Passion Week 2026 | The Life

Good morning again, church. Did you hear that

lyric? I will gaze upon my Jesus and thank him

for the cross. Someday, someday we will gaze

upon him and thank him for that. I'm not sure

that any of us can fully grasp just how important

the story of the cross and the resurrection are

to the lives that we live today. What we're going

to be looking at this morning is assuredly the

most consequential three days in the history

of the world. Let me say that again. The most

consequential three days in all of human history.

If there were no cross, there would be no way

for human sin to be forgiven. If there were no

empty tomb, there would be no path to eternal

life for anyone. Everything that we as human

beings know about goodness and about love and

about sacrifice, and about freedom and dignity,

about equality. It all has come down to us from

the God who made us in his image, from the God

who looked down and saw our greatest need as

humans and acted to meet that need by sending

his own son to take on flesh and to live and

die for us. That story never gets old, does it?

That God would do that for us. Where would we

be without Jesus? What hope would we have? in

this world. This morning, we're gathered together

to celebrate the centerpiece of what God has

done in human history to reconcile us to himself,

the resurrection, which means we're here today

to celebrate life itself. Jesus, the way, the

truth, and the life. Jesus, the resurrection,

and the life. And for those of us who belong

to him, who have trusted in him, for us, we also

have this thing we call resurrection life. this

morning which means new life in the present and

eternal life in the future so what we're going

to do this morning is if you're with us on friday

night at good friday what we did was we did a

full reading of the entire story of jesus's arrest

and trials and crucifixion and burial. And what

I did was I pieced together all four gospels

to give us that sort of full story. And what

I want to do this morning is to finish that story

by doing the same. Directly from the text of

the four gospels, we're going to read the story

of the resurrection. And then after that, what

I'm hoping to do is to give you some insights

and some commentary on the story itself. And

then we will briefly look at John 14, 6, which

is our theme verse. for Passion Week and talk

about what resurrection life, what difference

that makes in our lives as we go out into the

world. So let me read to you the story of the

resurrection. Now, again, I'm piecing this together

from all four gospels, so you really can't follow

along in any one of them. So maybe just listen,

if you want to close your eyes, that's fine,

or just listen carefully and let's hear what

God, how God himself has described this part

of the story. Here's the word of the Lord. It

says, when the Sabbath was over, At early dawn

on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene,

Mary the mother of James, and Salome came to

the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared

in order to anoint him. And they were saying

to one another, who will roll away the stone

for us from the entrance of the tomb? And they

came to the tomb when the sun had risen, and

behold, a severe earthquake had occurred in the

night. For an angel of the Lord descended from

heaven and came and rolled away the stone and

sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning

and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards

shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

Upon arriving, the women found the stone already

rolled away from the tomb. But when they entered,

they did not find the body of Jesus. And they

saw a young man sitting at the right wearing

a dazzling white robe. And they were terrified.

and bowed their faces to the ground. And the

angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for

I know you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,

who's been crucified. Why do you seek the living

one among the dead? He's not here. He is risen,

just as he said. See the place where he was lying.

But go, tell his disciples, he is going ahead

of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just

as he told you. And they left the tomb quickly

with fear and with great joy and they ran to

report it to his disciples. And they came in

to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom

Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken

away the Lord out of the tomb and we don't know

where they've laid him. So Peter and the other

disciple went forth going to the tomb. The two

were running together and the other disciple

ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb

first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the

linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go

in. Simon Peter also came following after him,

and he entered the tomb, and he saw the linen

wrappings lying there and the face cloth which

had been on his head, not lying with the linen

wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

So the other disciple who had first come to the

tomb then also entered, and he saw and he believed.

And they went away to their homes, marveling

at what had happened. But Mary remained outside

the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped

and looked into the tomb and she saw two angels

in white sitting, one at the head and one at

the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying.

And they said to her, woman, why are you weeping?

She said to them, because they've taken away

my Lord. I don't know where they've laid him.

