It's No Joke - April 1, 2011

Good Friday morning! Do you suppose Paul the apostle knew about April Fool's jokes? We may think not, but Paul did know a thing or two about practical jokes. Paul in writing to the believers in Corinth wrote down a disturbing thing. What if God had somehow played the cruelest of all April Fool's pranks on all of us? Paul wrote: But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15:13-19 ESV) Those few verses, perhaps a thought that came to Paul at some point in the dark of the night, raise the disturbing possibility that all that we believe is a bad joke played on us by someone and we are the most miserable of all poor wretches on this day. Those who believe in the resurrection of Christ would spend their lives in the most abject misery only to receive the bad news of the joke when the judgment day came. Ha, ha, why is no one laughing? We know better, because Paul went on to explain how Christ has been raised from the dead as the first fruits of all who are to come. We are not victims of some awful joke in our belief, even though the Adversary will try to convince us otherwise. Jesus rose again on the third day and is even now preparing a place for us in our eternal home. God loves us and love does not lie or deceive. Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, impossible if Jesus had not been raised from the dead. Thomas felt the wounds in Jesus' side and saw the holes left by the spikes in the hands of our Lord. Peter shared a meal with Jesus days after his death and resurrection. These men and many others shared their testimony with us that we might believe and not doubt. In fact, Luke uses very similar words in the introduction to his gospel, "...that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught." (Luke 1:4) Many things in life are uncertain, but we can be certain and rest in the assurances of our Lord himself that he did die for our sins and did rise again on the third day. It's no joke for fools, Jesus lives! Bucky