Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / The Day God Answered, “Amen”

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The Day God Answered, “Amen” · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Take a trip with me. Come on. It'll only take
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: about 30 minutes. We'll have a chance to see sites
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: you've never seen before. We'll hear conversations that you've never
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: heard before. And actually, it could be a life-changing experience
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: for you. But you'll need a good imagination. I know
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: that's harder for some of you than for others. But
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: for us artist type, it sort of comes easily. But
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: for you engineering types, work hard. Try to imagine. Try
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: to picture the scenes as they are portrayed for you. Now,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: we'll also need some rapid transportation. So I've made arrangements
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: with the time train. We'll catch it together, and I've
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: got a seat for you so you can sit beside me.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: We're going to go all the way... Well, we're here.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: That wasn't bad, was it? We're here. We're in Palestine.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: It's the first century. The year is about 30 A.D.,
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  Speaker 1: and the city is... Jerusalem. You're a shopkeeper on the
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: main drag in Jerusalem. Back in Southern California, it would
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: have been like having a shop on Beach Boulevard that
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: runs from the heart of the county all the way
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  Speaker 1: to the ocean. But here it's Bethphage Avenue, sort of
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  Speaker 1: a winding serpentine road from the base of the Mount
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  Speaker 1: of Olives all the way to the downtown temple. Busy street.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: You like that. Being a shop owner, it means a
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: lot of people come by. And having a lot of
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: people means a lot of business. And a lot of
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: business means a lot of money. That's important to you.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: And with all of that comes a lot of talk.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: It's sort of the center, sort of the nerve center
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  Speaker 1: of the scuttlebutt around the city. It's Passover time. It's
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  Speaker 1: a holiday time. It meant nothing to us back in
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Southern California, but in the first century AD, 30 AD
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  Speaker 1: means a lot, a lot more people, a lot more business.
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  Speaker 1: You've had this shop for a long time. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: it's been in your family 70, 80, maybe 90 years.
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  Speaker 1: But you've been at this site here on Bethphage Avenue
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  Speaker 1: only about a dozen years. In fact, when you first
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: got the shop, it was sort of run down. You
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: wanted to have some work done, and you tried to
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  Speaker 1: find just the right carpenter shop that could do it.
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  Speaker 1: Problem was, the best one was up in the hill
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  Speaker 1: country up in Nazareth in Galilee. J & J' s carpentry
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  Speaker 1: shop up there. Father-son establishment. You had heard about it
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: through friends. And somebody even mentioned that the older son
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: wasn't really the man's son. But out of a bit
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: of pity for the woman who was carrying this child
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: out of wedlock, they sort of slipped away. In fact,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the last word you heard is he was really born
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: not far away over in Bethlehem. You don't know the details,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: and you don't get into stuff like that because it
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: leads to conversations about morality, and morality talks about something
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  Speaker 1: about religion, and you stay away from that. It's not
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: good for business. So those kind of things you sort
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: of leave alone, and right outside, the crowd is beginning
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  Speaker 1: to gather. It's an unusual kind of gathering. They're not
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  Speaker 1: moving along or milling around like a normal crowd would
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  Speaker 1: in a holiday week, but this crowd sort of staying. It's,
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  Speaker 1: it's almost like the, the beginning of a parade. In fact,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: it is a parade. There are children as well as adults,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: parents taking children by hand and children are dragging these, these,
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  Speaker 1: these fronds, they call them from the branches of a
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  Speaker 1: palm tree. And, and they're sort of waving them. In fact,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: they're tossing them out in the street of all things.
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  Speaker 1: And what you, Wipe your hands off and take your
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  Speaker 1: apron and place it aside and ask the help to
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  Speaker 1: take over. And you decide to walk out front and
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  Speaker 1: to see what it's all about. You open the door
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  Speaker 1: and step out there. Hosanna! Hosanna! Son of David! Blessed
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  Speaker 1: is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
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  Speaker 1: The fellow right next to you said that. He belongs
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  Speaker 1: to your synagogue. Beth Shalom has been a member for years.
