From ‘the Insect and the Buffalo’
One of my favourite quotes from Star Wars is said by Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker after Luke challenges him
about the version of history Obi-Wan told him about his father and what happened to him.1 “…what I told you was true... from a certain point of view.” Sometimes what we experience or see is true, but we don’t have the full perspective.
The message
From ‘the Insect and the Buffalo’2
“The BaMbuti people live in the dense, forested valleys of the northeastern Congo in Africa. Their history is marked by geographical and cultural isolation, and their way of life, like their language, is deeply shaped by their forest home.
In the 1950s, a British anthropologist studying their culture and lifestyle formed a friendship with a BaMbuti tribesman called Kenge, who began to accompany him on his expeditions. Like most BaMbuti, Kenge had never before left the confines of the forest. It was on one of these journeys that the anthropologist invited Kenge to accompany him onto the plains. As they drove out of the forest into grassland, Kenge was speechless. His language gave him no words to describe a land where you could see for miles around with no trees.
Pointing to a herd of buffalo, far in the distance, Kenge asked what kind of insects they were. Perplexed, the anthropologist explained that these were buffalo, a common sight to the BaMbuti, but that they appeared smaller because of the distance. Kenge’s reaction left no doubt that he thought this was nonsense, but when they drove closer, he saw that the anthropologist was right. Having never seen an object at a distance, he had no expectation that distance makes things look smaller. What witchcraft had made such small buffalo grow larger as they approached? Kenge went back among the BaMbuti that evening, sitting around the campfire, he tried to explain how his understanding of the world had changed. A story about a journey into a land with no trees, where buffalo can shrink to the size of insects.”
Mark 16 (NIV)
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Kenge and those whom Christ first appeared to have one thing in common: they had experienced something incomprehensible, something they could not describe in a way that made sense to their audience. How can an insect grow to become a buffalo? How can Christ be risen? How can it make sense when everything I know tells me it is impossible? Why would Christ do it for me?
Redemptive love has the power over the things that bind us. It is a light that extinguishes all darkness. It can forgive what justice demands to be paid. It chooses us, not just to be saved, but to join in the redemptive process of those who had never journeyed out of the jungle to see buffaloes the size of insects. Communion remembers the sacrifice made on our behalf but also remembers the victory. The sacrifice means nothing if the victory didn’t occur. The victory is what we celebrate. Did you hear? Did you see? Has someone told you the good news? Christ is risen! His broken body didn’t hold him back. His spilt blood wasn’t the end of his story. It’s the beginning of a new story we're part of.
So, let’s eat and drink in remembrance of Christ, and the victorious, redemptive love that broke the power of Sin, by one selfless, loving act that he did, choosing each and every one of us, which defies all our understanding but makes perfect sense to a God who loves us unconditionally.
The Takeaway
There are many things that we don’t understand about God’s glory, power, and splendour, or why he allows things to
happen the way they do. What we do know is God’s motive: to redeem us in love, allowing mercy to surpass justice.
We enter that process through the Great Commission (common mission), which redeems the fallen world we live in.
27 September 2026
Matthew Gadsden
Passion for Compassion