When she had said this, she turned around and

saw Jesus standing there, but did not know it

was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, woman, why

are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing

him to be the gardener. She said to him, sir,

if you have carried him away, tell me where you

have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus

said to her, Mary, Mary. And she turned and said

to him in Hebrew, Teacher. Then Jesus said to

her, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers

to leave for Galilee, and there they will see

me. And Mary came announcing to the disciples,

I've seen the Lord, and that he had said these

things to her. But when they heard that he was

alive and had been seen by her, they refused

to believe it. These words were as nonsense to

them. So when it was evening on that day, the

first day of the week, and when the doors were

shut where the disciples were for fear of the

Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and

said to them, Peace be with you. And when he

had said this, he showed them both his hands

and his side. And the disciples then rejoiced

when they saw the Lord. But Thomas, Thomas, one

of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples were saying to him, we

have seen the Lord. But he said to them, unless

I see in his hands the imprint of the nails and

put my finger into the place of the nails and

put my hand into a side, I will not believe.

After eight days, his disciples were again inside

and Thomas was with them. And Jesus came, the

doors having been shut, and stood in their midst

and said, peace be with you. Then he said to

Thomas, Reach here with your finger and see my

hands and reach here and put your hand into my

side and do not disbelieve, but believe. Thomas

answered and said to him, my Lord and my God.

Jesus said to him, because you've seen me, have

you believed? Blessed are they who did not see

and yet believed. May the Lord bless this reading

from his word. So let me share some thoughts

about what we've just heard and also try to connect

some thoughts from Good Friday as well. Obviously,

we know the timeline here. Jesus is crucified

and buried on Friday. He's raised from the dead

on Sunday. What has always fascinated me, and

maybe you've thought of this as well, is what

happened on Saturday. Right? What happened between

the time that he was laid there in the tomb and

the moment his body was revivified or reanimated

and that stone was rolled away? What was going

on there? So let's go back to what we know from

the Gospels. From Mark's Gospel, we know that

Jesus was confirmed physically dead, and that's

an important point. Physically dead by the centurion

who was on watch, and that news was taken back

to Pontius Pilate. We also know that the two

criminals that were crucified on either side

of him had their legs broken to speed up their

deaths on the cross because Passover was coming

and they needed to wrap up that execution site.

So they broke their legs so that they would die

quicker. But we're told by John that Jesus was

dead prior to that moment. So when the centurion

came to him, they didn't need to break Jesus'

legs. And that is an important fulfillment of

prophecy. And we should know this. It's a fulfillment

of the prophecy concerning the Passover lamb

in ancient Israel from the Torah. In fact, I'm

going to warm this up here. So two passages that

show this in the Torah. First of all, Exodus

12, 46. Alex, can you hit that? There you go.

It says the Passover lamb is to be eaten in a

single house. You are not to bring forth any

of the flesh outside of the house. nor are you

to break any bone of it. That's the Passover

lamb. And then from Numbers chapter nine, you

shall leave none of it until morning, nor break

a bone of it. Jesus, the Passover lamb, could

not have had his bones broken to fulfill this

prophecy. So Pilate released the body to the

one man who asked for it, right? His name was

Joseph of Arimathea. And remember, he was a member

of the Sanhedrin. He was a prominent... member

of the council there in Israel, but had become

a follower of Christ. Secretly though, because

he feared repercussions from the Jews. Now, the

rest of the day, the next day, Saturday, was

of course the Sabbath. And on the Sabbath, no

physical work could be done. So Joseph wanted

to get the body down from the cross before sundown

on Friday so that he could give Jesus a proper

burial and to fulfill all the standard Jewish

customs related to how a body is treated. That

was Joseph's goal. And we're told that Joseph

honored Jesus greatly by granting him his own

tomb. which was a big deal in ancient Israel.

Tombs were expensive. Family tombs were expensive.

And apparently, Joseph had just recently carved

his tomb out of the limestone rock in that area.

And we know this because John tells us that this

was, quote, a new tomb in which no one had yet

been laid. Nobody. And in that day, Tombs were

entire burial complexes for all of your relatives,

generations and generations. So the fact that

nobody had ever been there means it was absolutely

fresh, never occupied by anyone. Now again, Joseph

was a prominent man in Israel. He was wealthy.

And that too was a fulfillment of prophecy. Comes

out of this great chapter in Isaiah 53. His grave,

the Messiah, his grave was assigned with wicked

men, meaning he was buried with the masses. yet

he was with a rich man in his death, because

he had done no violence, nor was any deceit found

in his mouth. Now John also tells us that this

tomb was located in a particular patch of land

in Israel, and he is the only one of the four

gospel writers who says it was a garden, which

for centuries has puzzled scholars until just

the last few years. I'll come back to that in

a second. John also tells us that Joseph's tomb

was near the execution site, right near Golgotha.

