Did Jesus Laugh?

by Holly Moulder

 

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full,” said Jesus.

—John 10:10

 

          Did you hear the one about the Samaritan, the Rabbi, and the Publican?  All three went fishing in the Sea of Galilee…..

 

What do you think?  Did Jesus ever tell a joke while the disciples were gathered around a camp fire at the end of the day?  Did He join in the fun when His friends got rowdy and playful?  I’ve always wondered:  Did Jesus laugh?  

 

          I was raised in a rather traditional, solemn protestant denomination.  My Sunday school teachers etched into my brain a picture of ‘JesusOnEarth’ that is securely framed and displayed on my memory’s wall.  He’s standing with his arms outstretched, his face emotionless, his robe billowing around his sandaled feet.  Not a glimmer of a smile.   And do you remember the famous painting of the Savior standing at the door and knocking?  I think it was posted on at least one wall of every church I ever attended.  He’s not smiling in that one either.  You’d think if He were visiting someone He loved, He’d be happy about it.  It would show on His face.  Not according to this painter.

 

          Maybe the artists of the ages got it all wrong.

 

          If you were to ask me to name a quality about myself that I like, I wouldn’t answer that my stunning beauty would leave you awestruck, or my brilliant intelligence would astound and amaze you.  If pressed for an answer, I’d probably mumble something about my razor-sharp wit.  I love to laugh.

 

          Don’t you?  Didn’t Jesus?  I like this view of the Savior’s sense of humor described by Sam Trumbore in his Easter Sunday sermon in April, 1995.  Reverend Trumbore wrote:

 

 Jesus sent into swine an evil spirit named Legion who was tormenting a poor half-naked fellow. The swine went nuts, ran into a lake and drowned.  The word Legion was a reference to Roman soldiers. I'd wager the telling of this story caused a good laugh by the Palestinian hearers of the time.

 

A little good, ole’ political satire from the Creator of the universe.  Boy, couldn’t we use a little more of this today?

 

For the LORD your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.—Zephaniah 3:17

 

          I believe Jesus chuckled, snickered, snorted, chortled, and guffawed.  I think a good joke made Him slap His knee, double over, and cry tears of joy.  Why?  Because in every way, He was fully human, just like us.

 

A good laugh relieves stress and soothes sticky situations.  It replaces worry wrinkles with laugh lines. It erases our differences and unites us, reminding us that we are just people, after all.  But we’re a people made in the likeness of a Father who created us for His pleasure.  Imagine that!

 

  Knock, knock!  Who’s there?  When I arrive at those gates of heaven, I expect peals of laughter to greet me.   Just the thought of it makes me smile!

 

Father, thank you for bringing joy into our lives.  Thank you for creating us to laugh.  Today as I walk through this life, help me to see Your sense of humor in the people and things around me.  Let me be a messenger of Your joy.  Oh, Father, I want to hear You laugh!

 

 

 

         

 

 

         

 

Carved in Stone

Carved in Stone

by Holly Moulder

 

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.  –Revelation 2: 17

 

          “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, his name is my name, too!” is a silly song I remember singing with my friends in elementary school. We giggled and snickered at the ridiculous lyrics, first screaming the words at the top of our lungs, and then whispering them in a hushed chorus. It was all childish fun, little girls making memories. I didn’t understand until I got older just how important a name could be.

 

          My name is printed boldly on two diplomas and countless certificates, now lost. It is carved on my ‘teacher of the year’ plaque and my book awards. It’s displayed on the covers of the novels I’ve written.  But over the years, it’s been changed. There was a marriage, a divorce, a re-marriage. New last names were added to my social security card, W-2s and driver’s licenses. And as my legal name got larger, the original me diminished. “When the roll is called up yonder,” I mused, “will I know what name to answer to?”

 

          That’s why this verse is so important to me. I love that only He and I will know this name. He has chosen it for me and carved it, to last forever, on a white stone. 

