Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

A funny thing happened to Jesus on the way to heaven.

He met people, and as we all know, people are funny.

Jesus was a real person as well, and he had a great sense of humor.

I am so sure of this that I wrote a poem about it.

Jesus had a sense of humor,

Of this truth there is no doubt.

It is based on more than rumor,

If we search we'll find it out.

His was a real human spirit,

And we know that this is true.

He was human, not just near it.

He could laugh like me and you.

He's the One who gave us laughter

And made funny things galore.

And we know in the hereafter

We will laugh for ever more.

Jesus is the Lord of laughter

And for ever He will be.

He of humor is the Master,

He'll be that eternally.

Glenn Pease

Many doubt the truth of what I am saying, for they have heard it said that it is recorded that Jesus wept, but never recorded that he laughed.

This is the argument from silence, which is a foolish way to come to any conclusion about Jesus, or anyone else for that matter.

It is also not recorded that he ever smiled, or that any of the Apostles ever smiled or laughed.

And so the logical conclusion is that Jesus and all of His followers were living in direct violation of all that the Bible reveals about laughter, good cheer, and rejoicing.

Neither is there a record of his ever washing his hair, and so are we to assume he was not a clean person?

There is no record of him ever hugging and kissing his mother.

Was he really so cold and thoughtless as that?

Folly!

And we could go on and on with all that is not said and come to foolish conclusions.

Even the pessimistic author of Ecclesiastes said there is a time to laugh in 3:4, and Jesus had many opportunities to laugh as he dealt daily with people who were experiencing miracles that restored loved ones to them in health, and some even from the dead.

Every night He would sit around the camp fire with 12 men, and who can imagine such a picture without joking and laughter.

Jesus and His disciples would have to be total freaks of nature and not ideal men to never fill the night air with laughter after a day of the marvelous teaching and miracles of Jesus.

It was definitely a time to laugh.

Tal Bonham wrote the book, Humor: God's Gift.

It is one of the best you can read, and in it he writes, "Have you ever thought of Jesus as throwing back His head and engaging in a good, hearty laugh?

Can you imagine Jesus telling a joke?

Or a ripple of laughter in the crowd while He spoke?

And can you hear Him saying 'That reminds me of a funny thing that happened in Nazareth when I was a boy'?"

"I contend that, from the beginning of His life to the end of His life on earth, Jesus was surrounded by and caused joy, happiness, merriment, gladness, rejoicing, delight, and laughter."

Luke 10:21 and 19:37.

In our text we are using for a starting point we read, "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed then to little children.

Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."

All three members of the Godhead are here associated with joy and pleasure.

It is because God is the creator of joy and pleasure, and Jesus exhibited joy on its highest level, and this would be impossible had he never had the joy and pleasure of laughter.

Deny him this and you do not have the ideal man and the perfect specimen of manhood, but a being unlike the best of men that we know of in history.

One of the best quotes in Bonham's book is that by Country Humorous Minnie Pearl.

She had this to say about the solemn images of Jesus in religious paintings: "I don't agree with the image many Christians have of Christ as the sad, tragic man depicted in most religious paintings.

You can't tell me He didn't laugh, or that He wasn't happy.

I think He had a great sense of humor.

If He had walked along the Sea of Galilee with a look of doom on His face I don't believe for a minute all those people would have followed Him.

I think they found such joy in His presence they were willing to leave everything behind to go with Him.

I am certain He knew the value of humor and the power of a smile."

When God is blessing people there is laughter, and never was He blessing people more than in the ministry of His Son.

Look at the joy of people in the Old Testament when God blest.

As the Jews returned from exile in Babylon, the Psalmist recorded this observation: "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, 'The Lord has done great things for them'" Ps. 126:2.

He was doing even greater things through Jesus, and He and those with him had to laugh and rejoice or they would be very abnormal.

The heavenly Father of Jesus has a great sense of humor and a spirit of joy, and Jesus is the express image of the Father and so we can assume that Jesus had the same joy and gladness of His Father.

We read this of God: "Sing, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, 0 Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, 0 daughter of Jerusalem....

He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing" - Zephaniah 3:14,17.

As God the Father entered into the joy of His people, so Jesus would enter into the joy of the people who followed Him.

Man is the only creature that was made to laugh.

We are made in the image of God and have this unique characteristic that no other creature possesses.

This leads to the logical conclusion that God is a God of laughter, for we are made to laugh, and so this must be a part of the image of God.

To be fully human is to be able to laugh.

To be fully human is to be Godlike, and this means laughter has to be a characteristic of one's being.

Humor then is both human and divine, for it has its origin in the nature of God.

If Jesus was both God and man, then he had the gift of laughter and a sense of humor in greater proportion than any other person who ever lived.

Helen Salsbury wrote,

Dear God, we make you so solemn,

So stiff and old and staid-

How can we be so stupid

When we look at the things you've made?

Who watches the ostrich swallow,

Then doubts you like to play,

Or questions your sense of humor,

Hearing the donkey bray?

Could the God who made the monkey

Have forgotten how to laugh-

Or the one who striped the zebra

And stretched out the giraffe?

To be truly human and to be an encouraging type of person you need to have a good sense of humor.

If Jesus was the perfect man, then it follows that he had the perfect sense of humor.

All agree that this is a vital factor in the ideal person.

John ends his Gospel by saying that Jesus did many things that are not written, for the whole world could not contain the books that would result if all was recorded.

In that massive amount of material that is not recorded is much that has to be implied by what is recorded, and all we know of Jesus implies much laughter and smiling.

It is arrogant and presumptuous for anyone to pretend that they know what is not in that massive material about Jesus that is not recorded.

Is it possible that Jesus had many a good time laughing with his disciples?

Of course it is, and that is what this book is determined to prove beyond any reasonable doubt.

Jesus is our example and the pattern for life.

If he did not smile and laugh then he makes the ideal life for the believer one of a sad and solemn face only, and not the joyful and vibrant face of one who has assurance of sin forgiven and eternal life.

It is foolish to try and understand the nature of Jesus by what is not said of him.

We need to look at what is said, and what He said Himself to know about His sense of humor and laughter.

Before we look at examples of this we want to quote those who have studied the life of Jesus and have come to the conclusion that He was, and is, the Lord of laughter.

Max Lucado has written much on the life of Jesus, and he make some strong statements about His humor.

In his book God Came Near he writes, "In Nazareth he was known only as Jesus, the son of Joseph.

You can be sure he was respected in the community.

He was good with his hands.