On 1st April 1957 the BBC scheduled an edition of its iconic Panorama programme. The subject was the harvesting of the Swiss spaghetti crop. It was narrated by perhaps the most famous broadcaster of the day Richard Dimbleby. While his serious tones described the process of picking and drying the spaghetti, the film showed a Swiss family bringing in the harvest and then celebrating the crop with a traditional meal. We may laugh now, but at the time many viewers were fooled. Spaghetti was uncommon in the UK at the time and both Panorama and Richard Dimbleby were trustworthy voices of respectability.
It just goes to show that no matter how trusted the source we really do need to be sure that what we are being told is true. It’s for exactly that reason that Luke wrote his history of the life of Jesus. He wrote the book for Theophilus and explains that it is based on eye-witness accounts. He says, ‘I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning… so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught’.
This is good news. It means we can laugh at talk of a spaghetti harvest but have confidence in the claims of Jesus!