And according to extensive surveys that have

been done there, it's just a short walking distance

between Golgotha and the tomb of Joseph. Now

here's why I say until recently. Here's a photo.

You knew we had to do some archaeological work

on Easter, right? Sorry. There's no maps today,

I'm sorry. But we do have pictures. This is the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre. in the center of

the old city of Jerusalem, a very important place

that I know I've been there a number of times.

Some of you guys have been there as well. In

spite of the fact that I'm not a fan, that they

built a church over this spot, that church is

an ancient relic itself. It was built back in

the year 335 by Constantine and his mother Helena,

who had surveyed the land. So it's an important

building. And by all accounts, it is built over

the correct spot. where Golgotha was and where

the tomb was as well. Now, here's what's interesting.

In 2022, just a few years ago, workers started

to do renovation of the flooring in a part of

the church. And as they tore things out, what

they discovered underneath caused them to call

in all of the archaeologists. What they found

were botanical remains. They found seeds. They

found plant traces. They found pollen. Things

that tell archaeologists that in past centuries,

you know what was under that church? Olive trees,

grape vines, all kinds of things. Guess what?

John had it right. In spite of what all the scholars

said, it was a garden at one point, and that's

where Jesus was laid. Now, when you pull out

from this and look from overhead, you can see

this is the same church, and there's two gray

domes there. The larger dome was built over the

site of Golgotha. And the smaller dome was built

over the site of Jesus' tomb. So you can see

how close they actually were together. Now this

was once outside the city walls. In the first

century, this was outside the walls of the city

of Jerusalem because Jesus was put to death outside

the walls. Today, because the city's been built

up so much, it is smack dab in the middle of

the city. When you go inside this church, you

can see, and it drives me crazy that they've

done this. That is the rock of Golgotha. It's

now covered in glass because they're worried

about people, you know, sort of damaging it.

But that is the actual rock that they have uncovered

underneath the church itself. And this is where

the tomb of Jesus was. It's now built around

this kind of funny looking structure. It is,

that ceiling is magnificent. The sun light comes

in through those windows and it is an amazing

thing to see. But that is the spot they believe

where the tomb actually was. So if you go to

Jerusalem, it's worth a look. So Jesus' body

was then carefully laid in Joseph's tomb and

we're told that it was wrapped in strips of linen,

what we call his grave clothes, and also that

there was a face cloth that covered his head.

And remember, John tells us that Nicodemus also

came to help with the burial and that he brought

something around 100 pounds of spices to anoint

the body. And part of it, we're told, was a mixture

of myrrh and aloes. Now, when you hear the word

myrrh, that's a callback to what? The time of

Christ's birth. One of the great gifts that came

from the Magi was myrrh. And we know that that

was a foreboding dark sign for Mary of what was

to come, that myrrh would be present at the time

of his death. We know from the customs of the

day that first the body would have been anointed

with oils, with fragrant oils. And then the spices

along with the oil would be placed between the

strips as they were laid on the body. And then

probably also spices were put in jars or in bundles

around the body, particularly around the head

and around the chest area. And my guess is that

Joseph and Nicodemus helped the women. Remember,

sundown's coming. They've got to get this done.

They finished the task, and then they rushed

home in preparation for the Sabbath. But then

we're told that Mary Magdalene and Mary, the

mother of James, lingered outside the tomb. They

stayed there. And I can only imagine why, if

you have ever had to bury a loved one, one of

the hardest things that you do at the end of

the service, is to walk away from that casket

because you don't want to leave. You don't want

to have to say goodbye for this final time. And

it's hard to just leave. And so the Marys, they

don't want to leave their master. And so they

stay there in the garden. They continue to mourn

because they're having a hard time saying goodbye,

which is understandable. Meanwhile, Matthew says

that the chief priests paid a visit to Pilate

that afternoon and they asked him to put a guard

by the tomb. Why? Because they were very aware,

because they'd been studying Jesus' words. They

knew that Jesus had openly said that he would

rise from the dead on the third day, and they

were worried about it. And so Pilate, being a

pragmatist who didn't want any more problems

in Jerusalem, just wanted this whole thing to

be over, grants their request for a detachment

of soldiers to guard the tomb, and he allows

them to set a royal seal. Over the stone that

covered the tomb itself. And that's the way things

sat over the Sabbath. From sundown on Friday

through all Saturday, all of that frantic activity

that had happened at Golgotha, the execution

site, it had all fallen silent. If you'd walked

by at that time, you would have seen the crosses.

