7 sermon outlines and discussion questions to help god’s...

7 Sermon Outlines and Discussion Questions to Help God’s People Prepare for Easter

A Love That Never DiesSeven Sermon Outlines to Help

God’s People Prepare for Easter

Rev. Steven H. Albers

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Fenton, MO 63026www.CTAinc.com

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

If these sermon outlines prove to be helpful to you, we would like to hear from you. Your words will encourage us! In addition, if you have suggestions for us to consider as we create ministry helps like this in the future, please send those, too.

Send e-mail to [email protected]. Please include the subject line: LND7SO.

The mission of CTA is to glorify God by providing purposeful products that lift up

and encourage the body of Christ— because we love him.

NotesWe here at CTA pray that the materials in this guide will help pastors and other church leaders prepare each worshiper to celebrate Jesus’ Resurrection victory on Easter Sunday. Such celebration can become more deeply meaningful when God’s people set aside time in the weeks leading up to Easter to study the Scriptures and meditate on all Jesus has done for us, personalizing it in our hearts and lives. His love for us never dies!

Each sermon is followed by a set of questions suitable for sparking discussion among the adults or youth in your church. If your worship is more informal, these may be used in the worship setting itself. Or you may use them immediately following the service if that’s more appropriate in your setting.

Alternatively, you may want to use the questions in small-group Bible study or cell groups that meet in homes during the week. They will work well in those settings, too.

In addition to these free materials, these value-priced CTA products will help every member and visitor take the Resurrection message home:

• A Love That Never Dies devotional journal (LND7PJ) is designed for daily use by families and individual members of your congregation. It will help members and visitors think more deeply about what Jesus did for them on the cross as, day by day, they prepare their hearts to celebrate his Resurrection victory.

• Lapel pin with presentation card (LND7CP)

For the children in your congregation,

• Family Activity for 6 weeks of preparation (LND7AK)

Notes• Nail with cross-shaped bookmark (LND7BC)

• Activity Book for ages 7 to 11 (LND7AB)

God bless your Easter preparation and celebration!

Notes

Sermon 1: God’s Everlasting Love

Over the next weeks, we will spend time preparing to celebrate our Savior’s resurrection. We will do that under the theme “A Love That Never Dies” based on Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

There are many unknowns in our world, but God’s love is not one of them. This verse makes that very clear. When it comes to God’s love, there are no conditions and no time limitations. There is no expiration date. “I love you,” God says to us, “with an everlasting love!”

The cross of Christ proves that, just as the “Gospel in a Nutshell” testifies: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Indeed, God sent his Son to die and to be raised to life for you, but also for those whom you don’t know, and even for those you don’t particularly like.

How easily we grow narrow in our thinking about God’s love. How often we restrict our thinking to just our own lives, our own families, our own health, our own little worlds. In times like that, we fail to hear the truth that “God so loved the world”! Quite literally, there is not a single, solitary person who has ever lived or who is now living on this planet whom God does not love; we cannot fathom it, but that’s the everlasting, far-reaching, all-encompassing love of the Lord.

God intends that his love for us will create in us a strong and saving faith in him. In a world fraught with confusion and chaos, so many forces, so many troubles, so many temptations try to chip away at our faith. We have so many questions, so many concerns, and our questions, for now, go mostly unanswered. All of us have wondered at times whether God has forgotten our names and addresses, times when our faith is at its weakest and most vulnerable. But again and again in times like that the Holy Spirit reminds us, reassures us of the depth and height and breadth of God’s love, his everlasting love, his love for us demonstrated on the cross of his Son.

Jeremiah 31 is filled with beauty and grace. The prophet begins, “Thus says the LORD: ‘The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness’” (verse 2); that is, the Lord never abandoned his people, even while disciplining them, even in their wilderness times, and the Lord continued, in grace, to embrace them.

Notes

Sermon 1: God’s Everlasting Love (continued)

Jeremiah 31 also includes great anguish. Listen to Verse 15:

A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.

Jeremiah 31:15

The brutal armies of Babylon would soon descend upon Judah, carrying God’s people into an exile from which most would not return. They would lose their property and many would lose their lives. Worst of all, by their idolatry they had brought these consequences down upon themselves. But through it all, hope remained because God’s love is everlasting. Not even during the darkest hours of exile would God withdraw his mercy and love.

In Jeremiah 31, we also hear God’s declaration, his promise that he will simply never give up on his chosen people, not ever:

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.

Jeremiah 31:31–34

To “forgive and forget” is, humanly speaking and with few exceptions, an impossibility. When someone has injured us deeply, when their sin against is us too hurtful, we may struggle to muster up the courage to forgive. But if we do, when we do, the memory of that hurt lingers. It’s in our ledger in ink. We keep a record of the offenses by which others have hurt us.

Time after time, throughout much of the Book of Jeremiah, God forgave the iniquities and idolatries of his people. But through

Notes

Sermon 1: God’s Everlasting Love (continued)

prophets like Jeremiah, the Lord reminded them of their sordid past. And who could blame him? From God’s perspective, his relationship with Israel was the equivalent of a marriage, marriage in which the call to forgiveness—between husbands and wives—is often the most critical and compelling and, sadly, also the most elusive.

The old covenant, the first covenant, which God established on Mount Sinai, was irreparable. It was based on God’s love, of course. But it also depended upon Israel’s keeping the Law, which they could not, would not, and did not do. Besides that, the old covenant was narrow. It was established strictly between the Lord and the nation Israel.

The new covenant, sealed at Calvary’s cross, had no such restrictions. God intended it for all humankind. It was anchored in God’s everlasting love, love that extended even to his enemies! This covenant did not depend on our obedience. Instead, it was fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This covenant changed everything. Now sin would be forgiven—and forgotten!

