Jesus...the prankster?

[Dymphna_Gal]

I was having a conversation with family recently, and we were pondering the idea of Jesus, and if he ever did things as we did…

For example, if all the apostles were sitting in a circle eating lunch, and someone hid Thomas’ cup, would Jesus right away point at Simon (for example) and say “Simon, give Thomas back his cup.” Or would he chuckle to himself, and watch Thomas? Or if Thomas said Jesus have you seen my cup? Would Jesus pull a Greg Brady and say, “Yes, Thomas, I have seen your cup” but not point it out, only pointing out who took it when he was asked if he knew where the cup was?

I personally think that Jesus might have done things of this sort because, though sinless, Jesus was human, and therefore entitled to do things of human nature that did not A. cause harm, or B. cause him to sin…what do you think?

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

I was having a conversation with family recently, and we were pondering the idea of Jesus, and if he ever did things as we did…

For example, if all the apostles were sitting in a circle eating lunch, and someone hid Thomas’ cup, would Jesus right away point at Simon (for example) and say “Simon, give Thomas back his cup.” Or would he chuckle to himself, and watch Thomas? Or if Thomas said Jesus have you seen my cup? Would Jesus pull a Greg Brady and say, “Yes, Thomas, I have seen your cup” but not point it out, only pointing out who took it when he was asked if he knew where the cup was?

I personally think that Jesus might have done things of this sort because, though sinless, Jesus was human, and therefore entitled to do things of human nature that did not A. cause harm, or B. cause him to sin…what do you think?

I think our Lord has a sense of humor. I have found that God has a real vibrant sense of humor as well.

 

[LutheranDK]

I think our Lord has a sense of humor. I have found that God has a real vibrant sense of humor as well.

Indeed…just look at the giraffe! I’m pretty sure He had a good laugh after having created THAT creature

 

[LilyM]

He loved children - and I defy anyone to spend any amount of time with a child and not have them do or say something funny!

I have a feeling about the story of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man. Jesus’ friends Martha, Mary (and the real-life Lazarus) seem to have been quite wealthy - remember Mary and the very expensive ointment?

Imagine Jesus telling THEM the story of this poor suffering disease-ridden beggar whose sores even the dogs won’t lick … who just happens to be called Lazarus!

 

[Eucharisted]

Jesus was the Word of God, so He had to be exemplary in holiness. Hence, I doubt He would have pulled or approved of pranks. And I doubt His disciples would have pulled pranks in His prescence.

But Jesus did have a sense of humor. He used puns, He included Lazarus in a parable, and He sometimes used humor to get teachings across. His humor always included a moral or theological teaching in it, because He is the best of Teachers.

But some people misunderstand Jesus, for example, they say Jesus crying before raising Lazarus from the dead was funny. On the contrary, Jesus was showing how much He loved the poor - symbolized in Lazarus - whom He calls His friends.

 

[LilyM]

Jesus was the Word of God, so He had to be exemplary in holiness. Hence, I doubt He would have pulled or approved of pranks. And I doubt His disciples would have pulled pranks in His prescence.

But Jesus did have a sense of humor. He used puns, He included Lazarus in a parable, and He sometimes used humor to get teachings across. His humor always included a moral or theological teaching in it, because He is the best of Teachers.

I don’t think harmless pranks are incompatible either with holiness or a suitably holy sense of humour - didn’t St John Bosco used to do tightrope walking and juggling and things like that?

What about St Teresa of Avila falling off her horse straight into a mud puddle - and hearing Our Lord’s voice saying ‘this is how I treat my friends’? To which, of course, she answered ‘then no wonder You have so few!’

 

[mvh18]

Evidence that this may have been the case:

youtube.com/watch?v=BO36so2Aqps

 

[lobster]

Indeed…just look at the giraffe! I’m pretty sure He had a good laugh after having created THAT creature

How about the hippopatamous?
.
.
Or even better yet how about humans?

 

[Charles_22]

There’s a number of people who want to make Jesus out to be some happy, go lucky guy, who always smiling all the time and was kind to bunnies:dancing:

All I can tell you is that we do not have in the Bible, one single instance of Him smiling and not one single instance of Him laughing. What we do have, and that is twice, is His crying.

 

[tee_eff_em]

Can’t you imagine the smirk on his face, on the road to Emmaus, when the disciples tell him they are all gloomy and sad about all the things which have been going on in Jerusalem these last few days.

“What things?” He says.

Or the whole “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” bit?

What things indeed.

tee

 

[The_Smiter]

There’s a number of people who want to make Jesus out to be some happy, go lucky guy, who always smiling all the time and was kind to bunnies:dancing:

All I can tell you is that we do not have in the Bible, one single instance of Him smiling and not one single instance of Him laughing. What we do have, and that is twice, is His crying.

As the apostle said - (I am paraphrasing) - "Not all the works and deeds of Jesus are written here._

How could he have been fully human and not shared in our humor once in a shile. I doubt that the children who flocked to him would have done so if he had been a dour Jesus.

 

[LilyM]

There’s a number of people who want to make Jesus out to be some happy, go lucky guy, who always smiling all the time and was kind to bunnies:dancing:

All I can tell you is that we do not have in the Bible, one single instance of Him smiling and not one single instance of Him laughing. What we do have, and that is twice, is His crying.

I dispute your disputing of the the ‘kind to bunnies’ bit - He spoke movingly about how much God cares even about the sparrows. He wouldn’t say that and then be unkind to any critter!

And I dispute the happy-go-lucky bit. Wasn’t He critical of Martha for being ‘troubled about many things’? The following passage for me is the quintessence of happy-go-lucky.

Matthew 6:

25 Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment?

26 Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?

27 And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit?

28 And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin.

29 But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.

30 And if the grass of the field, which is to day, and to morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?

31 Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?

32 For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

33 Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

[Chad27]

I believe without a doubt Jesus had a sense of humor and smiled, laughed and so on. He is our consoler, and we all know that when we are down and discouraged we are often lifted up by someone’s cheerful smile or laugh. This is in a sense an act of love and charity. St. Francis said It is not fitting, when one is in God’s service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look. Jesus is God and in God is complete joy. Just as much as Jesus laughed and smiled he also experienced every other kind of emotion. To say that Jesus never smiled or laughed is to say that he was cold, but there is nothing to support that.

 

[Charles_22]

As the apostle said - (I am paraphrasing) - "Not all the works and deeds of Jesus are written here._

How could he have been fully human and not shared in our humor once in a shile. I doubt that the children who flocked to him would have done so if he had been a dour Jesus.

We’re not really sure why the children flocked, but my theory is it’s because it was obvious that He was special, and also that they were trusting. Whether smiling or giving them candy kisses has anything to do with that would be conjecture as well.

I do think he enjoyed playing a bit of game though. I mean to go through that ordeal with Mary Magdalene at the tomb as He did, appeared to be a good bit of being coy, but then again as we don’t know, we are attaching human reasoning upon Him.

Someone trying to make the case that He was happy go lucky, would also not believed that He cried, but that’s all the emotion we get in Scripture, apart from His losing it, you might say, at the Temple. People can, such as possible in the children’s case, speak without smiling or laughing, even if somber, and still get across the message that they care and most deeply. Didn’t the Old Testament speak of Him being a Man of Sorrows? I wouldn’t think that sorrow was confined to the Cross and Lazurus dying and so forth. In any case, I wouldn’t ever refer to somebody as a man of sorrows if he was Mr. Partytime.

 

[Charles_22]

I dispute your disputing of the the ‘kind to bunnies’ bit - He spoke movingly about how much God cares even about the sparrows. He wouldn’t say that and then be unkind to any critter!

And I dispute your disputing of my dispute All I was saying, is that He wasn’t romping through the fields with bunnies, so as to realize what some people would make out of Jesus for kindergartners. He lovesd all He created, but the entireity of His earthly life wasn’t there to fill everyone’s dream of what He might had done. His was serious business by and large.

And I dispute the happy-go-lucky bit. Wasn’t He critical of Martha for being ‘troubled about many things’? The following passage for me is the quintessence of happy-go-lucky.

It’s happy-go-lucky to try to get somebody to see that being a workaholic constantly, is lame? He was also reprimanding her for trying to push her ways upon Mary, as far as I can tell. I mean really, what sense does it make to leave the King of Kings unattended if Martha had her way, unless Jesus just wanted to be left alone?

Matthew 6:

25 Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and the body more than the raiment?

26 Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?

27 And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit?

28 And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin.

29 But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.

30 And if the grass of the field, which is to day, and to morrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?

31 Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?

32 For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

33 Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

I see nothing happy-go-lucky in that, it’s just a matter of practical reasoning. One can be a sour puss and still think in those terms. It’s more about whether you trust in God to provide than anything else. If one cannot trust in God when going through a sour puss phase, then apparently all of those phases were devoid of faith in God. Rubbish.

 

[Mystic_Warrior]

There’s a number of people who want to make Jesus out to be some happy, go lucky guy, who always smiling all the time and was kind to bunnies:dancing:

All I can tell you is that we do not have in the Bible, one single instance of Him smiling and not one single instance of Him laughing. What we do have, and that is twice, is His crying.

Do you think Jesus ever laughed as a baby? How about as a young man? Do you think he ever played games with neighborhood kids?

The Scriptures don’t say that he used the bathroom either, but we suppose He did. He was human after all. It doesn’t say he clipped his nails, cut his hair, brushed his teeth or changed his underwear. But wouldn’t you assume that logically He did so? I doubt that a smelly man would be invited to a wedding party.

