Read Acts
12:24-25 & the quote by William Hazlitt
24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish. 25 When
Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem,
taking with them John, also called Mark.
“Man
is the only animal who laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is
struck by the different between what things are and what they ought to be.”
(William Hazlitt)
Humour indicates a higher and alternate reality.[1]
We laugh when a cake goes wrong because we know what a good cake should look
like. We laugh when someone falls through the bottom of a chair (as long as
they don’t hurt themselves!) because we know that this is not normally what
chairs do! On a deeper level, comedy reveals dysfunctions within the world as
we know it indicating that, on some kind of intuitive level at least, we know
it should be better.
A comedy, in its traditional definition, is the opposite of a tragedy. In
other words something that ends well.
Within these definitions the entire biblical story is, in many ways,
humourous and a comedy.
It is humourous in that it constantly highlights the discrepancy
between the world as it is and the world as God wanted it to be. Throughout the
Bible we are painfully aware that God made the world fuller, more whole, less
broken… and that God made people to be more loving, less destructive… At times,
this discrepancy is portrayed in deliberately humourous language (e.g. God’s
rant against idolatry in Isaiah 44 and his reply to Job). At times the
presentation is more sober.
However it is also a divine comedy in that the whole story of the Bible
looks forward to a happy ending. There may be ups and downs but ultimately God
will triumph. His plans for the earth will one day come fully into fruition.
This ultimate victory is foreshadowed here. The whole chapter has a
comical twist. It starts with a fervent attack by someone who, in human terms,
has all the power. By the end, however, the powerful antagonist is dead and the
seemingly powerless church
continues to grow.
[1] Peter Burger,
“Redeeming Laughter,” pg. 208. (Thanks to Jen Hewett and Barney Pimentell for
their dissertations’ help in this!)
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