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  Speaker 1: What's he saying? You thought it was maybe a Roman
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  Speaker 1: official on a chariot. They often did that sort of thing,
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  Speaker 1: threw their weight around, white stallions pulling their chariots, just
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: kind of calling attention to the fact that they're in
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  Speaker 1: charge around here and don't you ever forget it. But
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  Speaker 1: it is not a chariot down at the end of
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  Speaker 1: that street. In fact, it's not even a Roman official.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it's not even a Jewish official. Normally, you'd
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  Speaker 1: see a few Pharisees walking along, praying out loud, long
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: robes and tassels, sort of showing off their spirituality. But
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  Speaker 1: they didn't fit the cry from the people. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: there's sort of a festive scene where the children are
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  Speaker 1: sort of dancing around, holding hands. And the older folks
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  Speaker 1: are shouting back, Hosanna, Hosanna to the son of David.
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  Speaker 1: And you look, and there's a donkey. Sort of an
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  Speaker 1: awkward creature with a man sitting on his back, stepping
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  Speaker 1: gingerly over those branches in the street. He's sort of
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: staggering along, and that's funny. You're sort of captured by
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  Speaker 1: his face. It's almost like he'd been in your shop.
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  Speaker 1: And so you say to the friend who you've known
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  Speaker 1: for years, who is this? Well, that's the Nazarene. That's
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  Speaker 1: the prophet from Nazareth. Used to be a carpenter. Could
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: that be the boy? And about the time he comes
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: right in front of you, there is this very gentle
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: wave in your direction. Well, you're a good businessman, so
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: wave back. And you smile back, but he has those eyes.
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  Speaker 1: You haven't seen eyes like that since you met with
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  Speaker 1: your tax collector two weeks ago. He looks right to
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  Speaker 1: the back of your cranium, right into your soul. But
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  Speaker 1: these eyes are different. They're full of acceptance and compassion.
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  Speaker 1: And it's almost as if he nods saying, I understand you.
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  Speaker 1: I know you. the carpenter from Nazareth on the back
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  Speaker 1: of a donkey waving at you. As the beast passes on,
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  Speaker 1: the crowd sort of folds in behind, kind of like
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  Speaker 1: they do at the end of a parade when you
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: sort of join in and before long people move aside
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  Speaker 1: into the alleys that lead off into the innards of
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the city. And you watch for a little while longer
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  Speaker 1: as the crowd dissipates and you notice that This little
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  Speaker 1: group that's been following him goes all the way to
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  Speaker 1: the steps of the downtown temple. And you wonder what
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: he's about. You heard later that he threw some folks
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  Speaker 1: out of the temple. What a strange thing. He didn't
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: look the type. Strong, but gentle. Masculine and rugged, but kind.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Things have been in a bit of an uproar in
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  Speaker 1: your city. There's this constant battle between the Romans and
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: the Jews, between the governor that's been sent there to
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: take care of the crowd during Passover. You've never liked
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  Speaker 1: Pilate that much. You wonder if it's something to do
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: with all of that, but you stay out of politics too.
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  Speaker 1: Not good for business. You come back inside and the
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: day passes as your stomach is churning because you cannot
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  Speaker 1: get that face out of your mind. The prophet from Nazareth.
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  Speaker 1: Night falls. In fact, a few days pass and they're
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  Speaker 1: not that uneventful because the crowd that keeps coming into
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  Speaker 1: your shop, not only new faces, but some of the
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: older patrons of yours are talking more and more about
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  Speaker 1: this Nazarene who seems to have taken the city by storm.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, one of your fellow workers says to you,
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  Speaker 1: have you heard him preach? I mean, your rabbi is good,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: but this man, when he speaks, he hardly raises his voice,
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  Speaker 1: but people hang on every word. He cuts like a
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  Speaker 1: hot knife through butter. He goes right through all the
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  Speaker 1: religious facade and he deals with issues that matter. He
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  Speaker 1: tells you what's even down in your own soul and
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  Speaker 1: you remember that look. And you wish you would have
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: heard him. You wish you would have spoken. Another day passes.
