Did Jesus Laugh, Joke, etc

[LilyM]

He was not a Sadducee. Get it? Sad-ducee?

boom-tish

 

[Qoeleth]

One thing we all can be sure of is that He didn’t fit ANYONE’S stereotype of how the Son of God should be and behave - including, no doubt, stereotypes such as yours. So much so that the people of Nazareth, among whom He had grown up, saw Him simply as one of their own - “is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary?” - and were shocked at any idea that He was anything more.

And He enjoyed His food and drink to what some considered an excessive extent, and they accordingly called Him a drunkard and glutton.

I do think we need to be careful not to remake Him into a somewhat false puritanical image in order to fit our preconceptions - for example that a love of laughter and jokes is not compatible with dignity.

I suggest you read Bonaventure’s Meditationes Vitae Christi, which gives a very good picture (from a saint and Doctor of the Church) of Christ’s human character.

 

[James248]

I suggest you read Bonaventure’s Meditationes Vitae Christi, which gives a very good picture (from a saint and Doctor of the Church) of Christ’s human character.

Bonaventure didn’t know Him. The only truly accurate info on Jesus is the Bible.

 

[jcrichton]

Even God has a sense of humor. He did create the platypus.

Hi, James!

…wait… I thought that happened when mother nature took a short sabbatical and creepy things just emerged… like the jackalope and sasquatch!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[jcrichton]

He was not a Sadducee. Get it? Sad-ducee?

Hi, James!

…you’ve proven it, …I don’t get out much!



Maran atha!

Angel

 

[MyMother]

Considering he created all things, he is the author of “humor”. So I do believe he could be quite humorous, making his point with humor, with his beloved friends. He had to have relaxed with them, it just makes sense that their “boss” wanted to have a little fun with them sometimes. Surely, a few of the apostles had a sense of humor; no doubt, he enjoyed that also. Great times!!

Love this post.

 

[HelenRose]

Being fully human (and divine) I have to believe he did. I wonder why there is not one instance of it in Scripture. Could it not have been used in a positive way?

Children went to him. Children love adults that laugh and smile.

 

[jcrichton]

Considering he created all things, he is the author of “humor”. So I do believe he could be quite humorous, making his point with humor, with his beloved friends. He had to have relaxed with them, it just makes sense that their “boss” wanted to have a little fun with them sometimes. Surely, a few of the apostles had a sense of humor; no doubt, he enjoyed that also. Great times!!

Love this post.

Hi!

…let’s not forget that Jesus spent a whole mess of times with His Disciples… a little wine here and there would of made the heart grow chipper!

…and how many talkative and giggling children did He sent away?

…Jesus actually admonished His Disciples for wanting to emulate the environment to which they were accustomed: stern/solemn rabbis kept their distance from the crowds, specially females and children!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[HelenRose]

Why just with children?

Not just children of course. The example is that children want to be around adults that smile and laugh. I point to children’s love of Jesus to show that Jesus was someone who would smile and laugh.

 

[May1980]

I think we just look in the mirror. We are made in God’s image. We laugh and joke. I am sure Jesus did, too. No proof. But I imagine he did.

 

[SecretCatholic]

I think Jesus had dignified humour, smiled, laughed gently and quietly. But I don’t think he was a ‘laugh out loud’, ‘jovial’ type, or a ‘jokester’. That image seems simply horrible to me and blasphemous too, and I could never worship someone like that.

I am totally sure he not a prankster, drunkard, or some ribald roisterer, or ‘a good ole boy’, or wisacre, or jackanapes, or whatever. He was not a North American- but a Palestinian- and such people are normally dignified and restrained in the bearing.

Also, He was the Son of God, so would always have behaved in a manner befitting that.

He would have not done sinful things. But drinking alcohol to “cheer up” is not sinful, even according to the scriptures! I don’t know if Jesus joked much or how loud he laughed, but I think you have an inaccurate image of the God-Man. He was and is God. But he was and is also a MAN. We worship a God-Man, who has both natures.

Similarly, the Muslims and others could not fathom this thought and find it repulsive, as they could not worship a Man who peed, went to the bathroom, passed gas and probably did not smell all that great, considering the frequency of bathing in his culture. These are not “dignified” attributes, but alas, as human beings we are prone to them and in many cases, simply cannot avoid them due to our nature.