I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.Jeremiah 31:34

God forgives and forgets! Every hour of every day, the slate is wiped clean. Every hour of every day, God takes us by the hand and leads us out of our enslavement to sin, out from under death’s curse. He makes it possible for us to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

But maybe you, like I myself, find it easier to forgive someone who has wronged you than to receive forgiveness from someone you have wronged. Especially when we hurt someone we dearly love, it can be hard to believe that forgiveness is ours. Even though that person may assure us again and again that he or she loves us and forgives us, the guilt lingers. The feeling that we must “do something” to make amends won’t go away.

But God’s everlasting love is not based on our feelings. It is anchored in the strength and authority of God’s Word. Our Lord’s everlasting love is unalterable fact! “Feeling” God’s forgiving love does not make it more or less true. Rather, we know that God has forgiven us. His forgiving, enduring love is as certain as the cross and the open tomb of our Savior, which bear profound testimony to a “love that never dies.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Discussion Questions God’s Everlasting Love

1. List some things that come with a “lifetime guarantee.” Whose lifetime? Which of those “guarantees” come with strings attached?

2. What is a “covenant”? Describe God’s covenant with you, using words from Jeremiah 31. Upon what is God’s covenant with us based?

3. Describe in your own words God’s unconditional love for you. What other words may be used to describe the amazing love of the Lord for us in Christ?

4. Personalize the “Gospel in a nutshell” by inserting your own name into the verse in place of the words the world. Do the same with someone else’s name. What eternal ramifications does John 3:16 have for you and for the world God so loves?

5. When have you personally found grace “in the wilderness”; that is, at times when your faith was weakest and most vulnerable? In what ways did Jesus show himself faithful?

6. Explain which would better describe God’s love for you:

• God loves you if . . . • God loves you when . . . • God loves you because . . .• Or, simply, God loves you.

7. How does God’s forgiveness differ from your own ability to forgive?

8. For our Lord, forgiveness is an established fact. For us, forgiveness is often a process. Tell about a time you had difficulty forgiving someone. What made forgiving hard? Where are you in that forgiving process today? In what way(s) does God’s everlasting love for you in Christ and his cross make a difference?

9. What one key point will you carry away when you leave today? Explain why.

10. What will you ask Jesus to do in and through you in response to what you’ve heard?

Notes

A Love That Never Dies. Ever so briefly yet dramatically, these words describe our Lord’s love for us, and they serve as our overarching theme in these weeks leading up to Easter. God’s love for us is a love that never dies, and that’s a good thing! For “sin knows no strangers.” Sin is pervasive, powerful, and persuasive. In both its global and most intimate forms, sin seeks to draw us away from the mercy seat of Almighty God. Listen for those truths in today’s text:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Romans 5:6–11

Paul’s message to the church at Rome and to us is confrontational and uncompromising. He uses language we cannot ignore. The apostle reminds everyone in his original audience that they were once “enemies of God.” That shoe also fits everyone here today. It’s a serious charge, one I would like to refute, if I could. But I can’t. And you can’t, either. That’s the way it is with all of us. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” the Bible says (Romans 3:23).

Enemy! The very word is foreign to my vocabulary, except in vague, esoteric terms. In my mind it conjures up the notion of huge and horrid hatred and hostility for others, a hatred deep enough to cause someone to maim and kill. It brings to mind resentment and revenge, the kind of rage that results in vein-popping name-calling. I think of open warfare, of violence and death.

It boggles my mind that some persons have such extreme hatred of those from other cultures and nations that they resort to acts as grotesque as suicide bombings. It’s hard to fathom the hatred some people have toward others based simply on their culture, religion, or the color of their skin. None of this is civil or even civilized. And I have a hard time imagining myself as an “enemy” in terms like this.

Sermon 2: Sin Knows No Strangers

Notes

But Paul pushes the envelope even farther. He calls us enemies of God! Never in my wildest imagination would I call God an enemy, no matter what ill may befall me or mine. Oh, no: God is my friend, and I am God’s friend! At least, that is, from my own perspective.

But I wonder. I wonder how God interprets our sometimes casual approach to reading and meditating on his Holy Word. I wonder what God thinks when we speak harshly to one another or use his name to curse. What do you suppose goes on in God’s mind when we continue to break one commandment after another or when we give of ourselves and our resources grudgingly, if at all? Surely you don’t suppose that God has ever said to himself, “With friends like that, who needs enemies?!”

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” the Bible says (Romans 3:23). In these divinely inspired words, Scripture helps us see ourselves from God’s perspective, to measure our lives against his standard of holiness. We who are content with just being “comparatively good” understand from these words that we are not good enough. Comparing our lives with the lives of others—others who don’t appear to be quite as righteous and religious as we ourselves? Such comparison is irrelevant.

The true standard of comparison is our Lord himself! His holiness is the standard he set when he created humanity in the first place. That comparison makes all conventional goodness seem tawdry. That comparison demonstrates beyond all doubt that our “goodness” before God is worthless. We see our very best efforts as what the prophet declared them to be—“filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 KJV). That’s the way we were and would remain, were it not for the cross:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. . . . God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. . . . For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5:6, 8, 10

This is God’s grace, God’s mercy, God’s never-ending love at its finest. For the person who says, “I’m not all that bad,” grace is not very meaningful. But for those of us who have been brought to

Sermon 2: Sin Knows No Strangers (continued)

Notes

Sermon 2: Sin Knows No Strangers (continued)

our knees in recognition of our guilt, those of us who know how hopeless and powerless and desperately unable we are to affect a reconciliation with Almighty God apart from Jesus Christ, these words are music to our ears: Christ died for the ungodly!

Reconciliation is one of the sweetest words in all of Scripture, which, perhaps, is why Paul uses it so often in his writings. Lovers, friends, spouses, parents, and children who have become estranged, who for whatever reason have come to see each other as enemies, turn their backs on each other and go their separate ways. But when they are reconciled, they embrace. They begin to walk hand in hand, arm in arm, along the same path of life.

