The 1st April is most commonly known as April Fool’s Day, when people the length and breath of the country will take the opportunity to play practical jokes on each other. Even the press have been known to get involved in printing ‘fake news’ on this day. When the prank has been successfully completed the person who designed it will shout April Fool. It is tradition that if the prank is made after 12noon then the recipient can declare “April Fool’s has been and gone, you’re the fool for carrying it on”.
This year Easter Sunday falls on April 1st. In the four Gospels we read about the first Easter Morning, of how Mary Magdalene and some of the disciples found the empty tomb. Jesus’ body was not there. He was not dead because “He is Risen!” was the message they were told. It is this same message that is still being proclaimed 2000 years later. What saddens me is that there are so many people in the World who still think this message is foolish and those of us who believe it are being fooled.
In 1st Corinthians 1 verse 18 the Apostle Paul address this very thought by writing “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. The message of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not fake news and those who believe it are definitely not being fools. In fact it is quite the opposite.
Psalm 14:1 also speaks of this as King David writes, “The fool has said in his heart ‘There is no God’”. The devil wants us to believe that Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead and wants to sow ‘fake news’ and doubts into our minds, and make fools out of us. We must not let him, and we must not believe his lies. We must reject the attempts he makes.
Easter doesn’t give us a foolish message, but gives us a reason to be filled with hope and assurance. When Jesus stepped out of the tomb, he gave us the opportunity and the ability to be set free. His death on the Cross gives us the way to have our sins forgiven. His resurrection shows us that because He lives, we too can live. The message of the Cross and the Empty Tomb tells me that no matter what happens to me in this life, one day I will be with Jesus in a City where the streets are paved with gold and where life will never end.
The challenge that remains is this - do you believe and trust in the Lord Jesus, who died and rose again for you? It is not enough to just know about the message, it is about faith and placing it in Him.
This year Easter Sunday falls on April 1st. In the four Gospels we read about the first Easter Morning, of how Mary Magdalene and some of the disciples found the empty tomb. Jesus’ body was not there. He was not dead because “He is Risen!” was the message they were told. It is this same message that is still being proclaimed 2000 years later. What saddens me is that there are so many people in the World who still think this message is foolish and those of us who believe it are being fooled.
In 1st Corinthians 1 verse 18 the Apostle Paul address this very thought by writing “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”. The message of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not fake news and those who believe it are definitely not being fools. In fact it is quite the opposite.
Psalm 14:1 also speaks of this as King David writes, “The fool has said in his heart ‘There is no God’”. The devil wants us to believe that Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead and wants to sow ‘fake news’ and doubts into our minds, and make fools out of us. We must not let him, and we must not believe his lies. We must reject the attempts he makes.
Easter doesn’t give us a foolish message, but gives us a reason to be filled with hope and assurance. When Jesus stepped out of the tomb, he gave us the opportunity and the ability to be set free. His death on the Cross gives us the way to have our sins forgiven. His resurrection shows us that because He lives, we too can live. The message of the Cross and the Empty Tomb tells me that no matter what happens to me in this life, one day I will be with Jesus in a City where the streets are paved with gold and where life will never end.
The challenge that remains is this - do you believe and trust in the Lord Jesus, who died and rose again for you? It is not enough to just know about the message, it is about faith and placing it in Him.