Saul and the Road to Damascus

Last week we talked about Stephen, who was the first follower of Jesus to be put to death for his beliefs. However, as we discussed he was not the last, and there was one man who viewed it as basically his personal mission to stamp out all Christians: his name was Saul.

Saul was there watching Stephen be stoned. It’s not clear whether he participated, but it is clear that he is happy about it. Someone read Acts 8:1-3.

1 And Saul approved of their killing him.

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.

Saul approved of Stephen’s stoning—a stoning that was more of a mob action than an execution. Saul saw this man stoned to death and thought, “Yep, we did a good job.” And then from that day forward, Saul made it his personal mission in life to stamp out all Christians. Someone read Acts 9:1-2.

9 Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Saul is not just content to stamp out the Christians in Jerusalem. He hears about Christians in a place called Damascus, and he asks the High Priest if he can go there personally and stamp them out—to arrest these men and women following Christianity and drag them against their will back to Jerusalem to be tried in court. And knowing Saul, he would probably be happy to see them all die like Steven.

He basically wants all Christians to die, he wants the whole movement to die before it can get any further. Why? Why is Saul like this?

Well, if there is one person in the Bible who we know a lot about, it’s this man named Saul. As we’ve talked about before, he is the apostle Paul, who wrote the majority of the epistles in the Bible. He is responsible for writing the books of Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.  He wrote 13 books of the Bible. And if those books give us one thing, it’s insight into the mind of Paul. He talks about himself, critically, and why he did the things he did.

Keep a finger in where we are in Acts because we’re going to come back but we’re going to flip around a bit to understand Saul a little bit better. First I need someone to read Acts 22:3-4 and someone else to read Philippians 3:4-6, so we can read these back to back. (Wait til the two identified students both find their verses)

Okay read Acts 22:3-4.

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,

I want you guys to flip to Philippians. Someone please read Philippians 3:4-6.

4 even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

In the Acts segment Paul is giving a speech about himself and n the Philippians segment it is literally Paul writing about himself. In both these cases he’s talking about who he was before he was a Christian and a bit of why he did it. So who was Saul/Paul and why did he do the things he did?

Saul was born Jewish. He wasn’t just Jewish he said—he was the Jew’s Jew. That’s like saying you’re a man’s man—you’re the man that other men think of when they think of the most manly man ever. Saul was the most Jewish Jew ever. He took pride and comfort in his status. Because unlike the disciples, Saul wasn’t like a fisherman or a carpenter—no Saul was literally raised to be a leader in the Jewish community. He was educated by one of the leading members of the council—Gamaliel—who is the guy we talked about a few weeks ago who convinced the other council members to ignore the threat of Peter and John and the disciples.

Saul was educated and taught in the law. He was taught not just to read and write—but to read and write well. In a time where if a person knew how to read it was a few words, Saul was being taught to write persuasive essays and debate his faith.

And because Saul was raised to be a leader and defender of his faith, his faith and his identity as a Jewish man was literally the most important thing about him. He wanted to uphold the Law to the upmost of his ability, not just that he was upholding the law himself, but be a leader and make sure everyone else was upholding the law.

So what does this have to do with persecuting Christians? Saul saw them as a threat to Judaism, the Law, and God. In his opinion it’s heresy and blasphemy and basically a cancer growing in the heart of Judaism. And he is personally going to cure this cancer by removing it from the rest of Israel.

So Saul heads to Damascus, and things don’t quite go as he expects.

Someone read Acts 9:3-9.

3 Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Saul is on his way to Damascus—intent to get there and drag people to “justice” when suddenly a light from heaven surrounds him. He falls to the ground, overwhelmed, and hears a voice. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

And Saul is just like, “OMG. Who are you? What is this? What is happening?”

And of course it’s Jesus, he’s sort of like, “Have you been persecuting more than one group recently? Obviously it’s me, Jesus.”

If I was Saul, I’d be super worried at this point that Jesus was here to like personally strike me dead. Instead, Jesus is like, “Get up and go to the city, and there you will be told what to do.”

Saul gets up to go, and he can’t see anything—the light struck him blind. He can’t see. So the men with him have to lead him to Damascus. Fortunately .the men around him also heard the voice—even if they didn’t see anything—so they don’t think Saul is like crazy. They are just as stunned as he is.

Three days on the way to Damascus Saul is without sight, and he fasts during that time.

Someone read Acts 9:10-17.

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name.”  15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; 16 I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

In Damascus there happens to be a Christian named Ananias. God comes to him in a vision, and Ananias is all like, “I am here God! Tell me what to do! I am yours to command.”

And then, God tells him what to do—he tells him to go and find a guy named Saul and heal him.

Now must of us think that if God appeared to us and told us what to do, we’d do it. That if God would just speak to us clearly, we would follow him without question. But the Bible shows us over and over and over again that that’s not true. God tells people directly to do something and instead the people are like, “Um, God, are you sure you meant that?”

So instead of being like, “Yes, God! I’ll do it” Ananias instead is like, “Umm, God? I’ve heard about Saul before. I don’t know if you know this, but he’s like a bad dude. Surely, you don’t mean him. Surely you’re going to like smite him or something. Surely you wouldn’t ask me to heal the guy who has killed so many of your followers.”

But God is just like, “I have chosen Saul. You have no idea what he is going to go through for me—what I’m going to ask him to do—and he will take word of me to the Gentiles and Kings and everyone. He will spread my word as no one has before, and he will suffer for my sake.”

Maybe it’s that last bit about suffering that gets Ananias out the door, like “I hate him, but at least he’s going to suffer.” I don’t know. But in the end, Ananias does go out and he does heal Saul, in the name of Jesus.

Someone read Acts 9:18-22

18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. Then he got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah.

Saul’s sight is restored. It’s like he had cataracts and they fall off his eyes and he can see again! And as soon as he gets up, he is baptized—a symbol of a new life, that his old sins are washed away and a public declaration that he is now a follower of Jesus.

After that, Saul hangs out in Damascus eating food and recovering and just taking some time. I also imagine during this time he was talking to the disciples, trying to learn everything he could about Jesus.

Then as soon as Saul regains his strength, he goes to the synagogue and starts proclaiming Jesus. He’s doing the very thing he came to arrest people before.

Everyone who hears him is stunned. They know who Saul is—they’ve heard about his mission to take out all the Christians. He knows what he came there to do. And instead he’s doing the exact opposite.

This complete change, this complete turn-around is a gamechanger, it’s an inspiration, it’s a powerful show of the change Jesus can have on someone’s life, how an encounter with Jesus can change everything. They can’t deny it when they see Saul. Something happened to Saul—someone happened to Saul. And considering how much Saul had invested in the Jewish establishment, no one can believe this would be a hoax or a joke. Saul must have seen something, he must have encountered something. This is real.

Saul has too much to lose for it be anything but real.

Someone read Acts 9:23-25.

23 After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Saul’s witness is too powerful—it’s too much. And soon the very people he used to work for want him out. It’s too much, for him to turn traitor. So they plot to kill him.

Fortunately, somehow Saul gets wind of this. Maybe he still has friends in the Jewish establishment and they leak it to him. I don’t know how he finds out, but he does. And the people who want to kill him are watching the gates all day and all night, waiting for Saul to come out so they can kill him.

Saul has to sneak out. The other disciples help him. They go to the city wall, they find an opening and then they lower him from the wall in a basket. It probably took a bunch of dudes to do this, it’s not easy to lower another person in a basket without just straight up dropping him. But Saul does make it out.

There is an irony in all of this. That Saul, who was the hammer of the Jewish government, the one who was hunting Christians down, and instead Saul is now the one who is hunted.

Someone read Acts 9:26-31.

26 When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. 30 When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

31 Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Saul escapes Damascus, where he became public enemy number one, and goes to Jerusalem. There he attempts to join the Christians in Jerusalem and they basically are too scared of him to let him join. News didn’t travel back then like it does now. There was probably nothing Saul could have said or done that would convince the disciples in Jerusalem that he wasn’t there to kill him.

But one guy goes out on a limb—a guy named Barnabas. He takes Saul at his word, that he’s not there to get on the inside of their organization so that he can take them down from within. Barnabas then takes Saul directly to the apostles—Peter and John and all of them. Barnabas vouches for Saul, and gives him a chance.

And the apostles listen. And then they basically set Saul loose on Jerusalem. He immediately starts preaching. And once again it’s this huge turn around. Everyone knew Saul, everyone knew who he was and what he stood for. He was the Jew’s Jew. There was no one more Jewish than Saul. And now suddenly he is proclaiming Jesus?

It’s unfathomable!

And again people want to kill him. And again the other believers have to basically disappear him and send him somewhere else.

And the church continues to increase!

This is just the beginning of Saul, and what he is going to do. We’re going to see much more of him, because as I’ve already said, he wrote most of the New Testament. Saul isn’t going anywhere, and no one is going to stop him.

He is going to preach the word until the day he dies, even though it has cost him his social standing, his job, everything. It doesn’t matter. Because now Saul knows the truth, he knows Jesus is the way, and no one is going to stop him from boldly proclaiming that all over the world.

Stephen

Last week we talked about how the apostles were spreading the good news of Jesus—and people were flocking to them. Thousands of people heard their message and believed, which made the religious leaders in Jerusalem very angry. They arrested Peter and John and told them to stop, but they refused. The next time they arrested them they had them flogged, but that still didn’t stop them.

They refused to stop, and kept spreading the word. No human authority was going to make them stop.

But flogging wasn’t the only thing the religious leaders could do. There was worse to come. But before we get to that, let’s start at Acts 6:1-7.