When we are reconciled with God, much the same thing happens. Always, reconciliation is God’s idea. He has taken the initiative. He has put into motion the decisive action needed to bring reconciliation about. In the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, he has reached out to us, embraced us in grace, and taken us by the hand that we may walk in sync with him. Today, right now, he says to us:

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Jeremiah 31:3

This faithful love means that our ungodliness has been buried just as surely as the body of Jesus was buried following his death on Calvary. We who were by our sinful natures once, spiritually, enemies of God are now, really and truly, God’s friends. All this happens on God’s initiative and on his terms, not our own. Those terms are his mercy and “a love that never dies.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

1. To begin, read Romans 5:6–11. Listen for the “before” and “after” as Paul describes our relationship with God because of Jesus. How would you describe this contrast?

2. What words would you use to describe an enemy? Using that description, are you aware that you have any enemies?

3. How did Adam and Eve’s fall into sin turn them (and us!) into enemies of God? See Romans 5:12–13.

4. When you think of the willingness to sacrifice one’s life for someone else, who or what kind of person comes to mind? Is there anyone for whom you would willingly give your life? Explain.

5. In Romans 5, Paul uses the term wrath several times. What do you understand by that word? Does it describe an emotional, relational, or judicial response to sin? How so?

6. Arguably, the “wrath of God,” especially wrath as a result of sin, is a foreign concept to many in our culture. What accounts for that?

7. How does Paul describe our response to God’s act of reconciliation through the cross of Jesus? See Romans 5:11.

8. St. Paul also uses the word rejoice in the verses immediately preceding the text for this sermon (Romans 5:2–3). How does the reconciliation Jesus brought about through his death and resurrection make it possible for us to “rejoice in our sufferings”? What kind of “hope” does that joy produce? Why?

9. What one key point will you carry away when you leave today? Explain.


Discussion Questions Sin Knows No Strangers

Notes

Sermon 3: Spiritual Housecleaning

Some of you may recall the days when, at church especially, God was portrayed as a harsh, unyielding taskmaster. In those days, many pastors preached and lived the demands of the Law with uncompromising authority and rigidity. Often, the ushers were more like sergeants at arms, and children were taught (at times, under threat) that as soon as they entered the sanctuary, they were to be seen and not heard.

I am not going to suggest today that we return to the fear and foreboding. The Bible encourages us as God’s people to be warmed by his love, rather than living in terror at his wrath. However, a sense of awe that our sanctuary is the “House of God” is good, right, and proper. Jesus taught this in the days right before his crucifixion to people who should already have known it. Matthew records the details for us:

Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

“‘ Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Matthew 21:12–17

For decades now, many who claim to follow the Savior have pictured him as the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” This picture has small resemblance to the real Christ. Caricature Christ if you must, but know that you do so at your own spiritual risk. Such a caricature gives us a Christ who is so indulgent as to be unloving, a weak, good-natured fellow, so tolerant of sin that he applauds it, someone who gives us a rope so long we could not possibly see its end.

Notes

Sermon 3: Spiritual Housecleaning (continued)

To be sure, the pages of Scripture do paint Jesus as having unbelievable patience, infinite mercy, compassionate love. But there is another side of the Savior, one that we dare not ignore. Consider these instances:

• Mark’s Gospel tells about one Sabbath day when Jesus’ enemies tried to trick him into disobeying the Law of God by “working.” A man with a shriveled hand comes to the Lord, looking for healing. So Jesus asks them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” (Mark 3:4). When the Lord’s enemies condemn themselves by their silence, Jesus looks “at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” Then he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand” (Mark 3:5, emphasis added). As the man does, he receives a miracle from Christ. But Mark tells us, “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him” (Mark 3:6).

• On numerous occasions, Jesus called such persons “hypocrites,” and even “whitewashed tombs” (Matthew 23:27). They look pious and godly on the outside but, inwardly, they are spiritually depraved. It is no wonder they plotted to kill him—the only and truly Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 12:6).

If the religious leaders Jesus encountered needed a “spiritual housecleaning,” so did Jerusalem’s temple. The Gospel of John places this housecleaning at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Mark tells us it happened a few days before Jesus’ arrest and trial. Some scholars suggest that our Lord cleansed the temple twice, once at the beginning of his earthly ministry and then again at its conclusion. In any case, both Gospel writers show us Jesus’ passion, his zeal for the temple, for his Father’s house. In righteous anger, he whipped and stripped the courtyard clean of the money changers and traders. But why?

First of all, Jesus was angry because these people had set up their booths in the only place where the Gentiles could worship, thus making their worship impossible. They made the temple their own private club where only the elite (for example, Jewish men) could gather. There was no space for Gentiles who wanted to worship. There was no reverent silence for Gentiles who wanted to pray.

Second, Jesus was angry because the profiteering of the religious leaders lent credence to the idea that worshipers could barter with

Notes

Sermon 3: Spiritual Housecleaning (continued)

God, just as the money traders and those selling sacrificial animals bartered with their customers. That’s risky business. You can’t trade a good work or two for God’s blessing. You can’t say to God, “I’ll give you this much of my time or money or talents, in exchange for good health, prosperity, or even your love.” God is not some salesman or customer with whom you try to make your best deal. That’s crude, crass, and dangerous. Jesus here was introducing a new order of worship, radical and based upon the sacrifices of a contrite heart.

“The House of God” is so named because that is where God’s people gather to place before the Lord our confession of sins, our praise and prayers. Here, we receive God’s forgiveness and grace. The House of God is, indeed, a sanctuary, a place of refuge. Here, we expect to receive God’s Word of judgment and of mercy. We especially receive the good news of his love for us in Jesus, a love that never dies, never fades, never gives up on us.

To gather at the House of God is not an obligation, but a privilege; not an hour grudgingly given from among the 167 busy hours that we keep for ourselves, but a time to be refreshed and renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not a place to be entertained, but a place to offer all that you are and to ask for everything that you need before the throne of Almighty God. Here, he responds in the fullness of his grace toward you in the cross of his Son, in a love that is sure, and true, and everlasting. As he says to us in Jeremiah 31:


Jeremiah 31:3

No wonder Jesus was infuriated at what the temple had become. For Jesus, the temple was a symbol for his own death and resurrection, as he said of himself, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). For us, the House of God is that holy place where we focus on the cross and the open tomb, the true and only source of our hope, our life, our eternal futures. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Discussion QuestionsSpiritual Housecleaning

1. In what ways is the contemporary church “consumer-driven”? What leads you to think so?

2. Different groups of worshipers have different names for the place of worship. It is sometimes called the sanctuary, the church, the worship center, or even the nave.

• Which of these best describes your place of worship? • How does that name communicate what ideally happens there?• What part of your worship space is most meaningful to you personally? Why? • How do you prepare for worship before entering the sanctuary? as you enter the sanctuary? For

what do you pray as worship concludes? Explain.3. As Holy Week began, it seemed that Jesus placed the cleansing of the temple at the top of his

To Do list.

• Why might this have been? • What do you think he intended to accomplish or to demonstrate? • What does this imply for your own personal worship? for the worship services your church offers in your

community?• What do the Savior’s actions say about God’s everlasting love for all people? for you personally and

especially?

4. If you are a lay person, what expectations do you have for the sermon (or message)? If you are a pastor, what self-expectations do you have for your preaching?

5. What one key point will you carry away as you leave today? Explain.


Notes

Sermon 4: Is It I, Lord?

The torture, mocking, and cruelty Jesus endured display his love for us in stark intensity. His body would eventually succumb to death, but his love can never die. What Jesus went through during the dark hours of Thursday and Friday in Holy Week would have been more than enough for anyone else. Someone with lesser love might have said, “I’m done; I’ve had it! Let the world die in its own shameful misery.” Such surrender would have been understandable.

But, not so Jesus. He persevered in infinite love through unimaginable suffering and sorrow, through physical, emotional, and mental anguish. This sermon and the next in this Easter preparation series show the dramatic lengths to which Jesus was willing to go in order to fulfill his and his Father’s mission to save the world from sin and to show us his everlasting love. Jesus persevered in love despite abandonment and betrayal.

Over centuries, people have speculated about Judas’s motives. We may never understand the betrayer. What is beyond dispute is the fact that Jesus saw it coming. On Thursday evening, the night before our Lord’s suffering and death, the disciples and Jesus reclined around the Passover table for the final time before the horrific events of Calvary would unfold. Judas was there.

As they ate, Jesus announced the surprise, called out the “elephant in the room,” so to speak: “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me” (Matthew 26:21).

In that culture and time, to eat with a person was tantamount to saying, “I am your friend, and I will not hurt you.” Sharing a meal was an intimate act; it is one reason Jesus’ enemies criticized him for eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. How ironic then that Judas, who in hours—or minutes—would betray Jesus, now shared a table with him.

Jesus’ announcement only added to the drama everyone felt. Like a knife driven through flesh, the Lord’s words must have pierced through any tranquility that remained in the Upper Room.

“Is it I?” the disciples asked, one after the other. Until, feebly, Judas echoed, “Is it I, Rabbi?” And Jesus answered, “You have said so” (Matthew 26:25).

There is depravity in betrayal—absolute, abject depravity. To betray is to live a lie. To betray is to violate trust. To betray is to stoop to the lowest level of dishonesty. It was not the first time Judas had

Notes

Sermon 4: Is It I, Lord? (continued)

betrayed Jesus and the rest of the disciples. The Gospel of John actually calls Judas a thief. As treasurer for the band of Christ’s disciples, Judas was stealthily putting his hand into the account that provided much of their sustenance (John 12:4–6).

But not even that was as heinous as what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before Jesus died. With a kiss, Judas began the series of events that would end in the gory execution of his Master and Friend. For thirty pieces of silver, Judas had sold his soul to Satan.

Thirty pieces of silver was more than pocket change, mind you. It amounted to four months’ wages for the common laborer. But even at that, was it worth it? Did Judas really believe that the high priest and his cohorts would let Jesus go with merely a tongue-lashing? Was Judas so naïve as to believe that the plot against Jesus would not lead to bloodshed?

Early the next morning, was Judas in Pilate’s courtyard, watching events unfold? And, if so, what was he thinking when he heard the cries of the mob, “His blood be on us and on our children!”(Matthew 27:25)? “No,” the betrayer might have murmured, “this man’s blood is on my hands, and it cannot ever be washed clean.”

The words of Jesus in that Upper Room surely haunted Judas all the way to his self-inflicted death: “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24).

To whom would you apply words like that? To a hardened criminal on death row? Each of us lives with the hope that during our lifetimes here on earth we will have made a positive difference in someone’s life. Or perhaps we even aspire to impact our society in a positive way. Who here can imagine facing death with a sense that our lives have been wasted, that we have done absolutely nothing worthwhile, have contributed nothing of lasting value?

So, imagine Judas—so despicable and depraved, now so desperate and so disillusioned as to carry out the resolve to kill himself. His life had not been all that bad, had it? He had walked alongside Jesus for three years. Surely in all that time he had learned something. Judas had been a zealot for the independence of Israel; that had to count for something, right? Judas had been

Notes

Sermon 4: Is It I, Lord? (continued)

the only one of the twelve who was not a Galilean. It must have been lonely at times. Couldn’t that somehow excuse his actions? At least in part? Whatever else Judas did in his lifetime, he has been remembered throughout the centuries as the one who crudely, callously betrayed Jesus.

“ It would be better for him if he had not been born,” Jesus said.

