How A Dad’s Love Makes The Resurrection Hit Harder

I didn’t grow up with my dad around in the earliest years, and that left me with a question I carried into adulthood: what kind of father will I be? When I start talking about my three boys and how wildly different they are, I’m not just telling cute stories. I’m naming the way fatherhood forces you to learn sacrifice, empathy, protection, and the kind of love that shows up even when you feel unprepared. 

That’s why the cross hits differently when you become a parent. I can understand laying down my life for my kids, but I cannot fathom giving my child up for someone else. And yet the gospel claims God does exactly that. We follow that thread into the heart of Christian faith and then make the turn that everything depends on: if the story ends with Jesus dead, hope dies too. 

So we walk through Luke 24, the empty tomb, the disbelief, and why the resurrection of Jesus is not a decorative belief but the load-bearing wall of Christianity. We also talk about historical claims, C.S. Lewis’s sharp challenge to the “great moral teacher” framing, and Paul’s insistence in 1 Corinthians 15 that the risen Christ is the message that saves and transforms. If you’re looking for a message with real weight, practical hope, and a reason to stand firm in a dark world, this conversation is for you. 

If this helped you think more clearly about Jesus, fatherhood, or the resurrection, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What do you think the empty tomb demands from us?

Transcript

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You know, I've said this before, and and and this it's never a knock on my life growing up. My dad and I have a an interesting relationship, and God has done a lot of healing in the process. And so I didn't really grow up with my dad around. And it doesn't mean that he wasn't around later, just in the beginning. And listen, it's no fault of his own. When you're young, it's tough, man. In your 20s is difficult. I don't care what anyone says. But I grew up with some incredible men in my life, and my grandfather and and my uncle Chuck was a huge influence. And my older brother, I didn't realize it when I was younger, was uh a huge part of my life, and he still is. He always kind of watched over me and protected me. It was funny, Jeff would beat me up, but he would also beat up anyone who tried to beat me up, which confused me. That's what he did.

Fatherhood Fears And Formative Men

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And so when I grew up, and and as I grew up and I got married, one of my biggest fears in life was becoming a dad. Because I didn't know what kind of dad I was going to be. You know, was I gonna be distant? Was I gonna be absent? Was I gonna be involved? Was was I gonna, you know, am I gonna lead my kids to follow Jesus? Like what what is my what kind of dad? Am I gonna be the fun dad, the the disciplinary dad, a balance of the both? And I we had some, you know, Danny and I, when we were first married, we had some teenagers that we fostered for a little while. And and by the way, if you've never had teenagers, don't go from no kids to teenagers. It's a nightmare. Because there's no influence in those first 13 years, and all you get is the angst and all the frustration, right? And listen, I loved it. We we had an incredible influence on their life, and and they're still a huge part of our life. But but I always wonder what kind of dad was I was gonna be. And then Everett came along. Everett's like the easiest baby ever. I mean, he was sleeping like all night by like three months somewhere, four months, four months. And he's just everett is so relaxed. What do you want to do, buddy? I don't know. What do you want to eat? I don't know. Where do you want to go? I don't know. I mean, he he just so he goes with the flow almost to the point where I'm like, make a decision, child. And then we got Griffin, and Griffin was like this ball of energy, man, from like, and just he was so outgoing, but he also wears heart on his sleeve. And I had a hard time with that growing up because you know I was this manly man, and oh be tough. And and Griffin would get hurt and he's crying, and I'm like, I don't know what to do with you. Like every you like kick him down, and he just looks at you and he stands back up. Griffin, you kick him and he he loses it, right? And so I had to navigate this this second child, and and how does he work and how does he function? But listen, he's one of the most creative kids in the world, and his brain is constantly firing. The moment he started talking, he never stopped. He just is on point, and he's so smart. He's so smart. And then Miles, and listen, we've all had stories with Miles. Miles is unashamedly who he is. I've never met a kid so confident in themselves, unafraid of anything, man. But he's so loving, he's so compassionate. None of my kids ever hugged me as much as Miles does. Miles, he's always like, he's he's like a he's a cuddle bug, man. And then listen, growing up that was hard for me. Again, I'm not a cuddler. Like, if you've ever hugged me or if I've ever hugged you, congratulations, you win. That is not something I do. Like, I really don't do it often. But Miles was like super attached to me. And he and he's like a cannonball man. I mean, he he's he's a bruiser. But but what I love about my kids is is they're all so uniquely different, and they've all taught me how to be a better father. But the biggest thing that has come out of being a dad is I have realized just how much I am willing to sacrifice for my kids. I hope and I pray every day that no one ever puts me in a position where I have to choose your life over the life of my kids, because I'm telling you that choice will not be hard for me to make. My kids are my world. I will protect them and defend them and fight for them. Because that's how much I love them. And if anyone gets in the way, if anyone tries to harm them, they're gonna get every bit of me. 400 some pounds. And listen, I don't say that to be mean, but I just want you to understand that if I

The Dad Instinct To Sacrifice

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can love my kids so much that I would lay down my life for them, I would, I would sacrifice for them. The truth of my understanding as a dad makes the cross all that much more powerful. You know, Jesus, we talked about it last week, right? That Jesus came into the world, he lived a good life. 33 years, he taught, he blessed people miracle after miracle. He stood before Pilate and he went to the cross. He he died. He he like God sacrificed or allowed Jesus to be sacrificed in order to save you and me. I I can't even fathom that. I I could not sacrifice listen, I love you all dearly, but I would not sacrifice my child for you. So so I can't even wrap my mind around the idea that God was willing to let Jesus come into the world simply so that he could die. For a bunch of people who spit on him, mocked him, ridiculed him, cursed him. People who didn't even know who he was, who didn't understand who he was, and yet God, in all of his justice, and all of his mercy, looked at the brokenness of humanity and said, for you, I give my one and only son. I can't I can't imagine it. But what I can imagine though is loving my kids so much that I would do anything to save them. That that's where me and God find the balance. I would do anything it took to save my kids. Even give my own life. That's what God did. He gave of himself, he died upon a cross, he sacrificed so that you and I could be rescued. That part, I understand. That's what a dad does. A dad sacrifices, a dad gives of himself. A dad is willing to pour out his life to protect those around him, and that's what Jesus did. He he came and he died. But but that's not where this story ends. And and if we end at the cross, and if nothing else happens after the cross, then all hope is lost. If all Jesus did was die, then he came to the world and he died as a good man, a moral man, a man who taught well, a teacher. If all he did was die, then our hope and our faith and our salvation ends in the cross. It ends in that moment. There is no hope, there is no future, there is no plan. Jesus said a ton of great things. And if all he did was die, you and I have nothing to stand on. But but Christianity is not built on the cross as much as it's built on the resurrection. The cross gets us to the point where Jesus dies, but the resurrection of Jesus is what saves everything. It it turns the world upside down. No one had seen anything like this before. Luke 24, verses 1 through 12. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. In their mind, Jesus was already gone. He was dead in the tomb. There was no hope. These women, they found the stone, rode away from the tomb. What a weird sight for them. They they're going to the tomb and the stone's missing. And while they were wandering about, uh wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. And in their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the men said to them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? These

