Slap bang in the middle of Holy Week this year, on Wednesday in fact, is April Fool’s Day. I suspect we could fill an entire magazine with good examples of April Fool’s Day jokes, pranks and stunts. One of the best occurred before I was born – the famous 1957 BBC report about the Spaghetti harvest is still a classic – check it out at: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8rxm0nrz9o
It’s comedy… Richard Dimbleby narrating as plummily as he can about the “the vast spaghetti plantations in the Po Valley” and the dangers of the “spaghetti-weavil”. All against the backdrop of Pathé news style images and delivered with complete deadpan seriousness. (One day the dreaded spaghetti-weavil should have a back-story film all of it’s own)!
St. Paul, writing around twenty years after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, was writing to a church feeling compelled to reach out and share the good news. Yet how do you express something that others might find unpalatable?
“For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
(1 Corinthians 1: 22-25)
I think he was trying to express that the crucifixion was a major problem to some – how on earth could the Messiah, the Saviour of all the world be crucificed as befitted a common criminal? And how could any victory be claimed in the face of an arrest, trial, execution – surely nothing but a “stumbling-block” and a “foolishness”. In the world Paul was writing for, the Jews and the Greeks represented opposite perspectives that formed the context the early church was emerging into.
In our April Magazine, you’ll read a great deal about this coming Holy Week and Easter. You’ll read about walks of witness, songs of peace, food being shared at messy church, breakfasts, and of course the simplicity of bread and wine shared. In all that we share, we’re declaring the vulnerable, self-giving love of Jesus and celebrating the laying down of his life not just for his friends, but for his accusers and executioners. We’re rejoicing that in his rising again, Jesus shows us that sin and death cannot overcome the mercy and love and life of God. If to some that’s unfathomable, illogical, nonsensical or even offensive…then so be it! God’s love turns the thinking, the ethics, the justice and the life of this world upside-down. May I be a fool for God forever.
Rev. Paul
Excerpt taken from Emmanuel Magazine April 2026. The magazine, published ten times annually, features articles contributed or authored by our members. It includes a delightful blend of testimonials, devotions, book reviews, prayers, jokes, upcoming events, and more. Grab your copy of the latest magazine at the church foyer. If you prefer to receive a copy by mail or email, feel free to reach out to us.