I don’t believe Jesus was cursing Judas, but rather, that he was vicariously experiencing the pain that Judas would shortly feel within the depth of his soul—the regret, the remorse, and the despair, the longing for a Savior who had been with him all the while, but whose love he ultimately rejected.

Did Jesus love Judas? Absolutely, for Jesus’ love never dies. To Judas, as to us, the Lord said and keeps on saying:


Jeremiah 31:3

Would Jesus have forgiven Judas? Surely, just as he forgave Peter—the disciple who denied him. Does Jesus love you despite those things of which you are ashamed? Absolutely! Will he forgive you? Will he forgive that sin you can’t bear to remember, the sin you have spent years trying to forget? Without question! He is your Savior. Come to him. Tell him about your pain. Ask for his pardon. Here is the Lord’s promise to each and every one of us:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:7

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

1. What examples of betrayal can you cite from recent movies, books, or current events? What makes betrayal such a disgusting, shameful act in almost every era, every culture?

2. Why do you believe Jesus chose Judas to be one of the disciples?

3. The name Judas means “praised one.” How does this add to the irony of Judas’s life story?

4. Compare John 13:18 with Psalm 41:9. Based on these verses, what do you deduce about the meaning of eating together in the culture of both Old and New Testament times?

5. Who initiated Judas’s act of betrayal? We can only guess, but what motives might have been behind this? (See Matthew 26:14–16 and John 12:4–6.)

6. Compare Matthew 27:1–8 and Acts 1:18–20. What do you think lay behind Judas’s suicide?

7. Together with everyone in your group, brainstorm these two questions:

• In what ways were Peter’s denial (Matthew 26:69–75) and Judas’s betrayal alike?• In what ways were they different?

8. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:48–50 and his warning in Mark 3:29. Would Jesus have forgiven Judas as he later forgave Peter? How does this make Judas’s death even more tragic?

9. Where in the events we have been considering do you see Jesus’ love, a love that never dies?

10. Based on all this, what would you say to someone who might say to you, “I’m so ashamed. What I’ve done is unforgivable”?



Discussion Questions Is It I, Lord?

Notes

Sermon 5: Adding Insult to Injury

It’s ironic: The biggest dog in town is named “Tiny.”

It’s ironic: The psychic’s presentation, scheduled for this afternoon, is canceled due to unforeseen circumstances.

It’s ironic: The building destroyed by this morning’s fire in our town was . . . the fire station!

Irony involves a contrast between appearance and reality, between what we expect and what actually occurs. It’s ironic: The name Judas means, not shame or treachery, but “praise.”

Writers like to use irony because it adds intrigue. Readers must focus to catch the full, underlying meaning. What’s more, real life is riddled with ironic circumstances. Thus, irony brings a writer’s work closer to the everyday lives of readers.

In the past few weeks, we have been exploring various aspects of our Lord’s suffering and death under the theme “A Love That Never Dies.” It’s ironic: To demonstrate a love that will never die, our Savior did indeed die; he died a gory, terrible death!

Let’s take a few minutes right now to explore a few additional ironies in the events from that first Good Friday, looking for the underlying meanings and their implications. These ironies do not appear by chance in the pages of the Bible. The Holy Spirit inspired the holy writers to include them for our learning and encouragement.

First of all, we note that the Romans customarily nailed each criminal’s charges to his cross. The offense was there for all to read. After all, the point of crucifixion was, in the eyes of Rome, mostly deterrence. The crosses that dotted the landscape across the Roman empire told would-be criminals in no uncertain terms: “This could be you! Don’t risk it!”

The “charge” above Jesus’ head read—in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew—“This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Latin was the language of Rome’s government. Greek was the universal language of commerce; it was spoken by almost everyone in the empire who bought or sold anything and by others as well. Hebrew was, of course, the language of the Jews.

It’s ironic: the “charge” against Jesus was true! Jesus was and always had been truly the King of the Jews. What’s more, he was King of the Romans, King of the Gentiles, King of every army, King

Notes

Sermon 5: Adding Insult to Injury (continued)

of every government, King of every economy. No matter what language they spoke. No matter how powerful or powerless any individual was, Jesus was King over them all. Yet, in a love that never dies, this King Over All hung, dying for those who had rebelled against his rule, against the rule of his Father.

Jesus is our King, too. Though we often rebel, though we often get our financial priorities mixed up, though we misuse our power or ignore the powerless when we could certainly help them, Jesus’ love for us never dies. It never ends. It receives us, forgives us, and sends us out again day by day to serve those around us in the world he so loves.

A second irony involves the two criminals who hung on crosses of their own, one on each side of Jesus. One of these men spent the last hours of his life mocking and reviling the Lord. The other criminal started his day in that same way. After a while, though, he came to his senses and defended Jesus:

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:39–43

Perhaps the condemned man’s words were not so much ironic, but instead, a huge understatement: “This man has done nothing wrong!” Jesus Christ, and he alone, had been born without sin. Unlike any other human being, Jesus—truly human—was truly holy.

Both criminals who died that day deserved to die, but Jesus did not. He was without sin, and because of it, he could pay for the sins of the world. Truly God, eternally God, Jesus was born in Bethlehem as a true human being. Therefore, his suffering and death did what the death of no one else in all history could have done. Jesus had done nothing wrong, yet he hung on the cross, bearing the punishment for your wrongs and mine.

Notes


Both criminals had heard the first words Jesus spoke from the cross. It was a prayer for his enemies and for those who had nailed him there:

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.Luke 23:34

It’s ironic: Jesus’ enemies thought they knew exactly what they were doing—getting rid of a troublemaker, a blasphemer. The Roman solders also thought they knew exactly what they were doing—carrying out the orders of Governor Pilate, securing the empire against rebellion and insurrection.

