Promise Fulfilled

This morning’s message ends our series on how Jesus was broken for us. Last week on Easter Sunday, John Farmer quickly went through Luke 24 to show us the convincing proofs that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. This morning I am going to focus on some of these same verses with an emphasis on what God the Father had promised, how it was fulfilled back then, and how it is still being fulfilled today.

Raised on the Third Day

What a glorious day this resurrection Sunday!  Of course, we can and we do rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord on any day.  All the same, it is a blessing to think upon this time especially.  I think in part God has given us the year span with seasons in a way to separate events in meaningful ways.  When it is winter, we long for spring.  When it is summer, we long for the cool of fall.

Even looking back to the Old Testament, we see that God gave the people of Israel annual feasts or festivals to celebrate God’s goodness and His provision.  First of all, God told them to remember the Passover, how the children of God were miraculously delivered from captivity in Egypt.

We too celebrate deliverance at Easter.  We celebrate our deliverance from sin and death because of Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself on the cross.  Reflecting on that sacrifice, this year we are taking five weeks to complete a series of messages titled “Broken for Us” looking at what Jesus accomplished in the events surrounding his death and resurrection.

A Righteous Man

Last week, Tim reminded us of the beginning of Jesus’ great suffering as He paid for our sin.  This week, we’re going to look at his death and burial.  I think it was Carl who said a couple years ago at Easter time that the resurrection was merely the exclamation point on God’s plan of redemption.  All the “magic” happened on the cross.  We’re going to spend some time looking at the final hours of Jesus’ pre-resurrection life on earth, and then I want to take a deeper look at a few things also pertaining to Jesus death that aren’t explicitly mentioned in our texts.  

Father, Forgive Them

During this season of Lent, leading up to Good Friday and Easter, it is important that we remember again the suffering that Jesus endured to pay the price for our sin. Last Sunday, Carl introduced us to “The God Who Bleeds,” a reminder of Jesus’ humanity and vulnerability as He was beaten and humiliated by the Roman soldiers. Today we will consider His crucifixion, especially these incredible, universe-altering words that He spoke from the cross: Father, forgive them.

The God Who Bleeds

Welcome! Today we begin a new series that focuses on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Last week, we had our final message on the book of Esther, and we talked about how Old Testament passages sometimes hint at the future role of Jesus, proclaiming mysterious things that make no sense until you read and understand the New Testament. Of course, to the people alive before Christ came on the scene, these mysteries remained mysteries. One such mystery we looked at last week was account in which Abraham is asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. An angelic messenger stops Abraham at the last moment, when it has become clear that Abraham was willing to carry out the sacrifice, and God provides a ram caught by its horns instead. The mystery is that Abraham calls the place “The Lord Will Provide,” future tense. From the perspective of the account itself, the Lord has already provided. But God gave Abraham this name because a time would come (in the future) when the Father would not withhold His Son, His only Son, whom He loves.