Jesus and the Use of Humor

Because humor is often not associated with seriousness, a possibility exists that humor can be overlooked in the life and teachings of Jesus (Drakeford 27). A second obstacle is that the Gospels stress the tragedy of the crucifixion (Trueblood 19). No humor exists in the crucifixion, a major theme of the Gospels. Because humor is absent in such a significant event, it is possibility that the absence of humor can be associated with the rest of the Gospel. A third obstacle is the failure of logic. Since Jesus wept and displayed sadness, a person could possibly assume that sadness necessitates a rejection of humor. Because Christ wept does not mean that he did not laugh. Differing personality qualities often complement each other and are not necessarily mutually exclusive (Trueblood 21).

Jesus Christ's expression of joy and use of humor is often taken too lightly and even rejected. Many non-Christians have a dreary view of Jesus Christ. Nietzsche writes of Christ, "Would that he had remained in the wilderness and far from the good and just! Perhaps he would have learned to live and to love the earth—and laughter too" (109). Some in the Church also share the view that Jesus was always serious. Elton Trueblood writes about the humor of Jesus being overlooked:

The widespread failure to recognize and to appreciate the humor of Christ is one of the most amazing aspects of the era named for Him. Anyone who reads the Synoptic Gospels with a relative freedom from presuppositions might be expected to see that Christ laughed, and that He expected others to laugh, but our capacity to miss this aspect of His life is phenomenal. We are so sure that He was always deadly serious that we often twist His words in order to try to make them conform to our preconceived mold. A misguided piety has made us fear that acceptance of His obvious wit and humor would somehow be mildly blasphemous or sacrilegious. (15)

The Gospels are serious, but seriousness does not exclude the expression of joy or the use of humor.

A better understanding of life, self, and God can be attained when a person is able to recognize humor in the Bible. Trueblood notes that new possibilities in understanding and applying the teachings of Jesus exist when the reader can understand the Jesus was not always dead serious (96). Jesus looked at his disciples and the multitudes, a group of people who needed grace, and said, "God blesses you who weep now, for the time will come when you will laugh with joy" (Luke 6:21, NIV). Jesus knew that the end is not weeping, the end is laughter. Buechner writes of the humor of Jesus, "Nobody claims there's a chuckle on every page, but laughter's what the whole Bible is really about" (Peculiar Treasures 173). History's great comedy is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the early Greek Orthodox Church, the day after Easter the people gathered to tell jokes and funny stories. They did this to celebrate the practical joke that God played on Satan. Satan thought that he conquered the world, but on the third day the tomb was empty and Christ had risen (Demaray Laughter, Joy, and Healing 35; Hyers And God Created Laughter 25). The comedy of the Bible, specifically the story of Jesus Christ, is found in the fact that liberation and laughter come through God's victory in Jesus Christ (Oden 405-6).