Only Jesus knew what he was truly doing: earning eternal salvation for all who would come to him in repentance and faith. His words of kindness, of forgiveness, communicated that mission so poignantly that the second criminal began to think something like this: “If Jesus could forgive the people most directly responsible for nailing him to the cross, maybe, just maybe, he could also forgive me. Maybe, just maybe, he could be a friend to a dismal failure of a dismal man like me.” In hope, he turned to the Holy Son of God to ask:

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Luke 23:42

What did he mean by that? For what was he hoping? That Jesus would give him a kind word of sympathy? Perhaps. Did he dare to hope that Jesus would forgive him of his sin? Surely, that’s just what Jesus did! Surely, that’s why Jesus died, died in a love that would not die:

Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.Luke 23:43

The third and final irony we will consider comes in the taunts and jeers of the passersby:

“If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.”

Matthew 27:40–42

Those first words, “if you are the Son of God,” should sound familiar. Satan hurled a similar temptation at Jesus at the very beginning of our Lord’s earthly ministry:

Notes


If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

Matthew 4:3

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down [from the highest point of the temple].

Matthew 4:6

It’s ironic: The people who claimed to be God’s people, even the priests, the scribes, and Israel’s elders were mouthing Satan’s temptations!

It’s ironic: These people mock Jesus by urging him, “Save yourself!” Our Lord needed no saving; those posing as spiritual leaders were the ones who needed saving—and we ourselves share in that need.

It’s ironic: Jesus could have walked away from the cruelty of the cross. He made that clear to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane when they tried to defend him. “Put your sword back into its place,” he had commanded. “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).

Jesus rejected the disciples’ feeble attempts at rescue, knowing his mission on this earth as its Savior would not be completed until he had shouted those three powerful words from the cross: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Then and only then, in his death, would our Lord have paid the full price of sin’s curse. Only when he had risen from the tomb in victory would the plan of salvation be fully complete.

It’s ironic: To save us, Jesus could not save himself. In a love that could not die, Jesus did die. His love held him to the cross and kept him there. Love for you. Love for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Discussion Questions Adding Insult to Injury

1. What is irony? What examples can you give from everyday life?

2. The sermon included several examples of irony, all taken from the events on Good Friday.

• Work together in your group to list as many of these as you can recall.

• Which one did you personally find most meaningful? Explain.

3. Scripture records that Jesus spoke from the cross seven times. Read each statement in its context. Then answer the questions that follow the references below.

• Read Luke 23:32–34. For what does Jesus pray in these words? What do they mean for us today in our relationship with our heavenly Father?

• Read Luke 23:43. How do these words and their context show that salvation is a gift, not something we earn?

• Read John 19:26–27. What do these words reveal about the tender heart of Jesus? How do they give you courage to come to him for help, especially when you are at your most vulnerable?

• Read Mark 15:34. How do these words describe hell? What does it mean that Jesus endured your punishment for you?

• Read John 19:28. How does this request demonstrate our Lord’s selfless focus on the Father’s will?

• Read John 19:30. What do these words indicate? What was finished? What does this mean for your everyday living? for your life after life here on earth ends?

• Read Luke 23:46. Some have pointed out that these words from Psalm 31:5 were commonly used by Jewish children in that day as a bedtime prayer. What made these words appropriate just as Jesus gave himself into death? At what times in life could you appropriately pray this prayer?



Notes

Sermon 6: The Passion Story Paradox

In many churches, children look forward to Palm Sunday as a day of celebration. We wave palm branches and use upbeat music. Yet, we grown-ups can’t help but see Palm Sunday more as something of an enigma, a puzzle.

For example, had the “Palm Sunday Parade” with the crowds that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem been planned in advance? Or was it a spontaneous burst of energy and enthusiasm on the part of the people? Yes on both accounts!

Actually, that procession had been planned centuries earlier by God himself. The prophet Zechariah described it:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Zechariah 9:9

It was not the first time, nor would it be the last, that Jesus did what he did in order to fulfill the Scriptures. Yet, it would be difficult to imagine that the people of Jerusalem staked out their places early that morning in the same way people in Pasadena get ready for the Tournament of Roses Parade.

John does tell us, though, that the people were hoping to see Lazarus as part of the Lord’s entourage. Who would miss the opportunity to see a man who had been dead for four days, now alive and well and talking about it?! (John 12:17–19).

So who were these people who greeted and cheered Jesus on that first Palm Sunday? With that question in mind listen to this account from Matthew’s Gospel:

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

Notes

Sermon 6: The Passion Story Paradox (continued)

“Say to the daughter of Zion,‘Behold, your king is coming to you,humble, and mounted on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Matthew 21:1–11

Did you catch that? The whole city of Jerusalem had been stirred by Jesus! That is why such a great multitude greeted him. We know from the other accounts of this event that children figured prominently in the noise and cheering. This seems to have bothered the religious leaders as much as anything. Perhaps they knew what we know; namely, that it is often through the persistence of a child that adults are brought to the faith.

People sometimes suppose this was the same crowd that, five days later, would call for Jesus’ crucifixion. But that’s doubtful. The people of Palm Sunday seem more like the individuals whom the Savior described as “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). The crowd in Pilate’s courtyard on the morning of Good Friday was smaller, much more organized. They were perhaps even bribed to be there, pawns of the bloodthirsty priests and scribes.

Still today, the streets in the Old City of Jerusalem are as they have been for centuries—rough and not easily traversed, even on foot. From the back of a donkey, the ride must have been quite rough. What was in our Lord’s mind and heart as he rode through those cobblestone streets, his body jostling from one side of the colt to the other?

Notes


Certainly, Jesus knew what lay ahead for him: the pain, the passion, the ridicule, the rejection, the cruelty of the cross he would endure. But that was not uppermost in his mind. Instead, he was filled with sadness, sadness so deep that he wept, not for himself but for Jerusalem’s people, for its children. Jesus knew the city’s future. He knew that the cries of these people were misguided, that they were looking for someone to deliver them from Rome, not from sin.

