Insofar as much of ordinary human laughter comes upon us involuntarily, and Christ, when it comes to human frailties like hunger and fatigue and even death, willed to take these on, it seems fitting to say that if He did ever laugh He made the active choice to do so and did it at whatever time would have been most appropriate for it.
Well, what about the motion of the stomach and intestinal muscles? They're smooth muscles; they move involuntarily by design. Would Christ have been in conscious control over those processes? What about reflexes? Would He have simply not moved His leg if a physician had tapped His knee... unless He chose to do so?
@@john-paulgies4313 Well, obviously this is all in the realm of pure speculation, but if I had to venture an opinion I’d say that it would likely function like breathing does for us. Normally we breathe unconsciously, but, if we so will, we can willfully breathe or cease breathing. But again, pure speculation.
@fr.georgegoodge979 I believe Christ was humble enough to become a true man - truly rational, and truly animal. He loves involuntary bodily actions as He made them to be: a reflection of Who God is. I find it intriguing that laughter is unique to humans among all the biological creatures....
If Jesus was a toddler, he likely laughed. I’m sure he experienced childlike delight and wonder. And he offered some pretty sarcastic quips when berating the Pharisees. But it’s likely he wasn’t the constantly grinning and smiley Chosen Jesus. This just seems obvious.
To me, it is not obvious at all. Why wouldn't he laugh much, why wouldn't he be a cheerful person when he is not arguing with the Pharisees, for example? Everything that is good comes from God, and laughter is definitely a good thing. The Chosen Jesus (who I think is the best in adaptations) also doesn't smile when he is in a serious situation, but it doesn't mean that he cannot be a relaxed person in other situations.
There’s nothing “obvious” about that, the gospels indicate Jesus regularly laughed and engaged in plenty I happy events like weddings, parties, feasting, and drinking, even the story about Peter finding the coin in the fishes mouth was likely in part a joke. God is not a stiff robot, our sense of humor is derivative of his, thus no, Jesus was not some anti-social seeming dude who hardly cracked a smile.
Not even just 12 men, he had a whole party of both men and women who travelled with him and even some family like his cousins John and James. There’s not way he wasn’t regularly having laughs like an ordinary person minus anything sinful going on.
If Christ never laughed out loud, surely He did to Himself, and just had the self-control to keep it from others. For example, on the road to Emmaeus, where at first He plays dumb about Himself, then disappears the moment they finally realize it's Him, after He breaks the bread. It demonstrates a playfulness in our Lord Jesus. We should not forget His full Humanity.
I don't think that event was just because He wanted to joke around. I believe it was to demonstrate that truth is only fully realized when we take the Holy Communion with Jesus, as He did for the 2 at the end, when, as He broke bread and gave thanks, their eyes were opened
By the way, I truly believe God has a sense of humor because I've seen the way certain things happen in my life that make ME laugh. And I believe He is probably having the last laugh on some of these incidents. 😆
@@panoramicprismFor real, if God has no humor in Him, I'd be dead. I'm a father with 2 young sons, and if they're acting up all day, there's more or less 3 things that will soften my heart towards them; Acting sorry/trying just a little to be good, doing somthing kind, and finally if they do something cute and/or funny. If my sinners heart can be warmed by these things, wouldn't God's on a much higher level in regard to all of us as His children?
Apostles wanted to prove that he was God. It was obvious He was a human so why mention it? why to show His human side? Like there was no need to talk about using oils, practice well known for Jews.
Christ didn't laugh because it shows a lack of self-control, as it is a involuntary reaction. Often, humor is based on some kind of error, a fall, a trick, a setup, or an unexpected revelation. It's not "logo-centric", so to speak. That doesn't mean it's sinful inherently though. Saints and holy people had humor, although definitely a refined one.
I remember reading somewhere that some of the parables and figures of speech Jesus used would have been considered very comedic in that time period. Like the speck of dust vs a plank in someone's eye. So He clearly has a sense of humor.
Very good points, and funny video. ;) don't we have a modern saint who laughed a lot? You're right about the "dour" "monkish" mindset a lot of people take on this. I remember a priest once tweeted 2 points if Christ laughed in His earthly life: 1) It wasn't considered important enough to note. 2) It certainly wasn't at anyone's expense. Anyone who implies or states humor is inherently bad, always felt a little Gnostic to me. And to be dead honest I think it even encourages despair in some people, like the sensitive and neurotic. I have anxious OCD and been tempted to this sort of "pessimistic" theology, and it doesn't bear good fruit. Let's try to make life a bit brighter for all.
@@IN-pr3lw St Eumenios. I deal with religious OCD, and when I find out he was known for his booming laughter life felt so much easier. You can read about it online, I did.
@shrekfromdahood yes him thank you! Name escaped me. St. Eumenios, Confessor of the Leprous. Allegedly he had a habit of laughing many times, even at seemingly inappropriate times... Even during the Liturgy I read? I don't do these things much but I am scrupulous/OCD a lot and suffer much painful doubt so reading these kinds of things helps a lot. May he pray for us 🙏 ☦️
@@seronymus May he pray for us! I just want to tell you, I know how you feel about laughter. However what we need to remember is that Saints lead by example. They show us the road to Heaven and Saint Eumenios showed that the road to Heaven is filled with laughter. If he can laugh a lot and inherit Heaven, why can't you or I do the same. Even if Christ didn't laugh, that doesn't mean that laughter is somehow short of perfection.
@Xiaomienjoyer In His last 3 years He could be preparing, knew what will happen, that will suffer, will be abandoned. And all that because of (our) sin.
No one bats 1000, not even saints. Some have completely contradictory options on particular subject. Even in divine grace, we are still individuals shaped by personal experience and disposition. Love your commentary.
It was created by protestants, shows Jesus as a conman, teaching children game known as 'three cards', intended to gamble, cheat. It gives wrong idea of Jesus. There are many blasphemous, incorrect things there. I'm upset about casting. All main heroines are pretty, gentle, charming but Mother Mary. They depicted Her as some vulgar, harsh, crude woman. Which mother mentions that her child was born in poo? And to put it in her mouth, about Jesus is blasphemous. Very bad is also a musical: 'Journey to Bethlehem' where Archangel Gabriel is depicted as demon (deep voice, dark clothes, scale like breastplate, levitating not merely flying) and he wakes up Mary in the night, scares Her, rehearses his speech. Mighty Archangel preparing like for job interview? ...
My comment is gone. The Chosen is protestant, blasphemous. Jesus wouldn't teach children conman game. Producer stated it's very little based on the Bible.
Laughter can also come from having knowledge that others don't. It's like when you give someone a wrapped present, and you giggle when you see them shaking the box to see what it is.
I think people who make this ridiculous claim are simply projecting their own dead-end personalities onto our Lord: I've never met a jolly, happy person who claims that Christ never laughed.
This seems like a silly anecdotal claim. I love to laugh, tell jokes, go to comedy shows and what have you but I personally don't believe Christ laughed. It's not a hill I would die on as personally I don't think it really matters one way or the other but none the less I don't think it should have any bearing on whether we can laugh or not, plenty of saints laughed and it's certainly not sinful to do so.
Well primarily because I see genuine laughter as an involuntary action caused by a momentary loss of control, and I don't believe our Lord was ever out of control of anything especially His own body. Secondarily, there exists an epistle which is supposedly contemporaneous with Christ's life from a roman official named Lentulus about his encounter with Christ, in which he says of Christ "he has never been seen to laugh at all, but very frequently is he seen weeping." although many regard this letter as spurious.
I find this funny: "Jesus never laughed because laughing is a lost of control." But what about crying? Isn't it a form of losing control? Because Christ has cried.
''Christ never laughed'' bros when they read that He, the all knowing One, apparently - marveled - at the centurion's faith. Clearly theres a good way for a human being to laugh as the Creator made it to be and a child/brother-like adoration(marveling) of someone's deed. Christ was fully human so what you say makes sense to me Bojan. God bless you.
@@Stopitpls depends on how you define assault, but he did drive out the moneychangers and such from a temple, apparently by overturning their tables and chairs.
Please note during the Temple incident, Christ, being God, could simply have instantly vaporized the people. Instead he merely chased them out with the whip. He didn't actually hurt anyone or try to. It was just like blowing a horn. 📣
@@hamaon2800 _The_ Temple, not a temple. There was only one Temple back then, the one in Jerusalem. He overthrew their tables, and then drove them out of the Temple by whipping them.
I'd also like to point out that having foreknowledge of something happening doesn't make it not funny. When you play a joke on someone you have an idea of what's gonna happen (you can't know for sure because we do not have foreknowledge) and its still funny when what you thought was gonna happen, happens.
@@schmlif8839 There is this funny picture of one of my friends and I laugh nearly every time I see it. There is no element of suprise, it is just somehow always funny.
C.S. Lewis wrote The Great Divorce, not G.K.Chesterton (also a wonderful writer :) I agree with you whole heartedly. But I would add that the East views laughter as the behavior of a 'fool' traditionally. Though EVERYONE laughs, excessively it is viewed as the hysterics of the mad. Due to this, I believe the claim that Christ never laughed may also have been made in order to impress upon listeners how serious and not to be taken lightly Christ's work was/is. The claim, I think, should never have been made.
My favorite category of Saint is the Holy Fool/Fool for Christ, actually. And my favorite subset of them were the Early Christian "Grazers". What a stark contrast to what many people think is proper behavior tk be judged...
The best argument I’ve heard is not that He was never happy or joyful or smiling along with others, but that His Omniscience made it impossible to truly surprise Him. A joke would make him smile, but he already knew the punchline, so he couldn’t laugh at it. But as you say, His human will wasn’t always in on what his Divine Will knew was coming, ergo, He could paradoxically both KNOW and not know.
