Being Good Friday, I thought I’d post this “Shrunk Sermon” from a sermon I preached a few years ago. God Bless!
“This teaching of the cross is nuts, pure and simple.” Such is how you could translate Paul’s words in his first letter to the Christians in Corinth in chapter 1, verse 18. Later, in verse 23 he calls it a “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” We can imagine how a conversation would go between a Christ follower and a Jew in New Testament times:
Christian: Good News! The Messiah has come. God has put into place His great rescue!
Jew: Oh? Tell me more!
Christian: His name is Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem, taught with great authority, worked miracles, and was crucified . .
Jew: Hold up! Crucified, as in executed by the Romans? As in dead at the hands of our enemies? Umm, you need a reality check – your so called Messiah is a failure!
In days when the Jewish people were looking…
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Thinking Through Scripture 