Luke 23:44-49 (ESV)

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Every sentence in this passage is familiar to Christians, except the last couple. Yet the last sentence is the cornerstone of the case for Christ.

And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

All his acquaintances saw Him die. They all knew He was dead. They were eyewitnesses.

This had to be emotionally crushing. For the next 36 hours or so, they will be depressed and confused. Their whole world has just come crashing down. Everything they thought they knew had just died. Now they don’t know what to think.

Scripture does not record anyone being a leader or even being strong in this time of mourning. It sounds like they were just standing around stone-faced hugging each other. They took care of the proper burial tasks but otherwise did nothing of note.

But something is coming that will change everything. It’ll completely reverse their depression and make them as strong as iron.

And their eyewitness testimony will turn the world upside down.

We’re still in the business of turning the world upside down.

We often seem to evangelize as if we’re selling veg-o-matics. “Heaven is a free gift,” we say. That’s true, but I wonder if we really respect the power of what we’re talking about. Many of these eyewitnesses died for that truth. Our evangelism sometimes feels like selling nuclear bombs on TV.

“But wait! There’s more! If you call now, we’ll double the offer! That’s two nukes, and the Ginsu knives, for only $14.95 billion, plus shipping and handling. Operators are standing by.”

We’re asking people to reject their whole world-view in exchange for the lordship of Jesus Christ. They end up with the ultimate retirement plan but only after they die. Isn’t it essential that this all be true?

We need to be bolder – not bolder in what we’ve always done – but preach a bolder gospel.

Ask the Lord to teach us to proclaim truth as truth.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies