Easter Sunday – “A Fresh Start”

The amazing truth about the first Easter is that nobody believed. The disciples were hiding in fear and sorrow, and even the women who went to Jesus’ tomb that Sunday morning went with burial spices – because they expected him to be dead, and to stay dead. Then, when the women told the disciples the incredible news that Jesus had risen, the disciples “decided it was nonsense.” But as Jesus was dying on the cross that previous Friday, one person believed in him before anyone else: “the thief on the cross,” Dismas.

1.  Unbelief is a Beginning, but it Doesn’t Have to be an Ending (Luke 23:39-43) 

• Two men were crucified with Jesus – two criminals. One responded naturally, scoffing at and mocking Jesus. The other didn’t let the circumstances prevent him from believing that Jesus was the Messiah; his unbelief was overcome by his faith that Jesus was who he said he was – and could save him.
• Unbelief is a beginning, but it doesn’t have to be an ending. Our stories can change, and people’s life stories change (famously or anonymously) all the time when they encounter Jesus for who he is.
• The story of one man’s (Dr. Doug’s) journey to faith is a beautiful example of how seeing Jesus with “fresh eyes” can lead to saving faith in him. Seeing Jesus as the kind, understanding, patient Lover of our Souls – the God-man who chose to die a horrible, tortuous death rather than allow us to continue being slaves to death ourselves – is the key to turning our story from unbelief to belief.

2.  Belief is the Beginning of a Fresh Start (Luke 23:24) 

• Seeing Jesus for who he is is the beginning of faith, and that faith – that belief – is the beginning of a fresh start for our lives. But how does that happen? How can we see Jesus in such a way that our very nature is changed? A hint may be found in the same story – the story of “the thief on the cross.”
• Jesus’ last words before Dismas (the “believing thief”) called out to him give us a clue to why he (Dismas) chose to believe. In Luke 23:34, as he is unjustly murdered, as he’s mocked and the soldiers who tortured him are gambling for his clothes, Jesus says the unimaginable: “Father, forgive them…”
• From this verse, we can see two things Dismas suddenly understood about Jesus while hanging next to him on a cross – and two ways Jesus may be offering us a fresh start through faith in him:
  
  1. Jesus shows us how to forgive people who have hurt us – If you’re struggling with bitterness over what someone has done to you, you’re likely wrestling with the question, “Do they deserve my forgiveness? Jesus on the cross teaches us a critical lesson: they don’t have to deserve it, because forgiveness is a gift – a gift that we give first to someone else, but also to ourselves. 
  2. Jesus offers forgiveness before we even ask for it – Long before they would even understand it or ask for it, Jesus forgave those who mocked and tortured and murdered him. And Dismas noticed, and asked him for that forgiveness. How much faith did he have? Enough to “reach out for the branch” and ask. As it turns out, that’s all the faith it takes – faith enough to ask.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Psalm 103:10-14; Matthew 11:28-30; 2 Corinthians 5:16-23; Ephesians 1:5-8; 1 John 1:8-9; Revelation 21:3-4

Video of the Week: The Resurrection of Jesus by the Bible Project

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

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1. In your own journey to faith in Jesus, would you say that you started from a place of conscious unbelief?  Or was your starting point more like apathy, or ignorance, or…?  Explain your answer.

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2. Read Luke 23:39-43 again. As you consider the response of the two criminals to Jesus, does it seem fair to you that one of them received Jesus’ promise to “be with me in Paradise” and the other didn’t?

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3. Many of us have read the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings many times, and perhaps read them with many preconceptions about what they say. How can we step out of that to read about and see Jesus with “fresh eyes”?

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4. What do Jesus’ incredible words on the cross – “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing” – mean to you today?

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5. Why is it such a big deal for followers of Jesus to be people who forgive – even to the point of forgiving others who have hurt us badly and perhaps wrecked our lives?

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6. Falling off a cliff and reaching out for a branch to save you is a cool image of saving faith, but what would you say to someone if they asked you “How much faith do I need for Jesus to save me”?

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