VBX Day 3
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Who here likes movies? What kind? What are some of your favorite movies?
I went back and looked up the 10 ten grossing movies of all time, domestically, and I noticed a trend. 9 out of the top 10 grossing movies of all time had roughly the same plot.
Something bad happened or some evil villain showed up and the survival of the whole world depended on the actions of one person… a hero.
And it’s not just movies. 7 of the top 10 grossing books of all time are Harry Potter books. The story of a boy who rises above oppression and saves the world from an evil wizard.
My favorite books are “The Lord of the Rings” a saga about a lowly hobbit who traverses the dangers of middle earth right into the heart of evil itself to do what no one else seemed to be able to do… why is this theme so prevalent in our entertainment?
I think it is because, deep down in our hearts we know there is something broken. Something wrong with this place we call earth. And we’re looking for a hero to set us free and to save us.
The Israelites were looking for the same thing, they rejected God as their King in favor of Saul, then came David, then Solomon and then a bunch of really messed up dudes with a few decent ones sprinkled in. Then of course, came the exile and life in Babylon under their kings.
The Jews had some good times, they had prosperous times, but they also had some really bad times.
We pick up today during a bad time in Israel’s history. They are under Roman occupation and they don’t know it yet, but they are about 30 years or so away from their entire religious structure coming to an end.
Our Hero today has been traveling the country doing really cool things, gaining a ton of followers because He can do some really amazing things. And this Hero rides into town on the finest horse you’ve ever seen. He rides in and single handedly defeats Rome…
Thats not what happened, is it? No. Our Hero is Jesus, but He isn’t the type of Hero we are used to. He isn’t going to kill a single Roman or even lead a revolt.
He rides in on a young donkey and instead of confronting the occupying enemy… He goes and starts trouble at the temple. This isn’t what the crowd expected and it certainly isn’t what they had hoped for. They were quoting Psalm 118:26
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
We don’t have time to read the whole thing but it’s littered with references of military victory. Phrases like ‘my enemies surround me but I will cut them down’ ‘Lord save us, Lord give us success’ they were quoting that when Jesus rode into town because they were looking for a hero.
And when they realized that He wasn’t that kind of hero, their shouts went from ‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord’ to ‘crucify Him’
They hatch a plot and have Jesus arrested. The Roman governor was a man named Pontius Pilate and he doesn’t really want to crucify Jesus.
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” 22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” 23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Jesus is mocked, tortured, beaten within an inch of his life, His beard was ripped from His face… and He was hung on a cross...
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. 47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
Jesus dies. The man who so many hoped would free Israel from Rome, is dead.
Some of his followers ask to take His body and bury it. And that process looks something like this. They take the body, clean it the best they could, wrap it in cloth lined with spices. And this fact is important because the cloth and spices would have added about a hundred pounds to His body. If He had survived the cross, there is no way He would have had the strength to break out of that cloth, and He probably would have suffocated under all that weight.
The Jews made sure that the tomb was sealed and guarded. So even if Jesus could wiggle His way out of all that cloth and spice, He would have to bust out of the tomb, after He was brutally beaten and tortured. Its over. He is dead.
What a crushing end to such a promising career. He could have been so much more if He had only played the games of the religious leaders.
But He was operating on a totally different level. We tend to only think about here and now as humans. Jesus was doing something so much better.
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 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? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.
He could have just kicked Rome out and saved Israel from their enemy. But that wasn’t the enemy that Jesus was concerned with. Israel had a much bigger enemy. Bigger than Goliath, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and every other enemy that threatened their very existence. His focus was on a much bigger enemy.
So what does this have to do with you? You’re a modern American not an ancient Israelite. But you have something in common with every person who has ever lived. At some point, hopefully not for a long time, you are going to face that same enemy.
Because His focus was on the enemy that every person who as ever lived will face. Death. Thats the thing about this life, no one gets out alive.
And the reason we should be concerned with death is because it is final. And if you haven’t placed your trust in Jesus for salvation you are separated from God. Here, let me show you...
1. Write names (Bryce)
2. Write God on the other side and explain that He wants to be our Father and for us to be in relationship with Him.
3. The problem (draw the bottom half of the cross between us and God) explain that sin is what separates us from God.
4. Wedding illustration, a groom that showed up dirty and disgusting or a bride that was covered in mud…
5. Explain that God is perfect, and we are the muddy groom, God loves and cares for us but our sin keeps Him away.
6. Have you sinned?
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
7. 1 st half of
Romans 6:23 – what is a wage?
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
8. 2 nd half of Romans 6:23 – Draw gift box, how do we get this gift?
9. Romans 5:8 – who should have been punished for our sin? Who took the punishment for us? Draw the top of the cross
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
10. Romans 10:9-10
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
– what does confess mean? Explain lordship. Read verse again that
when you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus comes in and takes over as the Lord of your life (draw a line to connect us and God) Jesus bridges the gap between us and God.
When I was about 13 I came to the realization that no matter how many good things I did, I was broken and separated from God… I was looking for a Hero to save me from myself and my sin and I turned to Jesus.
If you haven’t, and you want to know more please don’t leave this room without talking to someone. The games and the songs and all the activities are great, but all of that can be put on hold if you need to talk to someone, don’t let the moment pass without dealing with it.