Dear God, we're so grateful that you did die
for us, for each one of us, to forgive us for
our sins. We're thankful for new life with a
young baby. We're thankful for all the young
people we had for Children's Story and for the
energy and excitement that each one of us can
have as we recognize what you have done for us.
In your name we pray. Amen. There was a survey
that was done a little while ago. from the BBC,
the British Broadcasting Corporation, and they
were talking about several different religious
questions, different things, and one of the questions
that they asked different people, particularly
Christians, was, do you believe in the resurrection
of Jesus? Do you believe in the resurrection?
So this was in Britain, this was in England,
perhaps a little more secular society, but again,
they were asking Christians, Do you believe in
the resurrection? And the orange line right here
where it says do not believe, the orange line
represents Christians. And if you can make out
that number at the bottom, it was about 25 %
or so said they did not believe in the resurrection.
25 % of Christians in a little bit more secular
society were claiming that they did not believe.
in the resurrection. That's hard to imagine,
hard to believe. And so let's turn over to 1
Corinthians as we get started here, because I
think the Bible seems to make it pretty clear,
at least to me. 1 Corinthians 15, we'll start
in verse 1. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1, it says,
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel.
which I preached to you. So this is Paul writing
to Christians in Corinth. And he says, I declare
to you the gospel which I preached to you, which
you received and in which you stand. And then
verse 2, it says, by which you are also saved,
if you hold fast that word which I preached to
you. Verse 3, for I delivered to you, and then
here's the message. First of all, that which
I also received, that Christ... died for our
sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day,
according to the Scriptures, and that he was
seen by Cephas, by Peter, and by the twelve,
and it goes on to talk about 500 people that
Jesus appeared to. So it seems to me, in my estimation,
that you cannot have Christianity if you don't
believe in the resurrection. You can't have Christianity
if you don't believe that Jesus died and that
he rose again. Those things are not really compatible
to call yourself a Christian and then not believe
in that preeminent doctrine, that preeminent
belief that Jesus died for our sins and that
he rose again. And we could take the time today,
there's lots of different ways to do it, to explore.
reasons that we do believe in the resurrection,
evidence for the resurrection, and so forth.
But I think today, I want to take a little bit
different angle. So while we're still in 1 Corinthians,
let's turn back to chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter
1. We're going to look at verse 18. 1 Corinthians
1, starting in verse 18. It says, is foolishness
to those who are perishing, but to us who are
being saved, it is the power of God. It's foolishness
if you don't believe in it. It's foolishness
to say you worship a God that died. That seems
foolish to the Greek mind. But to those who are
believing, it is this power for salvation. And
we'll skip down to a verse or two to verse 22
and following, which was our Scripture reading.
It says, We preach Christ crucified to the Jews
a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For some, this Christ crucified is foolishness.
For others, I can't believe that. I don't want
to believe that. But as we are instilled with
the Holy Spirit, and as we're surrendering ourselves
to the Word of God, it says that this Christ
crucified is the power and the wisdom of God.
And so that's what we want to look at today,
this story of the cross. But again, We want to
look at it from some different angles. Maybe
you remember back to when you were in school.
Maybe some are still in different classes, taking
school. But if you were perhaps in an English
class, maybe learning to write an article or
a journalism class or something like that, at
some point you probably learned some questions
that we ask of things to learn, some questions
that we learn. There's typically five questions.
W. You familiar with some of these questions?
Just one word. What's one of these questions?
Who? What? When? Where? Why? Thank you. Yeah,
we sometimes add how, which is an H, so it's
a little bit of an oddball there. But these are
the questions that we ask of things, that we
ask of events, in order to learn. So if an event
happens, And maybe you would want to know what
happened. You would ask some eyewitnesses. And
perhaps these eyewitnesses all saw the same story,
but maybe they were standing in a different place.
And so they would have a slightly different perspective.
