EASTER HUMOR OF JESUS

By Glenn Pease, based on Luke 24:13-35

PREFACE

Much of this message is presented elsewhere with the title The Hidden Face of

Jesus. In this message, which is much longer, the focus will be on the humor of

Jesus on that first Easter day, as he played tricks on his disciples. In this message

we see the playful side of the risen Christ. You may not see the humor at first,

but in the concluding part of the message we look at the characteristics of

humor, and you will see how this whole account is a comedy. I begin with a

contemporary translation of the story of the walk on the road to Emmaus, which

I also call the most humorous Easter in history.

TEXT Luke 24:13-35 "4ow that same day two of them were going to a village

called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each

other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these

things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but

they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing

together as you walk along?"They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them,

named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not

know the things that have happened there in these days?""What things?" he

asked."About Jesus of 4azareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in

word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers

handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had

hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it

is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed

us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They

came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women

had said, but him they did not see."He said to them, "How foolish you are, and

how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the

Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with

Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the

Scriptures concerning himself.As they approached the village to which they were

going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly,

"Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went into

stay with them.When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave

thanks,broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened. They

recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other,

"Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and

opened the Scriptures to us?'They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.

There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and

saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the

two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them

when he broke the bread.

MESSAGE

It is surprising that Elton Trueblood in his book The Humor of Christ did not

list this passage as an example of our Lord's humor. The more you look at it the

more humorous it gets. This is a comic scene where Jesus is playing the role of

an ignorant stranger in the presence of two of His disciples. Jesus is acting like

He does not know what has happened, when, in fact, He is the only one who

knows all that has happened. George Eliot declared it was the loveliest short

story in all the world, but he did not call it humorous, and so he missed

something that makes it even more lovely. Barclay writes, "This is another of the

immortal short stories of the world." But he also does not see the humor of it all.

It is an event loaded with comic elements.

The story is told of the little boy who was sick on Palm Sunday morning and had

to stay with a sitter while his parents went to church. When the family got home

carrying their palms the boy asked about them. His mother told him about the

people holding up the palms over Jesus’ head as he came riding on a donkey.

"Isn’t that just my luck!" said the boy. Jesus finally shows up, and I miss him!"

This was the experience of the two on the road to Emmaus. They waited for

three days and never saw Jesus show up, and so they headed for home not

knowing that Jesus had shown up.

What a sense of humor Jesus had. Who of us has not had a dream or fantasy of

being unrecognized so that we could be in the presence of those who know us, and

yet not be known? This is a comic setting, and we see it portrayed in the movie Mrs.

Doubtfire. Dr. Dan Flanagan gives us this gist of the movie. "Williams plays a

sporadically employed actor who has never fully grown up. There is mutual

admiration between him and his three children, but his wife Miranda, played by

Sally Field, is fed up with his childishness. Their marriage ends in divorce. Miranda

receives custody of the children and the father is restricted to once-a-week visits. To

see his children more, Williams disguises himself as a nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire.

Unaware of who he is, Miranda hires him to take care of the children. Mrs.

Doubtfire also becomes a listening ear for Miranda, who is drawn to the nanny.

More than once, Miranda expresses a strange attraction to and familiarity with the

nanny. When a wild restaurant scene reveals Mrs. Doubtfire’s identity, Miranda

becomes extremely angry. Eventually, though, she does grant increased visitation

because she realizes that Williams is a good father to the children."

Jesus is doing the same thing in this passage. We know who Mrs. Doubtfire is and so

we feel it is funny that others do not recognize what is going on. So when the two

think Jesus is a stranger who does not know the score, it is funny, for we know He is

the Lord who has gone to hell and back, and knows more than anyone. He is Deity

in disguise and this is humorous. Matthew Henry makes comment on the reply of

Jesus when he asks what things. "Christ, by way of reply, asked concerning their

knowledge (v. 19): He said unto them, What things? thus making himself yet more a

stranger. Observe, (1.) Jesus Christ made light of his own sufferings, in comparison

with the joy set before him, which was the recompense of it. 4ow that he was

entering upon his glory, see with what un-concernedness he looks back upon his

sufferings: What things? He had reason to know what things; for to him they were

bitter things, and heavy things, and yet he asks, What things? The sorrow was

forgotten, for joy that the man-child of our salvation was born."

Paul Harvey in For What Its Worth tells of the young lawyer who was sitting in

his office waiting for his first client. When he heard the outer door open he

quickly tried to sound very busy. As the man entered his office the young

lawyer was on the telephone saying this: "Bill, I'm flying to 4ew York on the

Mitchell Brothers thing; it looks like its going to be a biggie. Also we'll need to

bring Carl in from Houston on the Cimarron case. By the way, Al Cunningham

and Pete Finch want to come in with me as partners. Bill, you'll have to excuse

me, somebody just came in...."

He hung up and turned to the man who had just entered. "4ow how can I help

you?" The man said, "I'm here to hook up the phone." His disguise as a busy man

was ripped off, and he was exposed as a deceiver. We see the disguise used in the

Bible by the wicked trying to hide their identity. King Saul disguised himself when

he went to the Witch of Endor, and King Jeroboam sent his wife to the prophet

disguised so as to hide her identity. Disguise is one of the ways Satan practices his

deceit. He comes as an angel of light, but is, in fact, the prince of darkness. Like Dr.

