It All Comes Down To This

It Comes Down to This

Luke 24:1-12

I am not a football fan. As a matter of fact, I’m really not a fan of any kind of sports. Now, I love to play golf, and maybe some other games, but I really dislike sitting and watching games. Unless it’s maybe an HS game, and I know some of the players, but College and Professional Sports—not so much. It’s boring.

However, there is one game that has stuck in my mind for a lot of years. Well, actually, it’s one play out of that whole game. Because I don’t remember any of the rest of the game—but I remember this one play. It was back in 1984, and I watched the college game between the reigning champions, the University of Miami Hurricanes, and the Boston College Eagles.

The game was tight, and with only 28 seconds left, the Miami Hurricanes were set to win. The score was 45-41, but Boston College had the ball. The quarterback, Doug Flutie, took the team down to the Miami 48-yard line. He took the snap and ran backward to avoid being sacked. From the Boston College 37-yard line, Flutie threw the ball toward the endzone. His receiver, Phelan, was there, but surrounded by Miami players. Everyone’s arms were up and trying to knock the ball out of the air, but it sailed right through them all and straight into Phelan’s hands. The referee’s hands shot up, signaling a touchdown, and the stadium went wild.

Talk about an amazing sight to see. Flutie threw that ball 63 yards into 30 mile an hour wind, and that was after having already thrown the ball 45 times during the game. For Doug Flutie, it all came down to this play. He was a good quarterback, but he was smaller than any other quarterback on any of the pro teams. So, if he hadn’t made this play, he would have probably gone off into relative obscurity. But, on completing this Miracle in Miami, which is what it came to be known as, his life and career was changed from that point on.

It all comes down to this… The young couple has been waiting for what seems like forever. Will that test the young wife took come out positive? Or negative? Hopefully, in 20 weeks or so, maybe they’ll also be wondering if another test is going to come out pink or blue.

It all comes down to this… You haven’t been feeling well lately. You finally got an appointment to see the doctor, and they’ve taken some samples of just about every liquid you have in your body. They took x-rays, hooked you up to all sorts of medical machinery to see what they could figure out.

You’ve been anxiously waiting for what seems like a very long time, and then the nurse calls you to set up an appointment. The doctor wants to deliver the news in person, and you’re pretty sure that this isn’t a good sign. Your life hangs in the balance. You’re on pins and needles. Will these test results be a major turning point in your life?

It all comes down to this… It’s a phrase we’ve all used at some point or another. It speaks of a defining moment—a critical stage in your life—a momentous occasion. A point in life where everything changes. In one way or another, nothing will be the same from this point on. It all comes down to this.

And today, we celebrate the most important occasion in all of world history. Easter—or Resurrection Sunday. The day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead and validated His claim to be the Son of God. Because it all came down to this…

When we consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first thing I want you to understand is that it is the…

1. Most important event to ever occur. [Luke 24:1-8]

The story of the birth, death, and the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ is the story that changed the world. It is the singular most important event to have ever occurred, and it is the greatest story ever told.

Because, you see, His birth was both normal, and unique at the same time. He was born of a woman, just like everyone else in the world. And I’m pretty sure that His mother went through all the pains and discomforts that all pregnant women go through. I have no doubt that she had difficulty sitting down and standing up. And she probably went through all of those weird, pregnancy cravings too. But, you know, sometimes I wonder what women would have craved back then, since ice cream and pickles probably hadn’t been invented yet.

His birth was normal, but it was unique too. He wasn’t just born of a woman—He was born of a virgin. He had no human father to add to His gene pool, and because of that, He was totally untainted by the sin nature that all the rest of us inherit at birth.