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  Speaker 1: About mid-morning, you come in the store and your help
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  Speaker 1: is there working hard and You look up and you
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  Speaker 1: sort of groan when you see Diotrephes, the Greek who
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: owns the tent shop next door. He's so proud. He's
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  Speaker 1: so proud that he has this apprentice back in Tarsus.
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  Speaker 1: Such a bright man he keeps talking about that he's
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  Speaker 1: training in the trade. But this is his main shop
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  Speaker 1: here in Jerusalem. And he walks in with a swagger
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  Speaker 1: and he said, well, they got him. They got to
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  Speaker 1: Galilee and one of his own turned him in. The carpenter? Yep,
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  Speaker 1: they got him. I knew it had happened. You know
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  Speaker 1: who turned him in? A Judean. I knew it. Galileans
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  Speaker 1: are pretty thick. The rest of them are Galilean. But
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: that Judean saw right through him. He's one of Simon's sons.
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  Speaker 1: His name is Judas. In fact, it served him right.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: They were doing a weird thing. You're supposed to pray
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  Speaker 1: in the synagogue. And he's out there in the middle
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: of the night with a group of his people. They're
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  Speaker 1: praying at night in the park down in Gethsemane. Anything
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  Speaker 1: can happen down there. And a mob came. They had torches.
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  Speaker 1: There were swords. Somebody cut somebody's ear off. Here's a
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: weird scene. They got him. You know, I used to
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  Speaker 1: think that it would be Nathanael who'd turn him in.
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  Speaker 1: You remember Nathanael? Yeah, I met Nathanael. I've sold him
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  Speaker 1: things before. You remember the conversation. Nathanael was the one
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  Speaker 1: who said to Philip, when Philip said, why don't you
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  Speaker 1: come follow him with us? Can anything good come out
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  Speaker 1: of Nazareth? I thought Nathanael would be the one that
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  Speaker 1: would turn him, but it was Judas. In fact, he
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  Speaker 1: held the money. Oh, you're interested, Judas. Handle the money,
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: a Judean. I wonder what he's doing right now. You
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: can't put it together. You ask, what are they doing
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  Speaker 1: with him? Where is he? Where are they holding him? Well,
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: my source says he's on trial. In fact, he's been
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: on trial through the night. That's not supposed to be kosher.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: But they did it because they're in a hurry to
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  Speaker 1: get him crucified. Crucified. Yeah. Yeah. Suddenly there is a
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  Speaker 1: flashback to when you were 17 years old, the last
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  Speaker 1: time you had been to that place of the skull.
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  Speaker 1: And you watched a couple of men hanging on Roman
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  Speaker 1: spikes until they slumped in death. And you thought, I'll
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: never look at this again. It's worse than the worst
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: horror story you've ever heard. You couldn't imagine. It was
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: about lunchtime, so you reached in the counter and you
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  Speaker 1: pulled out your closed for lunch sign. You hang it
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  Speaker 1: on your door and you lock up. You tell the
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  Speaker 1: help to take the afternoon off. And you start making
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  Speaker 1: your way with a crowd that's now moving along like
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: a rapidly moving river just outside the city wall. You
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  Speaker 1: remember where it is. There are sort of profane names
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  Speaker 1: for it that are thrown around by the rabble of
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  Speaker 1: the city and you go there. You keep your distance
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: because it's an eerie place to be. You hear one
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  Speaker 1: man on the side on a cross screaming out cursings
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  Speaker 1: against your God, and that's offensive. You see another man
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  Speaker 1: on the other side, and he says very little. It's
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  Speaker 1: almost as though he's resigned to die. But in the middle,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: that's him. Only you can't see his eyes now. His
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: face is swollen. There are little slits. You walk around
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  Speaker 1: behind and you look and his back looks like raw meat.