Jesus wasn't exactly always omniscient. There is a passage where it says (paraphrasing) "as time went on, He grew in wisdom" when he was growing up. He was Human. There were periods where He was often given wisdom from The Father but He still experienced time like the rest of us
@Bojan, I fully agree with your thoughts on this. Number one, we can't know for sure because there is no witness for or against it. Number two, laughter is part of our human nature (and as you rightly said, not the sinful part) and is inseparable from joy and love--and those same Christians who would say that Christ never laughed would also tell us that a Christian should always be full of joy and love.
I always think Jesus was laughing when he called James and John as sons of thunder bearing in mind John is traditionally believed to be a teenager and perhaps James wasn't much older.
Thank you for your issue. I have often felt that Orthodoxy is heavy and depressing, at least it is represented in a too serious light like we are so bad. By serious I mean more sad than joy.
I wonder if Byzantine iconography may have inadvertently contributed to this notion. After all, look at how it depicts religious figures: grim and stoic.
@@madcyborg1822 I never said they weren't; I'm simply pointing out the Byzantine artistic style in which icons are painted, which depict their subjects as cold and distant. Maybe Bojan can explain why this is the case better than I can, but my initial point was that this could have been a contributing factor to the notion that Christ never laughed, since the image the average layperson at the time would have had of Him would have been based on the icons of Him they saw during the liturgy.
@Primordial_Synapse our personal feelings on this matter are irrelevant. If multiple divinely inspired saints said he did not laugh, then he did not laugh. I'd rather listen to the great St. Justin Popovich than "Bojan" who openly says he disagrees with saints. The hubris is palpable.
Three thoughts (1) I find my mental image of an Infant Jesus who never giggled or laughed very disturbing. Laughter comes so naturally to infants and it is free from malice and sin. (2) the best comedians never laugh and are often extremely deadpan. Not laughing is not a sign of no sense of humour. I think too many people equate Christ not laughing with Christ having no sense of humour which is plainly wrong. (3) Those in the comments who are scandalised by your comments because they contradict Church Fathers are missing the point. If a Church Father says Christ never laughed, then we need to look at what laughter means. More often than not, it is a result of some minor misfortune or embarrassment befalling a friend due to comic mistiming or over confidence. Laughter deflates pride but at the expense of the one who has fallen. Using these definitions, I think the Church Fathers have a point. However, I am willing to submit to the idea that there are other reasons for laughing that involve pure love and I am less willing to believe that Christ never did this.
It's possible Fathers of the Desert wanted to touch the reader, make them repent, reject sin. Also that they were so developed spiritually that felt or understood how Jesus despises sin. It was His reason for scarifying Himself. Especially, in last 3 years of His life He would be preparing for that. No laughing matter.
"Laughter and familiarity are the beginning of a soul's corruption. If you see these in yourself, know that you have some to the depths of evils. Do not cease to pray God that He will deliver you from this death... Laughter removes from us that blessing which is promised to those who mourn (Matt. 5:4) and destroys what has been built up. Laughter offends the Holy Spirit, gives no benefit to the soul, dishonors the body. Laughter dives out virtues, has no remembrance of death or thought of tortures" (Philokalia, Russian edition, Moscow, 1913: vol.2, p. 488)
I've encountered plenty of internet orthodox who are defending this that hold laughter necessarily means "losing control" and Jesus is God, and God can't lose control, ergo not only did Jesus mot laugh but to say so is implying that God lost control, which blasphemes God. Well, this is silly. Jesus wept. Jesus died. Most people dont cry on purpose, and no one dies on purpose. But, Jesus "gives up his spirit" at his death. So, suppose then, if Jesus can die on purpose, and cry on purpose, why shouldn't he be capable of laughing on purpose? But no. These people hold that the very expression of joy in laughter is somehow an inhuman corruption, a sin. That's like saying its a sin to smile. Worse, it dawns on me that this despicable notion is a kind of replacing God's image in man with man's distorted image of God, and then demanding that humans contort themselves and dismember their bodies and souls in service of this unnatural ideal. I have no problem that Jesus isn't *portrayed* as laughing in the Gospels, just as i have no problem with the idea that he isn't portrayed as sweating or using the bathroom. It probably wasn't important. But i have a much bigger problem with trying to conjecture evidence of absence from a mere absence of evidence, and then saying things that no human being in their right mind would dare to say...that "laughter is sinful and inhuman." Despicable.
Someone else said it and I agree, it's really kind of boaderline gnostic acting as though a normal, healthy human emotion is inherently fallen and a corruption. Even anger has a proper conext, so why wouldn't laughter? We don't transcend our humanity, we restore it (in Christ)
@@ShotzeethegamerGod can laugh spontaneously, genuinely, and innocently on purpose. " 12The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, 13but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. " (Psalm 37:12-13) {Objection: "No, that's not really God laughing, because the Father's laughter isn't like earthly laughter." Rebuttal: We say that the Son is the perfect image of the Father, the perfect icon of the Father. The Father's laughter may be a metaphor for something we don't understand, but if that's true, then the Son's laughter would be the same sort of metaphor, but as exemplified by a person rather than a poem.} God can heal the blind, raise the dead, and go to hell and back unscathed. How in the world is this even a question? It's not some kind of logical impossibility. You've just posited that a human limitation is somehow binding on God. Again, God died on purpose. He literally gave up his spirit in order to die on purpose. Name something that a normal human does that is less intentional than dying. Further, what you've written here is along the lines of "well, spontaneous laughter isn't sinful, but laughter on-purpose is evil." So, what, you want a catch 22? God can't laugh without meaning to, because that's a slight to his godhood, but God can't laugh on purpose because it's inherently evil? What's next, blinking is evil? Swallowing your food is evil? Using the bathroom is evil? Sleeping is evil? Jesus slept too. Or would you have it that at every moment of his sleep, Jesus was actually asleep on purpose. Unconscious, on purpose. Look, I'll even grant that. I'll grant that Jesus could be unconscious, and that at every individual second of his unconsciousness it was on purpose and he could wake up at any time, just like he woke up to quiet the waters on the boat. But, again, this isn't something a normal human can do! When normal humans are asleep, *they can't control that they are asleep.* A normal human who is asleep has given up being in control of what happens to them until something wakes them up. So, I ask: if God can miraculously be asleep on purpose, why couldn't he miraculously laugh on purpose?
I believe i remember hearing Jonathan pageau comment on this, he said "true laughter come involuntarily due to a loss of control, and Jesus was always in control", so i took that as spontaneous and uncontrolled laughter as well as mocking laughter to be something God DOES NOT do. But ultimately does knowing this affect our faith much? Not really.
If he laughed, it was in a time to laugh just like he wept when it was time to weep. Laughter has nothing to do with our salvation but it is good for us when appropriate (a merry heart doeth good like a medicine/laughter is the best medicine). I don't believe Jesus was stoic anymore than he was like the Epicureans.
I listened to the life of Lazarus the other day with my daughter and they said he laughed once while watching somebody steal a clay pot. "A piece of dirt steals a piece of dirt." was his remark
Your index finger is not fat. Anyway, thankyou so much for this wonderful insight. I’m wondering if Saint Basil and Saint John and others were referring to a type of worldly laughter which is more akin to mockery. I think you make such an excellent point when you talk about The Lord rejoicing, I agree. It seems likely that our Lord delighted (rejoiced, laughed) but that he did not derisively scoff at or mock etc…. Different types of laughter
But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them; You shall hold all the nations in contempt. Psalm 58:9 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh at them; The Lord shall mock them. Psalm 2:4
Our Lord Jesus Christ has an amazing sense of humor all throughout scripture. How can you not see some funny things that God’s goodness allows throughout nature?
Yeah, I recently heard Jonathan Pageau talking about this. It was the first time I've heard of about this as it doesn't seem to be a commonly held belief amongst Catholics. I thought it was really strange to hear him talk so matter of fact about it.
I've often wondered this, because humor is something that always innately absurd or offensive in at least some way. Any joke on earth can be interpreted to be rud eor verbose in some way if taken seriously. I've always seen it as it makes good from bad and therefore is not innately evil, though it can be in some situations
Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Psalm 2:1-4
Just because Jesus was capable of laughing, doesn't mean he did. I can't say with any certainty whether he did or did not. But since there are prominent saints who said that he did not, and I don't know of any saints who said that he did, I think it is pretty shaky ground to say that he did laugh. As for why he did not laugh, the only speculation on that, I'll entertain, is whatever the church fathers said.
Since Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, then I tend to believe His humanity laughed. I do not think I have ever seen a child that didn’t laugh sometimes, so I would guess He laughed at some point in His humanity.
Again, the modern sensibilities of our age are creeping in again. The text is completely silent on this for a very particular reason. Christ never laughed because laughter is involuntary. The Logos never gave into the world. Laughter is always invoked with things that do not fit in a category (clowns, jokes, bodily accidents etc.) Whether there was a cause and effect of Him laughing the text is not arguing for and should not argue for, as the reason for Christ not laughing is more cosmic. You could argue Christ laughed but the text is silent for a very particular reason and for that reason should remain silent.
Christ took on our human nature, but not all of our human experience (not just sin). The supposition that He never laughed -- even if we grant the claim -- doesn't me we (in the world, at least) should not. He also didn't marry or have children. It's true that our monastics abstain from these, but us "normies" aren't meant to, just because Jesus did. 🙏🕯️☦️
I've never seen the objection that it's sinful. What I've seen about this topic is that to laugh authentically one has to be surprised and not see it coming, and as the Logos He isn't surprised by what happens and therefore cannot have an authentic reaction to something funny. Of course in His humiliation He limited some knowledge but wouldn't that be matters pertaining to salvation, such as the time for Him to die, and not more trivial things, like jokes or funny moments? I don't know. I think this dilemma can get autistic if pondered for too long.
