recorded accounts of his life and ministry. Nearly all the prophecies, gospel accounts, and epistolary references to Jesus are of him as a full-grown man. Thus, since the bulk of the picture of Jesus in the Old and New Testaments are of him not as an infant or child, it seems God’s general intention is for our primary idea of Jesus when we pray to him to be that of a mature adult male.
The Race of the Jesus We Pray To
Will Ferrell not only points out the divinity of Jesus as a baby but also points out his facial or racial complexion in a very historically and culturally accurate manner. Mr. Ferrell is correct to point out that drawings or paintings of Jesus as a white Caucasian with perfectly brushed hair is incorrect. Most likely these paintings were done that way in order to emphasize a particular person or people group’s identification with Jesus as being their savior who saves people like them. Interestingly, in that vein there are also paintings and artistic expressions of a black Jesus, an Asian Jesus and even an Indian Jesus.
Since Jesus was born a Jew in Israel of the Middle East and since Jesus spent most his time outside, he undoubtedly had a dark complexion. The only physical description of Jesus is in Isaiah 53:2-3, which is a chapter of messianic prophecy with seven explicit fulfillments in the Jesus’ life and death. Both because of these fulfilled prophecies and because the prophets tended to see things in the form of pictures God would reveal to them, the description of Isaiah 53:2-3 is most likely accurate. It says Jesus was not physically attractive, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him…as one from whom men hide their faces.”
Jesus apparently did not look handsome or kingly. So how do you picture Jesus when you pray? For that I think it is best to think of the physical descriptions the Bible offers to us that are chief to his character. Jesus consistently throughout his earthly ministry recorded in the gospels, presents himself as a prophet, priest and king. So when I pray to him I envision the features which accompany each of these traits in Scripture.
The Picture of Jesus as Prophet
As prophet, the Bible repeatedly says people were amazed at Jesus’ teachings because he “taught as one with authority.” So imagine Jesus’ face full of confidence. His lips do not quiver. His eyes are direct and piercingly truthful. His gaze invokes my silence, looking to him to listen and learn. Jesus speaks and his word is trustworthy and true. By his powerful word the whole universe is held together and operates (Heb 1:3) and with his word he speaks life into our souls (Jn 6:63).
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
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Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
Talladega Nights Baby Jesus Prayer
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