Jesus never laughs?

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sallybutler said:
a) the writers weren’t journalists
b) they don’t say a lot of things. Did He pick up the stick with His right or left hand?
c) it doesn’t describe the Mom look that Mary gave Him at the wedding (trust me, she gave Him the Mom look)
d) it doesn’t say what games He played before He was 12.

There are lots of details missing. Perhaps the writers didn’t think it was germaine to the story, or they figured everyone already knew.
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He was chronicled in alot of detail in four books covering mostly just three years of his public ministry. That’s a lot of pages for a condensed period of time. There’s biographies today covering 90 years of someone’s life that don’t add up to four books and hundreds upon hundreds of pages. And those pages in the gospel don’t have him laughing. It’s not an insignificant human detail like if he picked up a stick with his right or left hand.
 
atjar said:
He was chronicled in alot of detail in four books covering mostly just three years of his public ministry. That’s a lot of pages for a condensed period of time. There’s biographies today covering 90 years of someone’s life that don’t add up to four books and hundreds upon hundreds of pages. And those pages in the gospel don’t have him laughing. It’s not an insignificant human detail like if he picked up a stick with his right or left hand.
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The Gospels document that Jesus ate, correct?

Why don’t they document that He defecated? Surely, you don’t suggest that He, being fully human, didn’t have bodily functions simply because the Gospels don’t record them, right?

I would suggest that they didn’t record such events because they were not an important part of the story. I would also suggest that the same is true regarding laughing - the evangelists didn’t feel that they needed to include His laughing. Doesn’t mean that He didn’t laugh just as the absence of reports of his defecating doesn’t mean that He didn’t defecate.

Peace

Tim
 
Well, lets see I’ve read many inspired and approved books that speak of saint’s encounters with Our Lord including “The Mystical City of God” which chronicles Our Lady’s entire life from Immaculate Conception to Assumption. It goes into much detail including what they ate for dinner but no laughs of Our Lord are mentioned, although there was mention of some humor among Our Lady and the apostles regarding their choices of attire.

I have learned he was intensely driven to accomplish the work of our salvation once he began his ministry not withstanding we all can agree he invented humor 😃
 
atjar said:
He was chronicled in alot of detail in four books covering mostly just three years of his public ministry. That’s a lot of pages for a condensed period of time. There’s biographies today covering 90 years of someone’s life that don’t add up to four books and hundreds upon hundreds of pages. And those pages in the gospel don’t have him laughing. It’s not an insignificant human detail like if he picked up a stick with his right or left hand.
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Luke says he is writing a careful account. He did not say a complete account. John says ‘Jesus did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that could be written’.
 
atjar said:
So it wasn’t essential for readers of the gospel to know he was a man, not just the son of God, and as a human being he cried, screamed, got angry and laughed out loud. Again, the Gospels found it important enough to publicize other human emotions he experienced so it found that essential. But not humor?

Two of the gospels don’t mention his birth, but two do. Four of the gospels don’t have him laughing or people laughing at his jokes. None.
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OK fine, you’ve convinced me. If it’s not in the gospel he never did it.

He never scratched an itch, he never petted an animal, he never played a game, he never ran, he never talked to Joseph, he never helped his mother cook, he never got caught in the rain. He somehow plodded through life without ever experiencing the things everyone else takes for granted.

I thought this was a fun and interesting thread. Instead it’s turned completely joyless because that’s apparently what Jesus was like…at least according to you.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
OK fine, you’ve convinced me. If it’s not in the gospel he never did it.

He never scratched an itch, he never petted an animal, he never played a game, he never ran, he never talked to Joseph, he never helped his mother cook, he never got caught in the rain. He somehow plodded through life without ever experiencing the things everyone else takes for granted.

I thought this was a fun and interesting thread. Instead it’s turned completely joyless because that’s apparently what Jesus was like…at least according to you.
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He also didn’t snore:sleep:
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
OK fine, you’ve convinced me. If it’s not in the gospel he never did it.

He never scratched an itch, he never petted an animal, he never played a game, he never ran, he never talked to Joseph, he never helped his mother cook, he never got caught in the rain. He somehow plodded through life without ever experiencing the things everyone else takes for granted.

I thought this was a fun and interesting thread. Instead it’s turned completely joyless because that’s apparently what Jesus was like…at least according to you.
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No. Maybe his four chroniclers didn’t do him justice.
 
We believe Jesus is FULLY man - that means he laughed, cried, ate, drank and even went to the bathroom. The Gospels only record what is essential for our salvation.
 
I’m sorry to have started this thread, please no more arguing. It’s just kind of weird He cry & angry, but never laugh.