It doesn't mean it's not true. It just means
it's a different perspective. And as you hear
these testimonies, hear the fullness of this
picture, you can gain an understanding. of the
complete picture. So that's what we're going
to do today. We're going to look at the story
of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection, but
we're going to use these questions as our eyewitnesses.
So we're going to go over the story five different
times, looking at these different questions.
So I just wanted to make sure you're clear on
that. So if we go back to the beginning, don't
think, oh, he's forgotten his place. What's he
doing? We're just looking at the next question.
So we're going to start. With where? This story
of the cross, where did it take place? Well,
the obvious answer is planet Earth, that big
blue marble floating in the vastness of the universe.
And yet that planet became a battlefield, a proving
ground for this thing we sometimes refer to as
a conflict or as a great controversy, trying
to see which side of... This argument, God's
side or Satan's side, is to be believed. So where
did this story take place? Planet Earth. But
to be a little more specific, the city of Jerusalem.
A city that's still today adored and honored
by millions and millions and dare we say billions
of people on this planet. From three of the world
religions, the Jewish faith and the Muslim religion
and of course the Christian. All look to this
city as an important city. Where did this story
take place? On this dusty road, on this dusty
town that sits on the top of a rocky mountain
spine? Where did this city take place? Where
did these events go? Well, as we continue in
the story, we can go just outside the walls and
perhaps could see a garden with olive trees.
Flowers in bloom with fruit or vegetables even
beginning to grow in this garden outside the
city. Where did this story take place? Well,
maybe you see in your mind's eye a rocky rise.
It almost looks like a skull. Golgotha, the place
of the skull, a place where criminals would go
to die. Where did this story take place? Well,
maybe there's another garden. Not far. but a
place where rich men go to be buried. So that's
some of the answers we could give for where.
But another question we could look at is when.
When did this story take place? When did this
event happen with Jesus on the cross and the
resurrection? Well, if we look at Scripture,
Scripture would tell us that it took place at
the appointed time, that Jesus came in the fullness.
of the time. And if you look at Daniel, the prophet
Daniel tells us about a 70 -week prophecy, and
in the midst of that final week, in the midst
of that 70th week, the anointed one, Messiah,
would be cut off just as prophesied. When did
this event take place? Well, Exodus would tell
us that it was a day of remembrance, a day to
remember an event where God reached in and he
brought the people out of the bondage of slavery
in Egypt on a day called Passover. When did this
event take place? Well, it was a holiday. It
was the biggest holiday of the year. And just
like we have holiday traffic there, the people
from around the nation and around the nations
would flock to Jerusalem in particular for this
Passover holiday. And so the streets would be
crowded as the crowds. pressed in. Some think
maybe up to two million people would come to
Jerusalem for this event, for this holiday, when
this event took place. And we could say, then
what? What happened in this story, in this event?
And in our mind's eye, we could go to a road
leading into Jerusalem. Oh, on a Sunday, and
the crowd is waving palm branches, and they're
singing Hosanna. to the son of David. Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord as they
see this teacher riding down the street on this
white horse, this white donkey. Is this the king?
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And during that week, the crowds gather around
him as they see him chasing people out of the
temple. They hear him teaching messages of truth.
They hear him talking about signs of the times.
It's going to happen before Jesus comes again.
What happens in this story? We come to a Thursday
and we see this teacher, this Jesus. What happens?
Well, he brings these disciples into an upper
room and he kneels down before them and he washes
their feet. He takes that role of a servant.
And in this upper room, they have spread before
them the elements of the Passover meal. And he
takes that meal and he says, this is my body,
which is broken for you. This is my blood, which
is poured out for you. What happens in this story?
Well, Jesus, he leads this group of disciples
and they go out of that upper room. They go out
of the gates of the city to a garden, not far
outside the city. I imagine they all have...
