John: Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Eagle Community Church Podcast. My name is John Gunter. This week, was Easter, 2024, a beautiful, day here in Southeast Texas and a great day to come to worship. We, again, we talked about the the resurrection of Jesus in the sermon, but we also talked about why it should be believed. Why and and how the the disciples took this and how they experienced everything that Jesus did and what it meant for their lives.
They didn't run away. They didn't walk away for a lie. They lived lives that ended up most likely getting them all killed. So, you should believe it too. I hope you do.
If you can, if you need anything at all, we'd love to see you. Come to our church anytime. Have a great week.
John: I was dating a girl one time from another country, and we sang that song at my church, and everything was low and slow at my church. But when we sang that song and we got to the fast part, she started giggling. And from that point forward, I have known that song as the Jack in the Box song. And if I have to know that song as a Jack in the Box song, y'all have to know that song. It is a Jack in the Box song too.
I had never thought about that before then, and now I cannot forget it, not remember it. So, it's a good song, so much so that I made it part of my title this week. And I did not coordinate with Terry for him to sing that, so up from the grave here rose. I just want to start by saying happy Easter. This is Jimbo did, that he did arise.
And we are here because of that. I like in moments like these and special times like Easter, to really get into the Word and kind of reread some of the account, to direct our minds and thoughts and hearts back to this very difficult time for Jesus. Right? Remember, He has had the ups and downs of ministry. One moment, they are praising Him as king entering Jerusalem.
The next moment, He is going to die. He is going to be given up by some of His closest friends, people who walked with Him every step of the way, who saw the things he did, saw the miracles, saw the signs, saw people healed of, of sicknesses, saw people who had demons released from those. But he still was betrayed and He still went through all that we know He went through. At this point in Jesus' ministry, and we're going to read from Luke 23, Jesus has already been betrayed. He has already been in the garden.
He has already prayed to God, if it's your will, let this cup pass from me. Jesus understood the pain and the suffering that were to come. But in this prayer, he prayed something that we all need to work into our prayers, and He said, not my will, but yours. I really don't like praying that because I feel like I've already got it figured out, and God, how about you just join me in my will, and we'll make it our will. Right?
But Jesus has already been through that. He has already been through the prayer. He has been there with his closest friends who fell asleep while he told them to watch and to pray. At this point, he's already been through the trials, where nobody could find any fault with him, but the crowd gave so much ruckus that they were forced to do something, because Roman pees, right? If you are making a noise, something needs to be done to quiet you.
And so it ends in Luke 23:32. 2 other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, 1 on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.' And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. I don't know of a better verse in Scripture to tell you the heart of Jesus than this one right here.
If I were to be led out right now in front of all of you to be crucified, I don't think some of my final words would be, God, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. I wish it was. I wish that's what I would say, but I've gotta think I'm probably saying something else than this. But Jesus loves us so much that even the very people responsible for his crucifixion there in the moment he prays, father, forgive them.
They don't know what they're doing. So I think God understands when we mess up and we sin, don't you? That there is still forgiveness for you and I, as we do the things we do. It says, and they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.
They said, he saved others. He saved others. Let him save himself if he is God's messiah. Can't you see the air quotes right there? If he is God's messiah, the chosen one.
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, if you are the king of the Jews, if you really are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was written a notice above him, which read, this is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals who hung there, hurled insults at him, are you the Messiah? Save yourself and us.
But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God? He said, since you are under the same sentence. He says, we are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus answered him, truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Amen. It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until 3 in the afternoon. For the sun stopped shining, and the curtain of the temple was torn in 2. Jesus called out with a loud voice, father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.
When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, surely, this was a righteous man. When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things. Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action.
He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of god. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.
Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes, but they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. On the 1st day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly 2 men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 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?
I would imagine that cleared everything up, don't you? He is not here. He has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee, the Son of Man must be delivered over the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the 3rd day, be raised again. Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the 11 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. They did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Not that everything women say is nonsense. But this seemed a little crazy.
What do you mean he's not there? Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away wondering to himself what had happened. Jesus was no longer in this tomb. He was not where they knew him they had laid him.
There was no body, and they had something to figure out in this moment. Every bit of Jesus' ministry was about who he was. That's really what got him killed. Everybody would have been okay if he would have just been going and doing good things, but not claiming to be the son of God because they said, that's blasphemy. We need to kill him for that.
And so as we read through this and we read what Jesus did for every one of of us, we need to understand who he was and who he claimed to be. We can find this in the 7 I am statements of Jesus. It'll start here in John 6, I am the bread of life, the sustainer. They would have understood even in the Exodus, that manna poured from heaven that that God provides. I am the bread of life.
