There are many believers who think that using humour to describe people or events in the Bible should not be used. However, sometimes the use of humour allows us to remember important parts in the Bible.
For example there is an old saying which helps us remember the difference between the thinking of the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the time of Jesus. The preacher referred to this example in a recent sermon and the congregation chuckled as they learnt an important truth. Pharisees believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees did not. As the old saying has it, “That is why they were Sadducee.” [That is why they were “Sad, You See!”]
Or some puzzles can produce a smile. When the question is asked, “Who was the shortest man in the Bible?” the answer is often given, “Nehemiah.” [Knee High Meyer.] But one response is this. “Bildad was the shortest man in the Bible.“ You see Bildad was known as Bildad the Shuhite. [ “Shoe Height.”] We are reminded of a man who was one of Job’s comforters who tried to comfort Job in his sadness.
Jesus used humour in His teaching. He used hyperbole to get His readers to imagine ridiculous pictures. For example in Luke 6:42 to show the danger of hypocrisy. “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. ‘”
AND Matthew 19:23-24, Jesus used the picture of a large animal being squeezed through the eye of a needle to show the impossibility of entering heaven by human effort. “And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’”
It may be better for churchgoers to leave their churches with smiles rather than grimaces! WE need to remember that Jesus promised, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “John 15:11.
Humour may be part of expressing the joy we can experience when we give our lives over to the Lord and to His purposes for us.
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.
holbeck 
597 Humour And The Bible
There are many believers who think that using humour to describe people or events in the Bible should not be used. However, sometimes the use of humour allows us to remember important parts in the Bible.
For example there is an old saying which helps us remember the difference between the thinking of the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the time of Jesus. The preacher referred to this example in a recent sermon and the congregation chuckled as they learnt an important truth. Pharisees believed in the resurrection. The Sadducees did not. As the old saying has it, “That is why they were Sadducee.” [That is why they were “Sad, You See!”]
Or some puzzles can produce a smile. When the question is asked, “Who was the shortest man in the Bible?” the answer is often given, “Nehemiah.” [Knee High Meyer.] But one response is this. “Bildad was the shortest man in the Bible.“ You see Bildad was known as Bildad the Shuhite. [ “Shoe Height.”] We are reminded of a man who was one of Job’s comforters who tried to comfort Job in his sadness.
Jesus used humour in His teaching. He used hyperbole to get His readers to imagine ridiculous pictures. For example in Luke 6:42 to show the danger of hypocrisy. “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. ‘”
AND Matthew 19:23-24, Jesus used the picture of a large animal being squeezed through the eye of a needle to show the impossibility of entering heaven by human effort. “And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’”
It may be better for churchgoers to leave their churches with smiles rather than grimaces! WE need to remember that Jesus promised, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “John 15:11.
Humour may be part of expressing the joy we can experience when we give our lives over to the Lord and to His purposes for us.
Blog No 597 posted on Friday 10 July 2026
Share this:
Related
About Jim Holbeck
Once an Industrial Chemist working for the Queensland Government but later an Anglican minister in Brisbane, Armidale and Sydney. Last position for eighteen years before retirement in 2006 was as the Leader of the Healing Ministry at St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney.