Through the years, I’ve seen a lot of Christians look down on others for their sense of humor, particularly when it is expressed in homily or in any other “spiritual” context. I am not sure how that works, since I believe that all of life is holy. It’s hard to imagine Jesus telling a joke. Yet humor is distinctly human. And Jesus was fully human.

To investigate the concept of Jesus and humor further, I am reading an older book by Elton Trueblood called, The Humor of Christ (Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1964). At first, I was skeptical of what Trueblood might say concerning Jesus’ humor, but he does an excellent job of explaining humor and then demonstrating it. Trueblood begins by defining humor and illustrating it from literature in general.

You may think it strange that he’d have to explain humor, but if you’ve ever been in a different cultural situation, you know that without familiarity with that culture, you need an interpreter just to explain the jokes. Continue reading →