Is there evidence that Jesus had a sense of humor? *(Pinkfreud-ga pick
up your $5.00, and thank you!)

Thank you very much for accepting as your answer the link that I
posted to your earlier question. I have reposted the link below, with
some additional material that I think will be of interest to you.

Valley Covenant Church: The Humor of Jesus
http://www.valleycovenant.org/sermons/genius/genius6.htm

Whosoever: Did Jesus Laugh?
http://www.whosoever.org/v8i3/louielaugh.shtml

BeliefNet: Did Jesus Laugh? A Pastor's Response
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/63/story_6364.html

St. Paul's Episcopal Church: In the beginning was the laugh
http://stpaul-akron.org/SimonJenkinsAkronSermon22-2-04.htm

Youth Specialties: Jesus Had to Laugh
http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/topics/personal_stuff/laugh.php

My own insight on this matter is deeply personal. I believe that Jesus
Christ loves me. I cannot imagine that anyone without a sense of humor
could do that.

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: humor + "did jesus"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=humor+%22did+jesus

I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, please
request clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

Thanks PF! Sorry about the earlier confusion. You deserve the cash.
You were flying! (Get it? PF Flyers? I kill me!) And one of us owes
CZH a soda pop or better! I'll add $2.00 tip to this and you two can
work it out. If you got to a Wal Mart -- and if the machines AREN'T
broken (big "IF") -- that's eight Sam's sodas.

I would think that Jesus had to have a sense of humor too. Even the
most dour human I've met had a sense of humor, at one time or another.
Your research shows interpretable instances but still it is
interpretation. Alas and alack, the lack of empirical evidence though
pretty much indicates to me the editors of the scriptures were pretty
heavy-handed with the blue pencil. IMO, if humor is edited out to
create an illusion of someone who is serious all the time, then that
pretty much proves the image contained within the Bible was molded
into the image and likeness the editor wished and is not a true
representation of Jesus -- and we are all the worse for being
prevented from seeing this facet of him.

Thank you very much for the five stars and the nice tip!

Some folks have said that Jesus never laughed, because the Bible
doesn't mention laughter as something that Jesus did. Well, phooey. By
this logic, we'd have to assume that Jesus never burped, or urinated,
or sneezed.

IMHO, it was not the intent of the authors of the New Testament to
present a comprehensive, all-encompassing portrait of Jesus Christ,
but to help provide an introduction to Him. The rest you learn for
yourself. :-)

~Pink

There are many instances of humor by Christ in the Bible. The problem
is that we lose a lot in translation from Greek to the English
language we now use. Not only in meaning, but also in the double
meanings of words. When I was growing up something that was thought to
be popular was both quoted as being "cool" and "bad". Most of us will
recognize these still as positive references. But imagine someone
2,000 years from now understanding us to mean it was pleasant, yet
unhealthy and cold to the touch. In both the gospels of Matthew 15 and
Mark 7 we read of a Gentile woman who had a sick child and came to
Jesus to ask for his mercy and to have Him heal her daughter. At first
the disciples tried to send her away but she persists. Finally she is
at the feet of Jesus and He says to her (paraphrasing) "What I have is
not meant for dogs." "Dog" was a slang word used to describe Gentiles.
Jesus was telling her in a jovial way that she couldn't have what He
was here to deliver to the Jews. Her reply is (again, paraphrasing)
that "even little puppies eat from the tables of little masters." She
was calling Him a little master! A quick retort from the little jab He
had made. I believe He laughed at this. This is not written
specifically in the Bible but it does say that He granted her request
"For this saying alone." He was so intrigued and amused by her
response he must of had a chuckle out loud!

Thanks for that interesting post, keez4me-ga! I was aware that
Gentiles were referred to as "dogs" in the time of Christ, but the
"little puppies" / "little masters" nuance is something I'd not heard
before. I have no difficulty imagining a hearty laugh as Christ's
response.

Mat. 11 chapter 17-19