Christian Living

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Laughing Jesus.

A woman I met at a Twelve Step meeting gave me a picture of a laughing Jesus. It seemed, once I got past the initial implied irreverence, quite a relief to see Jesus laughing. We, at least in the circles I’ve traveled in, have come to associate Christ with quiet wisdom and great suffering. Besides, Salvation and God Almighty are hardly to be considered laughing matters!

On the other hand, love and laughter are more often than not, paired together as a natural consequence of one another. Christ told us that He is God and that God is love. Paul tells us that without love; even the staunchest faith and most righteous living are meaningless. John reminds us that Christ’s followers will be known by the love they have and show for each other. So why not a laughing Jesus? He know of His weeping from Scripture, why not His laughing?

While there may be no specific mention of laughter in the Gospels and only allusions to God laughing in the Psalms, there are several references for the warmth and esteem Jesus held for children. Most notably;

“2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” (Matthew 18:2-6)

Children laugh a lot. Children, love, laughter, God … Notice how well they sound together?

Yet, one does not have to dwell long in order to painfully recall the cruel laughter of other children, the nervous laughter of fear and uncertainty or the reflexive laughter of embarrassment. Perhaps the question that should linger is not whether Jesus ever laughed or not, but if we remember to include the true Joy and Love of Christ in our laughter.

I would like to think that humbly grateful born again Christians laugh as much as little children … and at least as much as they weep.

Desperado
10/24/04
RED

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