Jump!

Today’s News! Introducing Smell-o-Vision, forget 3-D or high-def., and elevate your TV experience by the breakthrough technology of smell from your TV. The Prime Minister of New Zealand has announced that all cell phones are banned within their borders. Burger King will be offering Whoppers for left-handed people where the condiments will only drip off the right side. The landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery has been diverted from Edwards Air Force Base to a small municipal airport in San Diego. All of these headlines are real stories that were broadcast on April 1st.

Today, April 1st is known as April Fools Day where we like to fool, pull pranks or deceive someone in good fun. The origins of this day takes us back to medieval Europe with the story of Chanticleer and the Fox, one of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1392), or possibly in France mocking those who celebrated New Years on March 25th ending on April 1st., and in 1698 where many people were tricked into going into the Tower of London to “see the Lions washed”.*

In reading of the Gospel of Mark, one could see where the headlines of Palestine might be too outlandish to believe: “Traveling Rabbi dismisses mourners and raises young girl from the dead”, “Free Lunch for Everybody - Teacher feeds 5,000 plus with a boys lunch - baskets of leftovers to take home”, “2,000 pigs die, Tortured man tells story of Legion cast out by Jesus”. As Jesus laid out the plans for his betrayal, death and resurrection and his expectation of them, the Disciples must have questioned, “Am I a fool for following him?”

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” – Mark 8:34-35, NLT

The Disciples had expectations of being in high position, the inner circle of the Messiah, to be men of influence, to be part of the restored national kingdom. Jesus turned their expectations upside down: to be great you must serve, to follow me you must suffer, to save your life you must first lose it. The Disciples must have had many days where it felt like April Fools Day as they said to one another “Are you kidding! Did that really just happen?” as Jesus commands the wind and waves to cease, cast out demons, heal the afflicted, or even raise the dead. They were also tested in their trust, hope and faith of Jesus as he flipped their expectations of Him and of themselves.

One of my favorite April Fools Day pranks was the 1976 Jovian-Plutonian Gravitational Effect. British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC Radio that a unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9:47 a.m. that day. He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience "a strange floating sensation". Dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked.*

For many in this world would say that following Jesus is a “fool’s life”, for myself I have placed my hope and faith in Jesus Christ and I am ready to “jump”. The difference between the headlines and pranks on April Fools Day and in following Jesus are they are false, fake and deceptive, but with Jesus…He is the Truth.

* Headlines and resources from Wikipedia.