Why doesn’t Scripture record Jesus laughing or having fun?
Oh I’m sure Jesus and his disciples had many conversations and events that were not recorded in Scripture. In fact, John tells us that point blank (John 20:30-31). The main function of the Gospels is not to tell every event in the life of Jesus. It’s to provide evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.
The Bible is a book of belief that describes the acts of God among humanity. It doesn’t tell us everything that happened in history. It tells us the things that matter toward a belief in God and his plan of salvation.
Because it doesn’t tell us everything, there are many things that happened that are not recorded in Scripture. So it’s very possible, and I believe for good reason that it did happen. Jesus exhibits the full range of emotions and carries God’s nature, so there was probably laughter and fun. There was great joy in the camaraderie of Jesus and his disciples.
There are hints of his humor throughout Jesus’ sayings. Often times when he was messing with the religious leaders, he used a bit of irony and sarcasm. Just the fact that he messed with them shows that he had a sense of humor.
He had a lot of “Gotcha” moments with these leaders. Every time they tried to trap him, he turned the tables on them. Aside from all of this, I believe the key understanding of Jesus’ humor is the fact that he was full of joy.
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit before his ministry began (Luke 4:1). Joy is the second characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Even at the cross Jesus had joy. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the cross was “the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). It’s not that the cross was a joy, but the fact that Jesus was going to set free everyone who trusts in him gave him joy even while he endured the cross.
Although the Gospels don’t give us any specific events of Jesus laughing with the disciples or having fun as we may think of it, he did have the joy of the Lord. They may not record any events with him doing these things, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t laugh or have fun.
