“In the decades before and after Jesus’ life and death there were dozens of messianic movements in Israel. In almost every case the messianic leader was killed, in many cases by execution, and after the leader’s death, each of these movements invariably collapsed. Everyone went home, and that was it.” — Tim Keller
“I can honestly say that I’ve staked my life on an empty tomb. Everything I am, everything I own, and everything I’ve done or hope to do hang suspended on whether or not Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. The decision I made decades ago to put my trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is only as good as the tomb is empty. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, my life is a sham. I’ve invested everything in, staked everything on, entrusted everything to the historical fact of the empty tomb of Jesus. If his body and bones are still buried somewhere in Palestine, or have long since disintegrated under the force of time and the laws of physics, nothing has meaning for me, nor do I have meaning for anything or anyone else.” —Sam Storms
Since Jesus died on the cross for us and was raised from the dead, we must take up our crosses and follow him.
1. Who is Jesus?
2. What must Jesus do?
3. How should we follow Jesus?
“Every culture points to certain things and says, ‘If you gain those, if you acquire those, then you’ll have a self, you’ll know you’re valuable.’…every culture says identity is performance based, achievement based.
“And Jesus says that will never work. If you gain the whole world, he says, it won’t be big enough or bright enough to cover up the stain of inconsequentiality. No matter how many things you gain, it’s never enough to make you sure of who you are. If you build your identity on ‘somebody loves me,’ or if you build your identity on ‘I’ve got a good career,’ and anything goes wrong with that relationship or that job, you fall apart. You feel like you don’t have a self.”—Tim Keller