The Jesus of many people’s minds is a super serious, joyless,
humorless prude. Think of the church lady only male and God. Now of course he
wept, agonized, and experience sorrows; but think about this:
He
said in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to
you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” The only way we
can have fulness of Joy from Him is if he is full of joy Himself.
He sent the 72 out on a short term mission trip. “The
seventy-two returned with joy” (Luke 10:17-21 ). And, “In that same hour
he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit…” (Luke 10:21). Jesus was and is happy when we
do ministry in his name.
Then there are his biting yet hilarious
statements such as, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” First of all, camels are
just funny. Have you ever met one? Then there is the goofy image of a huge,
clumsy animal trying to squeeze through a needle. Comedy gold!
Sticking with camel humor (because it is awesome), he criticized the Pharisees for straining out gnats while swallowing camels.
Then there were the hypocrites more concerned with removing the speck in their brother’s eye than the plank in their own.
I think some of his best humor was when he put the arrogant, belittling, self-important religious leaders in their places. In Psalm 2 the political powers of the world refuse to submit to the Lord’s Anointed. “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision” (Psalms 2:4). The Tuesday before His crucifixion, the religious leaders try to trap him with trick questions. He escapes every one of them, exposes their duplicity, “The large crowd listened to him with delight.” (Mark 12:37).
He
even faced the agony of the cross with joy as his ultimate motive. “For the joy
that was set before him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and is
seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).
You
bet Jesus was happy, He Laughed, and He
used humor. Why does this matter? Spurgeon said, “We are happy to think Christ
is happy. I do not know whether you have ever drank that joy, Believer, but I
have found it a very sweet joy to be joyful because Christ is joyful.”
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