APRIL FOOL

 

Friday, April 1, 2022

 

APRIL FOOL

 

Acts 23:6-8

6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

7 And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.

8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

 

          The Encyclopedia Britannica says that April Fools Day has no known origin, and that the origin is “effectively unknowable.” Another source believes that it may have dated back to 1564 CE when France changed the beginning of their calendar from the end of March to January 1.

 

          The Sadducees were a sect of the Jews founded in 167 BC that did not believe in the resurrection, or angels, or spirits. They were, as many are today, culturally religious. In reality, they were secular pragmatists. They claimed a morality, the basis of which they denounced. They were political pragmatists who cooperated with their Roman occupiers but certainly would have joined in opposition to them if the political tide had turned. Their disbelief in things spiritual locked them out of a belief in the divinity of Jesus. Perhaps that is why they were SAD-YOU-SEE.

 

          Error generally resides in extremes. The Pharisees believed in spirits but did not practice grace. Both the Pharisees and the Sadducees believed to be morally superior, and both were wrong. This is possibly why Jesus chose fishermen, physicians, and tax collectors as his followers.

 

1 John 4:1 AMPLIFIED

BELOVED, DO not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

 

Lord, help us to question the questionable while restraining us from being hyper-critical. Make us curious and cautious. AMEN