Some Things are Still True | Easter 2022
April 16, 2022 / Andrew Cromwell / Koinonia ChurchEaster 2022
On Sunday morning 2,000 years ago there were no because there was no .
Luke 24:11-12 NLT
… the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.
The Problem: Jesus Wasn’t the “Normal” Religious Leader
- His message didn’t call for or .
- His message was about .
He didn’t tell his followers to trust His teachings, He told them to trust in .
John 6:53-54 NIV
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
John 6:66-68 NIV
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
The Resurrection made all the difference.
John 20:1-2 NLT
1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Luke 24:11 NLT
But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn’t believe it.
John 20:3-8 NLT
3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed…
Jesus’ followers were transformed:
…not because of something Jesus .
Because of they saw: Jesus.
Acts 2:32-33 NLT
32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us…
Acts 2:38 NLT
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.