I think I can sympathize with people who say such things a little more, although I disagree with them and tend to think that Christ did laugh. For me the logic is more apparent when we apply to not laughter itself, but to comedy. So much comedy seems to be born off of exaggerations, understatements, or simply distortions of the truth. This is most noticeable when we make fun of the good. In the opposite case when we make fun of sin, it still feels immoral, as if prideful and hypocritical, then though according to Psalm 37:13 "The Lord Laughs at the wicked, " So when it comes to most comedy, laughter feels like a lose-lose situation. It is easily to imagine that in heaven there will be no need for comedy, as all truth is present fully and everyone is fully satisfied in the truth. I do think they have something of a theological consideration, but it can be easily warped by the personal desire for a stern Christ, and should not be stated forcefully.
It's funny how all the arguments for him laughing are based on personal opinion, never facts. "B-b-but I think this!". I'd rather trust the divinely inspired St. Justin Popovich.
It's may be unreliable as it's considered spurious by some but allegedly the only contemporaneous piece of writing about Christ from the time of His earthly life, The Epistle of Lentulus, claims "and all he says or does, he performs pleasantly and with discernment. And he has never been seen to laugh at all, but very frequently is he seen weeping." Again not a 100% knock down argument but I believe it has some merit.
Well, 3 years before Crucifixion He could be preparing for that moment. Could be tired, upset about sinners. He dealt with teachers, priests, scholars, and during these confrontations there was not much fun. He would be too kind to laugh at them, had not much chance to laugh with them either. There was no need to write down how much he enjoyed Cana wedding. Already he was accused of drinking with wrong people so why to support such opinion. Surely he wouldn't spoil the mood by being deadly serious. Parchment was too expensive to write obvious things. The New Testament was written after His death, not during His lifetime. It conveyed the message, wasn't a memoir. Also sensibility of people was different.
Consider the greatest humour from god is placing the promise land at the very crossroad of known continents of its time amongst emerging empires to rule over it. Truly a halarious when you start thinking about it. Or Jerusalem meaning the city of peace, yet has never really ever seen peace. 😂 there is an old saying, “god has an interesting sense of humour”
I'm pretty sure our lord had emotions like any other human being. He cried, He got angry, He got hungry, he was thirsty, he felt pain. Just normal human traits. As long as Christ didn't laugh in someone's face or to make someone feel bad about themselves or laugh at someone's flaws then I'm sure Christ did laugh wholeheartly at good things and not bad.
In my humble opinion its the extreme piousness of committed men of the cloth that puts a great many people off from embracing Christianity (although that probably goes for all religions). Lack of a 'funny bone' is almost an inhuman trait. Having said that there really arent too many jokes in the Bible. I'm not sure if God Himself wasnt having a laugh in Leviticus when he advised against eating centipedes (it certainly made me chortle).
I will add something else. To me, humour is one of the higher virtues. The good that comedians do in getting people to laugh is psychological but also close to spiritual. Laughter heals, it soothes, it fortifies. Children laugh naturally, all the time. I am English but the thing that makes me most proud of belonging to this race is our dry and ever-present sense of humour. The truly humour-less among us may as well be the walking dead. If God doesnt find Fawlty Towers funny then there's something wrong with Him. (I hope that's not blasphemous).
@@cargumdeu Well, Fawlty Towers seems to be about narcissistic character and they can behave in very funny, irrational way. They blame the world for everything so why not hit a car? They live in fear, may be cowards, and car won't hit back:) It's good to see funny side of life like Jeanne Robertson teaches i.e. in 'The Baton Story'. Jesus was very intelligent, and sense of humour is a sign of intelligence. Also every child needs joy, laughter, love. His family was happy. There's no reason to doubt that He wasn't smiling, in the right time. Pious men could try to move the conscience of the reader. But also could be impressed by Jesus' gentleness, and tried to convey to us how much Jesus wanted our salvation, how He hated sin. Maybe they were closer to God and were able to see more.
If the eternal weeping and gnashing of the damned means Jesus can't allow himself to experience joy and mirth in the Kingdom, then how could we experience that peace and joy in the Kingdom? Shouldn't it follow that we too must eternally sorrow for those lost forever to sin? The arguments against Jesus laughing come across as hyper-pious, that Jesus has to always be stern with a piercing gaze like in the Icons (I suppose even when he wept for Lazarus, like some kind of Galilean Zoolander always maintaining his modeling pose). I can easily think of a better argument, not a good argument just better, for why Jesus doesn't laugh. One theory of comedy says humour comes from experiencing some misdirection, equivocation, or other kind of communication trickery, and then the trick is revealed with a punchline. That moment of realization gives rise to the experience of mirth and laughter. Even observational and slapstick comedy fits this formula, just that the trickery is implied rather than stated. Jesus, being God, is omniscient and is never misled by such communication trickery. So even though he knows it's comedy and understands the joke, even appreciates the cleverness of the joke, because he never has that moment of realization he never experiences mirth. So what's the problem with this argument (other than it borders on a Christological heresy)? It isn't actually an argument that Jesus never laughs, it's an argument that Jesus doesn't experience humour. Likewise the pious argument isn't an argument that Jesus never laughed, it's an argument that Jesus experiences perpetual sorrow for the sins of the world. Both arguments presuppose that people only laugh because of mirth, but people can laugh for reasons other than mirth. Don't people laugh for social reasons too, like politely laughing when someone tells a social joke that isn't really that funny? Or using laughter to show camaraderie with friends and family? Isn't laughter also a tool of rhetoric? Is it impossible that Jesus laughed when challenging the teachings of the Pharisees? So even if we accept that Jesus does perpetually sorrow for the damned, it doesn't follow that he never laughs (or is incapable of experiencing mirth simultaneous with his sorrow).
The thing is: the Bible doesn't mention that Jesus laughed. Speaks about moments he was sad, angry, cried, suffered. Doesn't say either that He never laughed. Maybe stories when he laughed, rejoiced didn't made to the Bible because weren't essential. In Cana He did not deny people wine. He was convinced to save face of the host, and let people enjoy themselves (with good wine). Wouldn't He? Wouldn't He share joy of His friends? Maybe He was radiating joy, love, had smiling face therefore cannot be described as 'laughing' per se. Maybe He protected His Disciples so much that none of them slipped on banana peel. (I refer to theories about laughter:) 'Is it impossible that Jesus laughed when challenging the teachings of the Pharisees?' Good question. He called them 'whitewashed graves', had colourful language, was telling truth. If He did, it would not be to ridicule them. He has got most gentle Heart. At this stage He was a mature Man, could have serious demeanour. As a teenager was very serious about explaining Holy Scriptures. He was praised by scholars but didn't convince them, wasn't taken seriously. Their praise rather didn't make Him smile.
Are you saying that John Chrysostom and Basil the great are hypocrites? The fathers of the Church reflects the perception of their time of laughter and humour. The Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle considered laughter and work of comedy mind degradation. Laughter is a work of the devil and lead to craziness. Of course Christ was correct in everything he did and when he smiled he didn’t smile like crazy. He definitely didn’t laugh out loud. The gospel is not a work of comedy.
The Gospels simply don't mention Him not laughing. You say "when He smiled," which is also a conjecture. The Bible says laughing is a good thing (you say it is the work of the devil, that is your invention). And no, the Gospel is not a work of comedy, never claimed such a thing. And no, not saying Saints Basil and John were hypocrites. Not to mention Psalm 2 mentions God laughing.
@@MichaelBarakat-mp3yw What ancient philosophy? Ancient philosophy didn't believe in the devil, and if you're referring to Christianity, the Bible says that the Lord laughs and that there is proper time for laughter.
I was told that Christ didn't laugh because it shows a lack of self-control, as it is a involuntary reaction (and it weakens you physiologically). Often, humor is based on some kind of error, a fall, a trick, a setup, or an unexpected revelation. It's not "logocentric", so to speak. Makes perfect sense honestly, but although perhaps there is a distinction to be made, such as the kind of laughter and the content of the humor in question. The saints and holy people had humor, albeit a more refined one and probably not uncontrolled laughing fits. Important to not also fall into the whole "what would jesus do" mindset. Jesus is too mysterious for us to operate with that mindset. Just because he didn't do a particular thing, doesn't mean that thing is bad.
He was operating on our Earthly level and highly spiritual. I can't imagine its depth. He could be showing His serious demeanour but laugh at times, especially as a child.
Bojan, forgive me if you may have already tackled this topic but I have not seen a video about it: Would you consider doing a video, on either channel, to answer why Christ was never married? As Orthodox, I should imagine it is obvious why-- but it goes very much the way of the laughing argument, I think. If Christ was fully human in all but sin, and relations between a man and his wife having been ordained by God at the beginning of time are then not sinful, why should he not have also been married? The question may seem a little dated as The Da Vinci Code came out 20 years ago-- but there is a fairly large sub-culture of lay persons outside of the Church that believe that Jesus was having relations with Mary Magdalene. Certainly I have spoken to many.
All of us are His children. That would be preferential, and God loves us all. A wife is to be preferred above all others. I also agree with the above that the marriage supper of the lamb shows Christ marrying the Church.
He wouldn't marry a woman knowing He'll be crucified. He wouldn't leave a widow, maybe with children behind. He knew better love than marital bliss. She would have to be without a sin like Mother Mary. And we would have two Queens. I guess it wasn't God's plan. Would be detour. He didn't came just to enjoy life but to show us by example how to live our life, be the witness of truth, and to sacrifice Himself for our salvation.