Clean feet at this point. And they go to this
garden with olive trees, with olive press, and
they sit and they pray. And they begin to get
sleepy. They begin to grow tired. As Jesus continues
to pray, but this group of followers, these disciples,
fall asleep in this event. What happens in this
story? Well, you see the same garden, but now
there's a little bit of illumination because
there's a mob coming with torches or with lamps,
and they're coming out of the city, armed to
the teeth, looking for someone. And they say,
are you the one? And when Jesus says, I am he,
boom, something, the power of God. In John, it
says they're all knocked to the ground. What
happens in this story? Well, we see a Passover
crowd, this holiday crowd, just a few days before
they'd been saying Hosanna, shouting Hosanna
and worshiping, but now the cry has changed and
it's no longer Hosanna, but some of them at least
are lifting up a voice as a riotous murdering
mob saying crucify him, crucify him. What happens
in this story where there's a kangaroo court?
where an innocent man is guilty even though he
hasn't done anything wrong. An unfair death sentence
is poured out. And this man, what happens? Well,
he's stripped and he's beaten and he's tortured.
And with a leather whip, they bring that down
on his back as hard as they can. And there's
leather and metal and bone. With that force,
it snaps on his back and it tears that flesh
and blood begins to come out and eventually you
can even see the muscle visible through that
torn flesh. What happens in this story? Well,
that tortured man is led down a street, a Via
Dolorosa, carrying a wooden cross on his back,
stumbling and falling and supported. Somebody
else takes up the cross and eventually they come.
to that place of the skull. And he's laid down
upon that cross and a nail is driven into his
hand, nailing him to a tree. And what's happening
here? There's a Messiah. There's a man who's
now hanging and waiting to die, waiting to face
the very judgment of God. And what happens? Well,
God turns the light off. He makes the sky go
black. He's sickened by the sight of this abuse.
And there's lightning and there's thunder and
the earth even shakes and an earthquake that
shakes the very dead back to life. The temple
veil is torn in two. What happens in this story?
Well, that man on the cross dies and he's placed
into a tomb and then there's a rest in the tomb.
There's a silent Sabbath that takes place, and
it reminds us that just because God is sometimes
silent, it doesn't mean God is absent. God is
still there, even in those challenging times.
And then that Sunday morning, there's an awakening,
there's a surprise, there's an earthquake, a
stone is rolled away, and God is awakened from
that sleep of death so that He can return. back
to the glories of the Father in a while. Not
yet, but in a while. So those are just some of
the things that take place in this event that
answers the what. But then we could ask the next
question, why? Why did all these events happen?
Why did this take place? And we can see in Scripture
the story of a lamb that's slain from the foundation
of the world. Why did this take place? We can
see the story of a planet that is in rebellion
because of a piece of forbidden fruit. We can
see a broken commandment in a garden home. Why
did this take place? Well, because this book
has so many prophecies that talked about the
lion of the tribe of Judah, that talked about
the root of Jesse, that talked about one that
would... that would be a leader like Moses, one
that would be a victor like Joshua, and so many
others down through the pages that tell us that
someone is coming, or a suffering servant, and
by his wounds, by his stripes, we are healed.
Why did this take place? Well, we see jealous
religious leaders who are unable to admit that
they're wrong. And we see a God who loved us
enough that he didn't want to go throughout eternity
existing without us. The Bible speaks of a victory
over sin that has been won, a death that is defeated,
and a Satan that is shackled. And so one more
question we could look at. Who? Who is involved
in this story? Who are the characters that are
engaged, that are participating in this event?
As we look at it again, we have a serving master.
washing his servant's feet. We have a frustrated
disciple who's adding the weight of 30 silver
coins to his money bag. We later see that same
Judas trying to rid himself of the guilt by turning
to a tree and a rope instead of turning to the
man on the tree. We see a mob gathered in this
garden, a mob that's knocked down by the power.
