April Fool?

1 Apr

“Ah, well, I am a great and sublime fool.  But then I am God’s fool, and all His work must be contemplated with respect.”  ~ Mark Twain

I remember having a conversation with someone a couple of months ago. The person was upset because Easter fell on April 1st this year. She said to me, “The Church should not allow Easter to be on April 1st.  How horrible.”

I responded that I thought April 1st was the perfect day for Easter. When I said that, she looked at me and said, “What do you mean by that?”

My response? I said, “Can you imagine Jesus looking the devil in the face and saying, ‘April Fool! You thought you had me killed but you didn’t.'”

You have to admit, that would be the most classic of April Fools ever. Defeating sin and death by rising from the dead. Only God could do something like that. And that is precisely what we gather to celebrate today. We celebrate the fact that not even death could hold Jesus down. Jesus, the Son of God, has power even over death.

When we gather today to celebrate the resurrection, we are telling God that we are thankful for the gift of His Son and for the fact that His Son loved us so much that He would endure a horrible death for our sake. Have no doubt about that, it was our sins that put Jesus on the cross, our sins that inflicted such incredible pain to our Savior.

It is humbling, to say the least, to know that for such awful sinners Jesus would deign to suffer and die. It is just as humbling to know that He extends the chance to share in His resurrection. If we are faithful to Him in this life, Jesus will share eternal life with us. There is nothing that we can do to “earn” that gift, nothing that we can do to “deserve” that gift. It is a gift, pure and simple.

If you gather with family or friends today, make sure that you spend some time in prayer together. Thank God for the gift of His Son. Thank Jesus for rising from the dead and restoring for us the chance to live with Him forever.

Then, while you are at it, thank God for the gift of your family and friends. Let the people you celebrate with know how much you care about them and how much you value them. There is so much hate and discord in our world today because very few people take the opportunity to tell others that they care. Care for your family and friends today. Let them know the blessing that they are to you.

FAITH ACTION: Share your joy in the resurrection by spending some time in prayer with the people who are important in your life.