I am the bread that sustains life. In John 8, he says, I am the light of the world. Providing light in the darkness is who Jesus was. I am the door of the sheep. That sheep could come and go, and he would be their protector.
And through that door, there was safety. I am the good shepherd. He said, you know, if you hired someone to protect the sheep and the wolves come, well, the hired hand is not gonna stick around. Those of you who work for somebody else, when things get real bad and it's not your plant, well, but if you own the plant, that's a different deal, isn't it? If I own this, and I am the person he said, I am the good shepherd.
I am the owner. I am the person responsible. I do not run. I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus' death doesn't mean what it means to us if He doesn't rise on that 3rd day.
And Jesus says, I'm gonna die for you, but also in His ministry, He showed you that He had power and authority over everything. Remember, when he's, again, got the power over sicknesses, diseases. He has the power over demons. He has the power over the winds and the waves. Right?
He has the power even over death, not only to heal others who have died, but also He Himself has died and is raised. I am the resurrection and the life, and what He is saying is, if you want to be a part of that, you come to Me. That is who I am. That I bring that, and that is why we assemble, right? That Jesus promises come true.
He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me. That's a bold claim in today's society, isn't it? I saw someone just this week say, I think I was on Instagram or something, and this lady was upset because someone in her church, her pastor had said this very thing, I think. I don't know if he quoted from John 14, but he said, basically, you have to go through Jesus. And she said, This is too exclusive for me.
And in her mind, the Bible never says anything like that and people would point to it and she couldn't respond. Nobody comes to the Father but by Jesus. You understand that, church? I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the true vine.
And we, church, are the branches. And it says there that what the Father does is if there are branches that are not doing anything, they will be cut off, but if there are branches that produce fruit, they will be pruned so that more fruit can be produced. And what gets me out of all of these things, and there are all the 7, If you want to commit those to memory. What gets me out of all these things? Is the response of the people that were there with Jesus, because I wasn't there.
Any of you in here skeptical? I feel like I get more skeptical every every year. I'm I'm 2 steps away from a tinfoil hat at this point, right? I'm skeptical, and you think about 2000 years ago. How much time has been separated?
Some of you still think that the moon landing was, you know, faked in Hollywood, and got any flat Earthers in here? Don't raise your hand. I will mentally have to worry about that as I am going through the sermon. There are so many things to be skeptical of. Right?
But what we see is Jesus walked the earth, and he performed a ministry doing these things over and over. And and the people closest to him, we understand they didn't know exactly what was gonna happen. Right? They kept thinking, I'm sure up to up to the moment he was probably put on the cross, that here in just a minute, we're gonna rally together and we're gonna overthrow the Roman government. And Jesus is gonna be the real king of David the way I think of it in my mind, and we're gonna take up arms against everybody.
Right? Or even Peter with his sword cuts off Malchus' ear, And Jesus says, we are not going to do that here. He puts it back on. Can you imagine being Malchus for the rest of your life? Yeah, that was me.
One eared Malchus. Yeah. But the people that were closest to Jesus experienced all of this, the the misunderstandings, the not knowing the the highs and the lows, the, man, we're associated with this guy that's getting all this publicity, all these people are coming to be healed, and all of a sudden we're associated with a guy that everybody wants to kill and we need to run. The highs and the lows, the ups and the downs, and and even after Jesus is raised, Thomas, unfortunately, for all the faith he shows, just because he has questions about Jesus being raised and wants to touch his his scars gets gets labeled doubting Thomas. Even though earlier in Scripture when Jesus wanted to go do something, Thomas was like, Let's go die with Him.
But I have that much faith. But what we see in the tradition of the disciples is, that not only did they believe, but they continued on in their ministry. We don't know all the specifics of everyone. But several of the men who were right there with him were crucified themselves. Some were murdered.
It is it is said that Paul was beheaded, that Peter was crucified upside down because he didn't see that he could do the same thing as Jesus, that I am not worthy to be crucified in the same way. So at least turn me upside down. No one got famous from this and lived some kind of cushy life somewhere. There was nothing for them. There was no reason to to make up a lie and and try to try to live with it.
Because it didn't get you anywhere. You didn't end up in a in a palace with power. You ended up homeless and on the run. And traditionally, what we find out is the guys split up and went all throughout all kinds of regions. We know what Paul did, but the rest of them did as well, trying to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus because they were there, and they witnessed it and they saw it and they believed it to the point of dying for it.
