Biblical Philosophy of Humor: Genesis 17:17

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I've decided to take a different approach to articulating a Biblical/Christian philosophy of humor, an approach similar to the one I took in my series on belief in the Gospel of John: covering each occurrence in the Bible of laughter. For each occurrence, we will answer the questions: "What brings about the laughter?" and "How can the laughter-causing dynamic be used to develop God-glorifying comedy?" With all that said, let's examine the first occurrence of laughter in the Bible!

The first occurrence of laughter in the Bible is Genesis 17:17, which reads: "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" (KJV). So, what makes Abraham laugh here? It's obvious: the idea that his 90-year old wife, Sarah, will bear him, a 100-year old man, a child. To abstract a principle out of this concrete case, the notion of an impossible event (at least, impossible by human standards) actually occurring is a laughter-inducer. And how can this dynamic be used to make comedy that honors the Lord? By highlighting the absurdity of hypothetical events that are ridiculous because, unlike God granting an infertile couple the ability to bear a child, they are impossible by God's standards (such impossibility owning to God's character and will, not to any limitations on His power). If this absurdity can be demonstrated in a way that exalts God by showing the truth of Him to your audience, you have a God-glorifying joke!