Fri, January 27, 2012
My take: Reclaiming Jesus’ sense of humor
By
James Martin
By James Martin, Special to CNN
Here’s a serious question about levity: The Bible clearly paints a
picture of Jesus of Nazareth as a clever guy, but he never seems to
laugh, much less crack a smile. Did Jesus really have no sense of humor;
didn't he ever laugh?
Well, one difficulty with finding humor in the New Testament is that
what was seen as funny to those living in Jesus' time may not seem funny
to us.
If part of being human includes having a sense of humor, and if Jesus
was “fully human,” as Christians believe, he must have had a fully
developed sense of humor. Indeed, his sense of humor may be one
unexamined reason for his ability to draw so many disciples around him
with ease.
It’s time to set aside the notion that Jesus was a humorless,
grim-faced, dour, unsmiling prude. Let’s begin to recover his humor and,
in the process, his humanity.
See "Link to External Source Article" below to read further.
From The Urantia Book:
141:3.6
The pictures of Jesus have been most unfortunate. These paintings of
the Christ have exerted a deleterious influence on youth; the temple
merchants would hardly have fled before Jesus if he had been such a man
as your artists usually have depicted. His was a dignified manhood; he
was good, but natural. Jesus did not pose as a mild, sweet, gentle, and
kindly mystic. His teaching was thrillingly dynamic. He not only meant
well, but he went about
actually doing good.
Jesus at Age Fourteen
123:4.3 Jesus, in company with a neighbor boy and later his brother James,
delighted to play in the far corner of the family carpenter shop, where
they had great fun with the shavings and the blocks of wood. It was
always difficult for Jesus to comprehend the harm of certain sorts of
play which were forbidden on the Sabbath, but he never failed to
conform to his parents' wishes. He had a capacity for humor
and play which was afforded little opportunity for expression in the
environment of his day and generation, but up to the age of fourteen he
was cheerful and lighthearted most of the time.
The Apostle Thomas Appreciated Jesus' Humor
139:8.7
...Thomas revered his Master because of his superbly balanced
character. Increasingly Thomas admired and honored one who was so
lovingly merciful yet so inflexibly just and fair; so firm but never
obstinate; so calm but never indifferent; so helpful and so sympathetic
but never meddlesome or dictatorial; so strong but at the same time so
gentle; so positive but never rough or rude; so tender but never
vacillating; so pure and innocent but at the same time so virile,
aggressive, and forceful; so truly courageous but never rash or
foolhardy; such a lover of nature but so free from all tendency to
revere nature; so humorous and so playful, but so free from levity and
frivolity. It was this matchless symmetry of personality that so
charmed Thomas. He probably enjoyed the highest intellectual
understanding and personality appreciation of Jesus of any of the
twelve.
Labels:
James Martin
Jesus
humor
Bible
New Testament
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