Easter
My goal today is to focus on some of the events from the last half of the week, but I hope to do this by seeing these events through the eyes of one of Jesus’ closest followers—Simon Peter. Throughout the Passion Week, Simon Peter seems to be involved in everything that is happening—which is sometimes good and sometimes not so good. As we consider all these things that he said and did during these last few hours of Jesus’ life, I hope to be able to portray not only his words and actions but also his implied thoughts and feelings. I will not overly-dramatize the text of Scripture to make it say something that it does not say, but I will attempt—when possible—to analyze the text of these gospels to help us see and feel what Simon Peter is experiencing. We’ll begin where Pastor John left off last week—in the Upper Room where Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover on Thursday evening.
Jesus knew when, where, and how we was going to die. Which meant that Jesus would have been intentional with the time He spent on this Earth. And you have to think that the closer that He came to this week, he’d really be intentional with who He spent with and what He said and did. Today we are going to explore the time he spent Zacchaeus, as well as, His actions on Palm Sunday.
As we take a few minutes this morning to consider the sacrificial death of Jesus upon the cross, I want us to consider how each group/individual responded to Jesus in that moment—on that day when He was crucified. I think we might be surprised to see how things really haven’t changed—almost two-thousand years have come and gone and people are still responding to Jesus in the same way! We’ll be considering most all the characters that are part of the crucifixion narrative in the gospels of Luke and John this morning. There are a bunch of them, but we’ll do our best to identify them, see their part in the chain of events and then note how they responded to Jesus (and how that correlates with the way people today respond to Him too).
We are here today to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Most of us know the details of these events. We know the “what” of this story, but do we know the “why”? As we seek to answer the question “why?” I want to focus more on why it matters to me and you. Is the biblical story of Easter still relevant in the twenty-first century? Do the events that happened so many years ago really have an impact on my life in the here and now?
There is a way of thinking that has become more and more popular during my lifetime. It’s hard to sum up this point of view with just one word, or even a few words, without being offensive to someone. Truth is no longer considered absolute, but relative, which gives individuals the perceived right to choose what they believe and what they do not. People all over the world will say that there are many more paths to God than Christianity. But I ask you today, is there any other way?
In the wake of Pastor Wade’s recent eye surgery, we are thankful to welcome Bro. Donny Parrish, Executive Director of Lifeword Media Ministries, as our guest speaker. For more information about Donny or Lifeword, please check out the PDF above.
Four events occurred in a dramatic succession on that Easter weekend: The Upper Room, The Garden, The Crucifixion, The Resurrection of Jesus. Let’s look at each of those events and their implications.
