Growing up without the Internet for entertainment, my siblings and I were left to amuse ourselves the analog way—which often involved competition (surprise, surprise), especially when my brother, the oldest, acquired a stopwatch. Everything was timed—there was no end to the list of things that could be done either the longest or the fastest.
But there’s no substitute for the old standby which required no equipment whatsoever: catching someone unawares with a “Boo!” or a “Raaah!” as they came around a corner or into a dark room. While we didn’t have phone-in-your-pocket-with-a-camera to record the moment back then, I think a few of our glorious ones would rival those on YouTube today (which still give me good laugh when I see them).
This past week my husband got the better of a Bible study fellow who’d twice entered our home early, stealthily, and startled him in the kitchen just for kicks. On the third attempt, Jason noticed him approaching and hid himself in the room next to the front door before jumping out at the friend trying to be sneaky yet a third time. Apparently that was the winning (and final) scare.
Then my son reported finding not one, but two mannequins for sale while he waited for his turn at the Apple store for an update. I’m still not sure how one can acquire headless torso and full-body mannequins “by accident,” but he leaned into the vibe both at his scheduled appointment, and then on the long walk back to his dorm room. I’ve yet to see the set-up personally, but chuckled to hear how he opened his door to a sudden fright at the standing form behind it the next day. Here’s hoping his roommates don’t find a motionless stranger in their shower before they’re fully wide awake!
What is it about a good scare that we find ultimately hilarious? There’s probably a scientific explanation about the dump of adrenaline into our system followed by a surge of some bio-chemical that conveys relief that all is well.
It’s Easter week. As deeply spiritual as the resurrection is, accomplishing the conquest over death and darkness, part of me wonders if Jesus got at least a little kick out of the “Surprise!” element, seeing his closest friends’ reactions when he appeared to them the worst week of their lives. There was joy, sure—elation at seeing Jesus again—but that had to follow the initial startle response finding someone unexpectedly, impossibly, irrationally … alive! Someone who had been decidedly, irreversibly, undeniably dead only days before. Someone they had embalmed, entombed, mourned.
“Ta-Da!” He had to have said it (or thought it) at least once. The road to Emmaus bit comes close, I think … talking about himself in third person, pretending to be hearing these events for the first time before revealing himself. What a moment … on both sides. Re-read Luke 24 if you haven’t recently.
As you celebrate the cornerstone events of our faith this week, imagine how you might have responded to seeing the new-and-living Jesus after he was raised from the dead. Put yourself in the apostles’ shoes and consider how that moment would have burned into your memory, your being, forever.
This—what they had “seen and heard”—was powerful enough to compel them to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, at significant personal sacrifice, dying for their witness, even.