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  Speaker 1: Draining with blood. Sort of oozing down that stocky piece
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: of timber. Talk about police brutality. There's thorns on his head.
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  Speaker 1: Somebody has jammed thorns down on his head and that's
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  Speaker 1: gotten into his eyes and Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. He
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  Speaker 1: screamed that. The man next to you thought he was
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: calling for Elijah, but you've been in this cosmopolitan trade
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  Speaker 1: long enough to pick up most of the languages you
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  Speaker 1: know Aramaic. You say it isn't Elijah. He's not calling
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  Speaker 1: for Elijah. Those are the words of a prayer. Something like,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: my God, why have you abandoned me? Something like that.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Why does he say that? He really is disillusioned. You
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  Speaker 1: remember last Sabbath when the rabbi spoke about being aware
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  Speaker 1: that there will be all kinds of people who will
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: come and they will try to act like they're the Messiah.
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  Speaker 1: And he used the scroll of Isaiah to describe what
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: he would be like. And he pictured it as one
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: who would overthrow that Roman yoke. And he's not done that.
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  Speaker 1: Could he be the Messiah? Yeah. Somebody on the other
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: side whispers, did you hear about the suicide last night? No.
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  Speaker 1: Judas hung himself. What is this? What's happening? Time was
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: when life in the city was so simple. You sold
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: your goods. You ran an honest shop. And aside from
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: putting up with diatrophies next door, things were pretty simple.
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  Speaker 1: And now you've got You've got a simple man in
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: the back of a donkey and the very people who
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: said hail son of David now are crying crucify him.
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  Speaker 1: And the one who turned him in has hung himself.
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  Speaker 1: I am thirsty. One of the soldiers down below gambling
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: for the garment sticks his spear in a sponge and
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: In a bucket of vinegar and wine. Pushes it up
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  Speaker 1: to his face. Cuts him right there on the cheek.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus turns his face. Your heart goes out to him.
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  Speaker 1: And then he turns to spit out some of the
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  Speaker 1: blood that has begun to hemorrhage from his mouth. And
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  Speaker 1: he said. It is finished. What is finished? You look
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: to your left and about four people over is his
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: mother with her hands on her cheeks. Standing next to
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: her is a friend. Somebody told you it was John,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: one of the disciples. And you thought, how cruel. Hard
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: enough for a mother to give birth to a child,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: but to watch him die at such a young age.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: He's not 35, 40 years old. But she's standing in grief.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: And you think about that. it is finished comment. And
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: you worry over it like a dog with a bone.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: You can't figure out why he said that. Why didn't
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: he simply say, I am dying? In fact, last time
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: you heard that particular expression, one of the carpenters used it.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: When finishing your shop back a dozen years ago, maybe
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: it's a carpenter's term. It's almost like you've worked to
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: the end of an agenda and And at the very bottom,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: when you check the last thing off, it's all complete.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: It's done. And you sort of swipe your hands together
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: and you walk away and you get your pay and
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: you go to the next job. It's almost like he's saying,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: mission accomplished. What mission? It's gotten dark. Strangely dark. It's
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: not supposed to be dark. It's hardly three o'clock in
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: the afternoon. Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.
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  Speaker 1: It's like he screamed it as blood came out and
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: drained down his neck and he slumped. You can't stand
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that sound. It's awful. And then John, standing next to
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: the mother, Praise a prayer like you've never heard before.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: It's nothing like the rabbinical prayers you were taught as
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: a little boy or little girl. It was something like this. Yes,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: take him home, my father. Take the prince to his king.
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  Speaker 1: Take this son to his father. Take the pilgrim back home.
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  Speaker 1: He deserves a rest. Come 10,000 angels. Come and take
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: this wounded troubadour to the cradle of his father's arms. Farewell,
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: manger's infant. Bless you, holy ambassador. Go home, death slayer.