Jekyll he has something to Hyde. This is the same theme we see in the popular

Phantom of the Opera. "The Phantom as he lives under the Opera House takes to

heart a chorus girl -- Christine Daae -- who is singing in the opera chorus, and decides

that this girl is going to become the prima donna of the opera through his training. He

poses as an angel of music, hides on the other side of her dressing room, and gives her

voice lessons which then result in her becoming a wonderful singer." The disguise

theme is a part of both tragedy and comedy.

Martin Luther in his Table Talk wrote, "At one time I was sorely vexed and tried by

my own sinfulness,by the wickedness of the world, and by the dangers that beset the

church. One morning I saw my wife dressed in mourning. Surprised, I asked her

who had died. "Do you not know?" she replied, "God in heaven is dead." "How can

you talk such nonsense, Katie," I said, "How can God die? Why, He is immortal,

and will live through all eternity." "Is that really true?" she asked. "Of course" I

said, still not perceiving what she was aiming at. "How can you doubt it? As surely

as there is a God in heaven so sure is it that He can never die". "And yet" she said,

"though you do not doubt that, yet you are so hopeless and discouraged." Then I

observed what a wise women my wife was, and mastered my sadness." His wife

played a role, and it turned out to be a comedy, for it led him out of his despair. It

was a case of positive hypocrisy.

Hypocrisy is the hiding behind a mask of deception, and pretending to be what you

are not. Because the forces of evil specialize in the mask and hiding behind

disguises, we tend to associate disguise with evil. There is a tendency to throw any

weapon the devil uses out of the arsenal of Christian weapons. The folly of this is

revealed by Jesus on the very day He conquered death and rose from the dead.

Jesus became the master of the disguise, for He was the best known person in the

lives of His disciples, yet He walked 7 miles with two of them, and they never even

recognized Him.

To add to the perfection of His disguise, D. L. Moody, the great evangelist, says,

these two disciples were His aunt and uncle. The evidence does support his

conviction, and many of the great preachers of history agree. An historian of the

early church by the name of Eusebius tells us that Cleopas was Jesus’ uncle and that

the person with him was his wife, Mary, an aunt of Jesus.

One of the women standing at the cross according to John 19:25 was Mary's

sister the wife of Cleopas. Moody reasons that it is likely that Cleopas in this

passage, who was heading home from Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, was

the same man, and that his partner was his wife who stood at the cross. They

invite Jesus into their home, and it is not likely it is two men living together. If it

was today, it would be more likely, but this seems obviously to be a couple, a

man and his wife, and they could very well have been the aunt and uncle of

Jesus. Yet, here they walked 7miles to Emmaus with Jesus, and as far as they

know, they never saw him before in their lives. They invited Jesus to stay for

dinner also, and this was not likely unless the wife was there to agree. How

would you like to surprise your aunt and uncle by appearing before them as a

stranger? It would be fun, and the basis for many a good laugh. Wouldn't it be

fun to see the follow up meeting when Jesus met again with these two and

talked of what a shocking experience he gave them?

Jesus had the ability to hide Himself so His identity was not known. Mary

Magdalene had the same problem. She was at the tomb of Jesus, and He spoke

to her, but she did not know Him, for she thought He was the gardener. This

couple thought He was a stranger, and she thought Him to be a gardener. The

clothes Jesus wore were different from His usual garb, for the soldiers took His

clothes, and His burial clothes were all left behind in the tomb. We do not know

if Jesus by a miracle created new garments, or if He had some stashed away for

this need. But they were clothes that were not recognized as His. He looked

different because He was in a disguise that hid His identity.

One Pastor goes into detail as to how good the disguise of Jesus was. He writes, "The

story of the road to Emmaus is perhaps one of the strangest of the resurrection

appearances, for Jesus must have been with Cleopas and his friend for several

hours. Most of the resurrection appearances are fairly fleeting; Jesus appears

unexpectedly, speaks to the disciples and promptly disappears again. But we're told

Emmaus was seven miles from Jerusalem (that's at least two hours walk) and after

that Jesus remained until a meal had been prepared. He put the time to good use.

He explained and interpreted all the scriptures to Cleopas and his friend, starting

with Moses and all the prophets. And still the two disciples failed to recognize him.

I find that very strange. How can you fail to recognize someone you know so well? I

frequently fail to remember names, but I never fail to recognize people I know well.

More than that, I often see people perhaps on television, who remind me of someone

I know. A turn of the head, the facial features, a mannerism, something gives me a

fleeting glimpse of someone I know. Yet although their hearts burned within them

while the stranger was speaking, the two disciples weren't even reminded of Jesus.

In view of the recent horrifying events of the trial and crucifixion, Jesus was very

much in their minds. Yet they noticed no resemblance at all between the stranger

they met on the road, and Jesus." The point is, it was a perfect disguise, and Jesus

was playing with them on purpose. He was just resurrected from the dead after the

worst possible kind of death imaginable, and yet he is playing tricks on his aunt and

uncle. You can count on it, that heaven will be fun, for Jesus has a tremendous sense

of humor.

This was not a new thing, however, for God loved to play this game all through

history. The game of hide and seek, or guess who's coming to dinner were His

favorites. When God came to Abraham He came as a way fairing man, and ate

with him as a friendly stranger. He came to Jacob as a wrestler, and to Joshua

as a soldier. The Old Testament is filled with Pre-Incarnate appearances of

Jesus, and He always comes in some disguise to hide His identity at first before

He reveals who He is. This is not a game Jesus gets tired of playing with man,

but is one that goes on all through history, and that is why we read in Heb. 13:2,

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have

entertained angels without knowing it." Some have even entertained the Lord.