of God's Word. Who are the characters of this
story? Well, we see priests, Annas and Caiaphas,
those holy high priests who are involved in unholy
actions on this particular weekend. We see them
condemning an innocent man, selling out their
nation as they cry, we have no king, we have
no king but Caesar. We see Peter, boastful, saying,
Jesus, I'm never going to leave you. Other people
will, but I will never forsake you until we see
this mob coming. And then we see Peter running
away and following at a distance. He regains
his confidence a little bit as he comes into
the courtyard where Jesus is being tried until
that young girl at first comes up to him and
says, aren't you Jesus' friend? Aren't you one
of his disciples? Whoa, no, I don't know the
man. I don't know the man. And then with a vulgar,
a dirty mouth, no, I promise you, I do not know
this man. And then we hear a rooster crowing
in the distance and we see tears welling up in
Peter's eyes. And if we fast forward just a little
bit, we hear Jesus, a resurrected Jesus, reaching
out to Peter. And a little bit further, we hear
Peter preaching with power, the power of one
who has been changed. by God. Who's involved
in this story? Well, we see a governor named
Pilate pressured by the priests, and we see him
wavering, unable to do what is right because
of the inconvenience it may cause him, and we
see him showing his lack of interest, his lack
of care, as he asks the question and says, what
is truth? Who's involved in this story? Well,
we see a criminal named Barabbas. That name means
son of the father. Son of a father. Aren't we
all son of a father? But this Barabbas is a murderer,
but really no worse than any of us. Because if
you break one commandment, you're guilty of breaking
them all. And we see Barabbas, the life spared
by the death of the righteous one. And just as
Jesus took his place, we recognize that Jesus
takes our place. We see these soldiers. beating
Jesus, mocking him. If you are a king, then you
need a crown. Well, here's a crown of thorns.
If you're a king, you need a robe. Well, here's
a robe. I'm sorry, it's red with your own blood.
Well, if you're a king, you need a scepter. How
about this iron nail to be placed in the palm
of your hand as it nails you to the tree? Who's
involved in this story? We see angels. who bow
their heads at the very name of Jesus, and they
cry out, holy, holy, holy. And we can almost
see the angels in shock as this crazy, evil,
wicked planet are harming their master, their
creator, Jesus himself. We see these angels in
our mind's eye, ready to rise up and destroy
this weak human race who would dare to allow
sin to enter this world. We can almost see those
angels anxiously waiting for that command to
be given to go and open up that tomb. And you
can see the angels roll that stone away. Do you
think the angels did that so Jesus could get
out? Or maybe they did that so the disciples
could get in. Because I don't think Jesus needed
that. They could see and realize, the disciples
could see and realize what had happened so that
we, can realize what had happened. And as we
understand this power of the cross, as we hear
this story again, we can talk about the story.
We know this story so well, but we have to consider
what does this cross mean for me? It's an amazing
story. It's an incredible story of God's love,
but what power does this have for us? I want
to look at two verses, two things. The first
is in 1 Peter. chapter 2, verse 24. 1 Peter,
chapter 2, verse 24. And I love the phrases in
this chapter, or in this verse, as it just reiterates
over and over what this story is about. 1 Peter
2, 24. Who himself, Jesus himself, bore our sins
in his own body, on the tree. that we, having
died to sin, might live for righteousness by
whose stripes you were healed. This Jesus on
the cross, he bore my sins, he bore your sins.
And so this cross is about forgiveness. It takes
care of the things that we have done in the past.
But the power of the cross doesn't stop in the
past. Because we can go to 1 Corinthians chapter
5. 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. 1 Corinthians
5. It's actually 2 Corinthians 5, 21. 2 Corinthians
5, 21. It says, For he made him who knew no sin
to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness
of God in him. Jesus became sin so that we can
become the righteousness of God. And so the cross
forgives sins and it changes the life. The power
of the cross is the power to forgive and the
power to change. That's what the cross is all
about. And so we hear this story again. We're
reminded of the power of the cross, but hearing
is not enough because we recognize that we have
fallen short. And so if we ask these same questions
about ourself, sometimes the answer doesn't look
so good. Because we could say, where is my life
going? Where can I hide this sin in my life?
