For those of us that have trouble memorizing scripture, we can take comfort in finding the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus Wept". Even I can remember that one. There is certainly much of the Bible that deals with the solemn, serious nature of Jesus, punctuated by his death on the cross. But it raises the question, did Jesus laugh? I don't believe there are any direct references to Jesus laughing in the Bible, but there were definitely times when Jesus experienced joy. He found joy in performing miracles, including bringing people from death to life. And he also found great joy in bringing people to know God through himself. While it is hard to know how cultural norms might influence humor over the centuries, some might say that "having a plank in your eye" or "a camel walking through the eye of a needle" are humorous in some contexts. If the rest of us experience joy, then Jesus, being fully God and fully human, surely experienced joy, and also probably laughed. I believe most of the people who know me well would put me more on the serious side of the serious-fun scale, and that is something I would like to change. Knowing God should bring me immense joy and that great joy should frequently bring great laughter. To get us started, how about having some fun poking fun at ourselves? I love this one.
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