Information Related to "The Humor of Jesus Christ (part2)"
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The fact is that we have often developed a false pattern of Christ's
character. Though we do not always say so directly, we habitually think of Him
as mild in manner, endlessly patient, grave in speech, and serious almost to
the point of dourness" (Elton Trueblood, The Humor of Christ,
p. 16).
Wow . . . boring. That makes Christ sound like a dry and boring professor
teaching "Invertebrate Studies of the Precambrian Era" every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 a.m. Good thing it isn't true!
When you get to know the true Jesus Christ, who He really was and is, it will amaze you. Suddenly He has personality, zest, brilliant hilarity, sparkling intellect—so incredibly bright He makes us glow like dim bulbs by comparison.
Pointedly foolish
An oxymoron is a conceptual wordplay that uses seemingly contradictory words or phrases, like "cruel kindness" or "make haste slowly." It's a Greek word that literally means pointedly foolish or humorous.
Jesus often popped balloons of absurd and foolish arguments and actions of others, using the pointedly humorous pinprick of a sharp oxymoron. Here's the story of one of His favorites: "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:24).
How can you help but chuckle and groan imagining someone opening wide enough to swallow a huge humpy camel?
Then there's the oxymoron: "blind guides." Get it? How can a blind person guide another person? Blind and guide don't naturally fit together—it's funny! OK, so it's not smack-you-in-the-face, belly-laugh, punch-line funny. It's more like, "Oooh, that's a good one. What did the other guys say to bring that on?" We chuckle and think at the same time. Christ used the "blind guides" oxymoron several times. Let's find out why.
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