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FEATURE
STROPPY PROPHETS
Some of the characters God chooses to use give us all hope . Take Jonah , for example ( no please , take him ). Called by God to preach in Nineveh , he runs in the opposite direction . Well , we ’ ve all felt like that . Finding himself able to sleep on a ship about to break up in the midst of a violent storm , he ’ s blamed by the crew because he ’ s been daft enough to tell them he ’ s running away from God . ‘ What should we do ?’ they ask . ‘ Chuck me overboard ,’ he replies , ‘ it ’ s all my fault .’
To be fair to the crew , they ’ re reluctant and ask God not to hold them to account for tipping Jonah over the side . Jonah , bless him , is swallowed by a giant fish ( type unspecified ).
You know the story – Jonah delivers God ’ s message , the people turn from evil , then Jonah has a strop and sulks . We then get the comedy of the vine that dies , and after a bit more drama-queenery , God teaches Jonah a valuable lesson . Unforgettable .
JESUS AT THE MIC
We can only skim the surface in this brief article , but the humour of Jesus is a massive topic all on its own , and one of the most helpful books I ’ ve found is Elton Trueblood ’ s The Humor of Christ , a slim volume written in 1964 and most recently reprinted by HarperSanFrancisco in 1990 .
He argues that recognising Jesus ’ wit and humour is essential for understanding some of his teaching , and seeing how this helped him communicate with his disciples and the wider population .
Jesus often uses an apparent contradiction or paradox to make a point , to connect with his audience , often with a humorous metaphor or image ( eg the blind leading the blind in Luke 6:39 ).
Trueblood also points out that Jesus used the ridiculous for good reasons :
c easy to remember c likely to be passed on like a good joke
‘ Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God ’ ( Mark 10:25 ) – whatever your view of the Jerusalem gates explanation to this reference , it ’ s a surreal image that would have left his hearers chuckling and repeating it to their neighbours .
‘ Do not cast your pearls before swine ’ ( Matthew 7:6 ) – flinging your best jewellery in front of a bunch of farm animals who were considered unclean to start with would have been a hilarious and shocking image for his audience .
YOU GIVE A TENTH OF YOUR SPICES – MINT , DILL AND CUMIN . BUT YOU HAVE NEGLECTED THE MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS OF THE LAW – JUSTICE , MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS .
PUNCHLINES WITH PURPOSE
Jesus uses humour to reveal truth , not just to get a laugh – as do the best of modern-day comedians . Humour disarms , and sometimes it ’ s opening people up for a knockout blow .
He also makes regular use of irony . When Jesus calls the fishermen Simon and Andrew he promises ‘ Follow me , and I will make you fishers of men ’ ( Mark 1:17 ). It ’ s a surreal image Eddie Izzard would be proud of – kind of a play on words , but using the timehonoured comedian ’ s ploy of giving something familiar an unexpected twist .
There ’ s also a hefty dose of irony at work when Jesus names Simon ‘ Peter ’ or ‘ the Rock ’, saying his Church will be built on him ( Matthew 16:18 ). The unpredictable , excitable and unstable Simon looks like the last character you ’ d choose for your foundation stone , as he goes on to deny Christ three times .
But Jesus is proved the correct judge of character ultimately as Peter becomes the real rock of the Early Church . His nickname may have seemed like a bit of a joke initially , but Jesus ’ banter had a purpose – to see him become the man he was made to be .