FR. Augustyn Pelanowski a Polish monk, recognized as a prophet (seen empty churches in his vision in 2017) had vision of the Nazareth house. The Holy Family was laughing and talking in the Bible verses. One happy, pious family.
@Lamenters1stCompanyCpt On dogmatic teachings they are infallible. Many saints have taught Christ never laughed. Laughter is a loss of self-control which Christ never had.
It's not your own belief that the damned torture themselves, Bojan. That's the church teaching lol I know you know tht already, just don't want people to think that that's some radical innovation you made up haha
Ecclesiastes 7: 1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
Maybe that's why pious men wouldn't talk about Jesus laughing to avoid associating it with this biblical passage? Now to give wrong impression, not to lower His image in the eyes of contemporary who knew the Bible very well.
Laughter (not just smiling) is a loss of control. You are literally making meaningless noise out of a surprise, similar to a cough. It's a good image of giving in to passion in general, i.e something outside of you that acts upon you and prevails over you.
I remember someone telling me that laughter is an example of losing control and Christ doesn't lose control. Also, if Christ laughed why wasn't it written down?
It was impossible to write down everything He did in 3 years. I believe most important was to convey His message, convince reader, listener that He was a Messiah. What laughter has to do with this? Of course He laughed, enjoyed things, attended weddings, was meeting friends. It wasn't important detail to keep repeating it. Maybe He didn't want to give early rise to 'Church Nice'.
Ending of the Gospel of John says that it was physically impossible to write all that Christ did. About losing control: You can say the same thing about crying
@shrekfromdahood that's a good point, about our Lord shedding tears. But nowhere, Nowhere, will you find anything recorded or written down, about Christ laughing.
Stopped watching about 3 minutes in. I’ve appreciated your takes until now, but blithely dismissing the consensus of Orthodox saints who have addressed this question doesn’t go into your win column, Bojan. Our Lord, I’m certain, had an exquisite sense of humor. He made the penguins, the duck billed platypus, and the parrots. He called St. John and St. James “the sons of thunder,” and he was even wry with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. However, our Godbearing Fathers know from their own experience of theosis that one in that state would not laugh, for whatever reason, and most likely having to do with the transformation of the psyche. Really, what makes you think you’re qualified to contradict them? I’m sincerely disappointed, brother, and if I watch you again, it will be with heightened caution. And that is a shame.
They weren't alive at the time of Christ. They don't know if He never laughed. I find the argument "He never laughed because of our sin" thoroughly unconvincing, and I see no issue in arguing against something that's not a dogma of the Church.
Also, St. Anthony, the greatest of monastic saints, laughed and told jokes and this story was important to be included in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Did he or did he not achieve theosis and transformed his psyche?
For perseverance to the end, try emulating that of the Theotokos and St. Joseph as they made their way back to Jerusalem after they realized 12-year-old Jesus wasn't with them! "Your father and I have been worried sick about you," His Mother said when they finally found Him in the Temple. "Mother, you should have known I'd be up to my Father's business," He answered her. Hey... that's a pretty funny line.
@@dalescott831 Surprising line in my opinion of honest teenager not being aware that He may sound arrogant, all knowing. One more moment of realisation who is He?
'He was even wry with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4'. I believe He was extremally kind, empathetic, gentle with her. He didn't scold her, he didn't frown that she had been married several times, didn't tell her straight who she is, didn't judge her. I believe Mother Mary taught Him how to talk to people. In the Temple She didn't rebuke Him, just asked Him to see their point of view, of His earthly parents, responsible and caring for Him. That was a good lesson for a teenager. Intelligent people do not need to have everything explained literally to them. Jesus knew it, made His sermons more interesting by talking in parables, therefore making people to think, connect the dots. My German teacher had a sense of humour. When one of her pupils at high school was missing a lot of classes she asked him one day: 'Are you still here?' The way she said it, with serious face, bit of sarcasm was like a bucket of cold water, he corrected his actions. I think it was brilliant, funny & worked better than a sermon. At the age of 30 Jesus was a serious, mature Man. I guess His demeanour was serious but we can see He's got sense of humour which is a sign of intelligence. I believe Apostles didn't point to His jolly side because it wasn't important to the story of our salvation, parchment was dear, no point to write about obvious things, they DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE WRONG IMPRESSION. He was accused of drinking with sinners. He attended wedding of Cana, Mother Mary was organizing it. Probably since childhood He would participate in various parties. He wasn't restricted like St. John and probably used wine, danced, enjoyed Himself with friends. We don't know it but it's plausible. Also we don't know much about His conversations, movement after Resurrection till Ascension. It must have been incredible time. Apostles able to understand more, ask more questions. Less worried who will seat where in Heaven. How many events described in the New Testament would be done by Him laughing? Teaching in synagogues? no. Talking to Pharisees? When God is rejoicing from every repentant sinner, can He do it without a smile? When Jesus asked children to come to Him, would He scare them with serious face? Isn't obvious He was happy to see them? Wouldn't He smile? Wasn't He child himself? Wouldn't He know what children need? There's no point to state obvious. People in love, loving are smiling or serious? I think both ideas are true: Jesus was serious about His mission, especially during His public life. And was very intelligent, would naturally smile, in appropriate moments. Also growing up. Every healthy child needs laughter, love, joy. Surely it was a joy to be in His company. We need also to think about the ways people carried themselves in His times, and through the ages. They have had different sensibility from ours, from Americans treating Jesus as school pal. Out of reverence people would imagine Him as superior, exceptional. If they had visions of Him maybe He was serious. Maybe in awe of Him they weren't able to see His gentle smile, maybe felt unworthy of it.
No, laughter is sin. --- Show me the verse, the witness of a laughing Christ. ---- Dont talk so many words. So it is a sure apostelic throuth. - There is one book: the apokryphic Evangelium of St. Thomas. In it Jesus laughts 4 times, and always cause of the ridicoulus men. So laugther clearly shows sin in this deadly arrogance. So it's completely clear that "laughter" means a very specific, typically human laugh of arrogance over others. It is never intended that it could be a laugh of pure joy at the holiness of children. The heavenly laughter. But this cannot be found on earth and lives there rather in the tears of joy over a lost sheep that has found its way back to earth.
Sir, you seem like the kind of person who looks angrily at loud children in the church. From your writing I am guessing that you must have forgotten the last time you had a good whole-hearted laugh and I feel sorry for you.
Sorry, I can't discuss this apocrypha. Jesus was a child Himself, knew what children need. Every healthy child needs love, joy, laughter. He asked children to come to Him. Who wouldn't smile at a child? He loved them, enjoyed their company. The Bible speaks sometime about stupid laughter. That's not something Jesus would do, neither laugh at people. Face of a happy man is smiling, has crow feet. He may not be described as smiling, laughing but just someone radiating happiness, love. I believe His Disciples, also men wouldn't be into describing His emotional life into deep details. Besides parchment was expensive. They weren't able to write everything WHAT He did in 3 years, neither how, in which mood, in which dress, etc. Whatever they could they passed as oral tradition. After few centuries we have what we have.
Insofar as much of ordinary human laughter comes upon us involuntarily, and Christ, when it comes to human frailties like hunger and fatigue and even death, willed to take these on, it seems fitting to say that if He did ever laugh He made the active choice to do so and did it at whatever time would have been most appropriate for it.
You put it very well. My sentiment as well.
Well, what about the motion of the stomach and intestinal muscles? They're smooth muscles; they move involuntarily by design. Would Christ have been in conscious control over those processes?
What about reflexes? Would He have simply not moved His leg if a physician had tapped His knee... unless He chose to do so?
@@john-paulgies4313 Well, obviously this is all in the realm of pure speculation, but if I had to venture an opinion I’d say that it would likely function like breathing does for us. Normally we breathe unconsciously, but, if we so will, we can willfully breathe or cease breathing.
But again, pure speculation.
@fr.georgegoodge979 I believe Christ was humble enough to become a true man - truly rational, and truly animal.
He loves involuntary bodily actions as He made them to be: a reflection of Who God is.
I find it intriguing that laughter is unique to humans among all the biological creatures....
If Jesus was a toddler, he likely laughed. I’m sure he experienced childlike delight and wonder. And he offered some pretty sarcastic quips when berating the Pharisees. But it’s likely he wasn’t the constantly grinning and smiley Chosen Jesus. This just seems obvious.
To me, it is not obvious at all. Why wouldn't he laugh much, why wouldn't he be a cheerful person when he is not arguing with the Pharisees, for example? Everything that is good comes from God, and laughter is definitely a good thing. The Chosen Jesus (who I think is the best in adaptations) also doesn't smile when he is in a serious situation, but it doesn't mean that he cannot be a relaxed person in other situations.
He could be joyful and laugh (as in the popular painting) without being the "Buddy Christ" of the Hollywood movie "Dogma". 😏
There’s nothing “obvious” about that, the gospels indicate Jesus regularly laughed and engaged in plenty I happy events like weddings, parties, feasting, and drinking, even the story about Peter finding the coin in the fishes mouth was likely in part a joke.
God is not a stiff robot, our sense of humor is derivative of his, thus no, Jesus was not some anti-social seeming dude who hardly cracked a smile.
I find it exceedingly hard to believe that any man (and Christ was fully man) in a group with 12 friends never shares a laugh with them.
Not even just 12 men, he had a whole party of both men and women who travelled with him and even some family like his cousins John and James. There’s not way he wasn’t regularly having laughs like an ordinary person minus anything sinful going on.
If Christ never laughed out loud, surely He did to Himself, and just had the self-control to keep it from others. For example, on the road to Emmaeus, where at first He plays dumb about Himself, then disappears the moment they finally realize it's Him, after He breaks the bread. It demonstrates a playfulness in our Lord Jesus. We should not forget His full Humanity.