The supernatural is often disguised as the natural, and it can be right in front of

your nose and you miss it because you assume all is as it appears, forgetting

Jesus likes to play disguise. He said, "As you have done it unto the least of one

of these my brothers you have done it unto me." And, "I was a stranger and

you took me in." Every kindness shown to a stranger could be a kindness shown

to Christ in disguise."

A popular children's book is Find Waldo. His face is hidden in a massive crowd,

and the challenge is to find him in that crowd. The Christian game is similar. It

is called Find Jesus. He is hidden in life, and in the crowd of strangers we meet

from day to day, and we never know which face we confront is the face of the

hidden Christ-the Master of disguise. The point is that we need to be kind to all

strangers, for you may be being kind to your Lord who played the role of the

stranger the first day of His resurrection.

The Gnostics of the early centuries threw out most of the Gospels, but they kept

this account on the road to Emmaus, for they loved to see Jesus as the Master of

illusion, and the great magician. This Easter special was their favorite, for Jesus

did special tricks on Easter that He did at no other time. He conquered death,

then walked through a closed door, and made Himself appear as someone else.

They especially loved His vanishing trick at the end of the story. As soon as this

couple recognized Jesus He disappeared into thin air as the grand finale.

What makes this different than any other day in the life of Jesus is that all His

miracles were more playful than ever. Before His resurrection Jesus did not

play around with His power. He healed and raised the dead, and He fed hungry

people, but He did not walk through walls, disappear, and disguise Himself as

someone else. His Easter miracles were less serious and business like, and more

for fun and amazement as He played with the minds of His disciples. Jesus was

alive, and in a new state of being as victor over the power of death. Life was less

serious now, for Jesus had accomplished the task of atoning for man's sin, and

opening the way to heaven for all who would receive God's gift of salvation.

Jesus had fought the hardest battle ever fought, and He won, and so now it was

time to lighten up. For the first time in His life Jesus did miracles that were not

necessary, and which were for Himself and His own purpose. The resurrection

changed the whole psychology of the Savior. The devil tried to get Jesus to use

His power this way in the temptations. Make the stones into bread; leap off the

temple and show the crowd the most spectacular trick of their lives. These were

the enticements he tried to get Jesus to fall for, but He would not. 4ow that

Satan is defeated, and Jesus has the keys of death and hell, He can feel free to

use His power in a more personal and dramatic way.

J.C Ryle in his Expository Thoughts On The Gospels has this interesting

paragraph. " The parallel between Joseph and our Lord Jesus Christ ought to be

noticed at this part of our Lord's history. The conduct of Joseph in not discovering

himself to his brethren, and in trying them by delay, was a type of our Lord's

dealings with His two disciples before manifesting Himself to them. The whole

history of Joseph is probably much more typical than we suppose." If you go back

to the play acting of Joseph you cannot help but see the humor. He had his

brothers at his mercy. He had the power to manipulate them and make them

sweat, which he did, and it is funny to see them squirm for what they did to

him. We are in on the gag, or the disguise that hides his identity, and so we can

enjoy the play that makes the brothers nervous wrecks. It all turns out as a

comedy and not a tragedy, which it could have been had Joseph not been a man

of love and compassion. Jesus, likewise, did not condemn his disciples, but

scolded them, and then, like Joseph, revealed himself to the dull of heart.

Jesus had a choice. He could have just come up the road and said, "Look, I am

alive like I said I would be." And they would be shocked and jump for joy as

they hug Him and laugh in wonder. But He chose to go the way of a secret

encounter where he played with them, and then gave them just a glimpse before

He disappeared. He chose the fun way, and the way of play rather than the

head on matter of fact way. You get to know what people are really thinking

about you when you can be a stranger in their midst, and that is what Jesus is

doing. It is what Joseph was doing. It is what all of us could dream of doing in

many situations. How would you like to be in a setting with your mother-in-law

where a group was discussing the people their children married? It would be

quite revealing, and maybe you would not like to hear all that is being said, but

it would be fun to be unknown, and at the same time know all. And what fun to

shock them in the end by revealing who you are, and then vanish. Shock is part

of humor, and we see it clearly in this passage. How shocked must these two

have been?

If this was the aunt and uncle of Jesus, you can imagine their laughter. He had, no

doubt, been up to mischief of some kind before with these two. He had been to their

home and had some special relationship to them, and we can imagine them saying,

"This is just like Jesus. He was always playing some kind of trick on us, and this is

the ultimate of his shocking surprises." They were weary as they trudged home with

sadness of heart, but now they are laughing and full of energy as they race back to

Jerusalem with hearts full of joy. They did not even finish their meal, for food now

was secondary. Former President Jimmy Carter said, "Imagine their elation and

excitement! I wonder how long it took them to get back to Jerusalem, to share what

they’d seen and heard with their friends? They might have set a 10,000-meter speed

record!”

"Our Jesus is alive!" They would be shouting as they enter the presence of the

others. This was the wildest thing Jesus ever did, and the most shocking

practical joke he had ever played on them, and they were filled with hilarious

joy. Jesus had to keep a straight face as they walked home, but he had to be

chuckling inside, and I can imagine how He must have laughed as He saw them

leaping and racing back to Jerusalem. He could have saved them that 7 or 8

mile journey by revealing Himself at the start, but He knew they would have

plenty of adrenalin flowing when they recognized Him, and they would need to

burn up some of the excitement or they would explode.

The whole experience is somewhat ludicrous when you think of the timing.