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  Speaker 1: Rest well, sweet soldier. The battle is over. Amen. You
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: have never heard anything like that. He knew God like
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: you've never known him. He talked to him like a friend.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Does that come from knowing and following this man on
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: the cross? I believe, you say. How will I ever
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: explain it to my rabbi, to my friends? He is
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the son of David. He is the king. He is
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: the Messiah. I believe it. Oh, I wish I could
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: have talked to him and known him. He's dead. To
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: your amazement, while lost in your thoughts... the ground begins
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: to shake. Earthquakes aren't that usual around here. You thought
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: at first perhaps it was a large entourage of Romans
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: going by and their chariots and implements of war, but
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: it wasn't. It was an earthquake in the darkness. And
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: you look back behind you and you see under the
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: shimmering light of the eclipse sun some of the rocks
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: splitting on their own. They're breaking. And Somebody said from
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: the back, those tubes over there, stones are rolling away.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: They're rolling uphill. They're falling flat. It's like their corpses
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: are going to come out of the grave. You heard
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: later that at the temple, downtown temple, that big thick
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: tapestry veil between the holy and holiest of all, where
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: you never would be able to go, ripped from top
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: to bottom. They'll never be able to repair it. And
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: all of that happened when he died. But what really
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: got your attention was the words of a hardened soldier
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: who had been on so many crucifixion details, he couldn't
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: even remember what number this one was. But he stopped,
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: looked at the stones, saw the tomb, and said as
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: he looked into the face of the swollen carpenter, bruised
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: and battered, this was the Son of God. We've killed
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: an innocent man. That did it. You can never erase
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: those words from your mind. You go home that night,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: you slump onto the cot where you spend your evenings,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: and you stare at the ceiling of your little home
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: As that is happening, you don't know it, but there
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: is a group of officials who have gathered at Pilate's office.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: Pilate opens the door. In come Pharisees, a couple of
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: chief priests, and a local rabbi, not yours, but one nearby.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Their faces are grim. Sir, we remember that when this
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: deceiver was on this earth... He said, after three days,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: I am going to rise again. Therefore, governor, give orders
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: for the grave to be made secure until the third day,
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: lest his disciples come and steal him away and say
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: to the people, he has risen from the dead. And
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: then things would be worse than they were at first.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: Pilate said with a sneer, I never wanted to have
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: anything to do with him anyway. My wife warned me
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  Speaker 1: about him. I'll let him go, hoping that people would say,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: let him go and crucify Barabbas. But they chose him.
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  Speaker 1: He's your worry. You have your own guard. Make the
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: grave secure. They left. And they did. Hours passed. Dragged
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: on to the Sabbath. You still remember the words. It
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: is finished. Late on the Sabbath hour, just before dawn
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: of the first day, you're awakened. The dirt floor of
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: your little place cracks open. The furniture begins to creak. Another,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: it's got to be an afterquake, aftershave. You get one,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: you get several. And in this earthquake, you sort of
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: have your life pass in review again. And you remember three,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: three and a half years ago, for some reason it
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: comes to your mind, there was a baptizer, strange fellow,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: wore weird clothes, preached out in the wilderness. And he
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: made a statement like, behold, the Lamb of God who
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: takes away the sin of the world. And it dawned
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: on you what this was all about. Lambs, you've seen
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: a thousand of them offered at an altar. Blood from
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: the lamb when the throat is slit is held in
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: a saucer. And it becomes the sacrificial atonement. That which
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: gives forgiveness. It's the substitute for the sin of the penitent.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: And you thought, that's it. That's what it was. Jesus,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: God's human lamb, sacrificed for the sins of the world. Mine, yours.
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: It dawns on you. He was He paid the penalty
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: for sin. And it's paid in full. It's as if
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: he wrote the check and signed it and endorsed it.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: And God held it until, as you heard, he was raised.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: And when he was raised, God cashed it. and made
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: the money available to the world. It all begins to
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: make sense. It clicks. This earthquake is like God's answering
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: amen to Jesus' words, it is finished. The penalty has
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: been paid. The sacrifice has been taken care of. No
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: one will ever have to die again for his or
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: her sins. The lamb has been slain and now he
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: has been raised and God is saying amen. To your amazement,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: as old age comes upon you before that first century
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: has passed, you come across words from your friends who
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: are new in the faith as well, who speak of
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: a new testament. In fact, one of the writers was
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: one of the followers of Jesus, a tax gatherer named Matthew.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: And when you see the work of Matthew in your
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: later years, you nod in understanding because you were there.
