The Week that Changed the World

This was a message I had the privilege to preach at Vennachar Free Methodist Church Easter Sunday. Spring is my favorite time of the year. To me it represents new life, winter in its bleakness has past, robins long since back, the maple syrup run is over & the frogs are croaking. During the winter season here everything appears to have died, but in truth they have become dormant, awaiting the warmth of spring. Here is a quote from Martin Luther "Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection not only in the bible but in every leaf of spring!" Resurrection=a raising from the dead or a coming back to life.

Last week was Palm Sunday a remembrance of the Sunday Jesus triumphantly road into Jerusalem on a colt with the crowds throwing palm leaves in front of Him proclaiming Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna is translated "come save now" as the Jews were looking to Jesus as a king who would save them or deliverer them from Roman rule. They were NOT proclaiming Him as their Messiah!

Christianity is based upon 5 simple truths. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ. This is not because Joseph had sex with Mary a virgin & she got pregnant, but rather that Mary miraculously conceived of the Holy Spirit our beloved Savior Jesus Christ.

The second truth is the fact that Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary. Not for any wrong He had done, but in reality He died in our rightful place. He became our substitute & was crucified for our sins. He became the Sacrificial Lamb that took away the sins of the world. He was the final blood sacrifice for our sins. He became our substitute, it is our sins that nailed Him to the cross, He took our place.

The next truth is the resurrection of Christ, when He arose from the grave. This is an area of the gospel that the church seemingly only focuses on during Easter & yet without the resurrection of Christ our religion would be the same as any other. Humanity including the church tend to set aside the supernatural aspect of Jesus. Here in North America we believe in medical science & history more than the simple truths of the Bible. It has always astounded me that such a large percentage of the Christian church today can believe in salvation (supernatural) & yet NOT the healing & deliverance our Lord teaches us in His Holy Word. Our Christian life is to exemplify the resurrection life Christ has placed within us. Jesus Himself foretold His suffering, crucifixtion, death & resurrection in a prophetic word He spoke in Mark 8:31.

The entire New Testament is based upon the forgiveness of our sins. It also shows us the necessity of our forgiving those who have wronged us. For us this is not optional, but mandatory as is so powerfully pointed out to us in Matthew 6:14,15 paraphrased if we choose not to forgive others the Lord will not forgive ours. We totally depend upon this forgiveness, which came to us by the finished work of the cross, for our eternity in glory. We as believers have been justified, the slate wiped clean, to the degree it is as if we had never sinned at all, miraculous or what?

The last we look too, & trust in, is the Grace of God. The unmerited favor (we didn't deserve His forgiveness.) The operational power of God (His dunamis supernatural power to accomplish or manifest the impossible.) We are saved by Grace not by works. The works are done out of thanksgiving for what He has done in our lives. This does not mean we continue in our sinful ways but turn from them Romans 5:21-Romans 6:2.

Now onward to the week that changed the world! These are but a few of the events leading up to the our Lord being crucified.

Monday Jesus cleansed the temple Mark 11:15-18 as He began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers. Later he said, is it not written "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?" But you have made it a "den of thieves."

In Luke 20:1-8 the Sanhedrin challenged His authority as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel. These scriptures are an excellent read & to a degree show the mindset of denominational Christianity.

Mary anointed Jesus head & feet with costly oil John 12:3-11. To anoint a guests head was traditional but her anointing His feet was an act of worship.

This was the last straw for Judas Iscariot, the devil convinced him it was now time to betray Jesus to those who desired to have Him killed, Luke 22:1-6.

Jesus partook of Passover with the disciples & instituted the Lords Supper Luke 22:19-20.

Christ prayed for Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane "Father if it is your will take this cup from me, not my will but thy will be done." Luke 22:39-44

Jesus walked the gauntlet before the Sanhedrin. There were approximately 80 members to the Sanhedrin who punched Him spit in His face & even ripped out His beard to the degree that scripture tells us He could not even be recognized Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 53:1-9.

The Sanhedrin turned Him over to Pilate to be condemned, sentenced & crucified Luke 23:13-23. BUT WHY WHAT HAD HE DONE? He was not a thief like those He was crucified with. Healed the sick(the blind, lepers, lame, on & on while showing compassion to widows & orphans, feeding the hungry, need I say more.

Matthew 27:51-54 Jesus had fulfilled His work on earth, the shedding of His innocent blood & sacrificial death for the remission of our sins. IT IS FINISHED! The finished work of the cross!

But praise God there is more THE STONE IF ROLLED AWAY! Joseph of Arimanthea, a prominent council member(a rich man) had Jesus body placed in his tomb Mark 15:42-47 Mark 16:1-6 He is Risen, Hallelujah! John 20 & 21 serve as inspirational teachings that need to be read more than once a year.

There are numerous perspectives on who crucified Christ & I will share mine. The Romans, Pilate gave the order. The Jews demanded it "Crucify Him!" The devil certainly had his part in it, using Judas Iscariot as he did, stirring up the crowds (as was so vividly shown in the movie The Passion of Christ.)

I have what is considered a vivid imagination & when you tie that to scripture wowser is the only term that comes to mind. In Matthew 12:38-40 Jesus spoke to the scribes & Pharisees prophetically of His future (my perspective He would spend three days & nights in hell.) Tie this to Colossians 2:13-15 my take Jesus is in hell with the devil & his demons chucking at Jesus mocking Him saying "you thought you were the Son of God & look at you now;" After three days the Holy Spirit said to Jesus "prophecy is fulfilled" Jesus looked up at the devil & roared with laughter (you actually thought you could hold the Son of God!) That is the picture we have hanging in our living room "the laughing Jesus!"

Ultimately God had a plan for salvation of His favorite creation, mankind. This became an absolute after Adam & Eve partook of the forbidden fruit I refer to as SIN (simply any & all disobedience to God.) Within that plan was the fact Jesus the Son of God (the second part of the Godhead) had to leave glory to become God in the flesh (incarnate) to live a sinless life & become the Sacrificial Lamb to die for the sins of mankind.

Whatever you are dealing with today, rejection, shame, un-forgiveness, sickness, that feeling of wanting to give up, matters not; it was dealt with at the cross, IT IS FINISHED! He has given us the victory, in the wonderful name of Jesus!

I closed the service with a simple salvation prayer & if you do not know Jesus as your Savior you too can come into a personal relationship with Him, "Father God forgive me my sins, come into my heart Lord Jesus & help me to become the person you want me to be. Thank-you Father for saving my soul & making me whole, I pray in Jesus name, amen! This prayer is the initial step
into a walk with Jesus & His followers in the local church from this day forward.

Two final scriptures Romans 10:9 "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus & believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." It is not optional to believe in the resurrection! Yes the resurrection of Christ was supernatural so is salvation, only BELIEVE!

1 John 3:8 "For this purpose was the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." The devil thought he had once & for all taken Jesus out of the picture, NOT! What he had done was fulfill that Jesus had spoken John 2:19 "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ & His resurrection our lives are no longer the same & the world around us is changed.

Hope this Food for Thought has put a hunger into you to learn more of the one & only Savior of this world. Look forward to hearing from you!

Ken Gorham a servant of the Lord