I think because Jesus took His mission seriously, He never let laughter swayed Him.
And He must have knew very well about Ecclesiastes 2:2 "Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

He is a King of kings who holds the world’s sin. In all seriousness, it’s heavy & not funny.
 
faithfulwannabe said:
… He must have knew very well about Ecclesiastes 2:2 "Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”
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not to mention Ecclesiastes 3:4: “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
 
faithfulwannabe said:
I’m sorry to have started this thread, please no more arguing. It’s just kind of weird He cry & angry, but never laugh.

I think because Jesus took His mission seriously, He never let laughter swayed Him.
And He must have knew very well about Ecclesiastes 2:2 "Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

He is a King of kings who holds the world’s sin. In all seriousness, it’s heavy & not funny.
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Jesus rebuked people who complained that He feasted and drank with friends. So I suspect that while Jesus knew the seriousness of sin, He also celebrated with happiness and joy and even laughter in the happiness of His friends.
 
If you search the Bible for the word “laugh” and words that include laugh, like laughter and laughingstock, you find that it is associated in the majority of cases with scorn, derision, foolishness, or affluence. There are exceptions, but it would appear that most of the authors of Sacred Scripture did not hold laughter in high regard.
 
Matt. 19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
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Little children hide and shy away from grumpy people but move towards love, a smile.

Doesn’t He praise and rejoice? - It’s hard to do with a frown. It wouldn’t be (definitely not look) sincere.
Luke 10:41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
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He’s telling her to lighten up. I can’t imagine saying that without a smile.
 
If you give a person an inch, they’ll take it a mile. It’s probably best that we don’t have explicit accounts of Jesus laughing in the gospels (although we can assume from induction that as a human being, he would have had moments of mirth as any human would). The overwhelming majority of sacred scripture is focused on beating down mankind’s conspicuous urge to dwell on everything and anything other than the one question that ultimately matters. The gospels cover the final few years of Jesus’ life, during his ministry, during which he was in constant danger from rival religious figures and, as we see from the scripture, driven to exhaustion on several occasions with his work. It was a time of trepidation and spiritual warfare.
 
There are some very good explanations why Jesus is not recorded as having laughed.

Jesus was likely an Essene Jew. These lived away from Jerusalem and were very ascetic - they fasted, prayed alone, immersed themselves in the ritual purification bath’s daily, had strict dietary laws and were committed to celibacy. In many ways they were the forerunners of modern-day Benedictine Monks. To this day Monks under the rule of St. Benedict are forbidden from jocularity, idle amusement or horseplay. Benedictine monks are men of great joy - they smile constantly, but you won’t see them joking around.

Another has to do with laughter in the Bible. Laughter is often portrayed in the Old Testament as an expression of disbelief or distrust.

Jews were very concerned with shame - shame was the worst thing that could happen to you. Laughter is often an expression of contempt, to laugh at someone was to shame them. Laughter was often associated with shame in the Bible. No one wanted to be a laughingstock.

I’m not saying that Jesus didn’t laugh, just that it was not recorded because of the cultural and literary reasons, how it was associated with mistrust, contempt and shame.

-Tim-
 
Our sense of humour often relies on the anomaly of life as we know it; often found in the disparagement of others; the incongruity of human existence as we see it. Perhaps Jesus had a more complete understanding of our place in creation and found little to laugh at. However I believe he could easily laugh with us.
I hope he has a sense of humour as otherwise I have little hope given my use of wit as a shield against the world.
 
When the apostles tried to dismiss the children, and Jesus said :Let the children come to me and do not prevent them for the kingdom belongs to such as these
Knowing children from human experience and how enthusiastic and joyful they can be, I think Jesus enjoyed and loved them, and probably laughed being delighted by them.
 
It looks like Our Lord and Master found humor in the plans of the enemies of Israel.

Psalm 2: 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
 
I don’t believe He did.
It wasn’t part of His message to the world. He was very joyful but an eternal joy he shared with His disciples. Laughter can easily be a tool for evil since it can use the weakness of others as the center of the joke or folly. Jesus message for us is for us to carry our cross, and carry it with joy. The Cross is heavy and not pleasurable most of the times. I’m sure we can enjoy and laugh as Christians since we have been given the ability to laugh. It is in our human design. We just have to be careful in not over doing it. I have notice many people even our leaders laughing a lot. I lose some respect for them as I see a worldliness to them. When 3/4 of the world poor, starving, and Christian and innocent people being killed for the Faith , I can see why we should spend less time laughing and more time praying.:manvspc:
 
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