You would have seen probably nails and hammers

and rope scattered all over the place. You probably

would have been able to smell. the lingering

scent of dried blood that would be all over that

execution site. At the tomb on Saturday, I'm

sure all things were quiet other than the sound

of these guards who were going about their duties.

I have no doubt they were wondering, what am

I doing here? Why did I get this assignment?

This is boring. I'm guarding a dead Jewish guy.

It probably made no sense to them whatsoever.

But sometime between that moment on Saturday,

And the dawn of Sunday morning, something wild

took place that, man, if we could just get some

video of how this went down. A mighty angel is

sent from heaven. He breaks out of the spiritual

realm into the physical world. And the sound

of his arrival causes an earthquake to strike

the region. Think about that. And I've always

wondered to myself. Was this Michael who came,

right? The prince and protector of Israel. Was

this the archangel who came with this duty? I

don't know. I can't prove it, but wow. The sound

of his arrival shakes the earth. What we do know

is that the sight and sound of him definitely

affected the guards. Could you imagine, right?

They fall into such a state of fear that they're

basically put into a catatonic state, frozen

in fear and unable to move. I can imagine why.

And we're told that this angel rolls the heavy

stone away, not a problem for him, and he sits

down on it. Now, my guess is the guards eventually

sort of come to, and they, what would you do?

You flee the scene, man. They run off in panic.

It's interesting, Matthew records that later

those soldiers were bribed by the chief priest

to make up a story. To say that, well, the disciples

came by and stole the body while we were all

asleep. And fearing for their own safety, the

soldiers took that bribe and spread the story

in Jerusalem. You would probably do the same

because if you don't toe the line, you're probably

a dead man. But is anybody really buying that

story? Come on. A whole detachment of soldiers

all fall asleep at the same time? And a bunch

of guys sneak up on them, right? Sneak past them

and then roll the heavy stone away and none of

them wakes up? Come on. These are soldiers. Nobody's

buying that story. So come Sunday morning at

dawn, these beautifully, wonderfully faithful

women who are really at the center of the story.

And what a grace that is. that God has seen fit

to use these women in such an amazing way in

the story. They head toward the tomb. They're

still aching over the loss of their Lord. We're

told that they're concerned about how are we

going to move that stone? And I sort of picture

them going, well, we'll figure it out when we

get there. We'll see what God will do, right?

They just don't know. And then you can picture

them coming around and the tomb is in sight,

right? And they are shocked by what they see.

Put yourself in their sandals for a moment. You

have expectations of what you're going to see

when you get to the tomb, and it's wide open.

The tomb is wide open. Nobody's there. Nobody's

around. It's early. No guards, not anybody. What

would you have thought? Put yourself in their

sandals. Bugs. Put yourself in their sandals.

What would you have thought in that moment? Grave

robbers? I don't know. So they do what I think

exactly what all of us would have done. They

cautiously approach the tomb and they peek inside.

What do you think they expected to see? Sometimes

when we read the flat page in the Bible, it's

good to ask those questions like how would we

have reacted? What were they thinking in that

moment? Did they expect to see Jesus' body still

there? I guarantee you they didn't expect to

see what they saw. which was this angel dressed

in dazzling white. Later, Mary would see two

angels when she went back to the tomb, two angels.

And I want to share with you my theory on this.

And I admit that this is some speculation, but

it is based on some data that we find in other

places in the New Testament about how angels

operate. I think multiple angels were sent to

watch over the body of Christ as soon as that

stone was rolled into place. I think they were

there inside the tomb on Friday and on Saturday

and right up until the time that the women got

there. And to me, picture the scene and see the

symbolism in this. Pilate and the chief priests

think they are so strong and powerful and clever

that we're going to put a human guard outside

the tomb and that'll do the trick. Meanwhile,

God laughs in heaven and says, I have a much

more powerful guard inside the tomb that you

don't even know about. I love that picture. And

think about the function of angels. Think about

the various places where angels were sent to

minister to and guard the incarnate Son of God

during his life on the earth. First at his birth,

right? The angels are sent, this heavenly chorus

announcing his arrival. Then Jesus is sent into

the wilderness, right, to be tempted by Satan.

Do you remember how Satan led him to the pinnacle

of the temple and said, throw yourself off? Satan

knew something about God. What did he say? If

you do that, if you are the son of God and you

throw yourself off the temple, won't the father

send angels to guard you and keep you safe? Now,

Jesus doesn't fall for that trick, right? But

he also didn't have to jump off the temple to

know that, yes, angels would have rescued me.

And as soon as Satan has been defeated and he

leaves, we're told that... Angels came to Jesus

and ministered to him in the wilderness. And

guys, I suspect they were there all along, guarding

the Son of God, making sure that Satan didn't

cross boundaries and harm him in any way. Angels

have always ministered to the incarnate Christ.

Then there's Jesus' most desperate moment of

human grief in the Garden of Gethsemane, right?

He prays that the cup might pass from him. And

we're told what? An angel was sent. to strengthen

him in that moment of need. Even at his arrest,

remember you hear Jesus saying, don't you realize

I could call on 12 legions of angels to stop

this if I wanted to? And so angels seem to play

a huge role in watching over the incarnate Christ.

So it seems logical to me that the reason angel

was inside that tomb on Sunday morning is because

he has been there all night, guarding the body

of Christ. And catch this. Again, put yourself

into the story. Think about this. That angel

would have been an eyewitness to Jesus' body

being reanimated. Man, would you like to have

video of that? Coming back to life. How? Through

the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit. That's

what we're told in Scripture. Can you imagine

what that would have looked like? And it makes

sense. Remember it was the angel Gabriel who

first appeared to Mary to announce that she was

with child and she said, how could this be since

I'm a virgin? Do you remember what he told her?

He said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

He will produce that life in your womb. The power

of the Most High will overshadow you. So the

Holy Spirit is the author of Jesus' life in the

womb, and according to Romans 8, 11, he is also

the author of Jesus coming back to life in the

tomb while the angel looks on. What a picture.

It's the power of the Most High. On display once

again. So by the time the women arrive on Sunday

morning, the angels have done their job. They've

completed their missions. The Holy Spirit has

raised Jesus back to life. And it appears that

he has come straight through the grave clothes.

Even the head cloth is separated and rolled up

all nice. He's a tidy Messiah. I like that. Here's

the thing, you guys. And here's the true message

of Resurrection Sunday. It couldn't be otherwise.

God the Son could not have stayed dead. God the

Son could not have stayed dead. Remember, every

animal that had ever been sacrificed in Israel

had stayed dead. But not Jesus. And there are

biblically logical reasons for why that's true.

First of all, he committed no sin in his life.

So death had no claim on him. Death had no power

over him. He was a sinless man. In fact, if you

think about this, and again, my brain goes to

all kinds of places, but think about this. If

he hadn't willingly accepted the imputation of

our sins upon him, Jesus never would have died.

He never would have died. So when unbelievers

say, how can you believe in the resurrection?

My answer is, how can I not? The guy committed

no sins. Of course he came back to life. It's

just biblically logical. The second reason Jesus

had to come back to life was for his vindication.

And honestly, this probably deserves a whole

sermon to itself, but think about what was required

for God the Father to announce to the world his

full approval of the Son, to vindicate the character

of his Son in spite of what the world saw. Because

remember, it was seen by the human eye that he

died as a criminal. He died becoming sin. So

how do you set the record straight? Well, you

bring him back to life. That's how God vindicates

his son, by bringing him back to life. By the

way, this is what Paul writes in Romans 1 -4.

Jesus was declared the son of God with power.

How? By his resurrection from the dead. God declared

that as my son. By raising him from the dead.

And you can run through all kinds of passages.

What you're gonna see is that Jesus, not only

being vindicated through the resurrection, but

being vindicated by being exalted to the right

hand of the Father and being vindicated by being

declared the ruler over creation and the head

over the body of the church. And lastly, Paul

says to the Athenians in Acts 17, by God declaring

that Jesus has been appointed, ready, the judge

over all. And he says this, he says, God has

furnished proof of this to all men by what? By

raising him from the dead. The father has vindicated

his son. In each of these things, God has said

to the world, this is my son, he is an unblemished

lamb, and all the charges that were brought against

him were false. Jesus offered himself. to satisfy

the demands of God's justice and righteousness.

And by raising him from the dead, the father

declares, I accept his offering. Jesus is vindicated.

That's why he had to come back to life. Listen,

Jesus is Lord because Jesus is alive. He is the

living God who still to this day retains his

glorified human body and will have it forevermore.

You can't say that about Moses. or Muhammad,

or Buddha, or Joseph Smith, or any other man.

All those guys have rotted in their graves, right?

Only one man has ever been raised from the dead

and remained alive forever. Only one guy. There's

nobody to match him. There's nobody to compare

him to. The one man who is now declared to be

the only mediator between God and us as human

beings. the man Christ Jesus. He is King of kings

and Lord of lords, risen indeed. Amen? Amen.

Now, I know it's kind of late in the message

to do this, but grab your Bibles. I'm going to

keep this short because I know it's a family

service, but we need to look at our theme verse,

our theme passage for the Passion Week. John

John 14:1–6

14, verses 1 through 6. So turn there. By the

way, Adam did a great job expositing this part

of the text last Sunday, so I won't go into too

much detail. If you missed the Palm Sunday message,

go back and listen. It's worth it. Because this

is such an important passage for us to understand.

John 14, beginning in verse 1. Remember, these

are tense moments between the Lord and his disciples,

right? And Jesus looks at these men whom he loves

so much. And he knows he's about to have to say

goodbye. You're going to flee. You're going to

run away. And I'm going to go to the cross. And

this is a difficult moment for him. And so he

looks at them and says, do not let your heart

be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in

me. Do you see the deity being connected there?

Believe in God. Believe in me. In my father's

house are many dwelling places. If it were not

so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare

a place for you. Isn't that comforting? Isn't

that great? And if I go and prepare a place for

you, I will come again and receive you to myself.

He's gonna come and usher us into one of the

Father's rooms. And there, so that where I am,

there you may be also. And you know the way where

I'm going. And Thomas said, Lord, we don't know

where you're going. How do we know the way? Adam

talked about that last Sunday, right? Very important.

Verse 6 is the key. Jesus said to him, I am the

way and the truth and the life. No one comes

to the Father but through me. That is, guys,

one of the most powerful statements that Jesus

made during his days on the earth. Listen now.

It is an airtight, unrelenting statement that

opponents of the gospel will always despise because

it leaves no room for pluralism. They will always

hate this statement. And therefore, you should

memorize it. They despise it because it leaves

no room for this idea of a big tent salvation

scenario where everybody can find their own path

to God. And they can do it their own way. And

they can do it on their own terms. No, no, no.

Jesus doesn't leave room for that. He could not

have been more clear. If you want to know the

way or the path that leads to heaven, it runs

through me. Period. I am, I embody the way. And

if you want to know what truth is, what is true

about the big issues of life and death and everything

in between, especially if you want to know what

the truth is about atonement and the forgiveness

of sins, look to me, look to my word because

I am the truth. I embody the truth. It's in a

person. And if it's eternal life that you're

seeking rather than judgment and wrath, then

listen closely, I am that life. To reject Jesus

is to reject life and to choose death instead.

I am the life, he says. I embody it. Listen,

if you're here this morning and you don't know

Christ as Savior and Lord, but you're serious

about finding a way to God and to eternal life,

the news I have for you is this. There's no other

option but Jesus. You can listen to every podcast.

You can read every book. You can listen to all

the so -called experts out there. I implore you

to look to God's word. There is no other option

but Jesus. He is the only begotten son of the

Father who existed as God yet took on flesh to

live a perfect life and die as a substitute for

your sins. Will you receive it? This is an utterly

exclusive statement. that Jesus makes here. Ignore

it at your peril. Don't believe that you can

find your own path to heaven. Don't believe the

lie that the world tells you that if you just

do enough good things that you will earn a spot

in heaven. Isn't that the like, isn't that the

way the world see things? Oh, everybody who dies,

every funeral, such a good person. He's in heaven.

That's not what the Bible says. Don't believe

the lie that's out there that if I just do enough

good things, I earn a spot up there. Don't think

that by being a good person, whatever that means,

right? What does it mean to be a good person?

Don't believe that by being a good person that

you get a free pass. Because without having a

sacrifice for your sins, you still owe a debt

to God. How are you going to pay that? What's

the currency that you have to pay the debt that

you owe for all the things that you've done?

How are you going to take that beyond physical

death? How do you do this? The only question

is, who's going to pay the debt that you owe?

Is it going to be you with your eternal soul

or is it going to be Jesus as your substitute?

