JESUS IS BELIEVED to have died at the age of 33 after a life of approximately 12,000 days. The Gospel writers devoted most of their work to just 1,100 or so of those days, the last 3 years of his life; and their primary interest was in one particular day—the day he was crucified.
This 24-hour period changed the world, and each of the Gospels drives toward it. I do believe this 24-hour period created a legacy of being the greatest turn around or comeback ever.
Let’s look at what many call Holy Week. The trial and Passion begin Thursday evening after sunset and lasting on through Friday, Jesus would eat the Last Supper with his disciples; pray in the garden of Gethsemane; be betrayed and deserted by his friends; be convicted of blasphemy by the religious authorities; be tried and sentenced for insurrection by Pontius Pilate; be tortured by Roman soldiers; and undergo crucifixion, death, and burial.
These 24 Hours of Jesus Life, Changed the world and I also believe these 24 Hours can Change Your Life. I know those 24 Hour Changed Mine!
The aim of this Sermon is to help you better understand the events that occurred during the last twenty-four hours of Jesus’ life, see more clearly the God Spoken Importance of Christ’s suffering and death, and reflect upon the meaning of these events for your life.
A lot can happen in a day I Watch a show on Tv called 24 Legacy it is a 12 Episode show about one Guy stopping terrorist from causing Major destruction in America it’s a good Show. The Show goes minute by minute Hour by hour and leaves you hanging from show to show. The Same can be said about the End of Jesus Earthly life.
The 24 Hours or The Third Day
Let’s focus on the that day, it began at sunset on Saturday night, but it was not until morning that Mary Magdalene discovered the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty. The details differ in each Gospel, but all agree that this woman who had been set free by Jesus from demon possession or mental illness was first on the scene. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us she was accompanied by one or more other women; and they had come with scented oils to anoint Jesus’ body.
The women were shocked by what they saw: The stone had been rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. They ran to the tomb, afraid someone had taken Jesus’ body to desecrate it and humiliate him further.
The Gospels vary somewhat in their accounts of what happened next. According to Mark (16:5), “they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe.” Matthew (28:2) identifies him as “an angel [a Greek word meaning “messenger”] of the Lord.” Luke (24:4) says that “suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.”
John (20:12) also tells us there were “two angels in white.” “They said . . . ‘Why are you weeping?’ ” (John 20:15). “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:5). With that, the women ran off to find the disciples.
The Easter chronology varies slightly in the four Gospel accounts; but one thing is clear: The idea that Jesus had been raised from the dead was considered unbelievable.”
The church has always boldly asserted that the tomb was empty, that Jesus was bodily risen, and that he appeared to the apostles and to hundreds of others over a period of forty days. He was not a ghost. He was there with them. But from the John text this was Jesus even when he called to Mary but he was also more. Mary didn’t recognize him by sight but by his voice and his calling of her name.
Point Number One, The Resurrection of Jesus Changes everyone. With Christ Jesus, there is a New Day!
There is no doubt the disciples were transformed following the Resurrection.
These people who had deserted Jesus because they were afraid, who hid behind locked doors rather than help bury him, were now in the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming him to everyone.
“Do with us what you want,” they said. “Kill us if you must, but we have to tell you:
The one you crucified we have seen raised from the dead. He is in fact the Son of God. He is the King of glory, the Savior of the world.” They went from there throughout the world proclaiming the good news. They faced difficult times. They were arrested again and again, beaten, abused, and thrown into prison.
Tradition has it that all but one of them were put to death for their faith, but they would never again dwell in those dark places of the spirit. No more would they feel the doubt and despair they felt before they had seen their risen Lord.
The fact is, the disciples were radically changed, empowered, emboldened, and filled with hope as a result of their encounter with the Resurrected Christ.
Point two: Faith in the Resurrected Christ is real. For Me it does not take a lot of faith to believe in the Resurrection of Christ. Jesus was raised I feel content to trust as fact.