These two are weary and anxious to get home, and they are deep in sorrow, and

also confused because of the stories they have heard about the empty tomb. It is

late and the day is almost over, and that is why they insisted that Jesus stay the

night. It was too late to be on the road. They had become attached enough to

this road mate that they invited him to be a roommate for the night. There was

something about him that they did not want to lose. Then Jesus reveals Himself

and so they have to run back to Jerusalem in the dark, and did not get the

chance to finish their meal.

They could have been in on the secret when they were in Jerusalem. They could

have been saved this long weary walk and tiring run back, but this easy way

was ignored by Jesus. He took them the hard road, and you can see it as

sadistic, or you can see it as humorous. It is ridiculous for its inefficiency, and

that is part of the humor of it. It is the most serious time of their lives, and yet

Jesus is playing a game with them. It is because He has accomplished something

that makes all of human history, with all of its tragedy, a comedy. He has made

eternal life, free of all sin, suffering,and sorrow, possible for all who will trust in

Him.

It is humorous to think that they were going along talking of events and

Scripture and it was just killing time until they got home. When in fact they

were experiencing the greatest walk of their life. Their lack of awareness of the

momentousness of the event is a form of humor. Ignorance of the reality about

them made them look foolish. It was the trivial event of meeting a stranger in

their minds, but it was an event that would be the subject of millions of sermons

through the rest of history. They may have acted less ignorant had they known,

but it was a smile your on candid camera type event and they are stuck with

their sad face and pathetic grasp of the Messiah.

You can just imagine how much fun Jesus was having through all this. Put

yourself in His place, and think of the fun you would be having in being able to

share the happiest news ever to the saddest people ever. If Jesus was not

laughing through all this first Easter, then He was not as human as we are led

to believe, for none of us could have all this joyous fun without some laughter.

When you can scare your friends, shock them and surprise them, and then

change them from beings of hopeless despair to hopeful delight, you have had a

marvelous day of enjoyment. I cannot imagine another day when Jesus had so

much fun.

It is also ridiculous to see the Risen Lord of the universe, having just conquered

death for all mankind, spending a major portion of His first day, as the greatest

hero of history, dedicated to teaching two unknown disciples the greatest lesson

ever taught on the Old Testament revelation concerning the Messiah. He is not

gathering a great mass on the hill side or in the temple. He is not calling all of

His disciples together. He is walking along with two obscure disciples to a

podunkville called Emmaus. Enoch walked with God, but he knew it. Here are

two walking with God, and they don't have a clue. Had these two been blessed

with a tape recorder they would have been able to record the first in the series

of the now popular Dummies books. This would have been Prophecy for

Dummies. Jesus showed them all through the Old Testament prophecies that

revealed Jesus do have fulfilled just what the Messiah was to fulfill. This would

be a best seller in any age.

What kind of strategy is this for the greatest success and winner of all time?

Where is the common sense of Jesus wasting His time on this couple? Is this a

good way to spend your first day alive from the dead? Is this wise use of the

greatest day in history? Does it make sense to be giving the most important

lecture ever given on the Old Testament revelation of the Messiah to a couple of

unknowns? Apparently Jesus is determined to make the first Easter parallel the

first Christmas where the only people in on the secret are the obscure and lowly

shepherds.

Jesus has some strange priorities, and does not follow the advice He would get

from any promoter on how to make the most of a great event. Christmas and

Easter have become the most celebrated and promoted events of the Christian

world, but not because Jesus set the example. He made it a day of low profile.

He said by His actions there are no unimportant people in His kingdom. It is

funny how we often quote Jesus about being in the presence of two or three

gathered in His name. We do it because we often feel that two or three is a

disappointment, but here we see that Jesus really meant it, and came to two

people on this most important day of history. There is nobody so obscure they

do not deserve the very best in Christian education.

This is humorous because anybody would have given Jesus advice on how to

better use His time on this first day of the Resurrection, and how to capture the

most publicity. Jesus spends it on two people nobody is even sure who they are.

If they are his aunt and uncle, it is even more ludicrous, for why choose

secondary members of the family rather then the immediate family? There is no

logic that can explain the mystery, and that is why it is humorous. Most anyone

else who had this chance to rise from the dead would start off with a near

atomic explosion to get everyone's attention. Then appear in the sky, as Jesus

will in His second coming, and give everyone the scare of their life. Then

disappear to leave everyone talking and reflecting on this wonder of all

wonders. The idea of spending a major portion of your day talking to a couple

of unknowns would not enter the head of anyone but Jesus. He is truly unique.

What we have here is the common type humor of two things brought together

in the same context that seem incompatible. A Risen Redeemer hiding in the

disguise of a stranger. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords teaching two lowly

disciples. It is the humor of paradox and incongruity. They do not fit in the

same picture, unless you are being silly or ridiculous. It is like the mistakes that

are made in church bulletins. They reveal the humor of incongruity and that of

the humanity of Christians, and also the foolishness that often comes from their

most earnest efforts. This is the foolishness we see in these two on the road to

Emmaus. They were just making a major mistake by leaving Jerusalem before

the Lord kept His promise to rise and reveal Himself. We see the folly and

incongruity of believers who are unbelievers, and followers who are going away

from their leader. Christians make so many foolish mistakes because they just

do not think through things fully.

In church bulletins we see some strange humor because of poorly worded

announcements. For example:

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.

Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again" giving obvious pleasure

to the congregation.

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa will be speaking tonight. Come tonight and

hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.

