And Jesus Laughed

January 14, 2014

And Jesus Laughed

I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy.

Yes, your joy will overflow!

John 15:11

Many Christians have a hard time picturing Jesus laughing. I don’t. When Peter and the other disciples reminisced together about their days with Jesus, I believe their most common image of Jesus was of him smiling and laughing. Certainly Jesus was serious when he needed to be, and he did weep over Jerusalem and his friend, Lazarus. But when you picture in your mind the children running after him and being pulled up onto his lap, can’t you see a big smile on his face?

Jesus employed much humor in his parables and other teachings. Not so much the one-liners late-night comedians like to use, but through the use of hyperbole, and at times he even had a sarcastic wit. Isaiah tells us that Jesus “was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3). Yes, this is true, but Jesus was also happy, and he enjoyed parties and festivals with his friends. Life has plenty of pitfalls, but Jesus’ mission contrasted sharply with the ways of the world: “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10).

We are early in this New Year, and we still have time to fine-tune our priorities and our approach to seeking the life in Christ in 2015. I encourage you to spend time in quiet meditation and imagine you are looking into a mirror, and the image you see looking back at you is Jesus. Hold that thought until you see Jesus smiling lovingly at you. Perhaps you will want to add one more resolution to your list for 2015: resting in God’s smile of affection for you.   

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms is available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ  is available as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.