Risen Indeed (Pastor Greg Hudson, 04/19/25)

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,

1 Corinthians 15:1

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 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

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,

1 Peter 2:24 1 Peter 2:24

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

1 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

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

1 John 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. It's actually two

1 John 5 · chapter mention

verses, but they're right next to each other.

1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5 and verse

1 John 5 · chapter mention 1 John 5 · chapter mention

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.