The Empty Tomb In Luke 24

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angels, they say, He's not here, he is risen. Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee? The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day, third day be raised again. Then they remembered his words. You know, they they were so grief-stricken by the loss of their friend, by the death of Jesus, they they had forgotten everything that he had promised them. He said, Listen, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna tear the temple down in three days, but I'm gonna rebuild it. They they didn't process his conversation, but but in this moment, as the tomb stood emptied, as the angels reminded them, they were called back to what he said. That in three days, in three days I will rise. So when they came on, starting in verse 9, so when they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles, but they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up, ran to the tomb, bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, and he wondered to himself what had happened. I think it's such an interesting thing, and and maybe it's not, but but these women come back and they're overly frantic, overly excited, talking about he's not there, and the men go, Yeah, okay. They don't believe them. And and listen, to be honest, if someone came to me, if I attended a funeral three days ago, and someone came to my house and said, Hey, so-and-so, who you just buried, is now alive, I'd be like, I hope not. This is gonna get weird. Because either they weren't dead and we were wrong, or they came back to life, and that's a whole situation. But but the women they run, and Peter doesn't believe him, so he runs to the tomb and he finds it for himself. And even in the moment, he doesn't quite believe, he he ponders what just happened. Where's Jesus? Where's the where's the body? You know, it's such an interesting conversation to have because so many people I think when they talk about Christianity, they disregard the resurrection. They say, well, that's just not possible. There's no way that that could have happened. But the the historical writings tell otherwise. Josephus was a as a Roman historian, writes about the resurrection of Christ as a real event that happened. Can you imagine? The Romans are trying to cover this up because if Jesus came back from the dead, oh man, they messed up. Right? And Pilate sent him and he died, and Jesus resurrected, and the tomb was supposed to be guarded. I can imagine I'm gonna start telling a story while the body was stolen. That's one of the more popular ones. But but Josephus writes about this as a Roman historian and he includes it in his writings,

Historical Pushback And Lewis’s Challenge

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and he says, How can I ignore what the world has seen? This Jesus was dead, and now he's alive. He doesn't understand why. But but we see it. Jesus, he he's he's surrounded by people, he appears to large crowds. It's not an unknown event. But but the resurrection is everything. It has to be. One of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis, he's talking about who Jesus is personally. He says, I'm trying here to prevent anyone saying uh the really foolish thing that people often say about him. He's talking about Jesus. People say this, said, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. Lewis continues to write, that is the one thing we must not say. A man who is merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. He said, You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of God, or else a madman, or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let not us come with any patronizing nonsense about this being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. And I love that statement because Lewis writes, listen, Jesus is who he says he is, or he's not. The resurrection confirms he's exactly everything he claimed to be. The Son of God, the Savior of the world, the one who would die, the one who would be resurrected. His resurrection is what you and I stand on. Because had he just died, he would have died a man. But because he rose from the grave, it shows that he really is the Son of God. And that's what you and I stand on. Paul writes it like this in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preach to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved. If you hold firmly to the word I preach to you, otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you is of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and then he appeared to uh Cephas, and then to the twelve. And after that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also as one as to one abnormally born. For I am the least of the apostles, and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I compute I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether then it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. Paul says, the resurrection is the gospel that I taught you. Jesus was not just some guy that he died, he was a sacrifice. And in that sacrifice, in his death, he was resurrected. Paul says, This is the gospel that I teach, this is the gospel that saved me. I love what Paul says at the end of this in verse 9. It says, I for I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I could I persecuted, I persecuted you. But he says, By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. The message of the gospel, the the resurrection of Christ is life-altering, life-changing, life-transforming. If we really believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died and he rose from the grave, the only proper response is thank you, God. He overcame death. Sin condemned us. Sin buried us. Satan thought he had won. He separated us from God. We got kicked out of the garden. We lost communion with the holy of holies. Satan ran rampant. People murdered and people they they slaughtered the innocent. They they stole, they were greedy. Sin corrupted everything.

