| (Copyright 03-29-24) by David Antion (Pasadena, California) |
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| There is a story about two philosophers. Each morning one would come out his front door look around begin to laugh. And each morning the other would come out of his front door and begin to wail and cry. It is so true that crying and laughter are natural to humans depending on what we see, how we look at things, and how we feel inside ourselves. Little infants will cry and as they look at Mommy’s or Daddy’s face they might giggle. The Bible says that “Jesus wept” in its shortest verse of John 11:35. But there is no verse in the Bible saying that Jesus laughed! But to put it in gambling terms, I’ll put my money on the belief that He did laugh and did so many times heartily. Jesus said about the difference between Himself and John the Baptist: “Matt. 11:18-19: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ 19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” (NAU) When it says that John came neither eating nor drinking, we can’t take it that he never ate anything or drank anything. It means that John adhered to a very strict schedule foods permitted for those who took the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:2). They were not permitted to drink any wine or even grape juice. Jesus said about Himself, the “Son of Man,” that He came eating and drinking, that is, He ate and drank what ordinary Jews did in His day. If they served wine, He drank it. He ate what was prepared by His Jewish hosts. We know He was invited to dinners by different ones He went. See Luke 7:37; 14:1. He also ate with tax collectors and others who were considered outcasts of society. Jesus and His disciples went to a wedding party and reception. When the wine ran out His mother pushed Him to perform a miracle — turning water into very fine wine. No doubt He drinks some. See John 2. The Bible says of wine: Psalm 104:15: “And wine which makes man’s heart glad…” (NAU) Ecclesiastes 9:7: “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.” (NAU) Zechariah 10:7: “Ephraim will be like a mighty man, And their heart will be glad as if from wine…” (NAU) When people drink wine they relax and become merry. They find humor in various things and they laugh. Can you imagine Jesus and His disciples camping out; eating what grows from the land, getting ready for bed, and sometimes tell stories of their experiences growing up? Jesus seems to have had a sense of humor. He changed the name Simon bar Jonah to petros — a “rocky”, a tough guy. And Peter was just that. He called the sons of Zebedee, James, and John by the names “thunder sons” or “the thunder boys”. That is humorous. I am so positive that Jesus laughed on many occasions and enjoyed the company of people around Him, especially His closest companions — the Twelve! Laughing and crying are natural human functions. Often, they balance each other. And at times may happen one after another. Have you ever had things go wrong so much that you just wanted to cry and then in the next moment you might break out laughing? But Jesus also experienced a variety of other human emotions which is sound minded and also normal. Compassion, love, care, frustrations, anger, pain, agony, relief, desire, weakness, strength, hope, despair, etc. You can add some of your own to this list. Editor’s Note: We do not listen to video links or read print material that is linked to items we print, so we may or may not agree with those links. We only look at print material that is sent to us for print. Laura Lee ————————————————————————— Reprinted with permission from: Guardian Ministries http://daveantion.com/ ————————————————————————— |
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