When Paul entered Athens, he observed the many objects of worship. One object had an inscription, “To an unknown god.” Paul described the Athenians as “extremely religious.” Do you consider yourself to be extremely religious? Moderately religious? Mildly religious? What does that even mean? The
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Guilt. Shame. Fear. Sometimes the church produces the most negative feelings in people. And then sometimes it produces the most positive: love, value, security. Notice how some types of religion extract value from us. Others add value to us. Peter delivered a sermon in which he called the people “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” He added value to them.
They left Jerusalem. All the chaos. The death. The rumors. They were on the road again to the village of Emmaus. They met an unknown traveler who changed everything for them. Guess who the unknown traveler was?
Thomas was no one’s fool. “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails…I will not believe,” he declared to the other disciples. Are we as demanding as Thomas? Or are we vulnerable to fooling ourselves?
An old, rugged cross will transform into a living cross right before our eyes this Sunday. Please join us as we celebrate the good news of Easter morning.
It was a great day. The crowds were jubilant. All the plans fell into place. Jesus was hailed as “the Son of David.” What more could he want? Jesus knew the triumph would be short lived.