Is what Christians celebrate on Easter just one big April Fool's hoax?

This past Sunday, followers of Jesus around the world gathered together to celebrate the closed handed and non-negotiable center of the Christian faith, which is that Jesus Christ, who is God in an bod, entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life by dying on a Roman cross, was buried in a tomb dead as a door nail, and was brought back to life as a result of God’s transforming activity on that first Easter Sunday.

And regardless of whether or not you buy the whole Bible, Jesus, or church thing; regardless of how often you have attended church in the past; regardless of the fact that you may feel like you do not know and do not feel that you can ever know about whether or not the Bible or church is real or relevant; regardless of all the bad experiences that you may have had with Christians and churches, we all have seen a cross attached to a building or around someone’s neck. We are all at least somewhat familiar with the Easter story. We are at least somewhat familiar with a garden, a courtyard, a hill with three crosses, a tomb guarded by soldiers, an empty tomb found by women.

What was so interesting about this Easter Sunday is that this year Easter fell on April 1^st. And in our culture, April 1^st is not just any day; instead April 1^st is April fool’s day. Culturally, April 1^st is a day where people attempt to play practical jokes and spread hoaxes in hopes of fooling people. On April fool’s day, some newspapers, magazines, and other media will report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters. Those who fall victim to the practical jokes and hoaxes are referred to as “April fools”.

And for some, that is how you feel about what Christians celebrate on Easter. You may feel like Easter is the biggest April fools hoax in history. And if we were to have a conversation out in the courtyard coffeehouse, the conversation might sound something like this: “well Dave how do we know that the resurrection is a historical reality and not just a hoax? How do we know that the resurrection wasn’t just a big lie? How do we know that what we celebrate on Easter isn’t just on big April fools hoax?”

If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking. And I want to let you know that you are not the first person to be questioning whether or not Eater isn’t just one big April fool’s hoax. As a matter of fact, in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Corinthians, we see a man named Paul, who persecuted early followers of Jesus until he had an encounter with Jesus after He was raised from the dead, address these very questions. So, let’s look at how the Apostle Paul addressed these questions in 1 Corinthians 15:12-14:

Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

The Apostle Paul begins this section of this letter that was addressed to a church that was located in a city named Corinth, Greece, by confronting some of the members of the church who were rejecting the reality of the resurrection of the dead. You see, just like today, there were some members of the church that did not believe that there was a literal resurrection of the dead. There were some members of the church that believed that the resurrection of Jesus was an April fool’s hoax.

Paul responded to this situation by providing four results that would be the natural consequences if the resurrection of Jesus was an April fool’s joke. First, Paul states that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus was not really raised from the dead. And if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, Paul explains that his preaching is vain and their faith also is vain.

In other words, if Jesus was not raised from the dead; if the resurrection of Jesus was just an April fool’s joke, then the message of the gospel and Christianity in general is devoid of value and meaning. I mean, the whole point of Christianity and the gospel is Jesus life, death, and resurrection, isn’t it? Paul then reveals a second result that would be the natural result if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax in verse 15-16:

Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;

Here we see Paul explain that if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax, then they and all the other early church leaders were false witnesses of God. If the tomb was not empty, Paul and other early followers of Jesus would be revealed as liars and twisted manipulators who misrepresented the nature and character of God by saying that He raised Christ from the dead when He really didn’t. They were liars and manipulators because if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Jesus is still dead.

Paul’s point is that you can’t have one without the other; either there is a resurrection of the dead for everyone, or there is no resurrection of the dead for anyone, even Jesus Christ as God-in-a-bod who was 100% God and 100% human. Paul then reveals a third result that would be the natural result if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax in verse 17:

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

In this single verse, we see Paul reveal for us the reality that if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Paul’s point here is that if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax, then all of humanity is still separated from God as a result of their selfishness, rebellion, and sin. Now a natural question that could arise here is “But why would that be?”

You see, the resurrection from the dead provides the proof that God accepted Jesus willingness to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that He could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. This morning, the reality is that if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we have not been rescued from our selfishness and sin. For while there have been other people who were brought back to life in the Bible, Jesus is different for two reasons.

First, Jesus is the only person in the letter that make up the Bible who predicted that he would die and be raised from the dead before the event actually happened. The resurrection proves that Jesus was who He said He was as our Lord and Leader. Second, while other people in the letter that make up the Bible were brought back to life, they eventually died again. Jesus, however, was raised from the dead never to die again.

The Christian faith and our forgiveness is centered on the resurrection; without the resurrection Christianity and our faith is devoid of any value to rescue and restore us to relationship with God and one another. Paul then reveals a fourth result that would be the natural result if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax in verse 18-19:

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Paul explained that that if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax, then those who have believed, trusted, and followed Jesus throughout history and who have died physically will only experience eternal separation from God and an eternal sentence to hell. And because of that reality, Paul explains in verse 19 that if we have placed our confident trust in Jesus without the reality of the resurrection, then we are of all men most to be pitied.

Now the word pitied here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to be deserving of sympathy for one’s pathetic condition. Paul’s point here is that if the message of a resurrected Jesus and an empty tomb was an April fool’s hoax, we are pathetic. We are pathetic because we have leveraged our lives for a lie.

So, Paul has basically argued that if the tomb wasn’t empty; if what we celebrate on Easter is just one big April fool’s hoax, then followers of Jesus are pathetic people who have either been deceived or are knowingly deceiving others. But is that the case? Are followers of Jesus pathetic people who have either fallen for an April fool’s hoax or who willingly perpetuate an April fool’s hoax?

Friday, we will see Paul provide the answer to those questions…