On Earth as It Is in Heaven
In the eleventh chapter of the gospel of John, Jesus received word that His friend Lazarus was ill. By the time He reached the village of Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus greeted the sisters of Lazarus and deeply moved, comforted them, and joined in their grieving.
Jesus knew His friend would die and had plans to raise Lazarus from the dead, yet He felt deep pain for those who mourned. The gospel writer reveals in verse thirty-five, the shortest verse in the Bible, that “Jesus wept.” In these two precise words, we learn Jesus’s true nature.
Fully human, Jesus wept with compassion and sorrow, which leads me to ponder how Jesus reacts to my suffering now that He sits at the right hand of God. When I sob, does Jesus cry too? If I am a child of God, wouldn’t His passionate love for me cause Him to weep like I weep when my children are hurting?
As a benevolent God, Jesus laments for all of us, not only because of the injustices happening in the world but also because of our individual sorrows. When I am bawling my eyes out, I feel pathetic, helpless, and broken but then I remember that Jesus wept and still weeps. I sense Him wrapping me in His arms with tears dripping down His cheeks, as He did when holding the sisters of Lazarus.
There are no longer human witnesses to Our Lord’s heartache, but that does not mean He is free of anguish. Just because I cannot see His tears or hear His cries of pain does not mean they do not exist. On the contrary, His compassion goes beyond empathy and involves an active desire to relieve suffering.
If Jesus cried, then I am sure He laughed, too, but I have not found a single text in the New Testament that explicitly says, “Jesus laughed.” Though not recorded, I bet Jesus laughed while playing with children (Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 19:13-15) and smiled brightly when observing the reactions of those He cured. As a person, He experienced human emotions, including sadness and joy, so there is no reason to believe He lacked humor.
When the seventy-two Jesus commissioned to spread the good news returned, do you suppose He ran enthusiastically to meet them? Luke’s gospel says Jesus rejoiced at seeing them and praised His Father for their successful trip (10:21). I suspect He listened eagerly to their tales and if they expanded their stories with silly incidents, it was a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4).
Sometimes I imagine Jesus in moments not recorded in the Bible. I picture Mary’s elation when her Son first smiled and her exhilaration when He took his first steps. Did Jesus squeal in excitement when she tickled Him and grin proudly when He lost His first tooth?
Consider Joseph’s relationship with Jesus. I am sure they had plenty of heart-to-heart talks in the carpentry shop, but I’ll wager they chuckled about a myriad of things, too. Joseph may have taught Jesus by example to laugh heartily, tell a good joke, or even how to orchestrate a great prank.
I am convinced Jesus grew up laughing and crying because that is what we humans do. As the second person in the Holy Trinity, I am certain He continues to laugh and if I can laugh at my sometimes-foolish self, I’m sure He joins me in the frivolity, maybe even with the hideous cackle my maternal grandmother used. He grabs my mother, aunts, and Grandma Blanche herself whenever he hears me giggle and together, they laugh until they cry.
Scientific evidence suggests that the same part of the brain controls crying and laughing and both activities provide a physiological stress release. The first chapter of Acts states that as the apostles looked on, a cloud lifted Jesus from their sight (v. 9), and He ascended to heaven. To ease any of your stress, here are a few chuckles I found in the cloud over the Internet:
A church was robbed but miraculously the golden Jesus on the cross was left behind. They took everything that was not nailed down.
What kind of car would Jesus drive? A Christler
Why did the Christian chicken go to the other side of the road? To get a cross.
How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb? No one knows. They are still standing in a circle praying for the light to come back on.
Why didn’t Noah go fishing? He only had two worms.
Do not run with your Bible because you might get your Psalms sweaty.