6 Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. 2 And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, 4 while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” 5 What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

7 The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

This chapter starts out by telling us that the disciples were increasing in number, and because of that increase there was a problem between two groups: the Hellenists and the Hebrews. Now this can be a little confusing, because we generally think of the word Hebrews as meaning the people that became the Jewish people—the Hebrews were what they were called back in the time of Moses. So it came seem like there is a fight going on between the Jewish people and another people. But that’s not what’s happening here. While there were Gentile—or non-Jewish people who believed at this point—it wasn’t a group that the apostles were actively talking to yet. The vast majority of believers were Jewish. So this is not a fight between Jewish believers and non-Jewish believers. This is a fight between Greek speaking Jewish people and Aramaic speaking Jewish people. Remember Aramaic was the common language in Israel at that time, Aramaic was the language that Jesus spoke.

We’ve talked about before that people will find the oddest reasons to discriminate against others and decide one group is better than another. This is one of those odd reasons—it had to do with what language they spoke, and I’m sure there was a correlation between language and a cultural difference. They were all Jewish, they just spoke different languages.

So the Greek Jews are angry because they think their widows are being neglected as compared to the Aramaic Jews. And based on everyone’s response, and how they create a team of Greek Jews to deal with this problem, it’s probably true. The Aramaic Jews are probably looking out more for their widows, and there are probably more Aramaic Jews, and that meant the Greek Jews were being marganlized.

So this issue is brought before the twelve apostles, who then gather everyone. Peter and the apostles are like, “We, the Twelve, don’t really have time to deal with making sure everything is fair between you guys. Our job right now is to spread the word. But we hear this issue and it is a problem.” So to deal with the problem, they choose seven Greek Jewish men to deal with it—to make sure the widows in the Greek Jewish community are served.

You can tell the men they chose are Greek Jews by their names. Stephen is not an Aramaic name, it’s a Greek name.

Everyone is pleased with this course of action, and they all pray over these men. Then they all get back to work—spreading God’s word, helping the poor and the widows. And the number of disciples continues to grow.

Someone read Acts 6:8-15.

8 Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. 11 Then they secretly instigated some men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. 13 They set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us.” 15 And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Stephen—who is one of the seven Greek guys called out previously—is a great guy. He’s full of gracy and power, he is able to do great works in Jesus name. But one day when he’s at a synagogue, a bunch of other non-Christian Greek Jews start a debate with him. But Stephen is so filled with wisdom and the Holy Spirit, that they don’t stand a chance. Stephen completely owns them.

They are not happy about this. They don’t like the stuff Stephen is saying, and they don’t like that he can beat them in a debate. So they start telling people that Stephen is blaspheming against Moses and God. Remember blasphemy is saying something bad about God—saying that God does something against his nature, or something that is just blatantly untrue about God. Today lots of people say bad things about God all the time—without a concern for that. But back then in ancient Jerusalem they took this kind of stuff very seriously, especially the religious leaders.

So they had Stephen arrested. Then they find some people to lie and say before the council that Stephen is always saying bad things about the temple and the law, and that he is preaching that Jesus is going to destroy everything.

Everyone turns to Stephen, and they see he has a face of an angel—what does that mean? Maybe that he looked innocent and unconcerned? Maybe that he looked like he was shining with a holy light? I don’t know, but it was something special.

Someone please read Acts 7:1-8.

7 Then the high priest asked him, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen replied:

“Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you.’ 4 Then he left the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God had him move from there to this country in which you are now living. 5 He did not give him any of it as a heritage, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as his possession and to his descendants after him, even though he had no child. 6 And God spoke in these terms, that his descendants would be resident aliens in a country belonging to others, who would enslave them and mistreat them during four hundred years. 7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ 8 Then he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

They’re going to give Stephen a chance to respond to these accusations—and Stephen is going to use that chance to give a whole speech, and we’re actually going to walk through his speech here because it’s great and it’s a reminder of things we’ve studied in the past! So Stephen doesn’t go directly into talking about Jesus, instead he goes back to the beginning of the Hebrew people, the point when they were set aside as God’s chosen people. He goes back to Abraham.

He reminds them how God came to Abraham well before he lived in the Promised Land—in Israel. And that God told him to leave his country and follow him, and Abraham did! Because of Abraham’s faithfulness, God made him the father of his chosen people.

God even told Abraham that hard times would be ahead, that Abraham’s descendants would live as strangers in a strange land, that they would be enslaved and mistreated, but God promised him that he would judge that nation, and that he would bring his descendants out in the end.

Now I’m sure at this point you’re like “Umm, what does this have to do with anything Stephen?” And I bet the council members were wondering the same thing. Stephen has been brought here because of blasphemy against God, and talking about Jesus, and instead he’s giving them a history lesson.

But this is all part of Stephen’s master debating tactics. He’s got a point, he’s just got to set things up to get us there.

Someone read Acts 7:9-16.

9 “The patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and enabled him to win favor and to show wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout Egypt and Canaan, and great suffering, and our ancestors could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there on their first visit. 13 On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Then Joseph sent and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come to him, seventy-five in all; 15 so Jacob went down to Egypt. He himself died there as well as our ancestors, 16 and their bodies[a] were brought back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

Stephen continues his history lesson, going on to Joseph—who is Abraham’s great-grandson. He reminds everyone how Joseph was betrayed by his brothers—who are the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. These men who are the founders of the twelve tribes—who are remembered in many ways as men of God—were jealous of their brother and hated him, so they sold him as a slave.

But God was with Joseph—and as we’ve discussed in the past Joseph went through many terrible things in Egypt, but it all ended with him being second to only the pharaoh. Because of his position, Joseph was able to secure Egypt against the coming famine.

But the famine hit the rest of his family hard, and they came to Egypt asking for good. And that was God’s purpose for Joseph in Egypt. Despite his brothers’ evil towards him, God had a plan for Joseph, and God used Joseph’s position to save them all.

This is going to be a theme we see in Stephen’s lecture. That the majority of people—in this case all of Joseph’s brothers—are making bad decisions, and don’t understand a good thing amongst them when they see it. But God uses everything for his glory.

Someone read Acts 7:17-29.

17 “But as the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased and multiplied 18 until another king who had not known Joseph ruled over Egypt. 19 He dealt craftily with our race and forced our ancestors to abandon their infants so that they would die. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful before God. For three months he was brought up in his father’s house; 21 and when he was abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his words and deeds.

23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his relatives, the Israelites. 24 When he saw one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his kinsfolk would understand that God through him was rescuing them, but they did not understand. 26 The next day he came to some of them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor pushed Moses aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When he heard this, Moses fled and became a resident alien in the land of Midian. There he became the father of two sons.

The descendants of Abraham, the Hebrews, remained in Egypt past the time of Joseph. A new pharaoh who didn’t remember Joseph and everything he had done for Egypt was in power, and he dealt very harshly with the Hebrews. This story should be familiar to everyone, not only because we studied it, but because of movies like The Ten Commandments and The Prince of Egypt. The story of Moses is one of the most well known stories in the entire Bible.

God promises a deliverer to bring the people out of Egypt, and he gave them Moses. Moses actually ended up being raised in the house of Pharaoh, adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter.

But one day Moses was out seeing the Hebrews and he actually ended up killing an Egyptian, to protect an Hebrews. Because of this, Moses ended up fleeing Egypt, and went to the land of Midian.

I honestly thing Moses was planning to live out his entire life in Midian, never going back or worrying about his people. But that was not God’s plan.

Someone read Acts 7:30-34.

30 “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: 32 ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. 33 Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’

But God was done with Moses, and he appeared to him in the form of a burning bush. God speaks to Moses, tells him to take his sandals off, because it’s holy ground, and is like, “How dare you be ignoring the people in Egypt. You need to go to Egypt.”

If you remember the story of Moses, our lessons or the movies, you know this conversation wasn’t quite this simple or easy. Moses didn’t want to go to Egypt. He wanted his easy life. But God told him to go, and in the end Moses obeyed God and went.

Someone read Acts 7:35-43.

35 “It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out, having performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people as he raised me up.’ 38 He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 41 At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands. 42 But God turned away from them and handed them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

‘Did you offer to me slain victims and sacrifices
    forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 No; you took along the tent of Moloch,
    and the star of your god Rephan,
        the images that you made to worship;
so I will remove you beyond Babylon.’

Moses went to Egypt to be a liberator, but believe it or not, the Hebrews didn’t accept him at first. They were like, “psh, what are you doing here. Who are you?” And the Egyptians also laughed at him, because they were the people in power and didn’t expect Moses to be able to do anything. But the part that hurt the most, was the fact that his own people didn’t really believ ein him at first.

But Moses made many signs and wonders, he lead them out of Egypt, and to freedom! Moses did all these amazing things, and then he went up Mount Sinai to talk to God and get the law, and Moses turned his back for like five minutes and suddenly all the people he just liberated and did everything for, like went crazy!

They wanted to go back to Egypt! They wanted to worship a baby cow they made from their own gold, instead of the one true God who saved them. They saw the signs and wonders, they saw it all, and instead the turned their backs.

This is part of Stephen’s point again. God gives us amazing things, and we can’t see it. We turn our backs and disbelieve.

Someone read Acts 7:44-53.

44 “Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, 46 who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says,

49 ‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
    or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’

51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. 53 You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it.”

Stephen reminds them of the time of the Tabernacle, when instead of a Temple they had a tent. But then Solomon built a beautiful temple—which as we studied later got destroyed. The Temple of this time period is the second temple.

And basically, Stephen calls out their obsession with the Temple. He’s like “God doesn’t live in houses! God lives everywhere!!!” The Temple as we’ve talked about, was a critical element of Judaism. They viewed it as the place where God lived. But when Jesus died, the veil was torn, symbolizing God doesn’t just live there anymore. He lives everywhere.

But then Stephen gets to the heart of his message, why he went through his whole history lesson. He says that the people of Israel today—the ones who brought him to the council and the ones in the council are being just like the patriarchs who sold Joseph into slavery, or the Hebrews who turned their back on Moses and wanted to go back to Egypt. That God has done great and amazing things in front of them, and instead they are turning their backs on them and persecuting the people God has raised up.

He basically is calling them idiots who are bad at following God.

Let’s see how the council responds to this.

54 When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. 55 But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. 58 Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.

The council leaders are enraged. No one likes to be called an idiot, and they certainly don’t like to be compared to historical idiots who actively went against God. That’s not what these guys are about. They want to be good followers of God, and Stephen telling them that they’re not? It enrages them.

Stephen doesn’t see their anger, instead the Holy Spirit shows him heaven and the glory of God, with Jesus at his right hand. And he tells everyone what he sees—which makes them angrier.

They all rush him, grab him, drag him out into the city, and stone him. We’ve talked about stoning before—it’s literally means an execution where they throw stones at you until you die. And I don’t mean small tiny pebbles. I mean like big xeriscaping rocks. It would be like death by baseballs, except harder.

Stephen prays to Jesus while he is being stoned, and asks that Jesus not hold this sin against them, and then he dies. This makes Stephen the first Christian to die in the name of Jesus. He’s the first, but he’s not the last.

This section also introduces us to our first mention of a guy named Saul, who watched the whole thing. We’re going to talk about him a lot more in the future, but we’ll leave it there for now.

Peter Persists

Last week we talked about how even though Jesus was gone, he sent the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples. The Holy Spirits came upon the disciples and they became like they were on fire, wanting to preach the word and go out and spread to everyone the truth about Jesus.

So that’s where we’re picking up, with the disciples—particularly Peter and John—out preaching and spreading the word! Someone read Acts 3:1-10.

3 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms. 4 Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

So Peter and John go out to the temple at about three in the afternoon, and while they are there a man who can’t walk is carried in.

We’ve talked about before that being physically disabled during this time period was very hard. It’s not like today, where we have wheel chairs and accessibility laws to make sure that every person, no matter their abilities has an equal chance at a good and fulfilling life. During this time period, people with severe disabilities—if they weren’t rich or didn’t come from very rich families that would take care of them—basically ended up unable to work and became beggars. So this man is described as lame from birth—which means he hasn’t been able to walk since he was born. And basically, people would bring him to the gate of the Temple every day so he could beg for money, that was the only way he could survive.

When the lame man sees Peter and John, he doesn’t think of them as anyone special. He just asks for money from them. But Peter stops, looks at him, and is like, “Hey dude, look at us.” So the disabled man looks at them, expecting that Peter is going to give him something, but Peter is like, “Actually I don’t have money.” At this point I imagine the disabled man was just sighing like “Why are you bothering me then?” But Peter continues and is like, “Here is what I can give you: in the name of Jesus Christ, stand up and walk.”

It’s important that Peter heals the man in Jesus’s name. Peter is not Jesus—he’s not able to heal on his own. But with Jesus and the Holy Spirit backing him, he is able to heal this man.

Peter grabs the man by his right hand and helps him to his feet—the man can suddenly stand! The man can’t believe it! He jumps up! He stands! He walks! He enters the temple with them and he’s not just walking he’s leaping up high and praising God.

Remember this is a man who has been unable to walk since the day he was born. This is the first time in his entire life that he is able to walk.  He can’t believe it, and he’s so happy, he’s dancing and praising God.

Everyone sees him—and they all know who he is—this is a man they have passed every day for years. And they are completely stunned to see him able to walk, jumping for joy, and praising God.

Someone read Acts 3:11-19.

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. 12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

17 “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out,

Peter sees all the people gathering to see the man he healed, and he uses this as an opportunity to preach at them, and spread the good news. He calls them out for being amazed. He’s like “How can you be surprised. God gave us Jesus—who did even better things than this—and he was rejected by everyone.” Peter calls them out for participating in the death of Jesus.

I want to touch on something here—there have been times in human history, where people who have called themselves Christians have blamed Jewish people specifically for the death of Jesus. Christians have used this excuse to persecute Jewish people, and to view them as evil people because they participate in the death of Jesus. And sometimes they pull out verses like Peter saying “You killed the Author of life” to support that.

But I want to be clear about something—it is not Jewish people’s fault Jesus died. And if you keep reading Peter’s speech, he makes that clear to. Jesus’s death was part of God’s plan. It is ALL of our fault Jesus died—even us today, who weren’t there at the time. Jesus died for our sins.

Peter is just calling these specific people out on their particular sin of participating in calling for Jesus’s death. But then he acknowledges that it was a sin of ignorance—they didn’t know the truth. He also says it’s not just their sin but also that of their rulers—which include non-Jewish people like the Romans.

Even Peter participated in Jesus’s death—by hiding and denying him. We are all to blame. No one is specifically more to blame than any other person.

Jesus died because of and for everyone, and because of his death, we all have a chance to repent, which is what Peter is calling them to here: to repent of their sin and turn to Jesus. 

Someone read Acts 4:1-4.

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, 2 much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

Peter is out speechifying in the Temple. The priests, captain of the temple, and the Sadducees—a group of religious leaders—come out and are annoying by all this teaching. Remember these are the same guys who connived to get Jesus out of the way. They thought that by having Jesus killed, it would end this whole Jesus thing. That his followers would just fall away. Instead, here they are months after his death, and there is a crowd of people listening to Peter talk about Jesus.

So they’re not very happy about it—they try to stop it by arresting Peter and John. But it’s too late. The Bible says five thousand people heard and believed that day.

Someone read Acts 4:5-15.

5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11 This Jesus is

‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
    it has become the cornerstone.’

12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus. 14 When they saw the man who had been cured standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 So they ordered them to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another. 

So all the religious leaders assemble the next morning in Jerusalem—they need to decide what to do about Peter and John. They bring Peter and John out of jail and are like, “How did you heal this dude?”

And Peter is basically like, “Have you even been paying attention? You are asking me how this guy was healed! He was healed in the name of Jesus who you crucified but God raised from the dead.” And then Peter quotes the Old testament at them, which I’m sure drives them insane—because these are the religious leaders—if anyone knows the Old Testament, it’s them.

The religious leaders are amazed by Peter and John—because these guys were just fishermen a few years ago. Where did they get this ability to speak and familiarity with the Old Testament? And the leaders recognized them as companions of Jesus. They also recognize the guy they cured—they can’t argue it’s a hoax. They’ve seen this disabled man begging at the gates of the temple every day for years. There is no doubt in their minds that he was lame, and now he is walking.

The religious leaders don’t really know what to do about this, so they send Peter and John out of the room so they can discuss the matter privately.

Someone read Acts 4:16-22.

16 They said, “What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it. 17 But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them again, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

Since they cannot deny what Peter done, they’re just like “Let’s just give them a warning and tell them to never do this ever again.” So they call Peter and John back in and are like, “You are not allowed to teach about Jesus anymore.”

Peter and John aren’t like “Okay, that sounds good.” Nope, instead they say that they have to listen to God before they listen to them, and they will not—cannot—stop speaking about what they have seen and heard.

The leaders threaten them again, but they don’t really have a way to punish them what with five thousand people who support them, so they let them go.

None of these warnings stop the disciples from preaching and sharing God’s word. Someone read Acts 5:12-16.

12 Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. 16 A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured.

This is the point where we start calling Jesus’s disciples, apostles instead in the Bible. The big difference between those two words is that we use the word disciple for when they are actively following Jesus, and we usually use the word apostle for after Pentecost, when they are filled with the Holy Spirit.

So despite the warnings from the priests, the apostles do not stop teaching and healing. The preach and teach and even more people become believers—men and women. They healed tons of people, in the Temple, in Jerusalem.

They won’t stop just because the high priests asked them to. They are going to keep going, because it’s what God wants them to do.

Someone read Acts 5:17-24.

17 Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, 18 arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” 21 When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.

When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on.

The Temple leaders are not happy about this, so they have the apostles arrested and thrown into prison. But God does not want the apostles in prison, so he sends an angel to open the prison doors and send them out. The angel tells them to “Go to the temple and tell everyone the message.” Basically God is affirming them, saying they are doing a good job, to keep doing the good work, and don’t let things like prison stop them.

So the apostles go to the temple and keep teaching.

The high priests don’t know about this, so they go and call a council and want to have the prisoners brought before them—except there are no prisoners! The prison is locked, the guards still there, but they opened the doors and no one was inside. The guards and the priests don’t know what to make of this, they don’t know what to think.

Someone read Acts 5:25-32.

25 Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” 26 Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

27 When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Someone tells the council that the men they arrested are back at the temple and teaching again!! So they send guards to go get them, and stop them. They grab the apostles again, and bring them before the council.

The high priests are like, “Dudes, we told you not to do this! We told you not to teach and yet here you are! What is wrong with you?”

And Peter is like, “We have to obey God rather than humans. God raised up Jesus, and brought him to give us repentance and forgiveness. We witnessed all of this, and we cannot and will not stop.”

Mic drop, Peter.

Someone read Acts 5:33-39.

33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 35 Then he said to them, “Fellow Israelites,[a] consider carefully what you propose to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them—in that case you may even be found fighting against God!”

They were convinced by him,

The council members hearing this are furious. They basically think Peter has come in here and disrespected them right to their faces. They want to kill him. But a Pharisee on the council named Gamaliel stands up and is like, “Hey guys, let’s take a breather and think a minute. Remember our history. Remember how many people in the past claimed to be somebody, got some followers, and then later when the leader died their followers disappeared. This is the way of life and history. Because things started by men, they end. And if it does happen to be by God—nothing we can do will be able to stop it. So why don’t we just let history run it’s course and determine if this thing is real or not.”

Someone read Acts 5:40-42.

40 and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. 42 And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

So the council calls the apostles back in. And this time it’s not just a warning and they let them go. They have them flogged. That means they have them whipped and beaten—a very painful punishment. Then they’re like, “Remember, stop talking about Jesus!!” And they let them go.

The council members ten high five each other like, “Yeah, that’ll stop them. Now they know there is real punishment for their crimes. They will stop.”

But do the disciples stop?

No. They don’t. Every day in the temple, at home, in the streets, everywhere they go, they do not stop to preach and teach and tell everyone that Jesus is the Messiah.

A few months ago, Peter was hiding in fear because Jesus was arrested—afraid to be arrested and beaten to. He denied even knowing Jesus—three times! But now here we are, and Peter is not that man anymore. He has been arrested. He has been flogged. And he will never stop claiming Jesus, claiming he knows him, and explaining the truth.

That Jesus has come for everyone, that he is the way, the way to repentance, forgiveness, and God.

Unfortunately for the disciples, arrests and floggings are not the worst of things that are going to come there way, which is why we will see next week when we study Stephen.

Pentecost

We spent all of last year talking about Jesus. We spent most of the year talking about his ministry: how he healed people, how he met people where they were at, talked to them, and offered them forgiveness for their sins. He offered people who society had ignored a way back to God.

Jesus came to be the Messiah, but people didn’t understand what that meant. They thought Jesus came to restore Israel as an independent kingdom, back to the glory days of King David. And instead of raising an army and becoming a military liberator, Jesus was arrested, went to the cross, and died.

It was unexpected. His followers did not know what to do. They scattered and hid, uncertain what the future held.

Then Jesus came back! He was alive! We talked about this a little bit last year—the days after Jesus was raised from the dead. He appeared to his followers, and he spoke to them.

Let’s turn to the book of Acts! It’s the fifth book of the Bible. Someone please read Acts 1:1-3.

1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.  4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The author of Acts was Luke—who also wrote the Gospel of Luke. So Acts in a lot of ways it Luke Part 2. In the gospel, Luke covered Jesus’s life and teachings, but Acts covers the history of the early church—the struggles and trials the disciples had as this movement called Christianity grew and spread. Being a Christian back then wasn’t like it is now, here in America where Christianity is the majority religion. It was this new uncertain thing, where they didn’t have a Bible or anything written. They just had the words of the disciples and other people who followed Jesus. And the disciples didn’t always agree with each other about how to live out Jesus’s teaching! They’re going to have arguments and debates throughout the entire book. We’ll also see that not everyone was happy about Christianity coming on the scene. Jewish leaders were unhappy, but Christianity didn’t just stay in Judea, it spread to other places, like Rome, where people were also suspicious of their beliefs.

Acts covers these early times, when there was no written New Testament, when no one exactly knew what it meant to be a Christian, and Luke records it all for our knowledge, so we can see these early days of how the faith developed after Jesus left.

Acts starts at the very end of Jesus’s story, with Jesus having been resurrected and meeting with his disciples. For forty days, Jesus appeared after his resurrection. He told the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to stay, because, something was coming. He said that John the Baptist had baptized with water, but soon they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit!

Someone please read Acts 1:6-11.

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

We already talked about Jesus’s ascension, but I wanted to cover this specific passage describing it, because we see despite everything that’s happened, despite everything the disciples have seen, they still don’t get it! Here at the moment of ascension—when Jesus is returning to heaven—they ask him when he will restore Israel as an independent kingdom. Despite everything, they still think that’s what Jesus is about—to be a political Messiah who restores Israel.

Jesus tells them that it’s not their job to know what is to be—that’s God’s job. But he tells them they will receive another kind of power—not political but the power of the Holy Spirit, and they will be his witness over the entire earth, spreading the word of Jesus.

Jesus is leaving, but he’s not leaving them alone! Jesus is God, but so is the Holy Spirit! Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are all parts of the trinity, they are equally God. So Jesus may be leaving, but God is not leaving them.

And then Jesus ascends to the heaven, and the disciples just stare up at the sky. Then two angels appear to them and are like, “Stop staring up into heaven like some bozos! Jesus will return from heaven when he returns.”

Someone please read Acts 1:12-14.

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

After Jesus ascends, the disciples go back to Jerusalem. They go to an upper room where they are hanging out—the eleven remaining disciples plus Jesus’s female disciples probably like Mary Magdalene. As is pretty usual for the Bible, Luke doesn’t take the time to name the women. Not because they weren’t important to God, Jesus or his ministry, but because Luke was a human and prone to human failings. And as we’ve discussed at length, during this time period, it was pretty normal for men to ignore women and not really think they were important. But they were. They were also disciples and followers of Jesus. And they too were there, watching and waiting for the next sign from God. Jesus’s family is also there—his mother and his brothers. All of them are gathered, and they decide to constantly pray until the day comes that Jesus promised.

They don’t really know what to do. Jesus was their leader, and now he’s gone! Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem, so that’s what they’re doing, waiting and praying, hoping for some sort of direction. They wait and wait and wait, and it comes! Someone read Acts 2:1-13.

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

The disciples are all together, and suddenly from heaven there is a loud sound of wind and it fills the entire house. And then it’s like flames of fire appear among them, the flame resting on each of their them! This is the physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and they are filled with it! With the power of the Holy Spirit they begin to speak to each other in multiple languages. We call this day Pentacost.

Jewish people from every nation live in Jerusalem, and at the sound they gather and look at each other like “What is happening?” Because people know of the disciples, they know them. They know the disciples are mostly from Galilea, and if they speak more than one language it’s probably like Aramaic and Greek, not every language of the Roman empire. But everyone who hears them hears the disciples speaking as if they are speaking their native language. It’s crazy and seems impossible and most of them are like “How is this happening? What does it mean?” And other people are like, “These guys are drunk!”

Someone please read Acts 2:14-21.

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
        and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Peter steps up and begins to speak, addressing everyone in this crowd and he’s like, “Nah guys, we’re not drunk! It’s only 9 am! No, we’re not drunk, we are filled with the spirit as it says in the book of Joel.” Remember this crowd is all Jewish, so quoting the Old Testament to them would mean something.

So he quotes Joel where it talks about how God will pour his Spirit on people, and their will be prophesy, visions, and dreams. That even the lowest of society—the slaves—will have the spirit. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But Peter is not done talking, he has a whole speech! Someone read Acts 2:22-28.

22 “You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— 23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. 24 But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. 25 For David says concerning him,

‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    moreover my flesh will live in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One experience corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Peter goes on to tell them about Jesus—a person all these people would know about, because Jesus’s death was not that long ago. But he’s like “Hey remember Jesus? Remember all of his signs?  Remember the wonders he did? The healing and the teaching? Remember how he was killed—how we all participated in killing him? But this was all God’s plan! And God raised him up and freed him from death, because it was impossible for even death to keep God down!” And then Peter quotes more scripture—but particularly quotes David, who remember is like the greatest King of Israel ever and everyone there definitely knows who Peter is talking about.

David talked about how God wouldn’t abandon his soul to Death or let the Holy One experience corruption. Peter is saying this passage is about Jesus! That Jesus was the Holy One!

Then Peter continues his speech!

Someone please read Acts 2:29-36.

29 “Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
    nor did his flesh experience corruption.’

32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at[g] the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

36 Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Peter goes on to say that David—the greatest king of their history—died and was buried, and is still in the tomb to this day. David knew that God had promised him a descendent would be on his throne forever. And Peter is making that connection for everyone—that Jesus is the Messiah to be on his throne forever. Jesus is God, raised up, and they all say it! David did not ascend to the heavens, but Jesus did! And it’s Jesus they’ve been waiting for all of this time.

I just want you guys to appreciate that Peter giving a speech like this is crazy—Peter was a fisherman like three years ago, and here he is speechifying to all the people! But it’s not just his power and words, it’s the Holy Spirit speaking through him.

Someone please read Acts 2:37-42.

37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The people listening here all of Peter’s speech, and it cuts them. And they are like, “Peter, we believe you, but what should we do about it?”

Peter is like, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus.” Repent is a very churchy word so I want to make sure we all know what it means—it means to express sincere regret or remorse about a wrong doing or sin. To repent means to see the wrong things from your life and admit they are wrong. So he wants the people to repent of their sins and be baptized, and then their sins will be forgiven.

And lots of people listening they do just that they repent! And they become followers of Jesus—Christians!

This is the first time the disciples are doing anything without Jesus—the first time they’re trying to do stuff in his name—and they’re doing a great job! But they’re not alone. They have the Holy Spirit filling them and supporting them.

This is just like us today. We don’t have Jesus here walking and talking amongst us. We have the Holy Spirit who guides us and can fill us. Just like the disciples. And the Holy Spirit can help us lead others to God.

Someone please read Acts 2:43-47.

43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

With the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles are able to do signs and wonders in the name of Jesus—just like they were able to do with Jesus. This was the very beginning of Christianity, and they had no churches, no formal elected elders, or services. Instead it was just a group of people held together by their common beliefs. They sold their possessions and took the money to help each other. They shared their meals and they spent time at the Temple and they spread the love of Jesus.

And day by day the number of Christians grew and grew. Jesus is in heaven, and it’s the followers of Jesus who are now leading. But the power of Jesus’s message is still spreading and growing, and people are still drawn to him!

Because God is still with us, God is still working, and people are feeling the power of the Holy Spirit.

Putting It All Together

For the past year we’ve been studying the life of Jesus—his birth, his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection. Before that we studied the Old Testament—from Abraham onward. After studying this all I’m sure you’re wondering: what is the point? Why did all of this happen?

Why was Jesus the answer? Why did he have to die? Why did he die on a cross? What does the resurrection mean? These are all completely valid questions, and today I’m going to try to help put it all together for you. I say try, because I’m not a theologian, and no one can really claim to know anything for sure—only God himself knows the full answer, but I can tell you what the commonly held thoughts are.

So…what is the point? What does it all mean?

You don’t have to study the Bible to know that people aren’t perfect. We live in a broken world. In the grand scheme of things, you guys are pretty young, and yet I bet a lot of you have already experienced betrayal, hurt, and maybe even some trauma. And maybe you’ve hurt other people—a friend, a sibling, a parent. Maybe you’ve said something terrible, maybe you did something terrible, maybe you physically hurt them. I don’t know. But every single one of us in this room has done something wrong. It’s a guarantee.

Everyone in this room has also probably done something beautiful, something wonderful, something truly caring and loving. You gave your sibling something you wanted, because they also wanted it. You did all your chores without your parents asking. You helped another kid you didn’t know even though it might risk people making fun of, or bullying you.

This is human nature, the conflict inside of us—that we’re capable of so much good, and so much bad. Why is that? Why are we like that?

Well it goes all the way back to the beginning. Someone read Genesis 1:26-31.

26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

27 So God created humankind in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

God made people, humans, man and woman, and he made them in his image. God is good, and God made humans to be good, like him. To be capable of joy, love, kindness, goodness, creativity, and all the good things that are of God. After he created the humans, he looked at them, and he thought, “This is Good.”

He didn’t look at the humans and think, “Man, I really messed up” or “wow, these weird creatures aren’t going to work out.” Now, he looked at us and said, “Wow, I did a good job, and these new human things are awesome. They are so good.”

Humans were made to be good.

But humans were also made with the ability to choose, the ability to choose not to do good. Which we see in the garden, when Adam and Eve disobey God by taking the apple. That moment changes everything. It’s like dropping food coloring in water—first it’s all clear and perfect and pure, and then one drop spreads through everything. It touches everything.

So yes, we’re still water—we’re still good. But we also have this bad food coloring in us. Which is why so many of us choose to do bad things even when we know they are bad.

We were given free will, the ability to choose between bad and good, and while we often choose to do good, we often choose to do bad.

These bad things—we call this sin.

There are choices in life that are not sin—choosing whether to wear red socks or blue socks is a choice, but neither choice is a sin. The choices that are sins are usually choices between right and wrong—the choices to ignore your siblings annoying behavior or to hit them to make them stop. These sin choices usually result in someone being hurt in some way—physically or emotionally, and sometimes that person is yourself.

Or a sin can be against God. It may not hurt another person, but it hurts God—like using his name in vain, or not worshipping him, or not obeying him.

When we read the Old Testament we see people who make choices everywhere. Abraham is given the choice to follow God or not. He did follow God, and because of that he and his descendants become God’s chosen people. God also gives them an area of land, the Promised Land, Israel. Later he’s given the choice to trust God—that God will provide a child—or not trust God. When he doesn’t trust God, and he fathers a child with Sarah’s slave Hagar, he ends up hurting Sarah, Hagar, and his son Ishmael. His choice to not follow God results in pain and suffering for so many people, it’s clear to see how his sin affects his family.

Generations later, Abraham’s descendants end up slaves in Egypt. To save them God brings them a deliverer—Moses—and through Moses, God shows the Egyptians and everyone that God is the most powerful. Moses defeats the Egyptians and their gods, and the Moses leads the people out of Egypt.

Through Moses God also gives people the torah, which means law. This law is supposed to show people how to follow God. It covers all sorts of laws, laws about how to treat each other, civil laws that have to do with how society handles people and different circumstances, and laws about how to worship God and come into his presence. These laws were supposed to make it clear to people how they were to behave, it was supposed to lay out, in black and white, what choices they are to make in different circumstances.

You would think this would make it easier for people to follow God! That because they have laws, they could just look up what to do in every circumstance and be like “Yep, that’s right” or “Nope, that’s wrong.” But as we study the Old Testament, we see that it never quite works like that. And people, by and large fell into one of two traps:

One, they just ignored the law and made whatever decision they wanted. We see this with King David—when he chooses to rape Bathsheba, even though she doesn’t want to have sex with him AND she’s married, so he’s breaking two laws there. But he decided his desire for Bathsheba mattered more than her safety, her marriage’s sanctity, and God’s will. He wanted her, and that was all that mattered.

The other trap people fell into was they followed the law too closely. It should seem like that wouldn’t be possible, but it’s true. We see this in the New Testament with the Pharisees. They follow the law so closely that they’re willing to hurt people. They would rather let people die on the Sabbath than work on the Sabbath. This is what we call legalism.

The Law is a complicated subject. To be perfect, you had to follow it all, but no person is capable of that. Which is why Jewish people did sacrifices. They would take an unblemished—physically perfect—lamb or bull or dove—something that had value or worth to you. Then you had to take this thing of great value and kill it and burn it at the Temple, as a sacrifice to God. They made sacrifices to God to cover their sins, the churchy word for this is to “atone” for their sins. Sacrifices were performed at the Temple, sacrifices for every sin. This is what Yon Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is—it is the holiest day in the Jewish Calendar even today.

And why is this necessary? Well God is good and perfect. And only perfect things can be with him. So if you were blemished by any sin, you could not be with God, in heaven. But it’s impossible to be perfect. So you sacrifice an animal to cover for your sins.

The law was an impossible standard. And with the sacrificial system, you were never forgiven forever. You had to come back over and over again, and make more sacrifices. It was a never-ending cycle.

Then came Jesus. A perfect person. Never once did he sin against God or man. Jesus was God’s own son. So why did he have to die?

To be a perfect sacrifice, a sacrifice of the greatest value.

Jesus was God’s son, but he was also God himself, a part of the trinity that makes up God. God became a human, God became incarnate to walk this earth with us, to experience life with us, and he came to die for us. God made himself a perfect sacrifice to cover all the sins of all people for all eternity.

Someone read Matthew 27:50-52.

50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.

When Jesus died the curtain in the temple was torn in two. This was a sign that because of Jesus death, there was no longer separation between us and God. And also a sign that the temple would no longer be needed—with Jesus death there was no longer need for any more sacrifices. The Temple system was no longer required.

But Jesus just couldn’t die—that was only one part of what it took—Jesus had to conquer death.

It is because of sin that we die. If sin had never entered this world we would all probably be living forever in the Garden of Eden. But because of sin we are cursed to death. Jesus conquered death—he died and he came back on his own power. No one raised him from the dead—he raised himself.

You can imagine Jesus victorious, throwing open the gates of death and bringing everyone out—because that’s what Jesus did.

Remember in the Old Testament there was no concept of heaven or hell—we don’t know if people in the Old Testament went to heaven. Only Sheol, the place of the dead is described. It’s entirely possible that until Jesus conquered death, that no one went to heaven. That when people died before they just went to sleep in Sheol, waiting.

But with Jesus conquering death he opened the gates of Sheol, the gates of Death, and made a way for everyone to have eternal life with him in heaven. This is John 3:16.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

This is what Jesus has done for us. He died, and every sin we ever committed was laid on him, so that we could live eternally with him. That’s how much God loves us. He died for us.

He died for you. Even if you were the only human on the planet, God loves you so much, he would die for you.

For God so loved you, that he gave his only Son so that you could believe in him and not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus died for you.

We have all done bad things. We have sinned. We have hurt people. I want you to take a moment and think about it. Think about the last time you hurt someone—the last time you hit your sibling or did something just to cause them pain. Think about how you may have hurt your friend’s feelings, or done something intentionally to cause them harm. Let’s all think about it.

[Pause for a moment]

[Tell a story of a time you hurt someone preferably from childhood, something they can relate to if you can]. I once hit my sister so hard I left a red handprint on her back. I once purposefully got off the teeter-totter when she was the top just to see her slam hard into the ground. But those physical pains aren’t even the worst things I’ve done to her. We once got in a huge fight, and I told her that she only freaked out over homework and went into anxiety spirals for the attention. I took a fight against her own mind that she was suffering from—her struggle with OCD—and told her it was all fake, just for attention.

To me it was nothing, to her it cut like a knife.

I hurt her. I intentionally hurt her. Because I wanted to. Because I wanted to cause her pain.

And that’s why Jesus died. Jesus died for me—because I am a sinner, because I have done terrible things. And even if it was only me, if I was the only one, the only sinner, Jesus would have died. Because that’s how much he loves me. He loves me.

He died for me.

And he died for you. Because Jesus wants you to be with him forever.

This is the choice we have to make. Jesus is offering us all something. This is not about heaven or hell. Heaven and hell are side effects. It’s not about where you’re going.

It’s about where you are. It’s about God himself looking down at me—Mandy Pietruszewski Self—cruel, mean, angry, bitter me, and offering out a hand. Even though I’m not worthy to touch his hand, because I’m dirty and broken, and he’s perfect and pure. And if I just take his hand, he’ll lift me up, he’ll teach me to be like him, a person of grace and forgiveness, who loves. He’ll teach me how to be a person who doesn’t want to hurt people, a person who loves people. A person who makes this world a better place.

A person who follows the example of Jesus Christ.

Everyone in this world will hurt you at some point, no one is perfect. And then there is God, offering a hand.

You can choose to take God’s hand, or not. You can be a person who decides to make the Kingdom of God on earth, a person who chooses to spread the love of God, or you can choose not to. God gave you the choice. He wants you to choose him. Not because you’re afraid of the afterlife, but because you love him and want to be like him.

This is what it means to be a Christian, to follow the example of Jesus Christ—to try to be like him. We love him because he first loved us, we follow him because we want to be like him.

You guys are in middle school. For many of you, coming to church is about doing what your parents tell you to do. You’ve made no choice to follow Jesus, if you consider yourself a Christian it’s because that’s how you were raised.

But at some point, in your life you need to make a choice. It might be when you’re in high school or college, it might be next week. And you’ll have to ask yourself if you really believe all of this, if you really want to follow Jesus.

I want you guys to really think about that. I want you to reflect on your lives and your future, and I want you think about the choices before you.

I’m not going to pressure you to make any choice now, I just want you to think.

Are you ready to follow Jesus?

[Allow space for quiet contemplation]

I’m going to pray for us, and after I pray I want you guys to stay quiet. You can either sit here for a little while longer or you can leave, but if you’re in this room I want you to be quiet and leave room for people who are still thinking about all of this. And if you want to talk to me privately about anything we’ve discussed, I will be here for a while.

Dear God, thank you for today. Thank you for letting us come together and discuss the life and legacy of Jesus. God help us as we reflect on our lives, to see the times when we did harm or hurt because we wanted to, times when we chose to sin. Please God forgive us for those times. Help us as we look to the future, as we live our lives, to choose you, to choose right, to choose to spread love and hope and your goodness. God, I know some of these kids have done terrible things to others, and some have experienced terrible things at the hands of others. Help them to know they are forgiven, and help them as they work towards healing and forgiveness of the wrongs others have done to them. Help them to know they are loved, and that even if every other human on this planet wrongs them, or fails them, that you never will, you will be with all of us, forever, always holding out your hand, waiting for the day when they choose to take it. Help them to choose you, to choose to follow Jesus who died for us, because he loves us. Be with us, God. In Jesus’s Name I pray, Amen.

The Resurrection of Jesus Part 2

Jesus died and then he came back! That’s what we talked about last week; how everyone really thought he was dead—that this was the end—and then unexpectedly he came back. But at the end of last week’s lesson there was only one person who knew Jesus was alive again, and that was Mary Magdalene.

The disciples knew the tomb was empty, but they didn’t know he was back. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene and told to her to go tell the others—he empowered her to be the first person to speak the good news that Jesus was alive! So she ran to the disciples to tell them, but they did not believe her.

No one did.

It was too impossible to believe. How could Jesus be alive?

Someone read Luke 24:13-18.

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”

Two men, who were followers of Jesus, but not two of the twelve disciples, were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, probably going home after all the festivities and chaos of Passover and Jesus’s death. They were talking about it all—probably amazed that they were there to witness it, when another man walks up.

It’s Jesus, but they don’t know it, they don’t recognize him. But they don’t mind that he joins their group, to talk. It’s a long walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And so Jesus asks them what they are talking about.

And they stop walking, sad—they think Jesus is dead—they watched the man they followed die. But one of them—Cleopas—is like, “Were you not in Jerusalem just not? You couldn’t have possibly been there and not know what had happened.”

Jesus’s death would have been big time news in the entire area, it’s unbelievable that anyone could have been in Jerusalem and not heard it.

Someone read Luke 24:19-27.

19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

Jesus asks them to tell them about the things that have been going on, and they’re like, “The things about Jesus, obviously, the guy who was a mighty prophet, but he was killed!” They tell him they thought Jesus would be the one who redeemed all of Israel, that he would save them. And then today, on the third day since he died, some women in the group are claiming Jesus is body is gone and that angels told them he was alive.

But of course the men went to check it out, and they did not see Jesus, so those women were just foolish and hysterical, but yes, the body was gone.

And Jesus is like, “You don’t understand anything. You don’t understand how the Messiah was meant to redeem Israel, let me explain it to you.” And Jesus goes back to the Old Testament to explain it all—to interpret the scriptures from a new perspective, from the perspective of Jesus the Messiah.

This is how we as Christians read the Old Testament, which we discussed when we were studying the Old Testament. Sometimes stories in the Old Testament might be hard or difficult for us to understand, but when we look at it from the perspective of Jesus, sometimes we see it in a different light.

But these men on the road don’t know it’s Jesus explaining these things to them, they think he’s just a random dude. Someone read Luke 24:28-35.

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[a] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

They reach Emmaus, and Jesus keeps walking as if he’s not stopping there, but they’re like, “No dude, we just had this great conversation with you, and it’s almost evening! You must stop here and stay with us!” And so he does. He goes home with them, eats dinner with them, and after he blessed the bread and gives it to them, they suddenly recognize them. And they’re like “JESUS!” And then he just disappears.

They are amazed. They’re like “This is why his words meant so much, why they made us see so much, he was opening the whole scripture to us.” And they can’t sit on this news, the news that Jesus is alive. So they immediately turn around and go back to Jerusalem, even though it’s late, and they find the disciples. They’re like, “We saw Jesus! He is alive! He appeared to us!” And they tell them everything.

I’d have to say, if I was a disciple, at this point I would probably be believing all these people and also feelings like a little awkward. The twelve disciples were supposed to be Jesus’s closest friends. Why didn’t they appear to him first? Why Mary first? And then these two random other followers? Why wouldn’t he appear to his closest friends first?

I don’t know. They don’t know. And they’re probably wondering about it. And some of them are probably going deeper into denial because of it. Because how could Jesus be back, and not come to them first? So therefore, Jesus cannot possible be back.

But he is.

Someone read Luke 24:36-43.

36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.

They’re debating all this Jesus being back business, debating how it could possibly be real, when BOOM. Jesus appears in the middle of them and says “peace be with you.”

They immediately recognized him, and are terrified out of their minds, because they think he’s a ghost. This is probably what most of us would think if someone we thought was dead suddenly appeared before us. But Jesus is like, “I’m not a ghost. I’m real. Touch and see for yourself. Ghosts don’t have bodies and skin, but I do.”

He then shoes him his hands and feet—why? Well because they still show the marks of his injuries, of the nails in his hand. This is Jesus. This is his body, which was abused and broken. Jesus is back, bodily resurrected. He was not a ghost, or a spirit. He came back fully, walking and talking, fully alive, in his actual body, not a new one.

And to prove it, that he is still a human who came back as a human, he basically tells them he is hungry and asks to eat. And they give him fish and he eats it.

This is the second time in these series of stories it mentions Jesus eating, and that’s because its important. It’s important to know that Jesus came back bodily, his whole body was resurrected. He was not a ghost or spirit. He was fully resurrected, and that means being hungry! And eating! Ghosts don’t eat!

But not everyone is there when Jesus appears to them. Someone read John 20:24-29.

24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Thomas, who is one of the twelve disciples, was not there when Jesus came back. When the other disciples tell him, he’s like, “You guys are insane. I have to see for myself. Unless I can touch his hands for myself, I will not believe.”

And then a week goes by, a whole week and Thomas has still not seen them. But then he’s hanging out with the other disciples, and the door is shut and locked, and suddenly Jesus is among them again, saying, “Peace be with you.”

I imagine at this point Thomas is completely gobsmacked and can’t even speak. Jesus turns to him and is like, “Touch my hands, see the nails for yourself. Don’t doubt any longer Thomas, believe.”

And Thomas calls Jesus his Lord and his God, recognizing the truth.

Jesus doesn’t condemn Thomas for doubting. He doesn’t call him out. He shows him his hands and let him touch him, but he does make it a point to say that those who believe without seeing will be more blessed.

The lesson in this is that it’s okay to doubt, it’s okay to question, like Thomas. But we live in a time where Jesus does not walk the earth, so we have to believe without seeing. And we are more blessed because of it.

Thomas is not the only disciple Jesus needs to have a conversation with, there is still Peter—Peter who a few short days before, denied any knowledge of Jesus, denied being friends with him, denied being his follower. That Peter, is still here, and still a follower of Jesus.

Someone read John 21:15-19.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus is having breakfast with the disciples and he turns to Peter. And he’s like, “Peter, do you love me.” And Peter is like, “Yes, Lord, I love you.” And Jesus says, “Then feed my sheep.” Who are the sheep? Everyone is Jesus’s sheep—Jesus’s followers, every follower from a kid to an old person is Jesus’s sheep. We are his followers, he is our shepherd and we are his sheep. Jesus is commanding Peter to take care of his sheep, of his flock.

And then Jesus asks him again, “Simon, do you love me?” And Peter is like, “Yes, Jesus I love you.” And Jesus says then tend my sheep.

And then Jesus asks again, “Simon do you love me?” At this point Peter feels hurt, that Jesus is questioning him so much, that Jesus seems to think Peter doesn’t love him. And Jesus is like, “Lord, you know everything, you have to know I love you.” And then Jesus says again, “Then feed my sheep.”

What does this all mean? Why does he do this three times?

Well, you’ll remember Peter denied Jesus three times—denied even knowing Jesus, let alone being a follower. Jesus is giving Peter a chance to fix that, to re-affirm his devotion to Jesus three times.

There is a lot to come in life going forward for Peter. He is going to be a leader of the early church, tending Jesus’s flock as Jesus asked him. But this is going to lead to a hard life for Peter. Peter will be persecuted, and in the end he too will be crucified. Jesus needs to know his devotion—but more importantly Peter needs to know his own devotion, that he means it. Peter needs to hear himself affirm his love of Jesus, and know that he can move past his denial, and that Jesus forgives him for his denial, so that Peter can do everything that must be done going forward.

We’ll study more of Peter’s story when we study the early church in Acts.

But Jesus isn’t meant to stay on earth. His time with the disciples is coming to an end. Someone read Matthew 28:16-20.

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus calls the eleven disciples back to Galilee and when he gets there, he tells them that all authority on earth has been granted to him, and with that authority he has a commission for them. They are to go forth and make disciples of people of all nations—not just Jewish people—and they are to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and they are too teach them to obey everything that Jesus told them.

We call this the Great Commission, and we view it as something we to obey even today, that we are called to go forth in Jesus’s name and make disciples, to bring people to him. We must spread the Gospel, the good news that Jesus is alive, and his teachings.

And then Jesus ends his statement for us to remember that he is with us always, even to the end of the age. Even though we don’t see him, and he’s not physically here, he is still with us, and still part of us.

But Jesus cannot stay on earth walking amongst the disciples, he must go back to heaven. Someone read Luke 24:50-53.

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Jesus is carried to heaven. After his resurrection, Jesus walked the earth for 40 days. He appeared to more people than we studied here—there are many people in the Bible who saw him. From Mary Magdalene to the disciples to two random followers on the road. He appeared to too many people for it to be a conspiracy, or a hidden secret. Too many people saw him and were all talking about it.

And then Jesus had to go back, had to go to heaven to be at the right hand of God. We call this the ascension. Jesus died, and he rose from the dead, and now it’s time for the disciples to spread the word of that.

And that is the end of Jesus’s time on earth.

Next week we’ll take a step back and look at the bigger picture, and what it all means, but for now this is where we end the lesson.

The Resurrection of Jesus Part 1

Jesus is dead.

The Romans nailed him to a cross, and he died.

I want you to imagine it, to put yourselves in the position of his followers. You followed this man. You believed in him. He called you, he healed you, he loved you, and now he is dead.

Someone read Matthew 27:57-61.

57 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Jesus is dead and the Sabbath is coming. There is no much time left before the sun goes down. No work can be done after the sun goes down, meaning that if they don’t finish transporting or preparing the body, they just have to…leave it. Leave the body of Jesus wherever it is, in whatever state it is.

Leave the body of the man they called Lord.

They won’t let it happen though. Joseph of Arimathea had recently purchased a tomb for himself, intending it to be the place where he will be buried one day. But he goes to Pilate and asks for Jesus’s body and gives the tomb to Jesus, his Lord.

There isn’t time to prepare the body, to put the ointments and oils on him. There isn’t even time to clean the blood from him, so Joseph wraps the body in a linen cloth and lays the bloody and broken body of Jesus in the tomb. Then they roll a stone in front of the tomb, sealing it. Mary Magdalene and another Mary are there, watching. It’s probably not the mother of Jesus, since she was usually referred to as thus, so it’s probably Mary, the mother of James and John, who was also a follower of Jesus.

Jesus is dead, and there are only three left to bury him: Joseph of Aramathea, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and John.

Where is Peter? Where is James? Where is Andrew? Where are the twelve? Hiding. Too afraid to take care of the body of their Lord.

Crowds of people followed Jesus. They mobbed him and crowded him from every corner. They wanted to touch him, they wanted to hear him, they wanted to be near him. He fed thousands of people. He healed so many.

But none of them are there at the end. There are only three people to bury Jesus.

Someone read Matthew 27:62-66.

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

The next day the chief priests and the Pharisees go to Pilate. They remind him how Jesus said he would rise again. They’re afraid his disciples will steal the body, and then parade the empty tomb in front of everyone and say Jesus was risen, even though he wasn’t. Pilate gives them permission to put a guard in front of the tomb.

Jesus is dead, but the chief priests are still afraid of his legacy, afraid of his followers. What will they do now that Jesus is dead? They are afraid that his followers will still rise up, still try to make his prophies true. They don’t know that at this very minute Jesus’s male disciples are hiding and terrified of them. The disciples can’t even think about creating a conspiracy or continuing Jesus’s legacy. They’re too scared to even take care of his body.

Someone read Mark 16:1-4.

16 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

While the male disciples hide, the female disciples of Jesus do what women have done for time immemorial: they do the work that needs to be done.

Jesus is their Lord. They gave up everything to follow him. Following around a man, being his disciple, was not a proper place for a woman, especially a single one like Mary Magdalene. But they did it anyway, because of who he was. Because they believed in him. They still believe in him. And they cannot leave his body unprepared.

They had to stop for the Sabbath, but now the Sabbath is over, so they return to the tomb with the oils, ointments and spices necessary to prepare the body for burial.

The only flaw in their plan is they don’t know how they will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb, it is so large, and they feel so small.

But Jesus is dead. This is the very last act of service, of dedication, of love, they can ever do for him. And they won’t let a stone get in their way. They will find a way.

Except they get to the tomb, and the stone has already been rolled away.

Someone read Mark 16:5-8.

5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

The enter the tomb and they see a man in a white robe—not Jesus. They are alarmed to see him. Surely they are wondering who he is, why is he here. Did he steal Jesus’s body? They don’t know. They don’t know anything about him.

They came to prepare the body of Jesus and Jesus is gone.

The young man tells them to not be afraid. He tells them Jesus has been raised. He then asks them to go tell Peter and the disciples.

But the women are scared and uncertain.

Someone read John 20:2-10.

2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus is dead and someone has stolen his body. Mary Magdalene runs to Peter and John to tell them. Peter and John don’t believe her and want to see for themselves so they run to the tomb. John gets their first, he looks into the tomb but he’s too uncertain to go in. Peter comes up behind him—and brash and bold Peter—races straight into the tomb.

They see the linens, nicely folded up as if Jesus just took them off and laid them there. It doesn’t makes sense, they don’t understand what they’re seeing. None of them do.

Jesus is dead. Where has he gone? Why is his body missing?

Someone read John 20:11-13.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

Peter and John went home, but Mary Magdalene is still there. She can’t just go home, Jesus’s body is missing! Someone has taken it, and she doesn’t know where it is. She just wanted to do this one last thing for Jesus, she just wanted to help put him appropriately to rest, and his body is gone.

Jesus was the one who healed her, who gave her a new chance at life, who gave her a purpose and belonging. Jesus was her entire life. She believed he was her Lord and Savior, that he was going to bring the kingdom of heaven, and now he is dead.

Jesus is dead and his body is gone. There is nowhere worthwhile for Mary to go. Jesus is gone, and so she cries.

She looks back into the tomb and there are two angels there. They ask her why she is crying. She doesn’t recognize them as angels, not through her tears, and she tells them that someone has stolen Jesus’s body and she doesn’t know where it is now.

Someone read John 20:14-18.

14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary turns around and she sees a man standing there, but through her tears she does not recognize him. The man asks her why she is crying and who is she looking for.

Mary suspects him some sort of gardener and thinks he may have seen what happened to Jesus’s body—that’s all she can think about, Jesus. Where is Jesus? What have they done with him? So she asks, “Did you move him? Please, tell me where you put him, so I can take care of him.”

Jesus just looks at her and says, “Mary.”

One word, a name, Mary.

I once watched a video on the news, of a study that people were doing of fire alarms. Apparently, there have been issues with fire alarms going off in the middle of the night and children not hearing them. Despite the blaring annoying noise of the fire alarm, kids slept so well they would just sleep through the alarm.

In the study they tried a different approach. Instead of a loud blaring alarm, they recorded the voice of the parents saying the child’s name. “Susan. Susan. Get up. Susan.” The alarm was just the parents repeating their name over and over again, with the occasional phrase “Get up.”

The children could sleep through a loud blaring alarm, but once it was their parents’ voice, they could not sleep through it. Children are turned to their parents’ voices, and they hear them.

Mary is like the child in this scenario. She is deep in her feelings, as we say, at this point. Jesus, her lord and Savior is dead. Now his body is missing. She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know where to go. She just sits and cries, so hard that she doesn’t recognize Jesus when he’s looking at her.

But she hears him say her name, and it wakes her up.

It’s Jesus.

Jesus stops her before she can grab him—because I’m sure Mary’s first instinct was to throw herself at him and hug him, to make sure he’s real, that she’s not hallucinating. But he doesn’t want her to grab ahold of him—because he has not yet ascended. But Jesus is alive, he is present, he is real.

And Mary Magdalene is the first one Jesus shows himself to.

In the history of the church, there has been a lot of putting women down, of putting them in their quote “proper place,” a place lesser than men. But Jesus never held women at a place less than men. Out of all of his disciples, the very first one Jesus appears to, is a woman. Mary Magdalene.

He tells her to go tell the others, to spread the word among his disciples, that he is alive.

And in this moment, Mary Magdalene becomes the first real Christian in a modern sense. The first one to know and believe that Jesus is resurrected. And she has no doubts, no hesitation. He said her name, and shew knew it was him. So she runs to tell the others.

Mary is the first person on the entire planet to spread the Gospel, the good news, that Jesus is alive, that Jesus is resurrected, that Jesus is back. “I have seen the Lord!”

She had thought Jesus was dead, but he’s alive!

Jesus is alive!

This isn’t the end of Jesus’s story. This isn’t the end of hope. This is only the beginning. Because Jesus is alive.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

Last week we talked about the trial of Jesus. It wasn’t a trial like today, nor was it fair. The people who wanted him dead found people to testify against him—to tell lies—and in the end they found something to take him before the Romans. At any point in the series of trials, someone with power could have let Jesus go. Instead they gave into the crowds, and Pilate—the Roman governor—sentenced Jesus to death.

Someone read Matthew 27:27-30.

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.

Pilate had already had Jesus beaten, and now he had the guards take him away. But they didn’t just take him away to prison and leave him. These solders gathered around Jesus. They stripped him of his clothes—which were probably already bloody—and gave him a new bright red robe. This would have been an expensive garment. It’s not like today where you can go down to the store and get clothes of any color for about the same price. Dyed clothes were expensive in Jesus’s day—most people probably wore undyed clothes. Browns and beiges, whatever the natural color of the fiber or skin was. So they put this expensive robe on him and then they give him a crown—not of metal or even a nice little tiara. No, it’s like a daisy chain of thorns and they shove it onto Jesus head. These thorns would be biting into his skin, tearing up his head and forehead.

Then they give him a reed—for him to hold like a scepter—and mock him, calling him the King of the Jews. They then take the reed from him and hit him across the head with it. These are Roman soldiers, mocking this man who dared called himself a king, taking the very idea of being a king and using it to torture and hurt him.

We haven’t even gotten to Jesus death yet and he has already been tortured and beaten.

Someone read Luke 23:26.

26 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.

You guys probably already know that a cross is very large and is made of wood. Prisoners were usually made to carry parts of their cross. It’s not necessarily very clear whether they would carry the whole cross or just the crossbar of the cross. But regardless, they were usually given something very heavy to carry. Probably over a hundred pounds.

Jesus had already been beaten—his back whipped. He was weak and in pain, which was why he was not able to carry his own cross. He was already so weak that he would just crumple under that extra weight. So they grabbed a random dude from the crowd—a guy named Simon—and made him carry the cross. Jesus still had to walk to his crucifixion, and this random dude Simon carried the cross behind him.

Someone please read Luke 23:32-38.

32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

Jesus wasn’t the only one to be crucified that day. There were two other criminals. They got to the location—Golgotha, translated the Skull—and that’s where they crucified him.

Crucifixion is not a fast death. Today when we put criminals to death, we inject them with a shot of lethal chemicals that basically puts them to sleep—very similar to the way we put dogs to sleep. It doesn’t hurt, and it’s very quick and painless. The Romans were not about quick and painless. They did have quicker death penalties, but crucifixion was the worst one.

They would take the person—in this case Jesus—and nail him to the cross. They would nail his hands to the cross bar and his feet to the vertical piece. That in itself would be incredibly painful! It hurts enough when you step on a goat head! But hammering a nail into his palms and feet would break those bones. It would be terribly painful.

And then they lift the cross and stand it up. Suddenly all his bodily weight is being held to that cross by those three nails—the ones in his hands and feet. Your hands are not a great place to hold your weight from, this would be terribly painful. It would hurt so much.

So Jesus is going through all this awful pain and what does he say? “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Even then Jesus wanted to forgive them, wanted to forgive everyone.

But the people didn’t care. They took his clothes and gambled them away. They taunted him, telling him to save himself—if he was God’s chosen one. And then they put a sign on his cross calling him the king of the Jews—mocking that he was a king and his thrown was this pain and cross.

Someone read Luke 23:39-43.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Even one of the criminals who was also going through this terrible torture starting mocking Jesus. Why? I don’t know. Maybe to see if the crowd would turn in his favor? Maybe to distract himself from the fact he was in terrible pain and dying. I don’t know. But he mocked Jesus. But the other criminal shut him down. He was like, “What is wrong with you? We’re dying here too! And by the way, you and I are actually criminals, we deserve this, but Jesus hasn’t done anything! He’s done nothing and he’s getting the same punishment as us.” Then the criminal spoke to Jesus and said, “Jesus, please remember me when you get to your kingdom.”

He believed Jesus was who he said he was, and wanted Jesus to remember him when he got to God’s right hand side. And Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This criminal who deserved his punishment, Jesus forgave, and said he would be in heaven with him even that day. Because it’s never too late in life to turn to Jesus.

Alright let’s flip to the book of John. Someone read John 19:25-27.

25 And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

When we talk about the crucifixion, we often talk about how all of Jesus’s followers abandoned him. And we did talk about before how all of his disciples abandoned, even loyal Peter. They were so scared and terrified, that they would be next. But it is false to say that all of Jesus’s followers abandoned him. They did not.

Only most of the men did. The women stayed. John stayed. The women were at the foot of the cross, openly weeping, openly crying at his feet, crying for him. They were not afraid to be associated with him. They knew it was more important to support Jesus in this moment, than it was to fear for their own lives.

I think sometimes many of the men who followed Jesus followed him because of what they thought he was going to do—what they thought he was going to do for Israel and the world. They wanted him to lead a revolution. But the women—even though they also did not fully understand Jesus—they followed him because of him. Because Jesus had already revolutionized their lives, by healing them, by treating them as equals, by being their friend. They just wanted Jesus in their lives.

John was also there—not all of the men left Jesus. He stood by Jesus’s side. The gospel of John was written by John, and he usually refers to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” What he basically means is “Jesus’s BFF.” John had equal reason to be afraid like Peter and the rest that he too could be arrested if they were trying to clean up the entire Jesus operation. And originally John did flee, when Jesus was arrested. But he came back, he came back for the cross, to sit one last time at Jesus’s feet.

Jesus is on the cross and looking at the weeping women and John. And he asks John, as his BFF, for one last request: to take care of Mary after Jesus’s dies. Because Mary was already a widow, and now her oldest son was being killed as a criminal. Women without their husbands or oldest sons to look after them often ended up in poverty. Jesus wanted Mary to be taken care of, he didn’t want to leave her desolate. So he made John promise to take care of her, to adopt her as his mother, and for Mary to look to John as her son. And the Bible says from that day forward, John looked after Mary as if she was his own mother.

Now let’s flip to Matthew. Someone read Matthew 23:45-49.

45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”

Jesus is on the cross dying and a darkness come over the whole land. It’s the middle of the day, not night—from noon until three it says. At three, Jesus cries out in a loud voice in Aramaic. Remember the New Testament was written in Greek, so when it has another language like this in it, it’s usually Aramaic—and the writer is keeping the words in their original language, and then translating it for the reader. Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”

This darkness that is across the whole land? This is God turning his back on Jesus. All of the sins of humanity, the sins of the world, are being laid on Jesus in this moment. The sin of those people who wanted him dead, the sins of the people in the Old Testament, my sins, your sins. Every sin is on Jesus. The weight of those sins is filling him, and it’s so much that God can’t even look at him.

Every sin humanity has ever committed and ever will commit is on Jesus, and God turns his back on him. That would be something Jesus had never experienced before—God the father not being with him, and this would be the worst part out of all the torture.

The people who hear Jesus cry out don’t understand why he’s crying out. They think maybe he’s crying out for Elijah. They think maybe he’s thirsty, so someone offers him some sour wine to drink. And then they’re like, “Well if he cried out to Elijah, maybe Elijah will save him.” So they sit back to watch.

Someone read Matthew 27:50-52.

50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 

Jesus cries out one more time and it says he breaths his last. He dies. And in that moment the veil in the temple is torn in two. We’ve talked about the Temple before. Remember the Temple was viewed as the place where God lived—God’s home on earth. We talked about before how the Temple was set up, that it was a building with a courtyard. Most people were allowed in the courtyard, but only certain people were allowed in the building. But even in the building itself not everyone was allowed everywhere. There was a special place in the back of the Temple, called the Holy of Holies. That’s where God’s spirit was said to dwell.

Jesus dies, and the veil separating the Holy of Holies from the main temple is torn in two, torn wide open. Why? It’s symbolic, it tells us what Jesus’s death means. The thing that has separated us from God is gone. It’s open. God is no longer just in the Holy of Holies. You don’t just have to go in there to meet God.

The whole world is the Temple now.

Someone read Matthew 27:54.

54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

There is a Roman centurion who is watching over this. He sees the darkness, feels the earthquake, and he’s like, “Wow. This man must really have been who he claimed he was. He must have been the Son of God.” This soldier saw everything that happened, and it made him believe. This is just one of many examples of Jesus reaching non Jewish people. Jesus’s death was for all of us. Not just the Jewish people there that day, but for all of us.

Someone please read John 19:31-37.

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

Jesus was crucified on a Friday. The Sabbath is Saturday—but the Sabbath technically starts on sundown on Friday and lasts until sundown on Saturday. Technically Jewish people aren’t supposed to do work on the Sabbath, and taking bodies off a cross would definitely count as work. So they wanted to get the bodies down before sundown.

Because of that, they wanted to hurry the deaths along. So they asked Pilate—the Roman governor if they could hurry the deaths on a little faster by breaking the legs of the men. Why does this hurry their deaths? Well it makes it harder for them to breathe, because they can no longer push up on their feet.

But when they get to Jesus, they discover he’s already dead, so they don’t break his legs. Instead they stab him in the side just to make sure he’s dead for real, and he totally is.

Jesus is dead.

The man who claimed to be God. The man who said he had come to save them. The man who said he was going to bring the Kingdom of God.

He’s dead.

And everyone knows there is no coming back from death. That’s why Peter is scared and why Mary is weeping. Everyone dies. And sure a few prophets had the ability to raise the dead—like Jesus did—but Jesus was their last prophet and now he is gone.

There is no one left to raise Jesus from the dead. So there’s no coming back for him.

Or so they think.

And that’s today’s lesson. We’ll take a break next week for the Retreat and when we get back we’ll talk about the resurrection of Jesus.