4ext Sunday a collection will be taken to defray the cost of the new carpet. All those

wishing to do something on the new carpet will come forward and do so.

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not

worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. Please use the large double door at the side

entrance.

Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 pm. Please use the

back door.

Don't you think it is funny that Jesus is offering these two a mobile counseling

service. They were depressed and needed encouragement, and Jesus has just the

thing. "Have truth, will travel" is His slogan. He does not wait for them to come

to Him. He goes to them on the road. What could be more convenient than a

walking counselor who deals with your problems as you make your way home.

It is better than the drive in confessional where the sign says, "Toot and Tell."

Jesus kept this service going into the book of Acts where we see Him

confronting Saul on the road to Damascus.

The point is, serious business can still be fun. Jesus had a serious goal in mind

in what he was doing, but He did it in a funny way, with disguise and shock.

Howard T. Lewis wrote, "Can you imagine a situation where two persons

walking home from a funeral would have the very person whose funeral they

had attended come to walk with them?" He then goes on to deal with these two

on the road to Emmaus. Had Jesus been serious only, He would have busted in

on the disciples and ended all doubt in a moment, but He chose to drag out the

suspense all day long. All of His disciples were being foolish and slow of heart to

believe. These two were going home before the main event. They were leaving

the theater before the final act. They were walking out of the ball park with the

bases loaded in the 9th inning. They were giving up just as they were about to

be on the winning team. The others were hidden out in their room in sorrow

feeling hopeless. It was a pathetic sight to see how the followers of Jesus were all

in total unbelief. Jesus revealed Himself in stages to call attention to the

foolishness of their unbelief.

They had all the evidence of the prophets. They had all the clear testimony of

Jesus himself as to what was coming. They now had the added evidence of the

women who went to the tomb, and even that of Peter and John, and yet they are

in unbelief. It is so sad and pathetic that it is funny. It is the humor of

extremism that we are seeing. People so blind to the evidence that they cannot

even see Jesus when He is in their face talking to them. The events of that first

Easter make clear how foolish people can be when they sit in darkness and do

not turn on the light. Their folly is to be a warning to us, for we all at times sink

into unbelief when the evidence all about us is the basis for strong faith. We

need to laugh at ourselves for being so dull and down that we do not see the

reality of the Resurrected Lord.

The foolishness of unbelief is a serious matter, but it is also silly and humorous.

We need to see the folly of our demand for physical experience to support our

faith. Jesus took them through the evidence of the prophets to make clear that

they had good basis for faith. They would not believe until they had visual

evidence of the Lord's presence. Most of the rest of history Christians would not

get this kind of evidence and would have to trust the Word of God. Jesus shows

the folly of his followers that first Easter in order to make it clear that it is folly

not to take God at His Word. It is funny to see how human nature is such that it

has to have physical proof and cannot take things by faith in the word. We are

to weep with those who weep, but there is a time when the weeping need to be

rebuked for their folly of weeping when they should be laughing with joy. Jesus

does not join them in their sorrow. He shows them the basis for rejoicing in

God's Word.

One pastor preparing to preach on this text had this experience. "I was

returning from a trip with some of our middle schoolers a couple of days ago,

and as we came into the downstairs hall corridor the paint party had been at

work and there were signs that said "wet paint." As I walked in the door I said,

"Oh, no." And sure enough one of the middle schoolers begins walking over to

the wall to see if the sign is really true. I remember thinking: Isn't that typical

of a middle schooler? Then as I was working on my sermon and thought of that

incident, I thought: Isn't that typical of all of us. It is so hard for us to trust a

sign. We want the physical evidence. We want to see the paint on our finger tips

before we are truly ready to believe what the sign has to say to us."

"Adam and Eve had one sign in the garden. It said: Bad apples. They must

have spent many days looking at that sign and wondering about that sign and

looking at that fruit, which Genesis says was pleasing to the eye. They wanted it

so badly that they ignored the sign, had to check it out for themselves. They

needed proof. They were unwilling to trust God, who had placed the sign there

for their protection, for their good. They wanted to test God with their physical

senses. What God wants to teach us is that to believe means to lay aside the need

to prove that the paint is wet - to lay aside the need to prove that the apple

really is bad. It means that we need to be willing to trust. There comes a point in

life where we no longer can gather data in order to figure out how life has

meaning. There comes a point in our life where each one of us needs to be

liberated from the demand of proof and we need God to give us the ability to

trust."

These two, and the other disciples, had ignored all the signs, and would not

believe until they had visible evidence of the resurrection of Christ. When we

demand physical evidence for what we must take by faith we have all kinds of

problems. It is serious failure, but it is also funny, for it is such nonsense to

suffer when it is unnecessary. It is the foolish child who is told not to touch the

switch on the television set, and they will not listen. They will not take it by faith

that they will be punished. They have to get slapped on the hand until it is red

and they are crying before they believe. If they would take it by faith that your

word is true, they could escape the pain, but they will not take it by faith. This is

a picture I have in my mind of my own son when he was little, and it is

humorous, and we have had to laugh at it over the years many times because it

is so foolish to see a small child act so rebellious and defiant, and have to suffer

for no good reason except their unbelief. God has to get a kick out of the foolish

things we do because of our unbelief. It is serious and sad, but it is also silly.