When we think more deeply about it, the picture of Jesus riding on that borrowed donkey can make us cringe. He enters the city just as King Solomon, David’s son, had centuries before. Solomon, too, rode on a humble donkey. No kingly, powerful, prancing war horse in either case! But just as Solomon’s name, drawn from the Hebrew word shalom, implied peace, Jesus was himself the Prince of Peace. Jesus was greater, far greater than Solomon! He was (and is!) King of kings and Lord of lords!

The apostle Paul had both Jesus’ humility and his lordship in mind when he wrote:

Though [Jesus] was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:6–8

Oh, how the Lord loved the people of Jerusalem, all of them, with an everlasting love, a love that would not die. For Jesus to receive their songs of praise was an act of grace, accepting their prayer, “Hosanna!—Save us, Lord!” And then doing just that.

Oh, how the Lord loves us, reaching out to us in compassion, care, and forgiveness, saying to us:


Jeremiah 31:3

Every time we gather for worship, the Lord receives our praises and our cries for help—all because of his goodness, mercy, and grace. He knows that we do not always pray and praise with a pure heart, with a focused mind. He knows that various life issues, troubles, and opportunities distract us, detracting from our worship.

Notes

Jesus also knows that our walk through life is a little like traipsing across those cobblestones in old Jerusalem—rough on the feet, not easily traversed, and with many bumps along the way.

Oh, no doubt all of us have good intentions when we gather for worship. Still, is there not in each of us a longing to see Jesus as someone who can wave a magic wand and take away our troubles, as someone who will be the great Deliverer from all of life’s pain and problems?

Jesus knows all of this, too. He knows our hearts and what’s on our minds and what’s going on in our lives behind closed doors. He knows your weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and he knows your many sins. Yet he receives your worship anyway, in grace and abiding love. Because of that love, our Lord allows us the privilege of worship. He takes our good intentions for what they are and sanctifies them by the power of the Holy Spirit. He understands our misguided motives and declares that they are forgiven because of what he has graciously done for us on the cross.

He refocuses our attention from our temporal needs and joys to his undying love and the eternal joy of a relationship with himself. He invites us to lift up our hearts and voices to honor him—not because he craves our praise, but because of the benefits we receive as we remember who he is and what he has done for us. He does not need our worship, but we most certainly need to worship! In never-ending love, Jesus receives the cries we offer from the cobblestones of our lives, the shaky, tentative, uneven times of our journey through life.

In never-ending love, Jesus went from the streets of Jerusalem to the way of the cross. From palms to passion; from suffering to death; and then, gloriously, from death to resurrection. In Jesus’ name. Amen.


Discussion Questions The Passion Story Paradox

1. Think about a parade you especially enjoyed—either as a child or in adulthood. What made that parade so much fun? In what ways was the “Palm Sunday Parade” similar? How was it different?

2. How does Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the welcome he received there seem spontaneous? In what way can we say it had been planned for centuries? See Zechariah 9:9.

3. The praises of Palm Sunday come just a few days after the resurrection of Lazarus. Review the details of this event from John 11.

• How did this miracle of our Lord stir the enthusiasm of the crowds? • Why did it enrage the Lord’s enemies?• What do you suppose the disciples took away from it?

4. Last time, we focused on some of the ironies recorded in the Bible concerning Good Friday. The Palm Sunday accounts include several ironies, too. For instance, why is it ironic that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey?

5. While the people shouted praises, Jesus was evidently holding back tears. See Luke 19:41–44. What accounts for this contrast?

6. Hosanna means, roughly, “Lord, save!” The people meant the prayer in one sense. Jesus graciously accepted their prayer and went on a few days later to answer it in a way they did not expect.

• Our Lord accepts our prayers and praises, just as he accepted the prayers and praises offered by the crowds on Palm Sunday. This is an act of compassion and grace on his part. How so?

• Tell about a time Jesus answered your prayers in a way you did not expect. What did you learn from this about his grace toward you?

7. Since Jesus knew what he was riding into, why did he continue the ride into Jerusalem? What does his willing commitment say about his undying love for you? How does it prove the promise of Jeremiah 31:3?



Notes

Sermon 7: A Love That Never Dies This sermon is suitable for use on Easter Sunday.

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:1–10

It was with stark realism and grim resignation that two of the Marys and the other women came to Jesus’ tomb early on the Sunday morning after his death. In doing so, they demonstrated the same grit that they had shown as they dared to stand near the foot of the cross on the day Jesus died. Calvary had been more than a mere nightmare, after all. Much more. It had been real, horribly and tragically real. But now it was over. It may have taken two sleepless nights before they had been able to acknowledge that reality, but acknowledge it they had.

Despite this acknowledgment, they had not had a chance to say a proper good-bye to Jesus, to go through the not-always-sensible but often therapeutic rituals people go through when someone they love dies. The women’s agenda was simple: Open the tomb. Prepare the body properly for burial. Say a final farewell and extend a final touch. All of that would help, they reasoned, to express their inexpressible sense of loss and grief.

But there, at the burial cave that belonged to the kind and courageous Joseph of Arimathea, the women did not find what they had anticipated. The guards they expected to find were gone, terrified by an early morning earthquake and the arrival of one of heaven’s holy angels. The guards had left behind an open, empty

tomb—and the angel, dressed in dazzling apparel, seated upon the stone he had rolled away from in front of the burial chamber.

All this unnerved the women. Matthew tells us they were terrified and afraid. And who could blame them?!

Luke tells us the angel addressed the women, asking a question and making a comment that crisply sums up the entire Easter message:

Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.

Luke 24:5–6

As we read the Easter accounts found in all four Gospels, we sense the first responses of Jesus’ friends. Fear. Hope. Great joy. Then back to fear again, followed by deepening hope and daring joy. But joy mingled with fear. All these emotions and more must have swirled in each heart on that first Resurrection Sunday and in the days and weeks that followed. (See Matthew 28:16–18.)

