April Fools’ Day can be a very entertaining day…especially if you are into playing jokes or pranks. I can’t remember if I have played a joke on anyone, but I will tell you of a joke played on my youngest daughter by my brother-in-law.
This didn’t happen on April Fools’ Day, but it’s a good joke! It has become a tradition with my mom that she buys us all lottery tickets at Christmas. (Side note…we aren’t lottery players. This is the only time of year that we play the lottery.) After the kids open their presents we pass out the lottery tickets and some pennies and get to scratching. I think the most someone has ever won is $20. No big winnings here.
This past Christmas my sister came across a fake lottery ticket that made it look like you had won $10,000. So my brother-in-law decided he wanted to get my youngest daughter and trick her into thinking she had won a lot of money. He told us ahead of time what he planned to do. So I knew what was going to happen, but yet somehow I seemed to forget…
My daughter scratched off the ticket, but since she is only 11 years old and never really plays the lottery, she didn’t understand that she had won a lot of money (supposedly). So she cast the ticket aside. When it came time to clean up, I asked whose ticket that was on the floor. My husband said it was our daughter’s. So I picked it up and began looking at it. My eyes grew wider and wider and my voice got super excited and I said, “Shelby has won! She won! She won $10,000!” At that point everyone began laughing. My husband said, “Vanessa, that is the fake ticket.” And then my face turned red and I became embarrassed. How did I forget about the joke that I KNEW was going to be played on Shelby? I guess I got caught up in the moment and forgot! Everyone got a good laugh out of it. So what was meant as a joke for my daughter, ended up being a joke on me! My brother-in-law won’t ever forget that one!
I wonder if anyone played jokes on each other in Bible times? Maybe so. But I know of one instance where no joking was happening.
In Luke 24, the women came to the tomb on the third day after Jesus’ death. They came prepared with spices to put on His body. They were shocked to find the tomb empty and an angel tell them that Jesus was not there but has risen. Then they left and ran and told the 11 disciples about this.
And well, how do you think that went over?
In verse 11 of the NRSV it says, “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” Now, all I can picture here is Peter laughing and saying, “That’s a good one, Mary Magdalene! You had me going for a minute! Good joke!”
But she wasn’t joking. She was dead serious.
Then Peter ran to the tomb to see for himself. The Bible says he was “amazed at what had happened.” (Luke 24:12). He went from probably thinking the women were crazy or pulling a good joke on them, to sheer amazement at finding no body in the tomb. What a cool moment that had to have been for Peter and for all of them. Jesus came to earth and did what He said He was going to do. He died for the sins of all people, rose on the third day, and lives forever in heaven with our glorious Father.
There was no joking when it came to Jesus. I am sure He loved to laugh, but He was never joking about the things He said or did. Jesus is alive! And He is coming again! That is no joke either.