Declaring the Tomb Empty
Today is the first day in April, known throughout the land as April Fools' Day.
One of the explanations for the origin of this day's festivities goes back to the reign of Constantine who made a court jester named Kugel king for a day. Kugel passed an edict declaring the day one for absurdities, and a tradition was born.
While that story sounds plausible, it was fabricated as a form of April Fools' Day prank by a Boston University professor, Joseph Boskin.
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. - Luke 24:1-3
In today's reading we have an implausible event, one that many must have thought to be made up, the empty tomb.
If, as some may believe, the empty tomb was constructed as a prank, no one stepped up to claim they conspired to fool the world. The prank, if that is what it was, remains unclaimed to this day.
But instead of a disclaimer, a statement that it was all a hoax, we have stories of the risen Jesus, which, if this was a made up event, would also have to have been fabricated.
The joke, if that is what it was, did not fall into folklore, but rose and was built upon, giving us encounter after encounter with the risen Lord.
Now, for those who choose not to believe in any of this, nothing I say will change their minds, but for those who believe, this is the perfect day to let your thoughts run wild with acceptance. It is a day of fun, and believing, a day when all bets are off and anything is possible.
So, why not be comfortable with the impractical, if only for one day?
We can get away with saying things today that others find ridiculous, so go ahead, declare the tomb empty and see what happens.
But don't end the story with the declaration, "April Fool!" Instead say, "Imagine that!"
For if the tomb is really empty, then we are not alone, and that is something that should amuse and inspire us all.
More to come...