Shecky, the 14th Disciple

John 20: 19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Patrick Sullivan’s family made nails.  His great-grandfather made them in a tiny shed by hand, his grandfather had automated the business, his dad had grown it and Patrick had built a brand new factory.  Now, Sullivan nails are the premier nail used in the construction industry.  One day Patrick was out for a drive and saw a giant billboard for rent.  He called up his ad agency and had them work up a cutting edge ad campaign.  A week later Patrick drove by to see his new billboard and nearly crashed his car.  There on the billboard was Jesus nailed to the cross with the caption, THEY USED SULLIVAN NAILS.  Mortified, he called the ad agency and told them to get Jesus off his billboard immediately!  Three days later Patrick went out to look at the revised sign.  The cross was still there but Jesus was gone and the caption read, THEY SHOULD HAVE USED SULLIVAN NAILS!  

Today is Bright Sunday or Holy Hilarity Sunday where priests and pastor tell jokes from the pulpit because Jokes and the Resurrection have something in common… They both have very unexpected endings.  The resurrection probably has the MOST unexpected ending of a story EVER… the biggest practical joke of all time!  The people in the first lesson, the people in Acts, they got the joke.  They believed as one.  They were of one heart and mind and everything they owned they held in common.  People don’t do that kind of stuff if they don’t get the joke.

Speaking of jokes, an atheist was spending a quiet day fishing over on Smiley’s pond when all of a sudden his boat was attacked by the Smiley’s Pond Monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and his boat high into the air. Then, as it opened its mouth to swallow both man and boat, the man cried out, “Oh, my God! Help me!" And immediately, the scene froze. The boat, monster, and atheist all hung in mid-air, and a booming voice came down from heaven, "I thought you didn't believe in Me!" The atheist replied, ”Come on God, give me a break, two minutes ago I didn't believe in the Smiley’s Pond Monster either!"

You got that one.  Good!  But not everyone gets every joke right away.  The disciples at first locked themselves up in a room in fear.  They obviously don’t get the joke right away.  It was only when Jesus appeared and showed them the wounds that they finally got it.

How about this one?  Did you hear about the mistake the dyslexic devil worshipper made? He devoted his life to Santa.

Did you get that one?  Like I said, not everyone gets every joke right away but it’s so important to get THE joke... the greatest practical joke of all time... the Resurrection… that I’m going to break a cardinal rule of comedy and explain the joke to you.  

We’ll start with the punch line.  Are you ready? CHRIST IS RISEN!  Really and truly risen from the dead!  Not just woke up from a really deep sleep, he wasn’t just “mostly” dead.  He is totally and fully alive again after being totally and fully dead.  He had pulled the pin, was pushing up daisies, and had bitten the dust.  He had cashed in his chips, and given up the ghost.  Jesus was dead... BUT NOW… CHRIST IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED! 

It's the best punch line ever.  But what’s a punch line without the set up.  The set up goes back to that time Jesus was tested by the Devil in the wilderness.  The devil wanted to give Jesus all the power, but there was a catch.  Jesus has to bow down and worship the devil.  Jesus sees this is not a great deal and tells the devil to go soak his head.  After that, the devil plots, schemes and plans to get Jesus the old fashioned way.  DEATH!  Good Friday comes around and the people and the devil are all laughing at Jesus.  “Should have taken my offer" says the devil, "then you wouldn’t just be hanging around!”

You see, the devil, Empire, sin, darkness, evil, death… whatever you want to call it… thought they had won.   BUT just when the devil, Empire, sin, darkness, evil and death thought that they had pulled a fast one on God… THOUGHT they had killed God’s only Son, it turns out the joke is actually on THEM!  With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN!...  God took the horns off the devil, turned the world up side down, freed the world from sin, banished death, and shined the zillion watt light of Christ into every darkness, in every place, and every time.  With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN... God not only gave Jesus new life, but with Jesus, God gave all of us, and all of creation, new life as well.  Life that starts now and goes on for all eternity!  And that's what makes this the biggest and best joke of all time.  Death and the devil snatched total defeat right out from the jaws of victory!

Speaking of the resurrection, you know why Jesus didn't replace the stone on the tomb when he rose from the dead?  He actually WAS born in a barn!

Once you get the joke it literally changes EVERYTHING.  I know there are still people who say you have to work your way to heaven.  But once you get this joke you can laugh at that silly notion!  That work’s been done!  HE IS RISEN!  There may be people who think that there is still a battle raging between good and evil, but once you get the joke you can laugh at that too because, as the song says, the strife is over, the battle is won.  The joke has been told and the punch line given. 

I hope you get this joke, because like any good joke, once you get it, you’ve just got to pass it on.  In Acts they did just that… passed it on… with “GREAT POWER” and power here has the same root as dynamite!  That’s right, this story is Biblically “dynamite.”  So, on this Holy Hilarity Sunday, remember… try the veal, tip your waitress, and then go out there and live your life into the greatest joke ever told, never forgetting the best punch line of all time… Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen.