WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:22.719 Well, happy Easter Awakening Church. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.239 Great to be with you. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:25.359 How are we doing? 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:27.839 Good, amazing. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:29.600 Welcome if you're new. 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:30.320 My name's Ryan. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:32.640 We're absolutely thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.039 I'd love to get in on the fun as well. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:36.719 So he has risen. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:39.520 Amazing. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:40.479 Very good. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:41.439 You're warmed up. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.359 You did fantastic. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.439 Let me ask you this question. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:50.079 When's the last time you've seriously reconsidered something? 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:52.960 Like when's the last time you just seriously reconsidered? 00:00:53.039 --> 00:01:00.799 You know reconsidered definition is to think again about a decision or opinion and decide if you want to change it. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:05.120 I remember when I reconsidered sushi. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:06.959 Yeah. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.079 That's why you came Easter Sunday for sushi, right? 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:15.120 By the way, how many are um sushi lovers in the house, by the way? 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.519 Uh sushi haters. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.959 Alone woo! Right back there, just so you know. 00:01:23.120 --> 00:01:24.319 Didn't mean to point you out. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.640 Um I didn't grow up in a sushi home. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:34.079 Uh not that it was anti-sushi by any means, but it was more of an absent sushi home. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:40.640 Uh truth be told, I never had sushi, but I had strongly formed opinions about it. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:47.120 That it was gross, that it was slimy, um, that it was unsafe, it's raw, right? 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:48.319 What in the world? 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.159 And that it's a waste of money. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:54.799 Um and I remember the day I reconsidered sushi. 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:56.159 I was 19 years old. 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.439 I was dating this girl named Jenny, who's now my wife. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:00.719 It worked out. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:09.599 Um, and we're gonna go on a double date with some of our dear friends Josh and Danielle, who are now married to this day as well, to sushi. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:15.840 And so now I'm willing to at least reconsider my sushi idea. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.400 Uh so we get there, it's all brand new. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.240 I'm actually quite nervous, by the way. 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:21.759 Um, they're teaching me everything. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:28.000 I get the, you know, where to put the soy sauce and then the wasabi, and like, wow, that pack's a punch, didn't expect that. 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:28.960 Um, hello. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:35.759 And then they tell me this like with the chopsticks, you grab the sushi roll, you have to put the whole thing in your mouth. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:37.360 I'm like, the whole thing? 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:40.879 Like, yeah, you don't just bite a part of it, you gotta experience the whole roll. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:46.560 That seemed like a pretty big commitment for somebody who had a pretty strong conviction he didn't like it. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.039 Um, but here's the deal I'm with my girlfriend, I want to make a good impression. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:54.719 I was at least willing to try it. 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:57.360 And well, the rest is history. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:58.719 I love sushi. 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.199 I do, I love it. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:09.439 When's the last time you were willing to seriously reconsider something? 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:16.879 Um, you know, the older we get, the more set in our ways we become, don't we? 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:21.439 The less likely we are willing to consider or reconsider something. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:26.000 Sushi's, you know, a fairly light thing, depend on your personality. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:35.039 But the less likely we are to consider more serious, deep things like spirituality or purpose and meaning. 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:46.639 And since we're here, and since you're here, once would you at least be willing to seriously reconsider Easter? 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.039 I mean, you did it, you got dressed up, you showed up, you might as well think about it. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:59.680 Hey, let's just think about it just a little bit deeper, because maybe you've done Easter before, and this is just another one among many. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:10.000 Wake up, get dressed up, you know what, go to this service, a guy goes wah, wah, wah, and then, you know, you say he is risen, you go to brunch, you dye eggs, you hide eggs. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:10.400 Why? 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:13.919 I'm not really sure, but then Easter is done. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.759 Would you, would you seriously reconsider Easter? 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:23.279 Or better yet, would you seriously reconsider Jesus? 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:30.000 And by the way, I'm not just talking to those who are maybe distant from God, skeptical or searching. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:32.240 I'm actually talking to Christians. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:36.959 Christians, would you seriously reconsider Jesus? 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:49.199 You know, in the West, we have reduced Jesus to sound bites that fit our personal preference and our political persuasion that has stripped him of his glory, power, and goodness. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:58.240 Would you seriously reconsider this Jesus we're gathering to celebrate? 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:10.160 And if you are searching, if you are skeptical, maybe that girl brought you, or he brought you, and you're looking forward to brunch, and so you say, get on with it. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.439 Maybe this could be your sushi moment with Jesus. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:16.399 I don't know. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.360 But at least would you be open and honest enough? 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:21.120 Could we ask this question? 