Did Jesus Ever Laugh?

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-4 (NLT)
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Someone once said, “If you want to know more about the Bible, just volunteer to be a Sunday School teacher.”

How true that is. I teach an adult Sunday School class and I love their questions especially the difficult ones. These questions often make me dig a little deeper into my own personal Bible study.

One Sunday, I was asked, “Did Jesus ever laugh?”

That is a great question, because the Bible never actually tells us that He did.

First of all, what is laughter? Laughter is automatic physical response to humor. When something strikes you funny, you laugh. You don’t have to analyze it first and decide if you are going to laugh or not.

Think about this… We are made in the image of God and we have been given the gift of laughter. Laughter, therefore, must be an aspect of His image that He graciously has given to us. Laughter is like a mini vacation from life’s difficulties. You cannot laugh and think about your problems at the same time.

When it comes to Jesus, I find it extremely interesting that the Bible never comes out and tells us that He actually did laugh.

It does tell us that He experienced emotion.

The shortest verse in the Bible tells us, “Jesus wept.”

He also experienced anger as evidenced when he overturned the tables of the money changers.

Scripturally speaking, I have to go back to the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes to support my answer, “Yes, Jesus laughed.”

In the Old Testament scripture I opened with, the Bible tells us that certain actions at certain times have been deemed appropriate by God.

That includes laughter.

I think we would all have to agree that Jesus always did what was appropriate in God‘s eyes. Therefore, when the time for laughter was appropriate… He laughed. It simply stands to reason.

I wish His blessings for you today, especially the blessing of laughter!

The Other Brother Jim
NEXT WEEK: The Best Teacher I Ever Had