I definitely do have a sense of humor and love to laugh. If you ask anyone in my church or family they will tell you that I love a good joke. I’m also aware and concerned about the speed and ferocity of the cultural shift that is happening around us all. I know that this world is not a friend of Christians. Christian media voices like the Babylon Bee have used satirical humor to expose social ills and cultural oppression. Is mocking the world the right tactic for a Christian, even if we are just trying to have a sense of humor?
It is impossible to read through the Easter narratives and not see an intense and persistent mocking of Jesus. In Matthew 27 Jesus was given over to be scourged and crucified and was then mocked by the Roman soldiers and brought to his place of crucifixion where the scornful mocking continued with the Jewish crowd, Chief Priests, Elders, and Scribes. From Matthew 27:27-44 we notice a continual onslaught of scoffing at Jesus with him consistently responding with silence.
Jesus’ focus was to die on a cross. There is little doubt about what this Jewish crowd most wanted. They wanted a King who would help them restore the Jewish way of life and overcome the domination of Rome. They wanted a King who would lead them in rhetoric against the cultural oppression of their dictators. Jesus had no intent in making that his goal. His concern was that the only way a sinful world could know the forgiveness and mercy of God was if the justice of God would be satisfied by One who could actually bear it. The cross was his central focus.
When we understand the one big purpose of Christ, it puts human problems in perspective. Political and social ills in this temporary world are only a peripheral view compared to the central focus and purpose of the cross. Because Jesus’ pinpoint focus was saving a people from sin, he was intentional about his humility before those he was coming to save. Unfortunately, when we have a more worldly focus, it tends to ignite more worldly responses. If Jesus were fighting in the battleground of cultural wrongs and Roman oppression, no doubt his responses may have been different. What we find though is that Christ, focused on his success in the cross, does not join in the worldly fight using the same mocking tactics as the world. What we see in Jesus as we look at his progression to the cross is a picture of the ultimate blessed man from Psalm 1.
Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
What we find in this Psalm is that the tactic of scoffing is one that the Blessed Man does not engage in. That’s a worldly seat that he avoids. Mocking and scoffing does not bring godly success. All that the Blessed Man does prospers because he is aligned with God’s great purpose. As we look at Jesus and how he responds to a mocking world, we find that he does something amazing. He silently focuses on the only way those mockers might know grace and peace in right relationship with God. Jesus doesn’t use satirical wit to show the stupidity of his opposition with scoffing laughter. Jesus doesn’t weaponize humor in a way to incite hatred toward those who are against him. Actually, Jesus says, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus is exponentially more concerned about individual souls than his opposition’s social ills or oppression. He goes silently toward his focus on the cross and we should imitate him in this way as we go taking the message of the cross.
This Easter I have been even more convinced that Christians should avoid the mocking tactics of the world and take the heart of Christ to a mission field that we are not meant to scoff but to evangelize. We are not meant to incite opposition, even through humor, but to encourage mission with a pinpoint focus on the cross and a desperate love for an opposition who need Jesus.