They Lowered Him Through a Hole in the Roof

Did Jesus have a sense of humor?  While other human traits and emotions were on display at various times in his life, I can’t come up with any story in which the evangelists said that he laughed, or that he even smiled.  I guess you have to read between the lines, which is something I like to do, as you probably know.  I don’t mean to suggest that he didn’t have a serious mission to accomplish, i.e., that of the eternal salvation of the likes of you and me, but it is difficult to imagine his messages being conveyed without some humor at times.

One example in which he must have smiled and laughed is when he asked his disciples to “let the little children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  (Luke 18:16).  I can imagine that he said this with a huge smile on his face and that he played and laughed with the children. 

Another example is the story of Zacchaeus, the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10).  Zacchaeus was a short man (imagine being maybe only five feet tall).  Jesus was passing through the town of Jericho and Zacchaeus wanted to see him but Jesus was in the middle of a crowd of people and Zacchaeus could not see over them.  So he climbed a sycamore tree that was in the street ahead so that he could see clearly.  This got Jesus’ attention and maybe even made him laugh.  Jesus said “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house!”  Luke then writes “And he came down quickly and received him with joy.”  “Came down quickly” may mean that he nearly fell out of the tree and “with joy” may mean that the entire crowd, including Jesus laughed heartily.  It must have been funny to see him in the tree and then to "come down quickly!"

Then there is the story of the paralytic who was lowered on a stretcher through the roof of the building in which Jesus was preaching so that he landed directly in front of Jesus (Luke 5:17-26).  Imagine the crowd, and Jesus too, smiling and laughing at this spectacle.  Jesus said, perhaps while still chuckling, “As for you, your sins are forgiven.”  The laughter probably didn’t last long, because the Pharisees that were present thought that it was blasphemous for him to forgive his sins.  Luke says that Jesus added fuel to the fire by telling them that “the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.”  He then healed the man and told him to get up, pick up his stretcher, and go home.  So the mood went from laughter, to accusation, to a solemn rebuke, to astonishment.

And how about the wedding feast at Cana.  Jesus was having a good time celebrating with his friends (which alone must have included smiles and laughter) when Mary told Jesus that they had run out of wine (John 2:1-12).  Jesus answered “Woman, how does your concern affect me?  My hour has not yet come.”  I can imagine Jesus wanting to work miracles often while growing up in Nazareth, but Mary always telling him “Your hour has not yet come.”  Now the tables were turned.  Here was Mary asking to effectively work a miracle by turning water into wine.  And now here is Jesus, seeing the irony, flashing a big smile and telling her now that his hour has not yet come.

Part of the attraction to Jesus, aside from his solemn messages of repentance, forgiveness, beatitudes, crucifixion, resurrection, etc., was his humanity.  His sense of humor must have been on display at times.  His disciples were his friends (John 15:11-17) and friends have good times when they are together.

The photo is of the hole in the roof of the Pantheon in Rome.