Facebook Icon Instagram Icon Twitter Icon

Topic: salvation

The religious leaders need the Roman authorities to rubber stamp the execution orders, so they take Jesus to the governor of Judea, Pilate. After much back and forth discussion, Pilate offers an exchange: The guilty for the innocent; the criminal for the king; Jesus Barabbas or Jesus the Christ. The religious leaders make their choice, and the crucifixion is approved.
Resurrection Sunday, 2023 – Every one of us has a dominant story that shapes the way we view the world, ourselves, and God. For some it's a story of pain, loss, rejection. For others it's a story of hard work, effort put in, and reward or accomplishment. But all of those stories are but smaller stories inside the Greatest Story...the Story of God as spoken in the Bible.
In Luke 19-20, Jesus comes face to face with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, when he rolls into the temple and starts cleaning house. The leaders at the temple are no doubt unimpressed, and they have one major question for Jesus: "Who do you think you are?!" It begins a conversation about authority – where it comes from, who holds the keys, and who you will follow.
A wealthy man comes up to Jesus looking for the key to eternal life. Jesus tells him to sell everything, and the rich man is extremely disappointed. The idea that you can’t work or earn your way into heaven wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
If Jesus' had a mission statement, what would it be? It might not be what you think it would be, and not only that, Jesus surprises the disciples by saying there's no middle ground. You're either in or out.