There are different ways of laughing. There is the delicate appreciation that greets a well contrived pun. There is the awkward hesitancy when we haven’t quite understood a joke. Uproarious laughter is a normal reaction when old mates recall well-worn anecdotes. A triumphant note of exultation accompanying high fives is now considered appropriate after a victory. Self-conscious giggles cover silly moments. And so on.
Did Jesus ever laugh? This is one of those questions that never get asked. We do not know how or how often he trimmed his beard. We do not know whether he was left-handed, whether he rolled his ‘r’s or dropped his aitches, whether he was double-jointed, liked sweet things, whether he was athletic, liked hot weather. We know many of such things about our friends and acquaintances, mostly the result of spending time with them but there is no record of these things in the Gospels.
Except for some thing. We know that Jesus was convivial. He liked being with his friends and he valued their companionship. He enjoyed teasing them – when for instance he was playing with ideas that were beyond them. He wasn’t troubled by paradox – whether he said he had come with peace or a sword – but did he laugh? We don’t know. Or at least we’re not told.
But in Luke 6 we find in the Sermon on the Plain if not laughter, recognition that laughter will one day come to those who now see little to laugh about.
It is reasonable to conclude that laughter – easy, relaxed amusement – is the norm in Jesus’ society. Most people most of the time are reasonably happy. They don’t get unduly worked up or short-tempered. They are much like us. They are generous to their children (giving them fish when they ask for it) and will be untiring in getting the best for them. (They don’t like unjust judges or unfair treatment.) If God is said to love a cheerful giver (2 Corinthian 9.7), it is likely that Jesus had a vein of cheerfulness in him.
If Jesus was indeed God incarnate, he shared our human nature. He knew friendship, experience misunderstanding, had our human instincts and also that slight edge, a faint suggestion of some other dimension that was familiar to him but not to us.
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