Jesus jokes

Don't let anyone ever convince you that Jesus is always serious. Granted, there are moments in the gospels when he is very serious: more often about money than anything else, despite the topics that we argue about on the basis that they matter greatly to Jesus. On a side note, it is worth correlating how much 21st century air time is given to any given topic against how many times the gospels have Jesus talking about the same subject. All too rarely do we spend our time in discussions and debates that were at the top of Jesus list of important topics, values or behaviours. But back to today's theme: Jesus jokes ..

 

The fundamental truth is that Jesus is a story teller. The gospels are peppered with stories that we, for some reason, possibly because we think of stories as fairy-tales of fantasy or obfuscations around the truth, call parables. But they are stories: the story of the Good Samaritan, the story of the Lost Coin, the story of the Sower.

 

These are accounts of events that happen on regularly, if not every day; but they are not accounts of an actual event. They are invented constructs to carry a message. 

 

None of this is news to you, I'm sure. But, push that ability to tell stories one step further and it's not difficult to begin to accept that Jesus could spin a yarn or tell a joke. After all, all this happened a mere two thousand years ago which is but a drop in the ocean of time: human being haven't evolved much, if at all, since then. We can fly to the moon and fall in love with someone on the other side of the planet, but (as Shakespeare wrote 400 years ago) "If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die?"

 

We are, in essence, no different to the women and men gathered around Jesus hearing him tell the story of the Sower and the seed. And, I would imagine, at the end of the story there would have been a grown from the crowd as the realisation spread that he ended the story with a terrible pun: "Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

 

Comedians come in all shapes and sizes: not all of us find Victoria Wood funny; not all of us laugh with Alan Carr. You may not appreciate the jokes that Jesus tells, but for me it is another insight into both the humanity of Jesus and the nature of the divine who creates us, loves us and laughs with (and not at) us.


Dan Tyndall

14 July 2023

More blog posts
By sam.love February 10, 2026
Wednesday 25th March 7:30pm “Anyone who has any interest in art… anyone who has any interest in visual culture … has to be interested in the Christian story.” Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times Easter in Art is a stunning film on one of the most significant events in history – the death and resurrection of Jesus. Highlighting artists such as Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, El Greco, and Salvador Dalí the film displays some of the greatest artworks ever produced, all shot on location in galleries around the world. The story of Christ’s death and resurrection has dominated western culture for the past 2,000 years. It is perhaps the most significant historical event of all time, as recounted by the gospels, but equally as depicted by the greatest artists in history. From the triumphant to the savage, the ethereal to the tactile, some of western civilization’s greatest artworks focus on this pivotal moment. This beautifully crafted film explores the Easter story as depicted in art, from the time of the early Christians to the present day. Shot on location in Jerusalem, United States and throughout Europe, the film explores the different ways artists have depicted the Easter story through the ages and thus depicts the history of us all. Easter in Art is directed by Phil Grabsky and features Rachel Campbell-Johnston, Dr. Jennifer Sliwka, Dr. David Gariff and the voices of Rupert Farley, Matt Wilkinson, David Rintoul and Glen McCready. It has a running time of 85 minutes. A musical welcome This event will feature music performed by members of St Mary Redcliffe Choir prior to the start of the film. Supporting St Mary Redcliffe Ticket sales for this event will support St Mary Redcliffe PCC. Charity number: 1134120
By matthew.buckmaster February 1, 2026
Preached by the Canon Dr Stephen Spencer
By matthew.buckmaster January 31, 2026
Preached by the Revd Simon Goodman
By joe.cryan January 30, 2026
We Need Your Help! Choir Chaperones – Thursday Afternoons St Mary Redcliffe has a thriving music department – in fact it is right at the centre of our mission here – singing the song of faith and justice. A key part of this is our work with children who make up our treble line. Over the last year, we have seen a number of families move on from the choir as their children have grown up, and therefore we are in need of recruiting some choir chaperones – maybe you could help us? A choir chaperone attends rehearsals and is there should a child need some help. This might be that you take them to the toilet, help them find music, or contact their parents should they need it. 99% of the time, you can sit there and read a book or get on with some work, but they are essential for that 1% of the time where something unexpected might happen. We can easily find interesting tasks for you to do alongside this (e.g. covering some copies, tidying up music) but the main responsibility is looking after the trebles in the choir. At the moment we particularly need them for Thursday Afternoons – from 4:15 through to 5:30 for our Girls Chorister Rehearsals. We are also looking for people with experience of working with primary school children to help out at Sing Start! which runs from 5:30 till 6:30, also on a Thursday evenings. Any person who would like to help on this role would be subject to a reference check, attaining a DBS and completing some safeguarding training. If you feel you could volunteer to help the choir, or want some more information about what it would involve, contact our Director of Music on joe.cryan@stmaryredcliffe.co.uk
By matthew.buckmaster January 18, 2026
Preached by Rev Teddy Kalongo, Superintendent of Bristol's Methodist Churches
By matthew.buckmaster January 11, 2026
Preached by the Revd Simon Goodman