 

And He didn’t choose white by chance. Leprous skin, when healed, becomes as white as snow. Heaven’s food, manna, is white like coriander seeds.  Royal garments are not just blue, but white, too. During the transfiguration in Matthew 17:2, Jesus’ robes turned white as the light.  In John 20:12, the angels in the empty tomb are clothed in white. “The one who is victorious will be dressed in white,” says Revelation 3: 5.  And in Revelation 19:11, the rider on the white horse is named “Faithful and True”.

Finally, my favorite:

 

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. --Revelation 20:11

          The name given to every believer–yes, that means you!—will be engraved on a white stone, given to each one of us by the Father himself.  That’s white, as in pure, true, faithful, royal, clean, victorious and mighty!

 

Father, I rest on your timeless promises.  Forgive me for my sins, and make me white as snow. Help me to overcome the traps and snares of this world so that I will receive the hidden manna and the white stone you have promised to the faithful.

Fresh and Green

by Holly Moulder

The righteous will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

 –Psalm 92:14, 15

 

            Today is my husband’s 62^nd birthday.  A very big deal in our house because this day heralds the beginning of the golden age of Social Security!  We’ve looked forward to this period of our lives with great anticipation and have spent that first government check a thousand different ways.  My list includes new furniture, a trip to the beach, a new bedspread with matching curtains.  Don’s list is much less practical in my view (well, maybe the beach trip isn’t exactly practical), but it is HIS check after all, so he should have some say in deciding how that first one is spent.  He’s mumbled something about a new truck or a 1966 Ford Mustang, preferably in a shiny shade of Acapulco blue.  We’ll see, dear.

 

            According to the world, we are now officially old.  AARP has sent us an avalanche of letters and magazines.  Our junk mail advertises special prices on prescriptions and products for the elderly:  walkers, hip replacement surgeries, and discount dentures.  Local retirement homes are calling to check on us regularly, just to keep us informed of the spaces that may be coming available in the very near future.  (Just think about that one for a minute.  I mean, HOW do they know that ‘spaces may be coming available in the very near future’?  I find these calls particularly horrifying.)

 

Sage advice from John Wayne:  “Don’t let aging get you down.  It’s too hard to get back up.”

 

            Yes, the world would have us strapped in rocking chairs, wrapped in shawls, smiling toothless smiles and dreaming faded dreams of long-ago youth. 

 

But not God!  To Him, we’ve just begun! 

 

The psalmist shouts, “They (the righteous) will still bear fruit in old age!  They will stay fresh and green!”  Fresh and green?  Huh?  We don’t usually think of the well-over-fifty crowd as ‘fresh’, do we?  And ‘green’, in the context of society’s view of seniors, does not conjure up pleasant images.  But to God, we’re young whipper snappers! 

 

In the life of a Christian, there is no retirement on this earth.  There is no heavenly social security check in the mail, no eternal life old age home, no pension from paradise.  We’re still on the job and punching that time clock every morning. 

 

“A man is not old as long as he seeks something.”—Jean Rostand

 

So, we continue to seek His Kingdom, look for the lost, witness to those who need to know the Savior.  Every day that we’re still here provides us with another opportunity to serve, and we’d better not waste it!  Even in our knee-creaking, hip-popping, deaf-ear shouting, gray-headed old age, we are to proclaim:

 

The Lord is upright!  He is our Rock! Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness!

 

By the world’s standards, we’re all decaying little by little, minute by minute.  Those of us who have reached some of life’s significant milestones are viewed as not just old, but as climbing-up-over-the-hill-and-slip-sliding-down-the-other-side old.  Thankfully, that’s not how God views His children.  Instead, He sees our sin-ridden, decaying souls and loves us anyway.  And to prove it, He sent the sacrifice of the ages, Jesus Christ, to climb a very different hill.  The change-the-course-of-our-eternity hill.  He sent His only son, Jesus, to climb the hill of Calvary.  Just for us.

 

Even to your old age and gray hairs,

I am he, I am he who will sustain you. 

I have made you and I will carry you,

I will sustain you and I will rescue you.—Isaiah 46:4

 

*

 

Father, thank you that, regardless of the number of birthdays, I’m still Your child. You don’t see my gray hair or my wrinkles.  In Your eyes, I am precious.  Keep my spirit fresh and green, ready and willing to serve You!