Abstract
The aim of the article is to examine the meaning of references to laughter in the Synoptic Gospels and a number of Gnostic texts. Whereas Jesus is depicted as an object of ridicule (Mk 5:40 par.) and as condemning those who laugh in the Synoptic Gospels (Lk 6:25), it is he who often laughs derisively at the ignorance of others in Gnostic texts. The meaning of laughter in the Synoptic Gospels and a number of Gnostic texts is examined in the light of the general Greco-Roman attitude towards laughter and, more specifically, in regard to the archetypical distinction between playful and consequential laughter in Greek culture.
Highlights
In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus never laughs, but he explicitly warns those who do that their laughter will turn into mourning and weeping (Lk 6:25b)
In contrast to the contemporary quest for a Jesus who laughs and often, the Jesus depicted in the Synoptic Gospels is without laughter but the object of the derogatory laughter of others
The consequential laughter directed at Jesus in Mark 5:40 (Mt 9:24; Lk 8:53) serves as a serious public challenge to Jesus’ claim to superior knowledge and the honour he thereby claims
Summary
In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus never laughs, but he explicitly warns those who do that their laughter will turn into mourning and weeping (Lk 6:25b). Whereas early and medieval Christian theologians, who tended to be solemn and serious themselves, could identify with a Jesus who weeps but never laughs (cf Berger 1997:198–199; Gilhus 1997:12–13), the same cannot be said of a number of modern Western interpreters of the Gospels who live in a culture in which the social status of laughter and humour has been dramatically reappraised (cf Billing 2005:10–33).. As a result of this reappraisal of laughter as healthy for both the individual and for society, the antigelastic Jesus has been re-evaluated, resulting in him being depicted in art, sermons and literature as being humorous, smiling and even laughing (cf Berger 1997:198; Geybels 2011:11; Longenecker 2008:194–204). Behind this quest for a laughing Jesus is the unspoken assumption that laughing would enhance his humanity as humour and laughter are understood to be uniquely human traits (cf. Berger 1997:45–64)
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