I think of Christians who will not believe that God forgives and forgets. He cast

our sins in the deepest sea when we confess them. Yet, you have Christians who

suffer all manner of torment and guilt for long forgiven sins because they are

foolish and will not take God at His word. It is not funny, and yet it is, for it is

such nonsense to suffer for no good reason. Or what about the foolishness of

Christians who get a bill of 666 dollars, or their gas pump stops at 666, or their

address is 666 somewhere lane? They get all bent out of shape because of a

number that has a bad meaning, but does not have any negative effect on them

if they do not choose to let it. The point is, there is no end to Christian

foolishness based on unbelief in many areas of life. It is part of the humor of

life, for it is like the foolishness of children that makes us all laugh.

I think of the little boy who came home from Sunday School and told his

mother that he did not want to go back. She asked him why, and he said, "They

might throw me in the furnace." He was frightened and she was upset. She

called the teacher immediately and asked what the meaning of this was scaring

her boy. The teacher thought for a moment and then said, "I think he

misunderstood. I told him that if he missed more than 4 Sundays in a row we

would drop him from the register." The poor kid was fearful of a firey doom,

when all that was meant was his name might be taken off a piece of paper.

Adult Christians are just as foolish when they fear all sorts of judgment by

God, when He is delighted to forgive and set them free from fear of judgment. It

is the absurd that we see in these two on the road to Emmaus. They had every

reason to stay in Jerusalem to await the outcome of all that had been

happening. Evidence was growing that Jesus was alive, but they were walking

away from it all in despair. What sillyness this was, and it reveals how foolish

the best of believers can be. How often are we walking in the wrong direction

because of our unbelief?

We are either walking away from Jerusalem in doubt and disbelief, or we are

running to Jerusalem with the shout of great belief. We are pessimist or optimists

depending on whether we live by faith or by sight. Had they had faith they could

have saved themselves a great deal of grief and a long sad walk in despair. The good

news is, Jesus did not leave them, even though they were leaving Him. He came to

them to lead them back into faith by expounding the Word of God so they could see

that all that had happened was God's plan. It is comedy because it comes to a

delightfully happy ending. A little boy was offered the opportunity to select a dog

for his birthday present. At the pet store, he was shown a number of puppies and

from them he picked one whose tail was wagging furiously. When he was asked why

he selected that particular dog, the little boy said, “I wanted the one with the happy

ending.”That is what we all want in a story.

But wait, it was a happy ending for them at the moment, but the story does not

end there. There is one more sad joke. Mark gives us a brief report of their

experience and we read in Mark 16:12-13, " Afterward Jesus appeared in a

different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These

returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either." Here

are two happy campers indeed. They have seen the risen Christ in person. They

are so full of joy and energy they made it back to Jerusalem in record time.

They make this difficult trip in the night with all of its risks because they know

they will be the ones to bring joy to all of the disciples. They dare not keep this

news to themselves. Whatever the cost, they must return and tell the rest this

very night, so there is no need for another minute of sorrow. And what do they

get for their labor of love? Rejection! The disciples were not impressed with

their story any more than those of the women. They had run 7 miles with a

miracle in their mind, and in the very place where it should have lit up the room

with joy, it was met with the wet blanket of skepticism.

The biggest joke of Easter was on the devil himself, for he thought the cross

would put an end to Christ, but he was dead wrong, and now his kingdom's

control had been shattered. The prison of death had a gaping hole through

which the dead could escape into the kingdom of light. Laughter filled the

unseen realm as the dead were liberated by Him who had the keys of death and

hell, for He opened up the gate for freedom to all who trust in God. But the

secondary joke was the persistent unbelief of the disciples of Jesus. It was a joke

in the sense of being so ridiculous and foolish. It was so stubbornly resistant to

all evidence that it was absurd. How these two from Emmaus must have

laughed in shock again as they see the rest closing their minds to this evidence

that was beyond doubt. They saw Jesus. They conversed with Him. They ate

with Him. "What nonsense is this, that you doubt our word? You guys have to

be kidding. You do not believe us when we have had the most marvelous

experience with the living Savior? What on earth is it going to take to penetrate

your thick sculls with the truth?" It is laughable to see such folly in those who

are the key people of faith. What a paradox.

The two from Emmaus now have to experience the paradox that believers have

to experience all through history. It is the paradox that the biggest problems

that Christians have is not with unbelievers, but with believers. They can be the

biggest pain and the hardest people to get to cooperate with you. Here they were

filled with joy in the midst of a group of sad sacks still grieving for a dead

Messiah. This is ridiculous. The chosen men of Christ being the road block to

the fullness of their joy. Did they try to ruin their joy by telling them they had

an hallucination? Did they suggest they were having some psychological

problems because of the stress of seeing the crucifixion? Did they succeed in

filling these two with doubts about the reality of their own experience? We do

not know, but if they did not believe, it is likely that would be their response. It

may be sick humor, but the fact is, it is laughable how believers will hinder the

joy of other believers because they cannot enter into it because of their own

unbelief.

Jesus rebuked these two for not believing their Bible which told everything they

needed to know to have faith through all that had happened. 4one of the

disciples of Jesus had the Bible knowledge they needed, and this is a sad

paradox, that God's chosen are ignorant of the Bible He has given to reveal

Himself and His plan. The very reason the following Diary of a Bible, by an

unknown author, is humorous is because it is so sadly true. It is a paradox that

it is funny how badly we honor what we most love. That is the nature of the

humor of the first Easter. It is so sad and ridiculous that it is funny.

Diary Of A Bible

JA4UARY: A busy time for me. Most of the family decided to read me through this

year. They kept me busy for the first two weeks, but they have forgotten me now.