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Late on the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: other Mary came to look at the grave and behold,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: a severe earthquake had occurred. You were there. You'll never
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: forget it. It shook you out of bed. But you
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: didn't know that that was what was happening. And the
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: appearance was like lightning and And his garments were like
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: white as snow. And the guards at the tomb shook
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: for fear of him and became paralyzed like dead men.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: They couldn't move. And the angel said to the women,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: he is not here. Do not be afraid. I know
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: you're looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: not here. He is alive. As abruptly as we began
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: the trip, we ended. And unless I miss my guess,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: there will be a few shopkeepers who will return to
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: your work with a business-as-usual mentality. There's still insurance to sell.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: There's still cars to trade. There's still music to write.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: There's still sermons to prepare. They're still little ones to raise.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: There are still activities to carry on. After all, next
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: week begins my vacation. And I'll just put it all
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: in neutral and just kind of see where it settles down.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: After all, religion and business don't mix. You were taught
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: that in school. But I must warn you, to remain neutral...
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: is to deny the truth, which rests firmly on the
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: inspired word of God. Max Lucado, in a superb little work,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, puts it in
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: these words. The immensity of the Nazarene's execution makes it
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: impossible to ignore. Everybody has an opinion. Everyone is choosing
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: a side. You cannot be neutral on this issue. Apathy?
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Not this time. It's one side or the other. And
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: all have to choose. And choose they did. For every
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: cunning Caiaphas, there was a daring Nicodemus. For every cynical Herod,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: there was a questioning Pilate. For every pot-mouthed thief, there
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: was a truth-seeking one. For every turncoat Judas, there was
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: a faithful John. And today, almost 2,000 years later, the
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: same is true. It's the watershed issue. It's the continental divide.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: It's Normandy all over again. You are either on one
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: side or the other. A choice is demanded. We can
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: do what we want with the cross and the tomb.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: We can examine its history and study its theology and
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: reflect upon its prophecies. Yet the one thing we cannot
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: do is walk away in neutral. No fence sitting. is permitted.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: The cross. The tomb. In their absurd splendor. Don't allow that.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: That is one luxury God in his awful mercy doesn't permit.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: On which side are you? Maybe bow our heads. Close
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: your eyes. Another imaginary journey. Not to the past, but
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: to the future. Imagine your death. Imagine eternity. Imagine facing
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: that Without a savior. Who has gone beyond. To prepare
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: a way for you. What excuse would you have. To
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: gain God's favor and attention. As you stand a dead sinner.
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Before his holy throne. Through the centuries. Millions of. Seekers, interested,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: believing sinners have found that their only hope beyond the
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: grave is Jesus of Nazareth who has paid the penalty
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: and God has cashed the check and made it available.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Take it today. Don't just go back to business as usual.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Take time. Trust Jesus. Let us help you get started.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: May we stand for the benediction, please. Christ the Lord
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: is risen today. We serve a risen Savior. And you,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: our God, deserve all the glory. Worthy is the lamb
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: who was slain. Thank you. What simple yet sincere words
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: we speak today. Thank you for the message of hope.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you that it gets us beyond the grave and
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: into the Father's waiting arms. Thank you that all can
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: understand it, young and old alike, and we this day
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: acknowledge Jesus is Lord. In his precious name. And everybody said, Amen.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: He is risen. He is risen. He is risen. He
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: is risen. The preceding message, The Day God Answered, Amen,
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: was copyrighted in 1991, 1992, 1998, 2002, and 2022. And
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: the sound recording was copyrighted in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.