100% agree, I always think He's having fun when He did that
I don't think that event was just because He wanted to joke around. I believe it was to demonstrate that truth is only fully realized when we take the Holy Communion with Jesus, as He did for the 2 at the end, when, as He broke bread and gave thanks, their eyes were opened
@@300inOne That's all very true, I don't think He was just trying to mess around. There was obviously a higher point to what He was doing.
The playfulness and humor isn’t just a humanity thing, God is the most humorous being there is, you think the Trinity never laughed before creation?!
I personally just think that it wasn't added to the gospel that He laughed because it wasn't important enough to add.
By the way, I truly believe God has a sense of humor because I've seen the way certain things happen in my life that make ME laugh. And I believe He is probably having the last laugh on some of these incidents. 😆
@@panoramicprismFor real, if God has no humor in Him, I'd be dead.
I'm a father with 2 young sons, and if they're acting up all day, there's more or less 3 things that will soften my heart towards them; Acting sorry/trying just a little to be good, doing somthing kind, and finally if they do something cute and/or funny. If my sinners heart can be warmed by these things, wouldn't God's on a much higher level in regard to all of us as His children?
Apostles wanted to prove that he was God. It was obvious He was a human so why mention it? why to show His human side? Like there was no need to talk about using oils, practice well known for Jews.
Christ didn't laugh because it shows a lack of self-control, as it is a involuntary reaction. Often, humor is based on some kind of error, a fall, a trick, a setup, or an unexpected revelation. It's not "logo-centric", so to speak.
That doesn't mean it's sinful inherently though. Saints and holy people had humor, although definitely a refined one.
@@drooskie9525 While I agree in a way, why did He cry out of sadness? Couldn't that also be viewed as a lack of self control?
Christ has lived a human life with everything this entails. (except sin of course). Joy and sadness are both parts of that.
I remember reading somewhere that some of the parables and figures of speech Jesus used would have been considered very comedic in that time period. Like the speck of dust vs a plank in someone's eye. So He clearly has a sense of humor.
Very likely.
Very good points, and funny video. ;) don't we have a modern saint who laughed a lot? You're right about the "dour" "monkish" mindset a lot of people take on this. I remember a priest once tweeted 2 points if Christ laughed in His earthly life: 1) It wasn't considered important enough to note. 2) It certainly wasn't at anyone's expense.
Anyone who implies or states humor is inherently bad, always felt a little Gnostic to me. And to be dead honest I think it even encourages despair in some people, like the sensitive and neurotic. I have anxious OCD and been tempted to this sort of "pessimistic" theology, and it doesn't bear good fruit. Let's try to make life a bit brighter for all.
@@seronymus Very much so agree. After all, the pharisees were rebuked for intentionally going around all dire while fasting
@@IN-pr3lw St Eumenios. I deal with religious OCD, and when I find out he was known for his booming laughter life felt so much easier.
You can read about it online, I did.
@shrekfromdahood yes him thank you! Name escaped me. St. Eumenios, Confessor of the Leprous. Allegedly he had a habit of laughing many times, even at seemingly inappropriate times... Even during the Liturgy I read? I don't do these things much but I am scrupulous/OCD a lot and suffer much painful doubt so reading these kinds of things helps a lot. May he pray for us 🙏 ☦️
@@seronymus May he pray for us!
I just want to tell you, I know how you feel about laughter. However what we need to remember is that Saints lead by example. They show us the road to Heaven and Saint Eumenios showed that the road to Heaven is filled with laughter.
If he can laugh a lot and inherit Heaven, why can't you or I do the same.
Even if Christ didn't laugh, that doesn't mean that laughter is somehow short of perfection.
@Xiaomienjoyer In His last 3 years He could be preparing, knew what will happen, that will suffer, will be abandoned. And all that because of (our) sin.
No one bats 1000, not even saints. Some have completely contradictory options on particular subject. Even in divine grace, we are still individuals shaped by personal experience and disposition. Love your commentary.
Bojan this can't be right, in The Chosen, Jesus was laughing all the time, sometimes he was laughing and crying at the exact same time.
Good one
😂
It was created by protestants, shows Jesus as a conman, teaching children game known as 'three cards', intended to gamble, cheat. It gives wrong idea of Jesus. There are many blasphemous, incorrect things there. I'm upset about casting. All main heroines are pretty, gentle, charming but Mother Mary. They depicted Her as some vulgar, harsh, crude woman. Which mother mentions that her child was born in poo? And to put it in her mouth, about Jesus is blasphemous. Very bad is also a musical: 'Journey to Bethlehem' where Archangel Gabriel is depicted as demon (deep voice, dark clothes, scale like breastplate, levitating not merely flying) and he wakes up Mary in the night, scares Her, rehearses his speech. Mighty Archangel preparing like for job interview? ...
My comment is gone. The Chosen is protestant, blasphemous. Jesus wouldn't teach children conman game. Producer stated it's very little based on the Bible.
@@RG-CooperTrooper man your just a hater
Laughter can also come from having knowledge that others don't. It's like when you give someone a wrapped present, and you giggle when you see them shaking the box to see what it is.
I think people who make this ridiculous claim are simply projecting their own dead-end personalities onto our Lord: I've never met a jolly, happy person who claims that Christ never laughed.
They remind me of that one angry monk from "Il nome della rosa".
I don't know, i try to look to the modern saints for stuff like this
This seems like a silly anecdotal claim. I love to laugh, tell jokes, go to comedy shows and what have you but I personally don't believe Christ laughed. It's not a hill I would die on as personally I don't think it really matters one way or the other but none the less I don't think it should have any bearing on whether we can laugh or not, plenty of saints laughed and it's certainly not sinful to do so.
@ why do you not think Christ laughed?
Well primarily because I see genuine laughter as an involuntary action caused by a momentary loss of control, and I don't believe our Lord was ever out of control of anything especially His own body. Secondarily, there exists an epistle which is supposedly contemporaneous with Christ's life from a roman official named Lentulus about his encounter with Christ, in which he says of Christ "he has never been seen to laugh at all, but very frequently is he seen weeping." although many regard this letter as spurious.
I find this funny: "Jesus never laughed because laughing is a lost of control."
But what about crying? Isn't it a form of losing control? Because Christ has cried.
''Christ never laughed'' bros when they read that He, the all knowing One, apparently - marveled - at the centurion's faith. Clearly theres a good way for a human being to laugh as the Creator made it to be and a child/brother-like adoration(marveling) of someone's deed. Christ was fully human so what you say makes sense to me Bojan. God bless you.
I’ve seen orthodox people on twitter who say that God doesn’t have a sense of humor.
I've seen enough funny coincidences in my life alone to know for a fact that isn't true
@@benkai343434 Same 😂
Brother Onion,
"Jesus wept."
If He wept, He probably laughed a little. Probably as part of a smile when children were near Him.
It would be almost inhuman not to. My kids put a smile on my face even in the worst of times
If He is able to feel anger to the point of assaulting people , sure He can feel joy to the point of laughing.
Who did Christ assault?
@@Stopitpls depends on how you define assault, but he did drive out the moneychangers and such from a temple, apparently by overturning their tables and chairs.
Please note during the Temple incident, Christ, being God, could simply have instantly vaporized the people. Instead he merely chased them out with the whip. He didn't actually hurt anyone or try to. It was just like blowing a horn. 📣
@@hamaon2800 _The_ Temple, not a temple. There was only one Temple back then, the one in Jerusalem.
He overthrew their tables, and then drove them out of the Temple by whipping them.
@@seronymus very true.
Doesn't Isaac mean "he who will laugh"? Wasn't that because Abraham's wife laughed at the idea of them having a son at their age?
Lewis, not Chesterton, sorry :D
Lewis would be flattered. Gilbert was his favorite author.
Chesterton says something very similar in the las lines of Orthodoxy,
Yes, Chesterton wrote about Christ's mirth. I remember that line.
I'd also like to point out that having foreknowledge of something happening doesn't make it not funny. When you play a joke on someone you have an idea of what's gonna happen (you can't know for sure because we do not have foreknowledge) and its still funny when what you thought was gonna happen, happens.
@@schmlif8839 There is this funny picture of one of my friends and I laugh nearly every time I see it. There is no element of suprise, it is just somehow always funny.
The Gospels never mention Jesus using the bathroom
🤔🤔
Why would Jesus say "Truly truly" so often? Perhaps he had to clarify that this time he was being serious.
C.S. Lewis wrote The Great Divorce, not G.K.Chesterton (also a wonderful writer :)
I agree with you whole heartedly. But I would add that the East views laughter as the behavior of a 'fool' traditionally. Though EVERYONE laughs, excessively it is viewed as the hysterics of the mad. Due to this, I believe the claim that Christ never laughed may also have been made in order to impress upon listeners how serious and not to be taken lightly Christ's work was/is. The claim, I think, should never have been made.
My favorite category of Saint is the Holy Fool/Fool for Christ, actually. And my favorite subset of them were the Early Christian "Grazers". What a stark contrast to what many people think is proper behavior tk be judged...
The best argument I’ve heard is not that He was never happy or joyful or smiling along with others, but that His Omniscience made it impossible to truly surprise Him. A joke would make him smile, but he already knew the punchline, so he couldn’t laugh at it. But as you say, His human will wasn’t always in on what his Divine Will knew was coming, ergo, He could paradoxically both KNOW and not know.
That is an interesting point but we do often laugh at jokes or situations we have seen before and remember well.
