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The Humor of Jesus of Nazareth
http://artfuljesus.0catch.com/viney.html (broken link)
Excerpt:
Quote:
The Wit and Wisdom of Jesus
The wit of Jesus ranges from the so-called lowest form of humor, the pun, to a sophisticated use of understatement. With the tool of desobrietization, numerous examples of Jesus' exaggeration, satire, sarcasm, and irony preserved by the Evangelists may be discovered. These categories are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, there is exaggeration in Jesus' irony, sarcasm in his satire, and word play throughout. Exaggeration
Jesus often uses hyperbole to convey his wisdom. For example, he asks why we so easily see the speck in our neighbor's eye and fail to notice the log in our own (Mt 7.3; Lk 6.41; Th 26). There is a cartoon quality to this image. The idea of part of a tree trunk sticking out of one's eye socket is preposterous. Equally ludicrous is the picture of a hyper-critical hypocrite inspecting someone else's eye for tiny flaws. The combination of these images is a recipe for a wry smile.
Other examples of exaggeration involve Jesus' use of camels as metaphors. He accuses Pharisees of straining gnats and swallowing camels (Mt 23.24). The saying would have been memorable in Aramaic because of a word play between "gnat" [kalma] and "camel" [gamla] (Phipps, 87). In pursuit of ritual purity a devout man would strain the unclean gnat from his wine (Lev 11.20). Yet, by meticulous observance of the law he manages to swallow a camel, a much larger unclean animal (Lev 11.4), and thus commits a greater sin. Jesus portrays the Pharisees as being zealous about trivialities while overlooking their graver transgressions. Once again, the very small is juxtaposed with the very large to humorous effect.
The wit of Jesus ranges from the so-called lowest form of humor, the pun, to a sophisticated use of understatement. With the tool of desobrietization, numerous examples of Jesus' exaggeration, satire, sarcasm, and irony preserved by the Evangelists may be discovered. These categories are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, there is exaggeration in Jesus' irony, sarcasm in his satire, and word play throughout. Exaggeration
Jesus often uses hyperbole to convey his wisdom. For example, he asks why we so easily see the speck in our neighbor's eye and fail to notice the log in our own (Mt 7.3; Lk 6.41; Th 26). There is a cartoon quality to this image. The idea of part of a tree trunk sticking out of one's eye socket is preposterous. Equally ludicrous is the picture of a hyper-critical hypocrite inspecting someone else's eye for tiny flaws. The combination of these images is a recipe for a wry smile.
Other examples of exaggeration involve Jesus' use of camels as metaphors. He accuses Pharisees of straining gnats and swallowing camels (Mt 23.24). The saying would have been memorable in Aramaic because of a word play between "gnat" [kalma] and "camel" [gamla] (Phipps, 87). In pursuit of ritual purity a devout man would strain the unclean gnat from his wine (Lev 11.20). Yet, by meticulous observance of the law he manages to swallow a camel, a much larger unclean animal (Lev 11.4), and thus commits a greater sin. Jesus portrays the Pharisees as being zealous about trivialities while overlooking their graver transgressions. Once again, the very small is juxtaposed with the very large to humorous effect.
Very good post, ans57. And maybe there will be those out there who finally start to understand why Jesus said to cut off hands (PLEASE do not cut off your hands), and so on, lest you be cast into "hell." The use of exaggeration was often times needed to get through to cold-hearted, numb religious folks. It was NOT intended to be used 2000 years later to scare little kids and adults into pews! It was actually intended to do the opposite. Jesus was very angry at the religious, and the religious were VERY good at scaring the masses into following them back then, as they are now. It makes good political sense.
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