Puns are a fascinating reality. It is a play on words that is meant to be humorous, grab someone's attention and sometimes make a point.
For instance> Math teachers are known for having problems.
>Two silk worms were in a race. It ended in a tie.
>I recently spoke to a soldier who had been in battle three or four times. He said he survived mustard gas and pepper spray. He was a seasoned veteran.
> Have you heard about the guy who got his whole left side cut off. Yeah, that guy. Well, he is all right.
Jesus in today's gospel uses a pun. He plays with a couple words that gets lost in translation.
He tells us as the translation reads, "you strain out a gnat and swallow a camel."
In Aramaic it reads you strain out a galma and you swallow a gama.
Jesus makes a funny. He does so to help the listeners to remember the point of the conversation.
The point is, don't get so bogged down in the little details that you lose sight of the big picture. In this case, we should focus on judgment, mercy and faithfulness. These are the things that are most essential, and everything else flows from there.
If we lose sight of these then we will be lost.
Don't strain the galma and swallow the gama because you are liable to choke to death.
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