FEBRUARY: Clean-up time. I was dusted yesterday and put in my place. My owner

did use me for a few minutes last week. He had been in an argument and was

looking up some references to prove he was right.

MARCH: I had a busy day the first of the month. My owner was elected president

of the P.T.A., and he used me to prepare a speech.

APRIL: Grandpa visited us this month. He kept me on his lap for an hour reading I

Corinthians 13. He seems to think more of me than do some people in my own

household.

MAY: I have a few green stains on my pages. Some spring flowers were pressed in

my pages.

JU4E: I look like a scrapbook. They have stuffed me full of newspaper clippings -

one of the girls was married.

JULY: They put me in a suitcase today. I guess we are off on vacation. I wish I

could stay home; I know I'll be closed up in this thing for at least two weeks.

AUGUST: Still in the suitcase.

SEPTEMBER: Back home at last and in my old familiar place. I have a lot of

company. Two women's magazines and four comic books are stacked on top of me. I

wish I could be read as much as they are.

OCTOBER: They read me a little bit today. One of them is very sick. Right now I

am sitting in the center of the coffee table. I think the Pastor is coming by for a visit.

4OVEMBER: Back in my old place. Somebody asked today if I were a scrapbook.

DECEMBER: The family is busy getting ready for the holidays. I guess I'll be

covered up under wrapping paper and packages again -just as I am every

Christmas.

If you even smiled to yourself in reading this diary, you reveal the humor that is

involved in the record of the first Easter, and in all the foolishness of Christian

unbelief and doubt, and in their neglect of the resource God has given for

prevention of such nonsense. The point of this whole unique event was to be an

acted out parable of Jesus to make clear to all future generations of Christians the

folly of unbelief. Jesus used humor in His parables to teach, and He is doing it again

in this one act play parable.

I think the words of Rev. Dr. Edward Chinn apply to what Jesus is doing here."God

made the world with a sense of humor. We say that a person has a sense of humor if

he can "see through things". God made the world because He wanted us constantly

to be "seeing through things" to Him. St. Paul wrote: "Ever since the world was

created, the invisible nature of God, his eternal power and deity, are clear for the

mind to see through the things which God has made" (Romans 1:20, Barclay).

Humankind lost this sense of a divine sense of humor when people stopped seeing

things as revelations of God. The human race became deadly serious. People

stopped looking through things and started looking at them. The world lost its

transparency. Positive Religion helps to restore this divine sense of humor. Christ

told stories for this purpose. He turned ordinary things into parables of God's ways

with us. When we've regained the divine sense of humor, then we will see through

things as Christ did."

4ow you may doubt the issue I am making of this being an example of the sense of

humor that Jesus had. That is why I am ending this study with comments on the

characteristics of comedy.

This account has many of the elements of comedy that make it distinct from

tragedy. In tragedy there seems to be hope all along that everything can work out,

but, alas, it does not and the end is tragic. In comedy it looks like there is no hope. It

is a big mess with no way out it seems. Comedy depends on tragedy for there to be

the contrast for a happy ending. If it was happy throughout there would be no great

reason for rejoicing in a happy ending. In tragedy the problems are caused by

someone else, but in comedy the problem is due to the persons involved, and it is

their own fault. This is what we see in the sad, complaining disciples who mourn

when they should be rejoicing, but they have not believed their Lord's words. It is

tragic that they are so blind, and, thus, so miserable. In comedy it looks so dismal

like there is no hope, but then suddenly just in the nick of time there is a turn of

events that is surprising and all ends happily. This puts this one act play on the

Road to Emmaus in the comedy category. Look at other elements that are

characteristic of comedy.

1. EMBARRASSME4T. These two had to be embarrassed when they realized that

they had been with Jesus for several hours and did not recognize him. It is

embarrassing when we do not recognize people that we should. How much more

when it is the Lord?

2. SURPRISE A4D SHOCK. They had to be shocked when they saw it was Jesus. It

was a good shock, and they were filled with new hope and energy, but it was the

surprise of their life.

3. DISGUISE. It is part of humor to disguise yourself so others do not know who

you are. This is the fun of Halloween and costume parties, and plays where the fun

is in people not knowing who they are dealing with. It is the fun of children playing

dress up where they pretend to be some one else besides themselves. It takes a sense

of humor to disguise yourself and fool others into thinking you are not who you are.

You are fooling them, and playing a trick on them.

4. PRETE4SE. Jesus is pretending to be a stranger; pretending to not know what

has been going on in Jerusalem the last few days; pretending he is going on from

Emmaus. When there is a lot of pretense going on, but we as the audience are in on

it, you have humor, for we know what they do not know, and this being in on the

secret makes us feel superior, and it is the sense of superiority that is a major factor

in humor.

5. IRO4Y. According to the Britannica World Language Dictionary irony can

mean, among other things, "the feigning of ignorance." This is what we see Jesus

doing, as he pretends not to know what has been going on, even though he is most in

the know.

Other aspects of irony also fit this account. For example, "Irony is the state that

occurs when what happens or what exists is the opposite of what is expected." It

would be expected that Jesus would be recognized, especially when he began to

teach them from the Scriptures.

"Verbal irony is specifically when a person says something that is contrary to fact in

order to make a point rather than to deceive." Jesus is saying he does not know

what is going on and what they are talking about between them, but he knows all.

His feigned ignorance is verbal irony to make a point, and not reveal himself until

the time is right.

Many see the irony of the disciples thinking of Jesus as being totally out of the loop

when it came to current events. Some of their comments are, “'Are you the only

stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there...?

