Jesus had a remarkable quality of transparency. Truth be told, most of us are not very transparent. We tote around masks, lenses, and agendas through which we see the world and disguise ourselves. It’s human habit. We do this because we have fears (often unconscious) about how we appear. We want to look good, smart, acceptable and most of all, in control. Unfortunately, these “faces” we show the world also cover the spark of the Divine, the Holy Spirit, in each of us. It’s there; it’s just smoked over. As Paul would say, it is like “looking through a glass darkly,” so others may not regularly get to see God in most of us. Jesus was so transparent that the Spirit of God was visible in him, which was why some people thought he was God. So if Jesus was transparent, if God could be seen through him, then that joy on his face was God’s joy. That laughter was God’s laughter.
The real title of the Laughing Jesus was Jesus Christ, Liberator. If this is Jesus Christ, our Liberator, then the expression on his face must be God’s unmitigated joy whenever people anywhere are freed from oppressions of body or spirit. Let us be joyful liberators.
Blessings — Pastor Carol