I could very much worship a “joking and laughing” Jesus, if he remained sinless and just as Divine, and I do not see how those attributes would detract from his divinity or sin-less-ness. Have you seen how a good joke lights up the room and takes people’s minds off their troubles?- much like being “child-like”.

I suggest not putting our own subjective limits on the God-Man.

 

[Qoeleth]

Similarly, the Muslims and others could not fathom this thought and find it repulsive, as they could not worship a Man who peed, went to the bathroom, passed gas and probably did not smell all that great, considering the frequency of bathing in his culture. These are not “dignified” attributes, but alas, as human beings we are prone to them and in many cases, simply cannot avoid them due to our nature.

I could very much worship a “joking and laughing” Jesus, if he remained sinless and just as Divine, and I do not see how those attributes would detract from his divinity or sin-less-ness. Have you seen how a good joke lights up the room and takes people’s minds off their troubles?- much like being “child-like”.

I suggest not putting our own subjective limits on the God-Man.

Well, a lot of modern Muslims (especially those from Palestine and Syria) live in a culture with very similar social values to those of Christ. So, their standards of manners, courtesy and dignity probably are pretty good indications of the historical Jesus.

I think You are putting your own subjective interpretation. I don’t mean to generalise, but a lot of modern North Americans like loud, ‘in-your-face’, extroverted pranksters.

But, on the contrary, the Prophet Isaiah tells us “He will not be heard brawling on the street corner”. Consider His Divinely dignified silence and measured restraint before Pilate. Even the Roman soldiers admired Him for His stoic-like dignity, even if they didn’t understand anything else- His dignity of person was enough to make one of the Centurions say “This man was the Son of God”. Remember, the Romans also admired dignified types, with quiet gravity.

 

[jcrichton]

Well, a lot of modern Muslims (especially those from Palestine and Syria) live in a culture with very similar social values to those of Christ. So, their standards of manners, courtesy and dignity probably are pretty good indications of the historical Jesus.

I think You are putting your own subjective interpretation. I don’t mean to generalise, but a lot of modern North Americans like loud, ‘in-your-face’, extroverted pranksters.

But, on the contrary, the Prophet Isaiah tells us “He will not be heard brawling on the street corner”. Consider His Divinely dignified silence and measured restraint before Pilate. Even the Roman soldiers admired Him for His stoic-like dignity, even if they didn’t understand anything else- His dignity of person was enough to make one of the Centurions say “This man was the Son of God”. Remember, the Romans also admired dignified types, with quiet gravity.

Hi!

…I don’t think that anyone is saying that Jesus was an actual drunkard who went around pulling pranks and laughing at other people’s expense…

…yet, we know, from Scriptures, that He did enjoy the company of many… that there were times when a great number of people gathered about Him to sup… not once is it recorded in Scriptures or through extra-Biblical sources that Jesus behaved in an undignified manner nor that He would allow His Followers to display such behavior…

…and while it is true that Romans (at least from the movies) are depicted as solemn warriors, they did have unfettered appetites (excesses of everything from power, wealth, libations and outright immoral acts)–so it is clear that not all were so somber as stoics who would not even admit experiencing pain or sorrow at the loss of a loved one.

Jesus, as the Suffering Servant, would in deed endure everything without as much as a complaint… but we cannot gather from that that Jesus never slept, ate, or laughed.

…as for the observation of the Romans, here’s how they came to their conclusion:

51 And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent.

54 Now the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God.

(St. Matthew 27:51, 54)
…the Romans were responding to the immediate events taking place at the time of Jesus’ death on the cross–they were not reflecting upon Jesus’ Missionary days or His stoic embracement of His Passion, Crucifixion, and Death.

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[SecretCatholic]

Qoeleth:

I don’t particularly favor a “loud, in-your-face, extroverted prankster” Jesus. And I don’t really know what Jesus was like. But I know his teachings to be true and that he was fully Man and fully God. And I know that he was sinless.

That is enough for me to worship him.

If I find out that Jesus was more stoic-like, that wouldn’t stop me from loving or worshiping him. If I found out that Jesus loved to joke and laugh with his disciples, that wouldn’t stop me from loving or worshiping him. That is not a “stumbling block” for me, and I don’t think it should be one for you, either.