Yet. That Easter the Resurrection is not simply about a dead man being restored to life. Its power lies in its meaning, and here the Resurrection seems to me to be the perfect ending to the gospel story. The resurrection of Christ, like his crucifixion, is a word from God speaking a profound truth that changes everything. This story defined the very lives of the earliest disciples. God Spoke Through the Cross and God is speaking Through the Black Lives Matter Movement. Just as he Spoke trough the Snitch of Strange Fruit on Southern Trees during the Lynching Era of American History. Resurrection is always about freedom and liberation. It’s always the oppressed that are crucified and My God is always on the side of the Oppressed.
That leads to the last of my Points that there is Victory in Christ. It is often referred to as “Christus Victor”—Christ the Victor.
The Christian gospel is more than a transcendent reality, more than “going to heaven when I die, to shout salvation as I fly.”
It is also an immanent reality— a powerful liberating presence among the poor right now in their midst, “building them up where they are torn down and propping them up on every leaning side.”
The gospel of Victory of Christ is found wherever poor people struggle for justice, fighting for their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It holds that the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus must be taken together as a powerful word from God announcing God’s victory over the powers of evil and over the sin that alienates us from God.
The Gospel shows God’s triumph over death, which we, by faith, share”
You see many of us misunderstand the tradition that there is a difference in Jesus and Jesus Christ. Jesus has earthly power and is God limited by flesh, Jesus does things like healing, resurrecting and prayer.
But Jesus the Christ that is Jesus with all Power. Jesus the Christ is God in person!
Jesus the Christ doesn’t Pray to God Jesus the Christ is God.
And I ‘am Glad today that Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, has All Power over real powerful Evil!
I do not know what metaphor you want to use to talk about Evil; maybe it’s a public lynching with a KKK standing by, maybe its cuts to the Affordable Health Care Bill or Medicaid its self maybe its bombing folks before trying to make peace. But, I do know that since June here in South Carolina I’ve Gotten to see Evil, I know that since November I’ve come face to face with the Real News of Fake Facts that lead to evil. I know that taking away folks Jobs and killing the Earth is Evil.
In Jesus Christ, God entered the Fight hands on to take on a very powerful enemy. This enemy, like the Philistine giant Goliath of old, held folk’s captive.
We live in a world where “might is right” and where evil seems so often the victor. Where evil says thangs like I love winning and we goanna win so much that I’m goanna get tired of winning.
Even the “righteous” of Jesus’ day the Sanhedrin’s and the high church officials were shown in 24 Hours of Christ’s betrayal, condemnation, and death to be jealous, petty slaves to their own Fake News; and all of us are prisoners of the forces of death.
The reality these days of our enslavement to evil, sin, and death is evident all around us.
• Evil is seen in the 30,000 children who die each day of hunger and diseases related to malnutrition while others have plenty.
• Evil is seen in the continued wars and violent conflicts across the globe.
• Evil is seen in the selfishness and greed that have led to economic catastrophes, and it is seen in the pain we bring upon one another in our relationships
In Jesus, God entered a world were evil seems to have the upper hand. He took the worst blows of the enemy, being subject to the powers that conspired to destroy him. He was beaten, abused, and eventually knocked out. But just when the match seemed lost,
Jesus arose; and in his Resurrection, he dealt a finishing blow to the forces of evil, sin, and death. Christ became the Victor”
Now I’ll take my seat as long as you understand that Jesus the Christ is a resource for Power.
Yes, Church Christ became the Victor.
With his victory, all humankind was offered the opportunity to join forces with “him; to be set free from the power of evil, sin, and death; and to live lives of hope, freedom, and love.
Sure, we still must choose to side with Jesus.
Here me Now The battle between good and evil will continue until Christ’s return, but his death and resurrection dealt a decisive blow to the forces of evil and demonstrated the ultimate victory of God over it.
Let me put this another way Chance the Rapper on his opening track on his lip Coloring Book & yea I know some of yawl will have no clue.
He Reminds us that at sometimes what you see right here around you me and Jesus that’s all we Got.
So, you might as well use all you got and give it all we got.
But the even better news is Jesus Christ is my savoir and he has all power and thus the Enemy is defeated, death is defeated and Hell is defeated.
Today Now that Christ has Won the Victory, We Got A New Day, A New 24 and We Got A New Hero, Christ Jesus.
