THE HUMOUR OF CHRIST

This is a double post in that there is a ten minute video of Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill church and an article by Pastor Randy Stiver of Oregon in the United States. They both give a different perspective than the one commonly held by Christians and non Christians alike that Jesus didn't have a sense of humour.AK
The Humour of Jesus Christ
"I would read the Bible more," a young woman recently told me, "if it were just more interesting .
. . maybe, more humorous." How about you? Most people don't realize that Jesus, the great Teacher and Messiah, was often quite funny, even pointedly so.

The fact is that we have often developed a false pattern of Christ's character. Though we do not always say so directly, we habitually think of Him as mild in manner, endlessly patient, grave in speech, and serious almost to the point of dourness" (Elton Trueblood, The Humor of Christ, p. 16).

Wow . . . boring. That makes Christ sound like a dry and boring professor teaching "Invertebrate Studies of the Precambrian Era" every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 a.m. Good thing it isn't true!

When you get to know the true Jesus Christ, who He really was and is, it will amaze you. Suddenly He has personality, zest, brilliant hilarity, sparkling intellect—so incredibly bright He makes us glow like dim bulbs by comparison.

Pointedly foolish

An oxymoron is a conceptual wordplay that uses seemingly contradictory words or phrases, like "cruel kindness" or "make haste slowly." It's a Greek word that literally means pointedly foolish or humorous.

Jesus often popped balloons of absurd and foolish arguments and actions of others, using the pointedly humorous pinprick of a sharp oxymoron. Here's the story of one of His favorites: "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:24).

How can you help but chuckle and groan imagining someone opening wide enough to swallow a huge humpy camel?

Then there's the oxymoron: "blind guides." Get it? How can a blind person guide another person? Blind and guide don't naturally fit together—it's funny! OK, so it's not smack-you-in-the-face, belly-laugh, punch-line funny. It's more like, "Oooh, that's a good one. What did the other guys say to bring that on?" We chuckle and think at the same time. Christ used the "blind guides" oxymoron several times. Let's find out why.

Religious leaders historically have a bad habit of taking themselves too seriously. This is a recipe for various levels of fanaticism even today in all religions of the world, including Christianity as well as the basically godless religion of "Political Correctness." The religious leaders of Jesus' day were of this ilk and their fanaticism blinded them to the truth to the point that they refused to see themselves as fallible human beings. They had no sense of humor.

"Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 'Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.' He answered and said to them, 'Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?'" (Matthew 15:1-3).

The Pharisees and scribes had a ceremony of washing their hands before eating, not for cleanliness like your mother taught you to do, but as a symbol of how inherently righteous they personally were. God did not command this type of washing. Instead, they made it up and considered it equal with the written Scripture.

How arrogant is that?

Appearing good, not being good

Jesus then took them to task for sinning by not caring for their own aging parents. He called them hypocrites who liked the appearance of goodness but didn't like to actually do good. He said their worship was, therefore, worthless.

Later Christ was told that His confrontation had offended the Pharisees. Generally, people who take personal offense at those who disagree with them lack a healthy sense of humor; they're basically insecure. And that's when Jesus lowered the pointedly humorous, oxymoronic boom as simultaneous instruction and enjoyment for His disciples:

"Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14). Blind leaders are the same as blind guides. Picture this: The disciples smile and nod knowingly. They got the point.

What can we learn from this humor strategy of Jesus—the best Professor?

• Take God's truth and law seriously.
• You must do good to be good.
• Don't take yourself too seriously.
• Good humor can deflate arrogant arguments. VT


Randy Stiver is the pastor of United Church of God congregations in Coos Bay, Eugene and Roseburg, Oregon.