Why Have We Never Seen Jesus Smiling, Or Read About Him Having A Sense Of Humor?

As my spiritual maturity has grown, so too has my relationship with Jesus. Therefore, I have wondered whether He has ever witnessed something that we humans might describe as humorous. Also, I have wondered if He Himself had a sense of humor. Curious as I am, I did some research to find out if anything of that nature was ever documented about Jesus. I found nothing, other than it has been noted, that because of the seriousness of Christ’s mission on Earth, He knew it was important He maintain dignity and respect for who He was and why He was here.

There are a few Catholic Bible Verses that could be a bit of humorous criticism, such as when Jesus points out that some criticize others when they would do better to work on themselves.

Matthew 7:3-5, similarly found in Luke 6-41-42 Jesus uses the hyperbole of a wooden beam (or log/plank) in one person’s eye while they try to clear a speck (or splinter) from another person’s eye. In Matthew 7:3-5, it reads: Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ' Let me remove that splinter from your eye, ' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”

In other words, why would we criticize others before we work on becoming a better person ourselves?

Also, the Gospel of Matthew 19:23-26. This teaching immediately follows Jesus’ interaction with a wealthy young man who was unable to part with his possessions. The passage highlights that, while humanly impossible, salvation for the rich is possible through God. How Jesus phrased it was, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Remembering that Jesus took on human form to relate to us with a certain type of relative understanding and similar human experiences, we might be able to imagine that Jesus experienced times of enjoyment, and maybe a bit of humor when celebrating an occasion with friends and family, such as at the feast of the Wedding at Cana. Why not? He certainly has wept, experienced pain and anguish; He has been humiliated, spat on, and even betrayed by one of His disciples when Judas turned him over to the guards for 30 silver pieces.