2011-04-19
Explanation
A nun poses a writing prompt to her class: "If you could talk to Baby Jesus, what would you say to him?" The comic then contrasts two responses. The "Good Kid" writes a sweet, pious answer: "Dear Baby Jesus, Thank you for forgiving everyone." The "Smart Kid" takes the premise literally and writes: "Baby Jesus! Thank God I got to you before it was too late. In about 30 years, stay the heck away from the Romans!"
The joke is that the smart kid treats the hypothetical as an actual time-travel scenario rather than a devotional exercise. If you could really communicate with the infant Jesus, the most practical thing to do would be to warn him about his future crucifixion by the Romans. The "good kid" answer is theologically correct within Christianity -- Jesus's sacrifice and forgiveness is the whole point -- but the "smart kid" answer is the logical response if you genuinely cared about the person rather than the doctrine. The comic plays on the tension between religious reverence and pragmatic thinking.