Jesus wasn't exactly always omniscient. There is a passage where it says (paraphrasing) "as time went on, He grew in wisdom" when he was growing up. He was Human. There were periods where He was often given wisdom from The Father but He still experienced time like the rest of us
@Bojan, I fully agree with your thoughts on this. Number one, we can't know for sure because there is no witness for or against it. Number two, laughter is part of our human nature (and as you rightly said, not the sinful part) and is inseparable from joy and love--and those same Christians who would say that Christ never laughed would also tell us that a Christian should always be full of joy and love.
If God is incapable of humor, I think the human experiment would have ended permanently a long time ago. Just my take, I have no real insight
If Christ never laughed, then our laughter is not redeemed and is inherently evil (which I know sure as hell it isn't, so Christ did laugh)
That's like saying that he didn't need to use the toilet 🙃
I always think Jesus was laughing when he called James and John as sons of thunder bearing in mind John is traditionally believed to be a teenager and perhaps James wasn't much older.
Thank you for your issue. I have often felt that Orthodoxy is heavy and depressing, at least it is represented in a too serious light like we are so bad. By serious I mean more sad than joy.
I wonder if Byzantine iconography may have inadvertently contributed to this notion. After all, look at how it depicts religious figures: grim and stoic.
Iconography is divinely inspired.
@@madcyborg1822 I never said they weren't; I'm simply pointing out the Byzantine artistic style in which icons are painted, which depict their subjects as cold and distant. Maybe Bojan can explain why this is the case better than I can, but my initial point was that this could have been a contributing factor to the notion that Christ never laughed, since the image the average layperson at the time would have had of Him would have been based on the icons of Him they saw during the liturgy.
@Primordial_Synapse our personal feelings on this matter are irrelevant. If multiple divinely inspired saints said he did not laugh, then he did not laugh. I'd rather listen to the great St. Justin Popovich than "Bojan" who openly says he disagrees with saints. The hubris is palpable.
Three thoughts
(1) I find my mental image of an Infant Jesus who never giggled or laughed very disturbing. Laughter comes so naturally to infants and it is free from malice and sin.
(2) the best comedians never laugh and are often extremely deadpan. Not laughing is not a sign of no sense of humour. I think too many people equate Christ not laughing with Christ having no sense of humour which is plainly wrong.
(3) Those in the comments who are scandalised by your comments because they contradict Church Fathers are missing the point. If a Church Father says Christ never laughed, then we need to look at what laughter means. More often than not, it is a result of some minor misfortune or embarrassment befalling a friend due to comic mistiming or over confidence. Laughter deflates pride but at the expense of the one who has fallen. Using these definitions, I think the Church Fathers have a point. However, I am willing to submit to the idea that there are other reasons for laughing that involve pure love and I am less willing to believe that Christ never did this.
Very true but have you seen the icons of baby Jesus? He's all like🗿
It's possible Fathers of the Desert wanted to touch the reader, make them repent, reject sin. Also that they were so developed spiritually that felt or understood how Jesus despises sin. It was His reason for scarifying Himself. Especially, in last 3 years of His life He would be preparing for that. No laughing matter.
Psalm 2 says "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."
So, He will have the last laugh
"Laughter and familiarity are the beginning of a soul's corruption. If you see these in yourself, know that you have some to the depths of evils. Do not cease to pray God that He will deliver you from this death... Laughter removes from us that blessing which is promised to those who mourn (Matt. 5:4) and destroys what has been built up. Laughter offends the Holy Spirit, gives no benefit to the soul, dishonors the body. Laughter dives out virtues, has no remembrance of death or thought of tortures" (Philokalia, Russian edition, Moscow, 1913: vol.2, p. 488)
I think that Jesus smiled and laughed the most when the children where around him.
I've encountered plenty of internet orthodox who are defending this that hold laughter necessarily means "losing control" and Jesus is God, and God can't lose control, ergo not only did Jesus mot laugh but to say so is implying that God lost control, which blasphemes God.
Well, this is silly. Jesus wept. Jesus died. Most people dont cry on purpose, and no one dies on purpose. But, Jesus "gives up his spirit" at his death. So, suppose then, if Jesus can die on purpose, and cry on purpose, why shouldn't he be capable of laughing on purpose? But no. These people hold that the very expression of joy in laughter is somehow an inhuman corruption, a sin. That's like saying its a sin to smile.
Worse, it dawns on me that this despicable notion is a kind of replacing God's image in man with man's distorted image of God, and then demanding that humans contort themselves and dismember their bodies and souls in service of this unnatural ideal. I have no problem that Jesus isn't *portrayed* as laughing in the Gospels, just as i have no problem with the idea that he isn't portrayed as sweating or using the bathroom. It probably wasn't important. But i have a much bigger problem with trying to conjecture evidence of absence from a mere absence of evidence, and then saying things that no human being in their right mind would dare to say...that "laughter is sinful and inhuman." Despicable.
Someone else said it and I agree, it's really kind of boaderline gnostic acting as though a normal, healthy human emotion is inherently fallen and a corruption. Even anger has a proper conext, so why wouldn't laughter? We don't transcend our humanity, we restore it (in Christ)
Those were done willingly. You can't willingly laugh. Try it. It sounds and feels evil.
@@ShotzeethegamerGod can laugh spontaneously, genuinely, and innocently on purpose.
"
12The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
"
(Psalm 37:12-13)
{Objection: "No, that's not really God laughing, because the Father's laughter isn't like earthly laughter."
Rebuttal: We say that the Son is the perfect image of the Father, the perfect icon of the Father. The Father's laughter may be a metaphor for something we don't understand, but if that's true, then the Son's laughter would be the same sort of metaphor, but as exemplified by a person rather than a poem.}
God can heal the blind, raise the dead, and go to hell and back unscathed. How in the world is this even a question? It's not some kind of logical impossibility. You've just posited that a human limitation is somehow binding on God. Again, God died on purpose. He literally gave up his spirit in order to die on purpose. Name something that a normal human does that is less intentional than dying. Further, what you've written here is along the lines of "well, spontaneous laughter isn't sinful, but laughter on-purpose is evil." So, what, you want a catch 22? God can't laugh without meaning to, because that's a slight to his godhood, but God can't laugh on purpose because it's inherently evil? What's next, blinking is evil? Swallowing your food is evil? Using the bathroom is evil? Sleeping is evil? Jesus slept too. Or would you have it that at every moment of his sleep, Jesus was actually asleep on purpose. Unconscious, on purpose. Look, I'll even grant that. I'll grant that Jesus could be unconscious, and that at every individual second of his unconsciousness it was on purpose and he could wake up at any time, just like he woke up to quiet the waters on the boat. But, again, this isn't something a normal human can do! When normal humans are asleep, *they can't control that they are asleep.* A normal human who is asleep has given up being in control of what happens to them until something wakes them up. So, I ask: if God can miraculously be asleep on purpose, why couldn't he miraculously laugh on purpose?
I believe i remember hearing Jonathan pageau comment on this, he said "true laughter come involuntarily due to a loss of control, and Jesus was always in control", so i took that as spontaneous and uncontrolled laughter as well as mocking laughter to be something God DOES NOT do. But ultimately does knowing this affect our faith much? Not really.
If he laughed, it was in a time to laugh just like he wept when it was time to weep. Laughter has nothing to do with our salvation but it is good for us when appropriate (a merry heart doeth good like a medicine/laughter is the best medicine). I don't believe Jesus was stoic anymore than he was like the Epicureans.
laughter is part of being human.
We believe Lazarus didn't laugh after his ressurection.
I listened to the life of Lazarus the other day with my daughter and they said he laughed once while watching somebody steal a clay pot.
"A piece of dirt steals a piece of dirt." was his remark
@showmeanedge yeah, but i think that's where the idea comes from
Yes, they were trying to kill him since he was a living proof of Jesus' miracle.
It is safer to listen to what the fathers say than our own opinions.
Your index finger is not fat. Anyway, thankyou so much for this wonderful insight. I’m wondering if Saint Basil and Saint John and others were referring to a type of worldly laughter which is more akin to mockery. I think you make such an excellent point when you talk about The Lord rejoicing, I agree. It seems likely that our Lord delighted (rejoiced, laughed) but that he did not derisively scoff at or mock etc…. Different types of laughter
But You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall hold all the nations in contempt.
Psalm 58:9
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh at them;
The Lord shall mock them.
Psalm 2:4
Our Lord Jesus Christ has an amazing sense of humor all throughout scripture. How can you not see some funny things that God’s goodness allows throughout nature?
Yeah, I recently heard Jonathan Pageau talking about this. It was the first time I've heard of about this as it doesn't seem to be a commonly held belief amongst Catholics. I thought it was really strange to hear him talk so matter of fact about it.
I find it hard to believe that Chrsit didn't laugh. He made jokes that were recorded in Scripture.
let's also not think that god cant laugh in mocking. psalm 2: he who sits it the heavens laughs, the lord has them in derision.
God forcing a laugh. That would be terrifying, not comforting.
"I'm the boy in question"
The monks I know, do believe, that Christ did laugh, because he is God. God is joyful and the source of joy.
I've often wondered this, because humor is something that always innately absurd or offensive in at least some way. Any joke on earth can be interpreted to be rud eor verbose in some way if taken seriously. I've always seen it as it makes good from bad and therefore is not innately evil, though it can be in some situations
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Psalm 2:1-4
Brother Happy St.Sava Feast, I know that he is very beloved in Serbia❤☦️
Just because Jesus was capable of laughing, doesn't mean he did. I can't say with any certainty whether he did or did not. But since there are prominent saints who said that he did not, and I don't know of any saints who said that he did, I think it is pretty shaky ground to say that he did laugh. As for why he did not laugh, the only speculation on that, I'll entertain, is whatever the church fathers said.