What did the disciples fear? Death at the hands of those who had killed their Lord? Perhaps. To a greater or lesser degree, most of us fear death or, at least, the dying process. And even if we have resigned ourselves to the reality of it all, it is still a bitter pill for us to swallow. Most of us struggle to keep thoughts of death at arm’s length for as long as possible. Death stands at the top of our “Don’t Talk about It” lists, until it invades our friendships, our families, or our own personal lives.

Ask anyone who has confronted a life-threatening illness or surgery or accident. Those who have walked through the valley of the shadow—yes, even Christian people—will tell you about the gamut of emotions that raced through their minds and hearts as they confronted the prospect of dying: fear, sadness, anger, . . . and, finally, the peace that sets into the heart.

As Christians, we believe in the reality of resurrection, not only our Lord’s resurrection, but our own resurrection as well. That promise of life, of eternal life, sustains us as we face the prospect of dying. That promise also puts into perspective all of our present griefs and sorrows and pain.

As the apostle Paul penned his great Resurrection Chapter—1 Corin-thians 15—he commented:

Notes

Sermon 7: A Love That Never Dies (continued)This sermon is suitable for use on Easter Sunday.

Notes


If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

1 Corinthians 15:19

If Jesus’ resurrection is a lie, if our last breath here on earth marks the end of our existence, Christianity is useless. We Christians are to be pitied as fools. How empty and void our faith would be! How meaningless and empty of purpose our lives would be!

But, in truth, Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Perhaps Jesus’ friends feared death. Or, perhaps, they were afraid of life, of Easter life. That life is as much mystery as it is miracle—for them and for us. They had hoped in Jesus once, and they had seen those hopes dashed. Did they dare to risk hoping again? Did they dare take upon themselves the cloak of discipleship for a second time, given that they had walked away from the cross and had begun to resign themselves to a return to their former vocations, their former routines, their former way of life? The time they had spent following Jesus had been exciting. It had been a tremendous learning experience. But after the sun had set on Calvary that Good Friday evening, they had supposed it was time to move on with their lives.

It is not difficult to put ourselves in the disciples’ sandals. Are you one of many who resist hoping, who are comfortable with their routine, who warn others not to get their hopes up, who want to just get on with life day by day?

The day of Easter is not about a return to routines. It’s not about getting on with life. Easter is about celebration, about mystery and marvel and miracle. It’s about Easter life, new life, eternal life! There is no limit to what God can do in us and through us. Easter demonstrates that. There is no limit to the power of God at work within us, changing us forevermore. There is no limit to the ways our Lord can use us, making our lives a bold, unabashed proclamation to the grace and glory of Jesus Christ. As Paul writes:

To this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

1 Timothy 4:10

Notes

We cannot return from Easter worship unchanged. We cannot go back to our homes, families, jobs, and relationships as if nothing has happened. God did not bring us into this world to die, but to live Easter lives of hope and joy and witness. Easter is that event that changed history, the event that changes all of our personal history. Easter is that historic event upon which we are willing, in faith, to stake our entire lives and our eternal lives. Easter stretches our faith and our proclamation beyond all reasonable and realistic expectations. Easter seals for us forever the promise of our God:


Jeremiah 31:3

Because Jesus lives, we are not afraid to die. Nor are we afraid to live, to live in the mystery and miracle of Easter. That’s why we celebrate our Savior’s life, his death, his resurrection. We celebrate a love that never dies!

Alleluia! Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed! Amen.


Discussion Questions A Love That Never Dies This sermon is suitable for use on Easter Sunday.

This week’s study will help you compare the various New Testament accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. Each of the Easter accounts in the four Gospels is unique. As you read and think about all four, it is our goal that you will put together as full a picture as possible, detailing what happened and what it means.

To begin, read each of these texts: Matthew 28:1–10; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12; and John 20:1–18.

1. Matthew tells us that an earthquake occurred early on Easter morning. Then an angel appeared.

• What had God sent the angel to do?• How did the angel’s appearance affect the guards? (See Matthew 27:62–66; Matthew 28:4.)• We might say these guards were the first witnesses to the resurrection of our Lord. Yet, at least

on Easter morning, their experience did not bring them to faith. (See Matthew 28:11–15.) What implications do you see in this as you share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection with people in your sphere of influence today?

2. Later that morning, Jesus met the women as they left his tomb to return to Jerusalem.

• How did the women respond to Jesus’ presence according to Matthew 28:9? • In what ways did their response differ from that of the tomb guards? • Why do you think they wanted to touch Jesus? • Why is that physical touch important for us as we evaluate this account on which we stake our own

eternal futures?

3. Now, compare the accounts found in Matthew 28 and Mark 16:1–8.

• How are these two accounts similar?• What are some differences? Do these differences mean that the accounts contradict one another?• If both Gospels are inspired by the Holy Spirit, why aren’t the accounts identical?

4. Now turn to Luke’s account of Easter morning—Luke 24:1–12.

• Note especially the question asked by the angel in verse 5. What particular phrase in that question captures the essence, the meaning, of Easter? Explain.

• How did the disciples respond at first (Luke 24:11)? What accounts for this? Compare also Luke 24:41.• How does Jesus’ response to their doubts demonstrate his compassion and grace?

5. John’s first Resurrection account zeroes in on two primary characters, Peter and John.

• What new details do we learn from this account?

• John 20:6–7 describe specifically the placement of the linen cloths in which Jesus was buried. If grave robbers had stolen the body, what would you expect Peter and John to have found? What did they find instead? Why is this significant?

6. What are some common threads in all of these accounts?

7. What are the responses of the eyewitnesses? How does the initial skepticism and grief of Jesus’ followers and friends turning little by little into faith add credibility to all the accounts?

8. So what? What difference does the fact that Jesus died and rose again make? How does it change your individual life? your family life? your life’s purpose? your everyday work? your death?


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