Today I include some Vincy vernacular in my text, which I believe other Caribbean readers might have no problem comprehending.
If you can show me one passage in the Bible where God says, “Nah true man; I only joking,” I will have every reason to start trembling.
What if God was only joking?
How many times have you “pulled somebody’s leg” by making him a fantastic offer? For example, you are walking through the neighbourhood with your friend and you spot this truly magnificent property. He comments on how wonderful it would feel to be the owner. You reply, “It’s my father’s own, you know. You can have it for free.”
And how about this: the times you tried to get a little child to eat her dinner by telling her that the frightful village character would be coming to get her if she didn’t hurry up and eat everything on her plate?
Ever tried this one? “So you heard that I won the jackpot?” followed by, “Nah true man; I only joking.”
What if God was only joking? What if after he said, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased,” I prayed “Eternal God, I ask you to forgive me because of your Son, Jesus’ atonement for my sins,” and he answered, “Son? What son? I was only joking.”
Talk about shattered confidence! If Matthew 3: 17 was only a joke, then John 3:16 was also a joke.
So how can I know if I can seriously take Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 3:17 and 18? He states:
For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only son.
You joking? Nah man. I believe it’s true because I checked out some other things he said and I have proved them to be accurate.
For instance, people are saying, “Boy, I don’t understand what's going on. Like the world gone crazy!” So I took a look at 2 Peter Chapter 3 for evidence of a joke. In verses 3 and 4, scoffers could be interpreted as saying, “You’re joking”. “Which coming? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
I checked Matthew 24, verses 3 to 34 where Jesus addressed many of the things we see happening in the daily news: religion and more religion, wars and unconfirmed reports of wars, political upheavals, ethnic tensions, famines, diseases, earthquakes in different places, religious persecution, hatred, betrayals, false religion’s deception of many people, callousness of people due to moral decline and wickedness, and the worldwide preaching of the good news of Jesus’ coming to establish a kingdom.
Errrks! Pull up. Pull up. Come again? No joke. Jesus himself said in verse 4 of this same chapter, “Watch out that no one deceives you.” Why? Because the above-mentioned conditions would indeed take place, signaling his imminent return and the end of this world-system.
I checked Luke 21 and there, from verse 8, I saw almost the same thing. It begins with the warning about being deceived. There is a progression of events. In addition to some of the stuff I mentioned from Matthew 24, I think I recognized what looked like tsunamis, people experiencing heart failures because of the terror that will occur, nations in distress, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. Now this is serious stuff.
I do not like pessimism. There is also a bright side to all this. There is a way of escape. Jesus said in Luke 31:36 to be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man (also known as the Son of God). There is nothing funny in that. And that's the truth.
I'm not joking.