That's a decision that we all have to make every single day. How much do I believe it? How much does what Jesus did for me impact my life? Because unfortunately, it feels like sometimes we're just half in half out, sitting on the fence, take it or leave it. If it does something for me, yeah, if not, okay, I am okay walking away.
When the very people that were there and saw everything said, I will die for this. Not get anything for it, I will die for it. Scripture tells us that when Jesus was raised, He hung around for a while, so much so that 500 people or so saw Jesus. I can't imagine, and I've made the comment before, can you imagine if you were one of the people who crucified Jesus, and then that following Monday or so, you are walking down the road and you kind of do a double take because that guy looks a whole lot like the guy you put on the cross. Can you imagine?
Surely it wasn't, right? But that there is no way that Paul could tell us that Jesus was seen by 500 people and it not be true. You understand that? Because what are you going to do with your skeptical self if somebody says, hey, 500 people saw Jesus right after He was raised from the dead, I'm running outside and going to ask every one of them, every one of them I can find. Did you see Him?
Is He who He says He is? Because that's the witness we get in Scripture is that He is who He said He is, that He is the bread of life, He is the light of the world, He is the door of the sheep, He is the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth to life. He is the true vine. He is your Lord and savior. He was sent to earth to experience all of this stuff, to even be crucified for you.
Not for somebody else in here that you think is living a little better life than you. He was crucified for you. All the things you have done, Jesus has the authority to say no more, they don't count. But I, in my perfect sacrifice, have done away with all of that. We have the audacity to sit here and think, well, He couldn't save me.
I have done too much. I've made the same mistake too many times, Jesus wouldn't save me. And you don't find that anywhere. We read this morning in class about a woman who is so upset and convicted about her own sins, that it says she lives a sinful life, but she is breaking down in tears, so much so that she can clean Jesus' feet, that she is kissing His feet. Anybody want to try that this morning?
No? Especially not in the culture of sandal wearers, whatever was happening? That's what I told them in class. Can you imagine if if you walked in this morning and my wife, who I've been married to for over 15 years, is cleaning my feet. You probably all just turn around, especially you visitors who don't know, it's like, yeah, this is not for me.
See you. But but this lady who is cleaning Jesus' feet is so struck and convicted by by her sins that she would do this, That she would clean Jesus' feet, kiss His feet, wipe His feet, even pour expensive perfume on His feet just because she knows what He has the power to do. And it says the Pharisee, which again is the church person, Jesus says, you didn't even do the minimum. Right, Valentin? You didn't even do the minimum.
You didn't offer Me water to clean my feet. You didn't do anything. But all you did is you sat and you pointed at somebody else. When we read the story of Jesus, when we understand what He has done for us, we ought to be convicted. We ought to be able to confront our own sin and say, Yeah, that's not okay anymore.
I need to walk away from that. I need to just sit by and say, Okay, okay, whatever. But that I care enough about Jesus and what He has done for me that I need to be convicted. So this morning, I am just going to ask you that. Are you convicted by your sin?
Are you convicted by the ways that you walk away from Jesus? Because all of this, this morning that we have read, was done for you. To take you away from that, to restore a relationship between you and God that you didn't have otherwise. That's an amazing gift, church. God shows us through things like the parable of the Good Samaritan, that everyone is worthy, that it doesn't matter who it is, it doesn't matter what you think of them, He shows us by the parable of the lost son that the father is always waiting.
And He will allow you to walk away, but you can, it's your choice. But if you decide to come back, you are going to meet God with open arms. Somewhere in there, you have to be convicted of your sin. You have to internally say, I want to come back. God in Scripture does not show there is a bunch of hoops to jump through, that He's going to make you humiliate yourself or anything like that, but all He wants is your heart to turn and come back to Him.
We don't have near enough of that, do we? I hope that as we stand and we preach each week, that there's something going on in your life. We don't see a lot of it. I hope that there are changes, private changes that maybe we don't even ever hear about, but I just wanna encourage you. If there's something in your life that needs to be changed this morning, whether you need to talk to me, pray with me, one of our elders, or just a friend that's sitting in the the row with you this morning that will hold you accountable.
I wanna pray that you do that. That Jesus' sacrifice meant something to you. It continues to mean something to all of us. So, again, we've got a song of invitation picked out this morning. We'd love to pray with you.
That is not something I know we've kind of people talk about being embarrassed to come down front. I'll tell you what. I've never I've never embarrassed anybody. I don't think but what we get every time someone comes forward is encouragement and support and a church that love. And that's who we're gonna be this morning.
If you have any needs, would you come as we stand and as we sit?