WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A DEAD JESUS? (6 OF 8)
by Jeff Strite
Scripture: John 19:31-40
This content is part of a series.
What Do You Do With a Dead Jesus? (6 of 8)
Series: The Final Week - Part 2
Jeff Strite
John 19:31-40
OPEN: Back when I was in High School, I had a poem by John Donne on a poster on my wall that looked like parchment paper. It was cool, and the words sounded impressive. The last few words of the poem read this way: ''Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom THE BELL TOLLS, it tolls for thee.
I loved that poem. It sounded so eloquent and profound, but I didn't really know what a lot of it meant, especially the part about ''tolling a bell.''
I've since found out that there's a difference between ''ringing'' a bell and ''tolling'' a bell. When you ring a bell, the clapper hits the INSIDE of the bell and gives a loud and sweet sound. But when you TOLL a bell, you hit the OUTSIDE of the bell with a hammer and the sound is somewhat somber and sorrowful. Tolling a bell is what some churches (even today) do when a person has died. The bell is tolled once for every year the deceased had lived.
THAT'S WHAT THEY DO... FOR THE DEAD.
What I found intriguing about our text is that everyone in this part of the story believed Jesus was dead, and that - once they buried Him - He wouldn't rise from the dead. The Jews, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, and the Roman soldiers - they all believed Jesus was dead and He was not coming back.
That thought raised the question in my mind: What do you with Jesus, if you don't believe He's coming back? What do you do with a dead Jesus?
Well, the Jewish leaders wanted Him dead and gone. The sooner He was buried... the better. We're told that the Jews (probably the High Priest and Sanhedrin) had asked that the legs of those on the cross should be broken and the dead be taken away. The Jewish leaders had no concerns that He would ever rise from the dead because they didn't believe anyone would come back from the dead. You see, the High Priest and majority of the San ...
Series: The Final Week - Part 2
Jeff Strite
John 19:31-40
OPEN: Back when I was in High School, I had a poem by John Donne on a poster on my wall that looked like parchment paper. It was cool, and the words sounded impressive. The last few words of the poem read this way: ''Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom THE BELL TOLLS, it tolls for thee.
I loved that poem. It sounded so eloquent and profound, but I didn't really know what a lot of it meant, especially the part about ''tolling a bell.''
I've since found out that there's a difference between ''ringing'' a bell and ''tolling'' a bell. When you ring a bell, the clapper hits the INSIDE of the bell and gives a loud and sweet sound. But when you TOLL a bell, you hit the OUTSIDE of the bell with a hammer and the sound is somewhat somber and sorrowful. Tolling a bell is what some churches (even today) do when a person has died. The bell is tolled once for every year the deceased had lived.
THAT'S WHAT THEY DO... FOR THE DEAD.
What I found intriguing about our text is that everyone in this part of the story believed Jesus was dead, and that - once they buried Him - He wouldn't rise from the dead. The Jews, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, and the Roman soldiers - they all believed Jesus was dead and He was not coming back.
That thought raised the question in my mind: What do you with Jesus, if you don't believe He's coming back? What do you do with a dead Jesus?
Well, the Jewish leaders wanted Him dead and gone. The sooner He was buried... the better. We're told that the Jews (probably the High Priest and Sanhedrin) had asked that the legs of those on the cross should be broken and the dead be taken away. The Jewish leaders had no concerns that He would ever rise from the dead because they didn't believe anyone would come back from the dead. You see, the High Priest and majority of the San ...
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