Scripture isn’t something that you would necessarily expect to make you say “Yikes!” But it happens. Sometimes it’s because a woman drives a tent spike through a man’s skull, or a powerful king starts acting like an animal and eating grass. Sometimes you say “yikes” because something rings so true that it hits you – as my mom would say – right between the eyes (hopefully not with the force of a sharpened tent peg). A few Gospel moments in the “yikes” category come to mind: Jesus calling Peter “Satan” – that was a “yikes” moment. A whole herd of swine dashing off a cliff – “Yikes!” Jesus asking Peter if he loved him – three times?! Triple yikes.
My Catholic Biblical School class recently studied the deuterocanonical book of Judith. If you haven’t read it, you should check it out. It is 100% guaranteed to make you say “Yikes.”