Christ laughs whenever we tell him our plans... 😅
Since Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, then I tend to believe His humanity laughed. I do not think I have ever seen a child that didn’t laugh sometimes, so I would guess He laughed at some point in His humanity.
Again, the modern sensibilities of our age are creeping in again.
The text is completely silent on this for a very particular reason.
Christ never laughed because laughter is involuntary. The Logos never gave into the world. Laughter is always invoked with things that do not fit in a category (clowns, jokes, bodily accidents etc.)
Whether there was a cause and effect of Him laughing the text is not arguing for and should not argue for, as the reason for Christ not laughing is more cosmic.
You could argue Christ laughed but the text is silent for a very particular reason and for that reason should remain silent.
Christ took on our human nature, but not all of our human experience (not just sin). The supposition that He never laughed -- even if we grant the claim -- doesn't me we (in the world, at least) should not. He also didn't marry or have children. It's true that our monastics abstain from these, but us "normies" aren't meant to, just because Jesus did. 🙏🕯️☦️
I've never seen the objection that it's sinful. What I've seen about this topic is that to laugh authentically one has to be surprised and not see it coming, and as the Logos He isn't surprised by what happens and therefore cannot have an authentic reaction to something funny. Of course in His humiliation He limited some knowledge but wouldn't that be matters pertaining to salvation, such as the time for Him to die, and not more trivial things, like jokes or funny moments? I don't know. I think this dilemma can get autistic if pondered for too long.
"To quote Chesterton from his book "The Great Divorce" I think you mean C.S. Lewis
Absolutely.
Of course Christ laughed. Who even argues against this?
I think I can sympathize with people who say such things a little more, although I disagree with them and tend to think that Christ did laugh.
For me the logic is more apparent when we apply to not laughter itself, but to comedy. So much comedy seems to be born off of exaggerations, understatements, or simply distortions of the truth. This is most noticeable when we make fun of the good. In the opposite case when we make fun of sin, it still feels immoral, as if prideful and hypocritical, then though according to Psalm 37:13 "The Lord Laughs at the wicked, "
So when it comes to most comedy, laughter feels like a lose-lose situation. It is easily to imagine that in heaven there will be no need for comedy, as all truth is present fully and everyone is fully satisfied in the truth. I do think they have something of a theological consideration, but it can be easily warped by the personal desire for a stern Christ, and should not be stated forcefully.
It's funny how all the arguments for him laughing are based on personal opinion, never facts. "B-b-but I think this!". I'd rather trust the divinely inspired St. Justin Popovich.
It's may be unreliable as it's considered spurious by some but allegedly the only contemporaneous piece of writing about Christ from the time of His earthly life, The Epistle of Lentulus, claims "and all he says or does, he performs pleasantly and with discernment. And he has never been seen to laugh at all, but very frequently is he seen weeping." Again not a 100% knock down argument but I believe it has some merit.
Well, 3 years before Crucifixion He could be preparing for that moment. Could be tired, upset about sinners. He dealt with teachers, priests, scholars, and during these confrontations there was not much fun. He would be too kind to laugh at them, had not much chance to laugh with them either. There was no need to write down how much he enjoyed Cana wedding. Already he was accused of drinking with wrong people so why to support such opinion. Surely he wouldn't spoil the mood by being deadly serious. Parchment was too expensive to write obvious things. The New Testament was written after His death, not during His lifetime. It conveyed the message, wasn't a memoir. Also sensibility of people was different.
Consider the greatest humour from god is placing the promise land at the very crossroad of known continents of its time amongst emerging empires to rule over it. Truly a halarious when you start thinking about it. Or Jerusalem meaning the city of peace, yet has never really ever seen peace. 😂 there is an old saying, “god has an interesting sense of humour”
loved it. more videos
I think that the EO community can really benefit from this reflection. Thank you!
I don't think Jesus laughed. Funny jokes weren't invented till the 15th century
😂🤣😂
European medieval phrase books in Latin and some other languages contained sentences like: 'Knight, please do not chop off my limbs'... Black humour?
Jerusalem and hollywood have the same demographics,atleast a dozen comedy writers being stoned in the street(probably daily)
The Great Divorce ... C.S. Lewis
I'm pretty sure our lord had emotions like any other human being. He cried, He got angry, He got hungry, he was thirsty, he felt pain. Just normal human traits. As long as Christ didn't laugh in someone's face or to make someone feel bad about themselves or laugh at someone's flaws then I'm sure Christ did laugh wholeheartly at good things and not bad.
In my humble opinion its the extreme piousness of committed men of the cloth that puts a great many people off from embracing Christianity (although that probably goes for all religions). Lack of a 'funny bone' is almost an inhuman trait. Having said that there really arent too many jokes in the Bible. I'm not sure if God Himself wasnt having a laugh in Leviticus when he advised against eating centipedes (it certainly made me chortle).
I will add something else. To me, humour is one of the higher virtues. The good that comedians do in getting people to laugh is psychological but also close to spiritual. Laughter heals, it soothes, it fortifies. Children laugh naturally, all the time. I am English but the thing that makes me most proud of belonging to this race is our dry and ever-present sense of humour. The truly humour-less among us may as well be the walking dead. If God doesnt find Fawlty Towers funny then there's something wrong with Him. (I hope that's not blasphemous).
@@cargumdeu Well, Fawlty Towers seems to be about narcissistic character and they can behave in very funny, irrational way. They blame the world for everything so why not hit a car? They live in fear, may be cowards, and car won't hit back:)
It's good to see funny side of life like Jeanne Robertson teaches i.e. in 'The Baton Story'.
Jesus was very intelligent, and sense of humour is a sign of intelligence.
Also every child needs joy, laughter, love. His family was happy. There's no reason to doubt that He wasn't smiling, in the right time.
Pious men could try to move the conscience of the reader. But also could be impressed by Jesus' gentleness, and tried to convey to us how much Jesus wanted our salvation, how He hated sin. Maybe they were closer to God and were able to see more.
It seems unlikely he’s was human
If the eternal weeping and gnashing of the damned means Jesus can't allow himself to experience joy and mirth in the Kingdom, then how could we experience that peace and joy in the Kingdom? Shouldn't it follow that we too must eternally sorrow for those lost forever to sin?
The arguments against Jesus laughing come across as hyper-pious, that Jesus has to always be stern with a piercing gaze like in the Icons (I suppose even when he wept for Lazarus, like some kind of Galilean Zoolander always maintaining his modeling pose).
I can easily think of a better argument, not a good argument just better, for why Jesus doesn't laugh. One theory of comedy says humour comes from experiencing some misdirection, equivocation, or other kind of communication trickery, and then the trick is revealed with a punchline. That moment of realization gives rise to the experience of mirth and laughter. Even observational and slapstick comedy fits this formula, just that the trickery is implied rather than stated.
Jesus, being God, is omniscient and is never misled by such communication trickery. So even though he knows it's comedy and understands the joke, even appreciates the cleverness of the joke, because he never has that moment of realization he never experiences mirth.
So what's the problem with this argument (other than it borders on a Christological heresy)? It isn't actually an argument that Jesus never laughs, it's an argument that Jesus doesn't experience humour. Likewise the pious argument isn't an argument that Jesus never laughed, it's an argument that Jesus experiences perpetual sorrow for the sins of the world. Both arguments presuppose that people only laugh because of mirth, but people can laugh for reasons other than mirth. Don't people laugh for social reasons too, like politely laughing when someone tells a social joke that isn't really that funny? Or using laughter to show camaraderie with friends and family? Isn't laughter also a tool of rhetoric? Is it impossible that Jesus laughed when challenging the teachings of the Pharisees?
So even if we accept that Jesus does perpetually sorrow for the damned, it doesn't follow that he never laughs (or is incapable of experiencing mirth simultaneous with his sorrow).
The thing is: the Bible doesn't mention that Jesus laughed. Speaks about moments he was sad, angry, cried, suffered. Doesn't say either that He never laughed.
Maybe stories when he laughed, rejoiced didn't made to the Bible because weren't essential.
In Cana He did not deny people wine. He was convinced to save face of the host, and let people enjoy themselves (with good wine). Wouldn't He? Wouldn't He share joy of His friends?
Maybe He was radiating joy, love, had smiling face therefore cannot be described as 'laughing' per se.
Maybe He protected His Disciples so much that none of them slipped on banana peel. (I refer to theories about laughter:)
'Is it impossible that Jesus laughed when challenging the teachings of the Pharisees?' Good question. He called them 'whitewashed graves', had colourful language, was telling truth. If He did, it would not be to ridicule them. He has got most gentle Heart.
At this stage He was a mature Man, could have serious demeanour.
As a teenager was very serious about explaining Holy Scriptures. He was praised by scholars but didn't convince them, wasn't taken seriously. Their praise rather didn't make Him smile.
Are you saying that John Chrysostom and Basil the great are hypocrites? The fathers of the Church reflects the perception of their time of laughter and humour. The Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle considered laughter and work of comedy mind degradation. Laughter is a work of the devil and lead to craziness. Of course Christ was correct in everything he did and when he smiled he didn’t smile like crazy. He definitely didn’t laugh out loud. The gospel is not a work of comedy.
The Gospels simply don't mention Him not laughing. You say "when He smiled," which is also a conjecture. The Bible says laughing is a good thing (you say it is the work of the devil, that is your invention). And no, the Gospel is not a work of comedy, never claimed such a thing. And no, not saying Saints Basil and John were hypocrites.
Not to mention Psalm 2 mentions God laughing.
@ I said that laughter is the work of the devil according to ancient philosophy.
@@MichaelBarakat-mp3yw What ancient philosophy? Ancient philosophy didn't believe in the devil, and if you're referring to Christianity, the Bible says that the Lord laughs and that there is proper time for laughter.