Given that the gospels were not a biography of His every move, but is more exposition of his roughly 3 1/2 years of ministry, I would say there’s a lot we don’t know. We know He got angry. We know He cried. Why wouldn’t it logically follow that He expressed other human emotions?

Hopefully, you see the absurdity of this.

 

[The_Smiter]

We’re not really sure why the children flocked, but my theory is it’s because it was obvious that He was special, and also that they were trusting. Whether smiling or giving them candy kisses has anything to do with that would be conjecture as well.

I do think he enjoyed playing a bit of game though. I mean to go through that ordeal with Mary Magdalene at the tomb as He did, appeared to be a good bit of being coy, but then again as we don’t know, we are attaching human reasoning upon Him.

Someone trying to make the case that He was happy go lucky, would also not believed that He cried, but that’s all the emotion we get in Scripture, apart from His losing it, you might say, at the Temple. People can, such as possible in the children’s case, speak without smiling or laughing, even if somber, and still get across the message that they care and most deeply. Didn’t the Old Testament speak of Him being a Man of Sorrows? I wouldn’t think that sorrow was confined to the Cross and Lazurus dying and so forth. In any case, I wouldn’t ever refer to somebody as a man of sorrows if he was Mr. Partytime.

The fact is we do not know. However if you believe that children flocked to Jesus because he was special and that they somehow had some special power to detect his inner motivations (aside from their humility and innocence) - that’s just wacky. Whne you see hoofprints, think horses, not zebras ()unless of course you are in Africa). Children came to Jesus because he offered thme a smile and laughter and open arms - which was probably something in short supply at the time of occupied Judea. This does not discount his “specialness” that children =might have sensed, but kids are simple and Jesus knew that of course.

 

[The_Smiter]

We’re not really sure why the children flocked, but my theory is it’s because it was obvious that He was special, and also that they were trusting. Whether smiling or giving them candy kisses has anything to do with that would be conjecture as well.

I do think he enjoyed playing a bit of game though. I mean to go through that ordeal with Mary Magdalene at the tomb as He did, appeared to be a good bit of being coy, but then again as we don’t know, we are attaching human reasoning upon Him.

Someone trying to make the case that He was happy go lucky, would also not believed that He cried, but that’s all the emotion we get in Scripture, apart from His losing it, you might say, at the Temple. People can, such as possible in the children’s case, speak without smiling or laughing, even if somber, and still get across the message that they care and most deeply. Didn’t the Old Testament speak of Him being a Man of Sorrows? I wouldn’t think that sorrow was confined to the Cross and Lazurus dying and so forth. In any case, I wouldn’t ever refer to somebody as a man of sorrows if he was Mr. Partytime.

Also… I do not think that anyone is suggesting that Jesus was “Mr. Partytime”. There seems to be a propensity for people on this site to posit extremes when it is not necessary and to put words in other people’s posts when such was clearly not the intention or outright statements of the poster tehmselves.

 

[Charles_22]

Do you think Jesus ever laughed as a baby? How about as a young man? Do you think he ever played games with neighborhood kids?

The Scriptures don’t say that he used the bathroom either, but we suppose He did. He was human after all. It doesn’t say he clipped his nails, cut his hair, brushed his teeth or changed his underwear. But wouldn’t you assume that logically He did so? I doubt that a smelly man would be invited to a wedding party.

Given that the gospels were not a biography of His every move, but is more exposition of his roughly 3 1/2 years of ministry, I would say there’s a lot we don’t know. We know He got angry. We know He cried. Why wouldn’t it logically follow that He expressed other human emotions?

Hopefully, you see the absurdity of this.

No, he was a “Man of Sorrows” did I not say that? Don’t you think somebody described thusly would likely be quite different than the average joe you might see on the street, such that, at least we could say, He was more sorrowful than cranking out a smile every time He looked around? Think about it. Would you call a man with a good percentage of smiles and laughter, such a person? Yes, there is a lot of things He did we know nothing about, but, like I said, you have Man of Sorrows and 2 cries. It seems there’s nothing to support that he was the holy equivalent to Art Linkletter.

 

[LilyM]

No, he was a “Man of Sorrows” did I not say that? Don’t you think somebody described thusly would likely be quite different than the average joe you might see on the street, such that, at least we could say, He was more sorrowful than cranking out a smile every time He looked around? Think about it. Would you call a man with a good percentage of smiles and laughter, such a person? Yes, there is a lot of things He did we know nothing about, but, like I said, you have Man of Sorrows and 2 cries. It seems there’s nothing to support that he was the holy equivalent to Art Linkletter.

I would call ANYONE who went through Jesus’ passion a man of sorrows, even if that man smiled and laughed every second of every other part of his life!

Remember, scripture says He was ‘acquainted’ with grief, not that it was His intimate hourly companion!