Several years ago my son-in-law asked me the question, Did Jesus have fun? Of and on it has popped into my head and my answer would have to be that of course he had fun. What do you think? This would be the perfect forum to do the survey I’ve been planning for years. Write me a comment about your thoughts on the matter.
In Deuteronomy 24:5 there is a very interesting command: “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.” Wow! If this was practiced today I’m sure the divorce rates would go way down. Guys, God wants you to make your wife happy! And in the process she will be a great source of happiness for you.
So, what makes you happy?
WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
Kids make me happy. Being around children can ease your burdens (I thought I’d said not to carry burdens but leave them with Jesus!) and make you laugh. Sarah, my one-year-old granddaughter, will giggle just by the sake of being in my lap, and boy does it feel good to laugh with her. “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken” (Prov 15:13).
In Scripture we find many references to happiness, joy, cheerfulness, contentment. “Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!” (Ps 144:15). That is the greatest source of happiness!
So, what do you think Jesus did for fun? We’ll get back to talking about this. For now, I want your input. Do you think he tackled his younger brothers and had a wrestling match with them? It seems like that would be fun for a bunch of teen-agers. Did he tickle his little sisters and laugh with them to his hearts content? Did he go on a fishing excursion with his dad? Would he have enjoyed a day helping Mary out around the house? Did he hang out with his buddies? So what do you think he did for enjoyment? Let your imagination run wild because whatever you think made him happy, is what will make you happy.
To write these blogs and to check out the graphics that show how many people are reading them makes me happy, very happy. At present, that is about the most fun I have. Since I can’t get out and be doing “stuff,” this makes me feel connected from the south to the north. I have readers in Peru and Bolivia and I have readers in Sweden, I’m hoping my friends in South Africa will be following along, and then of course there is all my readers in the United States. So why shouldn’t I be happy? This is great fun.
While you’re pondering the question about Jesus and what he might have done for enjoyment, have some fun. Enjoy your day. It will be as happy as you make it! And don’t forget to get in on this survey. I’ll post the results as they come along.
Have a happy fun-filled day!
When I think of Jesus having fun, I think of him with his fishermen disciples. Have you EVER been around a bunch of fishermen trying NOT to outdo one another with fishing tales? Imagine the teasing about the storm Jesus slept through in the bottom of the boat. Don’t you think there may have been some fun discussion about the feeding of the 5,000 or the 3,000? I think that would have been fun for Jesus. I think Jesus had fun doing everything He did except when he had to confront the disobedience of men or the things Satan through in His path. It would have been fun to walk with Jesus then, and it is fun to have Him in my life today!
Hello Kerstin.
You know, last sunday at Trinity Hispanic Church, where Jorge is helping with the worship team, I was looking at the group and may me think about the great work God is doing with them. Few months ago just a few of them knew how to play an isntrument and worship the Lord, but now they look like a worship team and they are giving glory to God. And that make me happy.
I believe that Jesus rejoiced every time that he saw one of his friends to be successful in their lives.
I just can’t imagine Jesus not having a sense of humor! I’m sure that he used humor quite often to get his point across to His disciples. Sure, at times He was probably stern with them, but He was fully human. I think one of the things that the church has missed is that Jesus was just as human as all of us. More times than not, He is portrayed as this stuffed shirt deity and I don’t buy into that one bit. Matter of fact, I personally think Jesus had a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor running through Him. Just look at the way he talked to the religious crowd of the day. The way he called them out was, at times, a bit on the sarcastic side. And I bet those who were not part of the religious establishment who happened to hear Jesus speak to the Pharisees were left with a smile of humor on their faces because of what He said.
It is so good for us to think that for our Lord it is important that we live life to the fullest, he cares that we have fun in life. Laughing is so good for our hearts. We should be teaching more on this side of the Life of Jesus,
Noemi from Nicaragua.
Kerstin,
You also have readers in Nicaragua.
I know Jesus had a lot of fun. He saw the guys out fishing, and just for fun He had his own fish cooking on the fire when he called them to join Him for breakfast. I’m sure He laughed at the expressions on the tired faces of the disciples who worked all night for their catch.
Of course he had fun! He loved children, went to parties with the fun-est people who lived on the fringes of society, and drank wine! People loved him…of course he laughed and made everyone feel better. Freaking out the authorities by healing the sick must have made him smile more than once!
Think of his joy at feeding the 10,000! Lots of laughter for sure! And if he could cry over the people who couldn’t understand, he certainly had the opposite capacity for deep joy.
Yes, the fact that Jesus was so close to Mary, Martha and their brother Lazurus, says to me, he certainly had fun. No one would be best friends with an ol’ sour sort. I can imagine them having many wonderful evenings with laughter, good stories, etc.
Hi Susan!
I’m wondering how you found your way to my blog.
Hi, Kerstin. I miss Bengt. I enjoyed talking to him. I admire you and how you’re sticking with it. Your blog is an example. And today’s question is a good one. Did Jesus have fun? Did He enjoy things that are funny? Humor is an elusive, subjective thing. What makes me laugh doesn’t always make my wife laugh, which may reflect a gender difference in humor. In other words, if Jesus was truly male, wouldn’t He prefer the humor of the Three Stooges to that of Jane Austen? On the other hand, because He was Jewish, perhaps he’d lean toward Woody Allen (hopefully not Adam Sandler). And if these names don’t ring a bell, that goes back to how subjective humor is—how these names do not represent an expression of humor that is universally appreciated.
So maybe humor is not the same thing as fun. In any case, Bible study is not a big help here. According to a word search in the NIV, forms of the word “laugh” show up about 20 times. And in its brief entry at “Laugh/Laughter,” the NIV’s Encyclopedia of Bible Words says, “These words can be understood as play or sport or revelry, or as mocking and derision.” Indeed, in the Bible God is characterized as laughing in the latter manner at His enemies (e.g., Ps. 59:8).
Years ago I read a Quaker author, Elton Trueblood, who wrote The Humor of Christ (that’s kind of funny, a Quaker and humor—but I deal with stereotypes here—sorry). As I recall, the book wasn’t very convincing. That is, Jesus’ humor was not very obvious to me even after the author pointed it out; as I recall, it was grounded in the Jewishness of the day, containing wordplay and irony. Of course we can imagine such things as Mel Gibson did in the Passion of the Christ when he gave us a flashback of Jesus playfully splashing water on His mother. It could have happened; the Bible doesn’t say. But would that have been funny to a Jewish mother in first-century Israel? My mother would have indulged her son and laughed at such antics. But I’m not so sure it would be funny to all present-day mothers in western culture, let alone a first-century Jewish mother.
So I’m left to wonder about the fun/laughter/humor/happiness expressed by Christ. I’m not sure the Bible answers that question, at least not straightforwardly, which may support the thought that humor, like beauty, may be in the eye of the beholder, that is, contain a great deal that is subjective. But I lean to Jesus having a sense of humor, a sense of fun, of happiness, because that is an appealing aspect of being human. I agree with those who observe that people, particularly children, are not drawn to a solemn personality. And maybe humor, having fun, is an aspect of our own becoming “like little children,” developing a sense of wonder, of trust, of joy—laughing easily and spontaneously. So I vote for Jesus having fun, even if I can’t give a conclusive chapter and verse.
Glen, thanks for your input. I especially appreciate you mentioning that you miss Bengt. It’s so empty to come home and not have him expectantly waiting for me!
Of course He did! Just have a look at him with his “gang” (disciples/friends) at Levi’s or Zacchaeus’ feasts eating and drinking chatting with sinners!. Jesus was not pretending he was happy, He was! He was always authentic, and on those ocassions he ended talking about the kingdom.