In our culture, most humor is based on joke telling, verbal ambiguities, and physical comedy. Jewish humor often employed witty hyperbole—clever, startling, over-the-top statements—to get a laugh. Though some comedians today do this and we laugh, when we see Jesus use the technique in the Gospels, we usually don’t get it.

As believers, we need to laugh a great deal more and a great deal less: more at ourselves and the incongruities of life, and less at immorality and mockery of what pleases God.

God gives us greater and lesser reasons for laughter, but the lesser ones are a gift from Him also. 

In this panel discussion with Desiring God in 2013, Randy Alcorn shares about how helpful and Christ-centered laughter can be in deep grief. Watch the complete panel discussion here.  

Nanci and I laugh together every day, often hilariously. Sometimes we can’t stop. 

In Scripture, God is said to enjoy, love, laugh, take delight, and rejoice, as well as be angry, happy, jealous, and glad. 

Here is Steve Harvey, a comedian, addressing a secular audience at the end of his routine. The question is, “How Would You Introduce Christ to a Room Full of People?" I’m not vouching for Steve Harvey in every respect (I’m unfamiliar with him), but I love this.  

Just as Jesus promises satisfaction as a reward in Heaven, he also promises laughter as a reward. Anticipating the laughter to come, Jesus says we should leap for joy now.