Where can I hide this particular defect? Or I
could ask of myself, when? When will this tragedy
be over? When will this trial that I'm going
through pass? When can I find the peace that
I'm looking for? And we can say, what? What's
going on in my life? What have I done to deserve
this? What must I do to be saved? And we could
say, who? Who? Who would love me if they really
knew what I was like? And if we ask these questions
of ourself, we don't get good answers. Life looks
bleak. We don't like what we see. If we question
our own integrity, if we question our goodness,
we are always going to fall short. of the glory
of God. And so I think Jesus invites us to ask
these questions one more time, but not of ourself,
but to ask them and remember the power of the
cross, remember the glory of the resurrection.
So I could say, who? Myself? A sinner? Or I can
say, who? Jesus, my Savior. Because the Bible
says in Romans 6 .23, the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord. It's not about me. It's about
my Savior. We can ask ourselves the question,
what? And we can see it's not about me, but it's
about Jesus' perfect life. As we just saw in
2 Corinthians, Jesus lived a perfect life and
still died my death on the cross. We can say,
where? Where? Well, where does Jesus want to
be? Jesus, in Revelation 3 .20, it says that
Jesus stands at the door of our heart and he
knocks on the door of our heart. And it says,
behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone
hears my voice and opens the door, I will come
into him and dine with him and he with me. Jesus
wants to live in your life. He wants to live
in your heart. And we could ask the question,
when? And we can answer that with several words.
When? We could say yesterday. Because Jesus covered
my sins. He died for my sins, for the things
that I have done in the past. And we could say
when? And we could say, well, today. Because
Jesus wants to give me the strength to live for
him today. And we could say when? And we can
say tomorrow. Because the promise is that Jesus
is coming soon. Jesus promises to return for
each and every one of us. As it says in Revelation
12, 11, it says, they overcame him, they overcame
the devil by the blood of the lamb and by the
word of their testimony. Jesus today picks us
up when we fall. Jesus gives us an answer for
our life today and a promise for our life tomorrow
as we trust in what Jesus has done. And I want
to look at just one more verse here. In 1 John
chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. It's actually two
verses, but they're right next to each other.
1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5 and verse
11. It says, This is the testimony that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. That's about the easiest mathematical equation
that you can do. If you have the Son, you have
life. That's what the equation tells us. He who
has the Son has life. He who does not have the
Son does not have life. And then if we look at
verse 13, notice what it says. It says, What's
that word say there? That you may hope that you
have eternal life? That you may wish that you
have eternal life? That you may have a plan to
try to earn eternal life? No, it says that you
may know that you have eternal life and that
you may continue to believe in the name of the
Son of God. And so as we ask all of these questions,
as we focus on what Jesus has done, we can ask
one more, why? Why? The simple answer is love.
The Bible says over and over, God is love. But,
you know, little children like to ask questions,
and if you give them an answer, sometimes they'll
ask the same thing. Why? God is love. Why? Well,
because. Why? And that can be a never -ending
thing, but I think we have to leave it right
there. Because God is love. That most famous
verse in Scripture says, For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish but
shall have everlasting life. The early church
had a saying. It's recorded in Scripture as well.
But instead of saying hello, instead of saying
how are you, instead of greeting one another
like that, the story says that they would...
greet each other in this way. They would say,
the Lord is risen. And then the response would
be, he is risen indeed. Let's try that. The Lord
is risen. He is risen indeed. Let's do that one
more time. The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed.
And so when we look at these questions, when
we look at the story from different angles, we
can be reminded that Jesus is risen, that he
is risen indeed. So let us never forget the glory
of the cross. Let us never forget the power of
the resurrection. And let us always remember
that Jesus is coming again soon. Let's bow our
heads for prayer. Dear God, we thank you so much
for all that you have done for us. We thank you
for the story of the cross. We thank you for
an empty tomb. We thank you for the power that
you give us and the promise of your soon return.
In your name we pray. Amen.