Did Jesus Have A Sense Of Humor?

Did Jesus have a sense of humor?

You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

JESUS (Matthew 23:24)

If there is a single person within the pages of the Bible that we can consider to be a humorist, it is without doubt Jesus.

DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL IMAGERY

A FRIEND AND I SPENT three hours at lunch with Carol King, a godly woman in her fifties who was dying of cancer. She’d read a few of my books and wanted to talk about Heaven. What struck me as we spent time sharing together was an unexpected gift—the gift of laughter.

“I need new clothes,” Carol said, “but why buy them? I used to get jumbo-sized shampoo, but now I get small bottles. I don’t even buy green bananas, because by the time they ripen I’ll probably be gone!” Carol laughed as she spoke. It wasn’t a morbid or cynical laugh, but one that naturally flowed from heartfelt peace. She anticipated being with Jesus in a better world. She’d already suffered great pain and had no romantic notions about death. Yet she faced the end of her time on Earth with quiet joy and Christ-honoring laughter that invited us to laugh as much as she did.

Nanci and I find that lightheartedness and humor is our release, our safety valve during tough times. Laughter is therapeutic. It heals. It gives hope and vitality.

Did Satan create laughter? Was it fashioned by humans? No. Scripture says of God, “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy” (Job 8:21, NRSV).

People often reject the idea of Jesus being happy by quoting from Isaiah 53:3: “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” But the context shows that he’s called “a man of sorrows” not in general, but specifically in relationship to his suffering and sacrificial work. Going to the cross, Jesus said, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death” (Mark 14:34, NASB).

But he lived more than twelve thousand days, and this was the worst twenty-four hours of his life. Given the price he paid for our sins, does being “a man of sorrows” in his atoning work contradict the notion Jesus was happy? Absolutely not. Sorrow and happiness can and do coexist within the same person.

Jesus understood that the basis for his sorrow was temporary, while the basis for his gladness was and is permanent. He’d known unbounded happiness before the dawn of time, and he knew it awaited him again.

Scripture says of Jesus, “By him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16). Laughter comes from the Creator, who made us in his image! God’s laughter preceded our own laughter and is the ongoing source of it. We can be happy only because he’s happy; we can laugh because he laughs.

Jesus says, “How happy are you who weep now, for you are going to laugh!” (Luke 6:21, PHILLIPS). In context, he’s talking about people having great reward in Heaven. In other words, he’s saying, “You will laugh in Heaven.” Surely Jesus will join in the laughter—and when he laughs, it’s always the laughter of both God and man.

Jesus goes on to say, “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25). The laughter he opposes is laughter at injustice, immorality, and other things that dishonor God. Obviously, laughter can be twisted by sin, just as eating and drinking can.

As believers, we need to laugh a great deal more and a great deal less: more at ourselves and the incongruities of life, and less at immorality and mockery of what pleases God.

We don’t have depictions of the disciples sitting around campfires telling stories or teasing each other. But I’m certain they did, because that’s what people do. Did Jesus joke with his friends? The better question is, Why wouldn’t he? Jesus knew what Solomon did: there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Surely we should believe he did all of these!

Growing up in a faithful Jewish family, Jesus would have enjoyed many feasts and holidays, as well as the weekly Sabbath, all celebratory experiences (see chapter 33 of my book Happiness). One of the psalms that Jesus would have meditated on from his childhood says, “When the LORD brought us back to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! How we laughed, how we sang for joy! . . . Indeed he did great things for us; how happy we were!”(Psalm 126:1-3, GNT).

Laughter is not only human, it’s explicitly biblical and pleasing to God. It’s therefore inconceivable that Jesus didn’t laugh! Did humor come into the universe as the result of sin? No. We have a sense of humor because as his image bearers, we’re similar to God, who enjoys laughter.

The humor of Jesus is far more apparent if we understand his culture and engaging personality. There’s nothing disrespectful about noticing that many of Jesus’ statements are, by design, happily outrageous.

Jesus told the religious leaders they were sightless, missing the whole point of following God: “You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” (Matthew 23:24). Straining out a gnat would have been hard work for anyone—but impossible for the blind. And what could be more ridiculous than swallowing a camel? This odd and pithy statement undoubtedly caused laughter to erupt.

Jesus may have laughed at some of the limitations of his own humanity. He didn’t sin or make foolish decisions, but did he ever fall down, spill milk, or hit his thumb while hammering? He who made the heavens with his fingers (see Psalm 8:3) surely got splinters in them while working with wood all day. I doubt he complained, but I do think he marveled at what it means to be human. Remember, Jesus brought into the world not only the grace and truth of God but also the happiness, delight, humor, and laughter of God.

One day in the presence of Jesus, we’ll know what it means to have entered our Master’s happiness. And on the New Earth, as we play and feast and joke and tell stories together, always looking to the one who redeemed us, I truly believe that no laugh will be louder, and no happiness larger, than his.

Jesus, thank you for creating laughter and setting the perfect example of how to enjoy humor. What a wonderful way to bring us healing. What a gift from your loving hand! Open our eyes to the delights around us and help us enjoy the kind of laughter and humor that honors you.