What's the First Joke in John's Gospel?

And why Jesus being God actually makes the gospels funnier.

In The Gospel According To A Sitcom Writer, I have a chapter on the first joke in John’s gospel. I attribute it to Nathanael in John 1:46. What I don’t go into is a possible joke in the opening epilogue. This was partly to keep things tight, but also I can’t be sure that it’s meant to funny.

My sitcom and script editing background helps me to see links and comic moments in the text that others do not. But I don’t want be the guy with a hammer who only sees nails. When I argue that Jesus was funny, I don’t want to say that he was basically a stand-up comedian. He wasn’t – and isn’t. Jesus Christ is first and foremost the Incarnate God enthroned at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly realms, not a comedian.

However, Jesus’s interactions with the disciples, the crowds, lepers, Pharisees and his own family are often comic in nature – not least because he is the all-powerful incarnate God. The scale of comic juxtaposition is off the spectrum.

So here’s a moment I didn’t have room for in my book. It’s the very beginning of John’s gospel that I’ve written about before. It’s a passage of scripture we hear during carol services. Everyone nods along to the poetic words and that’s all well and good. Here’s John 1:1-5 in the ESV:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was J-…

Jesus? You're expecting Jesus, aren’t you? He is the answer to every question at Sunday school. But John is sending you another way. And bear in mind John’s gospel is probably later than the other three. I think John assumes that we all know the story of Jesus, or at least the stories. But he’s doing something else in his gospel.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was… John.

Ah ha! John! Not Jesus. You didn’t see that coming, did you?

Personally, I think the name ‘John’ lands like the name ‘Brian’ in that faux-pompous opening song in the Life of Brian movie.

For clarification, John is talking about John the Baptist. Not himself. And he goes on to clarify that John was a witness to the light:

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

There’s a way of reading those verses which is both reverent and slightly comic. But I wouldn’t try that out at King’s College Chapel on Christmas Eve. Read the room. But it makes me smile.

Read on for the first proper joke.

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So here’s what I actually write in The Gospel According To A Sitcom Writer about the first joke in the Gospel of John:

I have a lot of sympathy with Nathanael. He’s a disciple of Jesus only mentioned in John’s Gospel. Many Bible scholars believe that Nathanael was also known as Bartholomew, but maybe he went into obscurity precisely because he attempted a joke early in the Gospel.

The joke passes by so quickly, most people miss it. It’s understandable. Few people are expecting to find jokes in John’s Gospel. At first glance, it doesn’t promise many laughs. The ‘In the beginning’ beginning makes it feel very austere, but once you get into the meat of the Gospel, especially the first 11 chapters, you find quite a lot of comic incidents.

So let’s take a closer look at some material that may have been cut from the early versions of John’s Gospel to see why Nathanael is not the household name he might have been.

On the next day, [Jesus] was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, ‘We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’

Nathanael said to him, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’

Early manuscripts do not include the following

Philip said to him, ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Well, Nazareth?’ said Nathanael. ‘This messianic figure comes from Nazareth? I don’t think so.’

Philip said to him, ‘What’s wrong with Nazareth?’

Nathanael said to him, ‘What’s right with Nazareth? Am I right?’

Nathanael raised a hand for Philip to high-five. But Philip high-fived him not.

‘Don’t leave me hanging,’ said Nathanael.

‘I’m not seeing it. Seriously, Nate. What is wrong with Nazareth?’

‘Oh, don’t be like this,’ said Nathanael. ‘It’s just a joke. Honestly, you can’t say anything these days.’

‘Is this the place for jokes? I really don’t think so. Especially about the people of Nazareth. During a time of political unrest? These stereotypes just aren’t helpful. You wanna have a long, hard look at yourself, Nate.’

‘You wanna do this?’ said Nathanael. ‘Fine. Answer me this. What happened in Nazareth hundreds of years ago which gives the place huge historical significance in the history of our people?’

‘What?’

‘NOTHING! That’s what!’ said Nathanael. ‘No thing. It’s a backwater. A no place. A new town. It’s the Milton Keynes of Israel.’

‘What’s Milton Keynes?’

‘I don’t know. That must have been prophetic,’ said Nathanael. ‘Hey, maybe I’m a prophet. The beard needs work, but I could work on the wild-eyed stare.’

‘Nate. You’re not a prophet. You’re just a bloke who’s prejudiced about people from Nazare— Hey, wait a minute. You’re from the town next door, aren’t you? Cana?’

There was a long pause. Nathanael looked away.

‘I might be,’ said Nathanael.

‘Daaah!’ said Philip. ‘Pathetic local rivalry. You can’t bear the thought of your neighbour being home to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’

‘You what?’ said Nathanael. ‘What does that mean?’

‘No idea. Looks like I’m prophetic too.’

Philip raised a hand for Nathanael to high-five. And Nathanael did not high-five him.

‘Look,’ said Nathanael, ‘all I’m saying is that everything happens for a reason.’

‘Okay, you are definitely not a prophet. That’s just faux folk philosophy.’

‘I’m talking about the sovereignty of God, and putting it in layman’s terms! I’m a man of the people,’ said Nathanael.

Philip looked around.

‘I tell you one thing that’s for sure,’ said Philip. ‘You know where the Messiah won’t be from? Samaria.’

‘Ha!’ Nathanael laughed. ‘Yeah, Samaritans are the WORST.’

Philip raised a hand for Nathanael to high-five. And Nathanael did high-five him.

Then . . . Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’

And they went. And saw.

This is not the word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

You can buy a signed copy of The Sacred Art of Joking directly from me. While you’re there, you can also order The Sacred Art of Joking (signed) an audio CD of A Monks Tale (good for road trips with kids) or The God Particle (better for older kids/teens).

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