The Exorcist's Bestiary

“Jesus is sassy today,” the participant laughed.

“What’d he say?” I asked.

“I told him my hands hurt, and he said, ‘You have no idea.’” We all laughed as we imagined Jesus lifting up his hands to show the holes of the crucifixion.

While inner healing sessions with the Holy Spirit are full of tears, they’re also full of jokes. Jesus said his sheep would know his voice, and as I’ve come to identify him in multiple people, I can confirm that he has a great sense of humor. And why wouldn’t he? God is the creator of all things, including humor. As Aslan said after creating the talking animals of Narnia, “Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be grave. For jokes as well as justice come in with speech.”

This is not the Jesus many know. Some of the most consistent online comments I’ve gotten from strangers over the years revolve around having a sense of humor:

• “Too much nonsense chatter you degrade the material you try to convey with your mouth.”
• “I think you need a little more respect for the word of God”
• “It’s treated as a joke,,,”
• “Why so much laughter ? Are they making light of God’s Word ?”
• “Sorry 2mins in…I can’t watch anymore because you’re joking about Bible Scriptures. :/”

I think if Jesus can crack jokes in the middle of my exorcism and inner healing sessions, we can all learn how to have a little more spiritual humor in our lives. Sure, there are times when jokes are inappropriate, but when you become a Christian, you do not suddenly become boring and dry, thank God. Jesus was a human who spent much time traveling around with his closest friends. He most certainly smiled, poked fun at his friends, and laughed until he cried.

If you’ve seen any of our podcast episodes, one of the things you’ll notice very quickly about The Exorcist’s Bestiary is that we laugh—a lot. Exorcists are often viewed as solemn and intense, which only adds to the fear of exorcism. Yes, it is serious work we’re doing, but it’s also the weirdest work under the sun. Laugh a little bit. Have a sense of humor. Normalize this heavy but important work. Laughing was designed by God, and therefore has the capacity to be holy. Indeed, it seems so important to God that the Holy Spirit has been known for bringing about a phenomenon called “holy laughter” on both people and crowds.