@ I will find you the source and get back to you. Maybe I did express myself properly.
I was told that Christ didn't laugh because it shows a lack of self-control, as it is a involuntary reaction (and it weakens you physiologically). Often, humor is based on some kind of error, a fall, a trick, a setup, or an unexpected revelation. It's not "logocentric", so to speak.
Makes perfect sense honestly, but although perhaps there is a distinction to be made, such as the kind of laughter and the content of the humor in question. The saints and holy people had humor, albeit a more refined one and probably not uncontrolled laughing fits.
Important to not also fall into the whole "what would jesus do" mindset. Jesus is too mysterious for us to operate with that mindset. Just because he didn't do a particular thing, doesn't mean that thing is bad.
He was operating on our Earthly level and highly spiritual. I can't imagine its depth. He could be showing His serious demeanour but laugh at times, especially as a child.
Bojan, forgive me if you may have already tackled this topic but I have not seen a video about it: Would you consider doing a video, on either channel, to answer why Christ was never married? As Orthodox, I should imagine it is obvious why-- but it goes very much the way of the laughing argument, I think. If Christ was fully human in all but sin, and relations between a man and his wife having been ordained by God at the beginning of time are then not sinful, why should he not have also been married? The question may seem a little dated as The Da Vinci Code came out 20 years ago-- but there is a fairly large sub-culture of lay persons outside of the Church that believe that Jesus was having relations with Mary Magdalene. Certainly I have spoken to many.
Because He is already promised to another. The Church
All of us are His children. That would be preferential, and God loves us all. A wife is to be preferred above all others. I also agree with the above that the marriage supper of the lamb shows Christ marrying the Church.
He wouldn't marry a woman knowing He'll be crucified. He wouldn't leave a widow, maybe with children behind. He knew better love than marital bliss. She would have to be without a sin like Mother Mary. And we would have two Queens. I guess it wasn't God's plan. Would be detour. He didn't came just to enjoy life but to show us by example how to live our life, be the witness of truth, and to sacrifice Himself for our salvation.
FR. Augustyn Pelanowski a Polish monk, recognized as a prophet (seen empty churches in his vision in 2017) had vision of the Nazareth house. The Holy Family was laughing and talking in the Bible verses. One happy, pious family.
Lots of contradiction and cope here against what the Holy Fathers wrote.
The saints aren’t infallible. There is no dogma of the church on this subject. We are allowed to disagree.
@Lamenters1stCompanyCpt On dogmatic teachings they are infallible. Many saints have taught Christ never laughed. Laughter is a loss of self-control which Christ never had.
It's not your own belief that the damned torture themselves, Bojan. That's the church teaching lol
I know you know tht already, just don't want people to think that that's some radical innovation you made up haha
Ecclesiastes 7:
1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
The original emos.🙄
Maybe that's why pious men wouldn't talk about Jesus laughing to avoid associating it with this biblical passage? Now to give wrong impression, not to lower His image in the eyes of contemporary who knew the Bible very well.
Laughter (not just smiling) is a loss of control. You are literally making meaningless noise out of a surprise, similar to a cough. It's a good image of giving in to passion in general, i.e something outside of you that acts upon you and prevails over you.
Crying is also loss of control. Christ did it.
@BanterWithBojan Weeping is not, sobbing is.
@@Cyrus_II Based on what?
I remember someone telling me that laughter is an example of losing control and Christ doesn't lose control. Also, if Christ laughed why wasn't it written down?
It was impossible to write down everything He did in 3 years. I believe most important was to convey His message, convince reader, listener that He was a Messiah. What laughter has to do with this? Of course He laughed, enjoyed things, attended weddings, was meeting friends. It wasn't important detail to keep repeating it. Maybe He didn't want to give early rise to 'Church Nice'.
@RG-CooperTrooper can something be "repeated" if it never happened at the first place?
Ending of the Gospel of John says that it was physically impossible to write all that Christ did.
About losing control: You can say the same thing about crying
@shrekfromdahood that's a good point, about our Lord shedding tears. But nowhere, Nowhere, will you find anything recorded or written down, about Christ laughing.
@@davathopsalm 2. Who's laughing?
There's no reason to believe he laughed
No reason not to either
Stopped watching about 3 minutes in.
I’ve appreciated your takes until now, but blithely dismissing the consensus of Orthodox saints who have addressed this question doesn’t go into your win column, Bojan.
Our Lord, I’m certain, had an exquisite sense of humor. He made the penguins, the duck billed platypus, and the parrots. He called St. John and St. James “the sons of thunder,” and he was even wry with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. However, our Godbearing Fathers know from their own experience of theosis that one in that state would not laugh, for whatever reason, and most likely having to do with the transformation of the psyche. Really, what makes you think you’re qualified to contradict them?
I’m sincerely disappointed, brother, and if I watch you again, it will be with heightened caution. And that is a shame.
They weren't alive at the time of Christ. They don't know if He never laughed. I find the argument "He never laughed because of our sin" thoroughly unconvincing, and I see no issue in arguing against something that's not a dogma of the Church.
Also, St. Anthony, the greatest of monastic saints, laughed and told jokes and this story was important to be included in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Did he or did he not achieve theosis and transformed his psyche?
For perseverance to the end, try emulating that of the Theotokos and St. Joseph as they made their way back to Jerusalem after they realized 12-year-old Jesus wasn't with them! "Your father and I have been worried sick about you," His Mother said when they finally found Him in the Temple. "Mother, you should have known I'd be up to my Father's business," He answered her. Hey... that's a pretty funny line.
@@dalescott831 Surprising line in my opinion of honest teenager not being aware that He may sound arrogant, all knowing. One more moment of realisation who is He?
'He was even wry with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4'. I believe He was extremally kind, empathetic, gentle with her. He didn't scold her, he didn't frown that she had been married several times, didn't tell her straight who she is, didn't judge her. I believe Mother Mary taught Him how to talk to people. In the Temple She didn't rebuke Him, just asked Him to see their point of view, of His earthly parents, responsible and caring for Him. That was a good lesson for a teenager. Intelligent people do not need to have everything explained literally to them. Jesus knew it, made His sermons more interesting by talking in parables, therefore making people to think, connect the dots.
My German teacher had a sense of humour. When one of her pupils at high school was missing a lot of classes she asked him one day: 'Are you still here?' The way she said it, with serious face, bit of sarcasm was like a bucket of cold water, he corrected his actions. I think it was brilliant, funny & worked better than a sermon.
At the age of 30 Jesus was a serious, mature Man. I guess His demeanour was serious but we can see He's got sense of humour which is a sign of intelligence.
I believe Apostles didn't point to His jolly side because it wasn't important to the story of our salvation, parchment was dear, no point to write about obvious things, they DIDN'T WANT TO GIVE WRONG IMPRESSION. He was accused of drinking with sinners.
He attended wedding of Cana, Mother Mary was organizing it. Probably since childhood He would participate in various parties. He wasn't restricted like St. John and probably used wine, danced, enjoyed Himself with friends. We don't know it but it's plausible. Also we don't know much about His conversations, movement after Resurrection till Ascension. It must have been incredible time. Apostles able to understand more, ask more questions. Less worried who will seat where in Heaven.
How many events described in the New Testament would be done by Him laughing? Teaching in synagogues? no. Talking to Pharisees?
When God is rejoicing from every repentant sinner, can He do it without a smile?
When Jesus asked children to come to Him, would He scare them with serious face? Isn't obvious He was happy to see them? Wouldn't He smile? Wasn't He child himself? Wouldn't He know what children need? There's no point to state obvious.
People in love, loving are smiling or serious?
I think both ideas are true: Jesus was serious about His mission, especially during His public life. And was very intelligent, would naturally smile, in appropriate moments. Also growing up. Every healthy child needs laughter, love, joy. Surely it was a joy to be in His company.
We need also to think about the ways people carried themselves in His times, and through the ages. They have had different sensibility from ours, from Americans treating Jesus as school pal. Out of reverence people would imagine Him as superior, exceptional. If they had visions of Him maybe He was serious. Maybe in awe of Him they weren't able to see His gentle smile, maybe felt unworthy of it.
No, laughter is sin. --- Show me the verse, the witness of a laughing Christ. ---- Dont talk so many words. So it is a sure apostelic throuth. - There is one book: the apokryphic Evangelium of St. Thomas. In it Jesus laughts 4 times, and always cause of the ridicoulus men. So laugther clearly shows sin in this deadly arrogance. So it's completely clear that "laughter" means a very specific, typically human laugh of arrogance over others. It is never intended that it could be a laugh of pure joy at the holiness of children. The heavenly laughter. But this cannot be found on earth and lives there rather in the tears of joy over a lost sheep that has found its way back to earth.
Laughter isn't sinful.
At all.
Sir, you seem like the kind of person who looks angrily at loud children in the church. From your writing I am guessing that you must have forgotten the last time you had a good whole-hearted laugh and I feel sorry for you.
Lunatics
What a joyless and miserable life you must live
Sorry, I can't discuss this apocrypha. Jesus was a child Himself, knew what children need. Every healthy child needs love, joy, laughter. He asked children to come to Him. Who wouldn't smile at a child? He loved them, enjoyed their company.
The Bible speaks sometime about stupid laughter. That's not something Jesus would do, neither laugh at people.
Face of a happy man is smiling, has crow feet. He may not be described as smiling, laughing but just someone radiating happiness, love. I believe His Disciples, also men wouldn't be into describing His emotional life into deep details. Besides parchment was expensive. They weren't able to write everything WHAT He did in 3 years, neither how, in which mood, in which dress, etc. Whatever they could they passed as oral tradition. After few centuries we have what we have.