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hiromichi · Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 1380

A drunk stumbles along a baptismal service on Sunday afternoon down by the river.

He proceeds to walk down into the water and stand next to the Preacher.

The minister turns and notices the old drunk and says, "Mister, Are you ready to find Jesus?"
Does "find Jesus" have a special meaning? I can not laugh.

The drunk looks back and says, "Yes,Preacher. I sure am."

The minister then dunks the fellow under the water and pulls him right back up.

"Have you found Jesus?" the preacher asked.

"No, I didn't!" said the drunk.

The preacher then dunks him under for quite a bit longer, brings him up and says, "Now, brother, have you found Jesus?"

"No, I did not Reverend."
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Hiromichi

Mister Micawber · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 774 Location: Yokohama

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-- Stumbles upon, not along.

-- 'Are you ready to find Jesus' is not funny; it is a standard phrase from the occupational dialect of preachers from certain Christian sects.

-- WHERE'S THE PUNCH LINE?? You haven't finished the joke, Hiro!
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"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
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Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

hiromichi · Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 1380

Mister Micawber
Sorry, below is a last part. However I can not understand why the preacher tried to make fim find Jesus below water.
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Hiromichi

Mister Micawber · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 774 Location: Yokohama

hiromichi · Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 1380

Sorry, again.

The preacher in disgust holds the man under for at least 30 seconds this time brings him out of the water and says in a harsh tone, "My God, have you found Jesus yet?"

The old drunk wipes his eyes and says to the preacher...

"Are you sure this is where he fell in?"
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Hiromichi

Mister Micawber · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Posts: 774 Location: Yokohama

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Ha, ha, ha! That is very funny, Hiro!!

The drunk is so enebriated that he doesn't recall who 'Jesus' is or recognize what these baptists are doing. He thinks someone has fallen into the water and they are all trying to find him!

Word play on the two meanings--

find Jesus = locate a physical person
find Jesus = become a Christian
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_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

CP · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 2875 Location: California

Christian preachers baptize people with water, as John the Baptist did in the Bible. Some just sprinkle a little water on the person during the ceremony, some dunk the person in a sort of tub inside the church, and some do it in a river or lake. There is a nice example of a multiple baptism in a river in the excellent movie, "Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?" starring George Clooney. (No, it is not a religious movie; Clooney and some fellow prisoners escape from prison and get into various pickles.)

The joke here is that the preacher expects his newly baptized Christian to say that he has found Jesus, meaning that he is now a true believer in Jesus Christ, but the drunk completely misunderstands and says, "Are you sure this is where he drowned?"

Mr. Micawber correctly predicted where this joke was going -- nice work!
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

CP · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 2875 Location: California

Oh, as I was typing my last post, Mr. Micawber was posting his. Practice telling it before you try it out on anyone, Hiromichi. It is pretty funny.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

hiromichi · Joined: 12 Oct 2005 Posts: 1380

Mister Micawber and CP:
Thank you very much. At last I got it. Now I can laugh!
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Hiromichi