The tone of his words are almost accusing...(as if to say)... "You Bozo! Where have

you been!" W.Clay Macauly

“On the road to Emmaus, the disciples Cleopas and his unnamed friend get a great

surprise. This stranger, this one who just "comes near and goes with them," has

some strange ideas. Did he spend the weekend under a rock someplace in

Jerusalem? Who could have missed the stories about this one Jesus, who was said to

the Messiah, the special one sent by God to redeem Israel? This stranger seems to

them to be some sort of Judean hitchhiker or hippi who lacked a good grip on

reality. But of course, the irony of this great biblical story is this: it was the two

disciples who were missing the reality of it all.” Rev. Douglas A. Hicks

It was something of a put down on this know nothing stranger who is so out of

touch with his surroundings, and here they are in presence of the risen Lord

and do not know it. It is funny, them judging the stranger for not knowing what

is going on in his environment.

I think it is humorous that Jesus is never in a hurry. Here he is out walking

along as if he had nothing else to do, while his disciples are in the agony of grief,

but He is not anxious to get to them to relieve them of their misery. It is almost

as if Jesus is delaying on purpose to let them suffer for their unbelief, after all

he taught them they still had no faith in his word. It was the happiest day in

history, and yet Jesus let them stay sad for hours longer than necessary because

of their foolish unbelief.

“The Son was risen yet they walk in the dark. The humor of unnecessary

suffering.”

If we examine the accepted characteristics of comedy, we see that this one act drama

on the road to Emmaus does fit the definition of comedy.

6. The scientists at Olsen and Johnson Research Institute claim to have isolated and

defined the main characteristics of comedy. Among them they write, “The use of

disguises, and, related to this, constant instances of mistaken identity. Though the

disguise motive may seem artificial to those of us nurtured on realism, for the

Elizabethans it was an accepted convention for a number of reasons: it set up

complications in the plot, it fulfilled the audience's expectations, it often led to a neat

termination of the play, and it set up complicated character situations since a

disguised character was practically two persons--1) for the other characters in the

play who are deceived, and 2) for the spectators who enjoy being in the know; this

two-sided situation creates many opportunities for veiled allusion, double meaning,

dramatic irony, and subtlety of dialogue. Shakespeare's insight into strengths but

especially the weaknesses of human nature is perhaps his greatest gift, and he

exercises it freely in the comedies. In a sense this may be the root source of his

humor. That is, Shakespeare shows man is comic because he is by nature a victim of

his own illusions.”

The whole point of this study is to give us an insight into the nature and personality

of our risen Lord. He is God, but he is still human, and he still has a sense of humor.

He scolds us for our folly of unbelief, but he also gives us evidence on which to base

our faith. That is why he gave us this account, and all of the Bible. It is that we

might know him, and the power of his resurrection. We see Jesus as a playful Lord,

who like a Good Shepherd goes after these two stray sheep of his flock, and makes

them shocked by letting them see their silliness in doubting him. He is that hidden

friend that comes to open our blind eyes to see the reality of his resurrection, and

give us hope of laughing with him for all eternity.

ROAD TO EMMAUS

By Glenn Pease

I

TWO DISCIPLES A4D A STRA4GER

WALKED ALO4G THAT EASTER DAY.

JESUS AS THE GREAT ARRA4GER

HAD SOMETHI4G HE HAD TO SAY.

THEY WERE LIKE ALL HIS DISCIPLES

FILLED WITH SORROW A4D WITH DREAD.

4O MORE MYSTERY I4 CYCLES

THEIR MESSIAH 4OW WAS DEAD.

II

HOPES WERE DASHED A4D HEARTS WERE DARKE4ED

THE CROSS BLOTTED OUT ALL LIGHT.

BUT GOD TO THEIR HU4GER HARKE4ED

A4D RESCUED THEM FROM THEIR PLIGHT.

JESUS WALKED ALO4G BESIDE THEM

THOUGH THEY RECOG4IZED HIM 4OT.

FROM HIS MOUTH FLOWED MA4Y A GEM

THAT HELPED THEM TO SEE GOD'S PLOT.

III

WHE4 HE SAT WITH THEM AT TABLE

GIVI4G GOD THA4KS FOR THE BREAD.

THE4 THEIR OPE4ED EYES WERE ABLE

TO SEE CHRIST THEIR LIVI4G HEAD.

JESUS DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR SIGHT

BUT THEY K4EW HE WAS ALIVE.

THEY 4EVER WOULD FORGET THAT 4IGHT

FOR IT DID ALL JOY REVIVE.

IV

O4 THAT LO4G ROAD TO EMMAUS

JESUS TAUGHT AS 4E'ER BEFORE

LISTE4 CHRISTIA4 IT WOULD PAY US

IF WE'D WALK THAT ROAD O4CE MORE.

WALKI4G RIGHT ALO4G BESIDE US

AS WE TRAVEL DOW4 LIFE'S ROAD.

IS OUR RISE4 SAVIOUR JESUS

I4VITE HIM TO YOUR ABODE.

V

DO 4OT BE SLOW TO BELIEVE HIM

LET YOUR HEART BUR4 FROM WITHI4.

OPE4 YOUR HEART TO RECEIVE HIM

LET YOUR LIVI4G SAVIOUR I4.

HE WILL FILL YOUR HEART WITH LAUGHTER

AS YOU WALK ALO4G LIFE'S WAY.

A4D YOU'LL K4OW FOREVER AFTER,

TO HIS EVERY WORD OBEY.