One Kind of Satire

“The Juvenalian approach can be harsh or buoyant. When Jesus describes His adversaries as vipers, the tone is a straightforward denunciation. But if someone were to describe a bureaucrat as one asleep at his desk so long that one side of his head was flat, this would be Juvenalian also — the point being most unsubtle — and funnier than simple denunciations like ‘lazy bureaucrat.’ Jesus uses both forms of Juvenalian satire. For example, He calls His opponents whited sepulchers, which is kind of harsh and critical, and He also says they like to strain minnows out of their coffee while missing the sea lion in there, which is kind of funny” (A Serrated Edge, p. 15).