Why did Jesus die on the cross? It might not be only for the reason that you think. Listen to Pastor David preach on Luke 23:33-43 on this “Christ the King” Sunday.
Journey to the Cross
After a presentation from the Gideons, Pastor David gave a few reflections on the day’s challenging gospel lesson, Luke 13:22-35. Listen in and discover how we can journey with Jesus as we remember his path to the cross, which we will begin remembering in earnest next Sunday.
Saved By God’s Power
After two weeks away from the pulpit, Pastor David returns to continue our study of 1 Corinthians. In the final section of this letter’s first chapter, Paul gives the fundamental reason for our unity and humility in the church, a reason that is summarized by the two words that we preach: Christ crucified.
What do you need for Easter?
I was listening to the radio this morning while exercising, and I heard a very strange commercial. A well-known one-stop-shopping center was advertising “everything you need for Easter”: candy, eggs, dye kits, baskets, gifts, toys, the plastic fake grass that gets everywhere and can never be completely cleaned up. That commercial was a bit disheartening to me, because one completely commercialized Christian holiday (Christmas) is more than enough, in my opinion.
But then I got to thinking: what do we really need for Easter? Certainly we don’t need candy, hard-boiled eggs, gifts, baskets, chocolate bunnies, and so forth. (Although I admit that I do enjoy a good chocolate bunny.) Those are all extras, add-ons, unnecessary ways that people spend money in order to observe a holiday.
My first answer to this question was straightforward: “We just need an empty tomb.” Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, there would be no Easter, no celebration, no Christian religion at all. The way Jesus conquered the grave gives us ultimate hope for this life and for the life to come.
But then I settled on a second answer: “We need the cross and an empty tomb.” Without the cross, there is no tomb to be made empty on the third day. Jesus’s victory over death means nothing if he has not conquered sin as well.
Brothers and sisters, as we walk through the upcoming week known as “Holy Week,” the most important week of the year, let us remember what we truly need in order to celebrate this season. Enjoy all the trappings of the secular Easter season. But make it a point to remember frequently the true stories that make this such a celebration:
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.
–Pastor David