Resurrection Hope That Changes Daily Life

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But the resurrection of Christ changed it all. It offers us restoration. It allows us to reclaim our titles of sons and daughters of the Most High. It gives us power, it gives us hope, it gives us a future, it gives us everything we need to continue to move forward in this life. And listen, it's not just about eternity, but it's about living a life worthy of our calling. If Christ truly was resurrected, and if that power is available to you and I, there's nothing that can stop us. Listen, as dark as this world is, and as hard as it is to live in this life sometimes, if you're in Christ, there's hope. I have a God who loved me enough to sacrifice me, sacrifice for me. I have a God who loved me enough to walk through my transformation. I had a God who brought men into my life that he knew that I needed. I had a God who gave me a mom and a grandmother and a grandfather and uncles around me as I grew up, knowing that I would need support. I have a God who has given me three incredible boys. As crazy as it can be sometimes in our house. Someday you wish your mom and dad would take them for a lot longer than a weekend. I understand what that's like, but God has entrusted me with three men. And there's so many things I could teach them. I could teach them how to work on the house. Everett started cutting grass this summer, mainly because he likes money, not because he likes cutting grass. But Everett started working on cutting grass, right? Teaching Griffin how to be okay with his emotions, to be confident in who they are, to be men, to grow up and to someday find a girl that they marry and they're wonderful husbands and fathers. I have so many things to teach them, so many things that I've learned in my life. But if I don't teach them the insignificance of the resurrection, I have failed them. Because no matter what I teach them, if I don't teach them to follow Jesus, I missed it. Because what we teach in the resurrection, the hope that we have in Christ is eternal. It's not just salvation from hell, but it's learning to walk in forgiveness now, to walk in freedom now, to give life purpose and to have hope and to be transformed. And as my boys get older, my hope for them is that it doesn't take them to 15 years old to figure that out. My hope is as they grow up in a strong, faith-oriented household, and they see my wife not perfect, but they see us living for the God who created us. I pray that my kids realize how loved they are, that God made them uniquely as they're supposed to be, that everything about them was thought out since the very beginning. Every detail, no flaws. They are who they are. I want to teach them to understand what sin is and to and to wrestle with that, but but also understand that there's grace and there's mercy. I want them to teach them to be loving and show people grace and mercy. But I want them to understand that at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is do they understand how loved they are by the God who created them? And do they understand that Jesus saved them? Because that's the hope that you and I stand on. Jesus was not just a good person, he was everything. His resurrection attests to what his plan was that although he died, he came back to life. He overcame death. This is my hope for every dad that I come across. For every uncle, every grandfather. I hope you teach your kids good things. But I hope you teach them the most important thing. That Christ is their savior. That God loves them tremendously. That he died for them. Because of that we can live for him. Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 15, 51 through 58. He says, Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised and perishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe themselves with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting. The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Revelation 1, 10 through 18, John writes this. He says, On the Lord's day I was in the spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said, Write on a scroll what you see, and send it to the seven churches to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergium, Thirata, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me, and when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe, reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze uh glowing in a furnace, and his voice with this was like the sound of rushing water. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp double-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in all of its brilliance. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. And he placed his right hand on me and said, Do not

Victory Over Death And Closing Prayer

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be afraid. I am the first and I am the last. I am the living one. I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. Jesus died. He took all of the sin of the world on himself. But he rose from the grave and he conquered death in the process. Sin could not stop him. And for those who believe in the resurrection, we have hope. Because of the empty tomb, we have hope. Because of the empty tomb, we know that the work we do on this side of heaven is not in vain. It's not a waste. Because of the empty tomb, every conversation we have with our kids, every conversation we have with a stranger, every opportunity we get to share the gospel with someone, we have hope that their life can be changed and transformed. Christianity is not just some good idea. Jesus wasn't just some great moral teacher. He was the savior of the world, and his resurrection proves it. I love being a dad. I would do anything for my kids. And I'm only the dad that I am today. Because God gave up everything to get to me. He showed me what it is to be loved. That even in my stupidity and my brokenness and my sin and my shame, even though I don't get it right so often, just the right moment Christ died for me. But he didn't stay that way. Thank you, God, so much for showing us what it is to be loved. And I know sometimes it's hard because we may not see it here. We might not feel that way. Maybe we grew up in a house that was broken. But God, you're always coming for us. You you did everything you needed to get to us. God, you you sacrificed yourself for the sake of your children. And what a beautiful thing that is, God. Thank you for being the best dad that we could ever hope for. The one who set the tone, the one who welcomes us home always. Thank you for the death and sacrifice of your son. But God, thank you so much that he didn't stay that way. Remind us of who we are. Show us, God, of how loved we really are. May we walk out this morning encouraged and hopeful and unable to stay quiet about the love of such an incredible Father. We love you. We thank you. So let me pray. Amen.