12/10/2023 0 Comments Funny biff jesus![]() ![]() A couple of years ago, we went on a short trip to Morocco, and we discovered that Moroccans have quite a distinctive, teasing sense of humour. So can we find humour in Jesus’ teaching? Can we identify it with confidence, and how might it affect our preaching and teaching? Understanding humour across cultural boundaries is notoriously difficult. And Christian preaching and theology has generally resisted C S Lewis’ dictum that ‘joy is the serious business of heaven’. He was clearly thought to be a party animal, and it is hard to imagine this without some laughter being involved.ĭespite all this, I think it is fair to say that Jesus is not often described as laughing-there is no equivalent ‘Jesus laughed’ to the Johannine ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11.35). Another strong clue comes in the accusation by his opponents (recorded in Luke 7.34 and Matt 11.19) that Jesus was ‘a glutton and a wine drinker’. If someone is full of joy, looks to heaven, and talks of praise, it is quite hard not to imagine this person laughing. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” The most obvious is in Luke 10.21:Īt that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. We get a glimpse of this in Job 38–41, where God’s account of creation does focus on God’s power as creator-but also on God’s playfulness in the strangeness and variety in the creation.Īnd there are some direct clues about Jesus’ joyfulness, and so we might infer his laughter. It has been said that playfulness is the hallmark of intelligence, so we might expect the ultimate intelligence behind the universe to be ultimately playful. And this accords with our own experience-that we often find people who are funny are the most alive, and that there are times when a good laugh can restore our sense of humanity.Īnd if Jesus is the embodiment of the divine, that might also lead us to expect him to be funny. ![]() In his 1971 book A Rumour of Angels, sociologist Peter Berger argued that humour was one of the seven signs of transcendence in human life. If Jesus was fully human-indeed, the perfect embodiment of humanity-then we might expect him to be funny since this is a hallmark of humanity. There are many prima facie reasons why we might suppose Jesus was funny. In his teaching, did he tell what we might call jokes, and did his listeners find themselves laughing when they listened to him? ![]() While parts were funny I can't think of any laugh out loud moments something I was expecting based on all the cover blurbs.For some time, I have been intrigued by the question of whether Jesus was funny. Overall this was a fun read but not as good as I had hoped. I know, Jesus rises from the dead 3 days later - Biff's story doesn't get into that but it does tell you what the "H" stands for in Jesus H. ![]() Each wise man has some stuff to teach Jesus (and Biff gets his own lessons along the way) until, finally, they return for the fateful day where Jesus is captured, then crucified and dies. The story is told as if Biff were writing his own book of the Bible, though with much more modern language and, for the most part, the tale revolves around Jesus and Biff seeking out the three wise men who visited Jesus' manager when he was a baby. I won't spoil how that works out but you can be certain Biff can't live up to Jesus. Likewise, Jesus can't persue an earthly relationship with Mary Magdelene - so Biff does in his stead. Jesus can't have sex? Well, that won't stop him from encouraging Biff's exploits and then hearing about it afterwards. Thus, at times, Jesus lives vicariously through Biff. If you are easily offended by the thought of Jesus saying some bad words don't read this book he doesn't do it often, but, really Jesus is portrayed like any kid with the exception that he knows he is supposed to save us. Well, Biff's his nickname but it suffices. Christopher Moore's speculative history about Jesus' best friend from childhood, Biff, is a pretty light hearted tale that explores the first 30 years of the Christ's life - through the eyes of a smart-alecky Jew named Biff. ![]()
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