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:26.879 Why are we still drawn to and intrigued by this Jesus 2,000 years later? 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:30.480 Like, why in the world are we still drawn to? 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:34.079 Like, there seems to be this gravitational pull, doesn't there? 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:35.680 He just keeps coming up. 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:37.759 We can't get rid of him. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:53.519 And honestly, if you're gonna have any intellectual integrity, we have to ask the question at some point in our life, who really is Jesus? 00:05:54.240 --> 00:06:12.319 Or maybe said in a run-on sentence question this way How did this carpenter-turn rabbi who lived in an obscure part of the Roman Empire was ultimately executed as a criminal by Rome at the behest of his own people revolutionized the world as we know it? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:14.959 Like, how did that happen? 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:23.439 In fact, if you if you read historians, they'll call this one of history's great mysteries, why Christianity even exists. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:28.079 I mean, his life has had too much impact for us to ignore him. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:28.800 Think about this. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:31.839 Jesus, he was born to a poor peasant family. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:37.920 Eventually, as a young child, he was a refugee in Egypt, grew up in Podunk, Nazareth. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.279 Their catch line was could anything good come from Nazareth? 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:42.879 That's not a great catch line. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:48.800 Um for the first 30 of these years, we know very little about his life. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:56.079 We know his dad was a carpenter or stonemason, so he probably adopted the family trade, and then all of a sudden he steps onto the scene. 00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:57.680 And what we do know, it's prolific. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:07.759 We have a lot of information and documents about it, but for just about three years, three years at most, and then he died young. 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:15.519 And yet today, think about this: he divided history and we reckon time by his life. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:17.519 We're in the year 2023 A.D. 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:20.800 ano domini, year of our Lord. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:27.839 Every time you write 2023, you are recognizing, whether you realize it or not, the life and legacy of Jesus. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:38.319 Even on Sunday, think about this, and especially if you come from a background that your language is in the Latin root, yeah, Sunday is Dieus Dominicus. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:40.720 It's the Latin for the day of our Lord. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:49.279 Like every single Sunday was named to remind you of the resurrection, the Sunday Jesus rose from the grave. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:51.920 Like, who is this man? 00:07:52.079 --> 00:07:57.920 That 2.6 billion people woke up on this day to celebrate and say he's risen. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.959 At some point we have to ask the question. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:02.560 And then his teachings. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:07.120 His teachings echo to something deeply in us, don't they? 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:12.399 Of a society that we long for and a way of being that we see is so needed. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:30.160 To love the unlovely, to care for those who are mistreated and downtrodden, to, you know, turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, to love your enemy as yourself, love uh your neighbor as yourself. 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:40.480 I mean, he elevated the dignity and quality of every single person, elevating women and children who are degraded in that day to equality. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.720 And much of our values today are rooted in his teaching. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.240 In fact, most would say he's the greatest teacher who has ever lived. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:53.200 And I think that's where he stands with this. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:09:02.799 Even followers of Jesus, he's a great teacher and a good man, and he lives such an incredible life, a self-sacrificing life. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:06.799 It's worthy to pattern your life after. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:09.440 But then there's his claims. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.159 His claims, they're problematic and they're controversial, by the way. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.600 It wasn't his teaching or his life necessarily that got him executed, it was his claims. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:36.320 It was his claims that got him crucified back then, and it was his claims today, by the way, that keep us, if we're honest, to examine who he was, keep us from saying he's a good man or a great teacher. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:37.840 Claims like this. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.639 I am the resurrection and the life. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:49.279 The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:51.360 Do you believe this? 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:53.600 Think about that. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.240 Jesus said, I am the resurrection. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:01.440 He didn't say, I mean, he was a miracle worker, he is known for that. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:06.559 He didn't say, I possess resurrection, I have some resurrecting power. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:07.279 Hello. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.360 I know where to find resurrection. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:15.039 No, no, I am resurrection, and then he didn't ask you to believe in his teaching. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:20.559 He didn't ask you to believe in a philosophical uh construct or a theological idea. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.559 He asked you to believe in him. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.159 And here's ultimately what Jesus is saying. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:29.039 Resurrection is a person. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.679 Resurrection is a person. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:33.840 Jesus is resurrection. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:39.279 The Jewish idea of resurrection was resurrection was a place and an event all in one. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.960 The resurrection that would happen at the end of the age. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:44.799 It was this event and place. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.600 And Jesus says, no, resurrection is a person. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.120 I am the resurrection. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.320 And wherever I show up, resurrection's happening. 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.679 Dead things are coming back to life. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:03.840 How could a good man and a great teacher say something like this? 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:08.320 And that is what brings us to Easter. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:14.399 You know, all of Christianity hinges upon the historical event of the resurrection of Jesus. 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.159 It did in Jesus' day, and it does in our day. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.919 If Jesus did not rise from the dead, listen, come on. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.279 If he did not rise from the dead, this is a waste of time. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.039 Get your brunch now. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:28.960 Get your brunch on. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:33.279 It's better to celebrate the eggs and the bunnies. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:39.279 Even the apostle Paul, who once was a persecutor of the faith, said the same thing. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:46.480 He then had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus, became a follower, and wrote just about half of the New Testament. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:47.440 He writes this. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.960 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is what? 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:51.840 Help me out. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:55.919 If he's not been raised, it's futile, it's useless. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:02.320 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:22.000 But if it's true, if Jesus did rise from the dead, then all that he said, and yes, all that he claimed is true. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:28.399 That he is not just a good man or a great teacher, but he is the God man in flesh. 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:31.759 He is resurrection in our presence. 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:39.519 And by the way, Christian, you cannot treat him as a soundbite and pick and choose from what things you like about Jesus. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:45.279 If he rose from the grave, he is resurrection, he is God, you just get to go, yes, Lord. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:47.919 Yes, Lord. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:58.960 And so, if we are going to seriously reconsider Jesus, then we need to take a thoughtful look at the resurrection events. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:07.519 And did you know that all major historians agree on some foundational and fundamental facts about Jesus and the resurrection? 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:09.039 Let me just give you five of them. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:17.759 Five foundational facts that theologians, scholars, atheists, theists, agnostics, skeptical, uh, skeptics, they all agree on. 00:13:17.840 --> 00:13:21.919 And the first is Jesus was a real historical person. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.080 Jesus was a real historical person. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:30.559 There's been a little bit of talk lately, and some people that have thrown out some things, well, maybe he wasn't really real. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.120 He wasn't just a myth. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:38.720 And the evidence that we have of his life and history is overwhelming. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:42.000 The ancient documents, think about this. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:49.759 Jesus' life after his death, we have documents dating right two years after his death and resurrection. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.879 We all know Alexander the Great and heard of his life. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:59.120 Do you know how early the documents and writings we have of him that we think are true and trustworthy? 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:03.519 Four to five hundred years after his life. 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:12.879 See, Jesus was a historical person where we have early documents, not just the eyewitnesses, but other historians of the day. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:16.320 Josephus, a Jewish historian in the ancient day, wrote of Jesus. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.960 Even the Jewish Talmud writes of Jesus. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:30.799 There was a Roman historian, Tacitus, and Pliny as well wrote, but Tacitus wrote this, and this was during the speaking of Nero, and when he blamed the Christians for the burning of Rome, he writes this about Jesus. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:42.000 Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius by the sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate, and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:52.720 Only to be break break out once more, not merely in Judea, the home of the disease, but in Rome itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world collect and become fashionable. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.960 Well, what do you think about that, Tacitus? 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.360 Jesus was a historical person. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:13.679 It's interesting to note the two people, scholars who've written the most against the pseudo-scholarship are atheists who've written the most about Jesus being a historical person, Bart Ehrman and Maurice Casey. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:18.080 They have written extensively saying, no, he is a historical person. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:25.519 Secondly, Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross and buried in a tomb under Roman guard. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:31.519 We have the ancient historians Tacitus, Josephus, and others who confirmed the early eyewitnesses. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:45.519 James Tabor, a former chair of religious study at UNC, a skeptic, he writes this I think we need have no doubt that given Jesus' execution by Roman crucifixion, he was truly dead. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:49.519 By the way, Rome perfected the crucifixion. 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:56.159 They didn't invent it, but they perfected it and they were fantastic at it and took pride. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:07.120 And so they even the skeptics say, no, Jesus, he really lived, and he really died by execution, and he was really buried in a tomb. 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:13.360 And here's what all major scholars agree on the tomb was empty. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:18.799 They don't agree on how the tomb was empty, but they agree that the tomb was empty. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:26.960 All the way back to when Jesus came back to life, the resurrection, the early religious leaders said, no, no, no, the disciples stole the body. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:28.879 Let's get that going out around. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:30.639 And that is one of the theories. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.440 Another theory that's interesting is the swoon theory. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:34.960 Have you heard the swoon theory? 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:40.480 The swoon theory is this that Jesus didn't really die on the cross, he just merely passed out. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:45.840 You know, so you have your nails in your wrist and your spear in the side. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:52.080 And then when he was laid in the cool cave, the tomb, uh, the dark and the cool revived him, refreshed him. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:53.279 Oh, wow, hello. 00:16:53.679 --> 00:17:02.879 And then I moved that boulder out of the way like a Herculean moment, and you get to see this bloody, you know, like cryptic wrapped in Jesus. 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.680 And the disciples said, Yeah, that's who I'm following. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:14.319 There are so many, I mean, where you just begin to go, hey, some said maybe he they went to the wrong tomb. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:16.400 The tomb was empty, but it was the wrong tomb. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:23.680 Well, the religious leaders, all they had to do was produce the body to squash this new movement. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:37.359 Uh, the late William Wan from Oxford University writes, all strictly historical evidence we have is in favor of the empty tomb, and those scholars who reject it ought to recognize they do so on some other ground than that of scientific history. 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:42.400 If we're going to reconsider Jesus, we have to take a thoughtful look at this resurrection event. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:45.440 Jesus, a historical person, crucified, buried. 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:51.599 The tomb was empty, and his disciples believed he rose from the dead and appeared to them. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:18:05.599 German New Testament scholar and atheist Jerd Ludemann writes, it may be taken as historically certain that Peter and his disciples had experiences after Jesus' death in which Jesus appeared to them as the risen Christ. 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:14.960 Now, he believes they had hallucinations of Jesus, but that they really believed they saw the risen Lord. 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:33.039 Now it's interesting that Jesus appeared to just over 500 eyewitnesses over the course of about 40 days, and there's no other record in all of human history that have a mass hallucination of everyone having the same vision at the same time, but that's how we have to explain it away. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:51.359 Here's what's fascinating uh the late great Jewish scholar uh Panat Lapid, he does not believe Jesus is the Messiah, but based on the historical evidence, he cannot explain any other way but that Jesus really did raise from the grave. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:57.440 Historical person crucified, buried, empty. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.960 His disciples believed that he appeared to them. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.680 And then finally, the transformation of the disciples and the conversion of skeptics. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.319 Now, I want you to think about this. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:17.759 Christianity did not begin hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem, and it did not begin hundreds of years after the crucifixion. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:26.720 Christianity began in the heart of Jerusalem, right where Jesus was crucified, uh, just days after he was crucified. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:33.839 Peter and the disciples, before the execution of Jesus, they deserted him. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.480 They were locking themselves in a room, afraid that their fate was going to be the same. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:46.400 Peter denied him three times, and post uh the you know the resurrection, all of a sudden you see Peter bold. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:48.720 He's declaring. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:57.039 And eventually, all of the disciples, ten would be executed for their faith and belief in Jesus, one would be exiled. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.599 And then you see the skeptics. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:19.920 Paul, Saul, he was originally called persecuting and wanting to stamp out this new movement, encounters the risen Jesus, as he says, and he then begins to become one of the greatest minds and proclaimers of the Christian faith, and was ultimately executed for his faith. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.319 And then there's James, the brother of Jesus. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:26.559 Think about this. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:32.160 What would it take for you to be convinced that your brother was the son of God? 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:39.359 I mean, that's a tough sell, right? 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:46.079 And the same was true for Jesus' family. 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:52.799 And it wasn't until after the resurrection that they believed he was indeed who he said he was. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:57.119 And he became one of the leaders in the church in Jerusalem. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:08.720 Ian Hutchinson, professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, wrote, the historical evidence for the resurrection is as good as uh for almost any event in ancient history. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:16.880 Friends, listen, all of Christianity hinges upon the historical event of the resurrection. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:26.559 And so back to our question: how did this carpenter-turned rabbi who lived in an obscure part of the Roman Empire reshape the world as we know it? 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:27.839 One word. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:30.400 Resurrection. 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:37.200 Historians have no other way of explaining how this group even got off the ground. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.680 One word, resurrection. 00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:50.160 The first followers of Jesus believed the resurrection carried life altering significance. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:57.599 The first followers of Jesus believed his resurrection carried life altering significance. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:58.480 Why? 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:04.079 Because Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:09.039 And then he came back from the grave. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:17.920 And so they said, Whatever you said, and whoever you claim to be, you are indeed, and you have my entire life. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:19.359 Do you believe this? 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:21.680 I believe it to the point of death. 00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:28.559 And so Jesus said, resurrection is a person. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.559 And I love the context in which Jesus said this. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.480 You can find it in the Gospel of John. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:40.799 John, one of his disciples, is one of the four biographies of Jesus' life. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:43.119 John chapter 11. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.880 Much of Jesus' teachings were to crowds or to his disciples. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:52.319 This statement was to one person. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:23:01.039 This statement was to Martha, a grieving sister who lost her brother Lazarus four days later or earlier. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:11.359 And Jesus, in this moment of a grieving sister, and then Mary, her other sister, comes out. 00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:13.759 He says, I am resurrection. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:19.279 He says, resurrection is a person, and as a result, resurrection is personal. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:36.480 What I love about John chapter 11 is in this moment, in this declaration, there is a funeral going on, there is grieving going on, and Jesus doesn't look at them and go, it's gonna be okay. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.759 Stop crying, don't worry about it, suck it up. 00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:42.400 I'm gonna do something great in a second, guys. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:46.400 In fact, we get the shortest verse in all of the Bible. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:47.920 Do you know what the shortest verse is? 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:49.599 Oh, you do? 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:50.799 Fantastic. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:54.640 Jesus wept. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:24:09.039 Because resurrection, think about this, showed up onto the scene and saw the devastation of sin, saw the ravaging of death and what it did to his creation and to his people that he loved, and resurrection wept. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:11.680 Resurrection personal. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:16.559 Resurrection wept and saw your hurt and your pain and your what you're walking through. 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:18.000 It doesn't say just suck it up. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:19.359 It's gonna be better one day. 00:24:19.519 --> 00:24:21.440 It hurts with you. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:27.359 And then resurrection wasn't willing to just hurt with you, he suffered with you. 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:30.079 Became one of us resurrection. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:43.039 And resurrection was betrayed, and resurrection was denied, and resurrection was beaten, and resurrection was spat on, and resurrection was nailed to a cross. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:53.200 And as he was nailed to a cross, his words were, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, as he cries out for his recreation. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:05.759 And as he took on the weight and the pain and the sin of all humanity, he cries out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:11.119 As the full weight of everything we've ever done wrong was placed upon resurrection. 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:18.480 And as he breathed his last, he said, It is finished, it is final. 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:24.799 And resurrection was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.119 And it was silent. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:35.920 And the grave could not hold resurrection. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:43.839 And on the third day, he came back to life because he's the author of life. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.240 And Jesus says, Do you believe this? 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:50.799 And where do you need resurrection? 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:53.759 Where do you need it? 00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:03.279 Because chances are you walked in and there's parts of you that are dead, there's parts of you that are dying, there's parts of the pain and where you're at and what you're walking through. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:05.920 And he says, I came to bring resurrection. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.200 It's personal. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:13.519 And so resurrection is a personal relationship with Jesus. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:16.480 It's personal, it's not ritual. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.839 It's relationship, it's not religion. 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:23.680 It's presence, not performance. 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:28.079 Where do you need resurrection? 00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:31.119 Back to sushi. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:39.839 A few years later, my wife and I um had an experience that was less than stellar. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:42.400 It was in Georgia, and I know what you're thinking. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:45.440 Is uh Georgia one of the great capitals of sushi around the world? 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:47.200 What could go wrong? 00:26:48.799 --> 00:27:00.079 Um we were moving back to the bay, and some friends of ours knew that we love sushi and they love making sushi and they wanted to bring us sushi before we left. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.599 I'm like, that's so sweet, so kind, really wonderful of them. 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:06.640 And they brought sushi, they brought a platter, I mean a huge platter. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:09.599 The sushi rolls were like three times bigger than normal ones. 00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:10.319 They're huge. 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.920 They're big, they're massive. 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:21.680 And this thing was piled high, smelled a little fishy, uh, and you just felt like, okay, my gosh, we we gotta eat a lot of these to even make a dent. 00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:22.960 There's only four of us here. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:24.559 This is a lot of sushi. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:33.920 Um if that had been my only sushi experience, it would have confirmed what I believed about sushi. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:43.200 Slimy, gross, unsafe, and a waste of money. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:28:00.079 And the truth is there's some that you've walked away from Jesus or you've never even reconsidered or considered Jesus because of some follower who said they followed Jesus, claimed Jesus, but they left a bad taste in your mouth. 00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:03.359 They didn't represent him well. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:11.119 And if you were able to share your story, we'd all agree and go, yeah, I understand why you walked away. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:13.839 I understand why you wouldn't consider Jesus. 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:19.519 And my ask and my just plea is just in this moment, I get it, but would you reconsider him? 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:21.519 That wasn't Jesus. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:26.880 Would you reconsider Jesus? 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:33.200 Because just maybe he offers something. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:42.640 No, he is something that your heart's been longing for, and my heart's been longing for. 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:49.599 Resurrection is a person, and it's personal through relationship with him. 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:53.359 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:58.000 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:00.240 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:29:00.400 --> 00:29:06.319 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.