But mark my words, the debt will be paid because

God's perfect justice demands that it be paid.

And now that choice is up to you. Do you want

to pay it or do you want it late on Jesus? And

when your soul passes from this life into eternity

and you realize, my goodness, what Jesus claimed

in John 14 is true, by that time it's too late.

It's too late. And so that's why we preach the

gospel with force and clarity on a morning like

this. The motivation is love. Immense love for

every person in this room. Because I want to

see every one of you saved. I want to see everybody

in heaven. And so on a day like this, of all

days, that we preach the brutal truth filled

with love about how we can be saved. There's

only one way. There's only one way. Trust in

Christ alone. Turn from your sinful ways. Believe

the good news of the cross and the resurrection.

And be saved this morning. Now, let me wrap up

by addressing those of you who do know Christ

this morning, who have trusted in him by faith

alone. What does it mean to live in light of

the resurrection? Do you ever think about what

it means to live with resurrection power? Let

me give you a couple reasons. First of all, it

means living in light of who God says you are.

Living in light of who God says you are as a

redeemed son or a redeemed daughter. And that

means a whole bunch of things. It means recognizing

that, yes, once you were like everyone else in

the world, you were formerly dead in your sins,

and that Christ made you alive. He made you a

new creation in him. You've been born again by

the Spirit, and now you are united to Christ

in all things. You have the privilege of abiding

with him in a personal relationship. Recognize

that truth, you guys. Be who God says you are.

It's striving to live out the truth that you've

been set free from slavery to sin. You are now

able by the Spirit to live a transformed, progressively

holy life. That's who God says you are. It means

realizing that you've now been called and empowered

by the Spirit to walk in all the good works that

God has set forth in front of you to say, go

walk in these things. Show the world who I am

by doing these good things. In its most basic

sense, resurrection life means cooperating with

the Spirit and becoming more and more like the

Savior as years go by. Again, becoming who God

has declared that we are as His children. And

all of these things are a reality for us because

the tomb was empty. Resurrection power. Today,

tomorrow, this week. resurrection power. Be who

God says you are now. Second thing, having resurrection

life means maintaining this certain hope that

we have, this confident expectation that physical

death is not the end for us, right? That someday

soon God is going to raise us up to new and perfected

life with him for all eternity. That is what

we call our living hope, our living hope. It's

grounded in Jesus's own victory over sin and

death. in his own resurrection. He is our pioneer

who goes before us and shows us the way. If we

pick up our cross, dying to self, so that we

can follow after Jesus, then we'll also follow

after him in resurrection. That's the promise

that we have. And so these truths, you guys,

gives us strength and motivation to persevere

in the faith to our very last breath. It's what

gives us peace and joy in the midst of the suffering

and grief of this world. We know that someday

we will be with Christ forever, even if for a

little while we have to show patient endurance.

One last passage. Paul puts it this way in 2

Timothy. If we died with him, we will also live

with him. Have you died with him? Have you died

with him by putting your trust in him alone?

If so, you will live with him. If we endure to

the end, we will also one day reign with him.

Friends, the glorious hope of resurrection lies

right before us, and it is wondrous. Jesus Christ

is risen. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father,

There just aren't human words to fully expound

on the importance of the cross and the resurrection.

Lord, I don't think we will understand it until

we gaze upon your face and thank you for all

of it. But here on this side of heaven, on earth,

Lord, I ask that by your spirit you would lead

us and guide us into as much truth about this

as we can possibly take in. and that it would

cause us to live lives that are different, lives

filled with this thing we call resurrection power,

recognizing what you've done, who we are now,

and then just walking into that and living it

out by the power of the Spirit that you've given

us. Lord, seal those things into our hearts and

minds today. Let us be changed because we've

seen this in your word. And Father, for anybody

here this morning who was on the fence, who came

here this morning because maybe they got invited

or a family member or they just haven't yet decided

that you are real and true. Father, would you

speak to their hearts by your spirit this morning

and draw them to yourself and speak to them about

the fact that these things are real. These are

historical things. These are theologically true

things and they make a difference. Not just now,

but for all eternity. Would you save some here

this morning, Lord? Father, help us now as we

come back to singing that we would sing these

lyrics, these words, not just out of rote memory

or just from our lips, but from the depths of

our hearts because we love you so much and because

you've done so many things for us. Help us to

sing well your praise and your glory right now.

In Jesus' name, the Savior, we pray. Amen.