Easter changes everything: The door is open

0:00. Welcome to Faith is I'm Pastor Rick Stevens and this is the weekend. Specifically, the day we celebrate Easter, it's the most significant celebration in the history of the world because the resurrection of Jesus changed, changes everything and we need to celebrate and remind ourselves about that.

1:01It is the pivotal event in all of the world because all of Christian faith rises or falls on the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and I'm here to tell you it's a reality, it happened, it changed, it changes everything. Now, never to overlook an opportunity to really make this real to us. I want to, how should I say, complain, maybe complain, at least point out something that I observed earlier this week and I think it was in the context of an advertisement. I don't know if that's an excuse or not but it maybe is an explanation but the advertisement said something like Easter is all about and then it filled in a blank and I don't remember the blank so if it was an advertisement it wasn't very good, at least in terms of my remembering it, usually when you see things like that, it's Easter is all about family or something

2:03like that. I'm here to tell you when you see Easter is all about and they insert anything other than the resurrection of Jesus then they don't know what Easter is all about and that should be a reminder to us and a warning that people have forgotten and overlooked maybe sometimes denied the reality of resurrection. Well, we're going to get to that a little bit more as we progress in the program but I want to start today where we have started some other weeks and with a reminder, I do my best so I think I've always remembered since the beginning particularly of these hostilities maybe since I came back from Israel back in December I don't remember exactly but to remind ourselves that when we gather on Sunday to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we've talked about that and I want to remind us again and I hope you will pray for the peace

3:05of Jerusalem. Now what does that mean really? I've been thinking about that and I wonder if people really think that through, I don't think I'm overthinking it but you can use your judgment on that. Well this idea of praying for the peace of Jerusalem comes from a Psalm, it's just a verse there it says pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We have picked that up as an admonition from the Bible, we could call it a command and we have prayed for the peace of Jerusalem. We've done that particularly because of the war that's going on where the United States and Israel attacked Iran and Iran has attacked Israel and some installations, military installations of the United States and others. So we've been praying for the peace of Jerusalem and certainly part of our prayer is that the war would come to an end that's obvious but when you think about the peace of Jerusalem and the ramifications there are a whole lot of other things to consider and sometimes too

4:10often and I don't mean to be picking on us but I do mean to be a little bit plain spoken about this. We Christians too often are too shallow in the way we think about what goes on the world and in the way we put all the pieces together or maybe I should say fail to put the pieces together or connect the dots. So I want us to think a little bit today on this Easter weekend about connecting the dots when it comes to praying for the peace of Jerusalem. I don't think this was just a throwaway line in a Psalm. Alright, I think this was a serious message that God has for us and we should take it seriously. Now, why would I say that? Well, for what it's in the Bible that's obvious but for another when you think about the peace of Jerusalem and all of what that means it is more significant than the peace

5:14of a city. So yes, when you say pray for the peace of Jerusalem, you're by extension, or extension talking about the nation of Israel, we understand that. When you talk about praying for the peace of Jerusalem, in many respects, you're praying about peace for all of the neighboring countries in the Middle East. As you are aware, Israel is surrounded by enemies that would like to crush and kill everyone there. They have not made that a secret. Some have been more militant than others, but you get the idea. So when we say pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we're really praying that all of that region would be at peace because Israel is generally the focus of aggression. Israel and some in some nations as you are aware, the Christian population. So let's unpack this idea of praying for the peace of Jerusalem because it goes beyond

6:14a city or it goes beyond just a nice expression. Have you thought about how it touches even this country? So let's think about a few things that are going on in the world today and how it touches this country. Let's start with the war. Now the war started a few weeks ago, largely because the United States determined that Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon. At American presidents since the late 70s have said, at least since then, it maybe goes back farther than that. American presidents have said publicly and straight up that they cannot foresee, could not foresee, would never imagine, would never allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. Because the threat that Iran made to destroy America, to destroy Israel and the way Iran has behaved around the world, they declared no nuclear weapons.

7:20Alright, so that was a stated purpose. There are other things that have gone on, but let's just start with the fact that we are engaged in hostilities, there is a war going on. Now and establish the fact that American presidents have said for a long time that something needed to be done, just none of them would do anything until now. Okay, so it's a long-standing problem. It's also related to oil. Now that shouldn't surprise anyone and sometimes people throw that out there, well it's all about oil. Well, it's not all about oil, but you can't overlook oil because there's a lot of oil produced there. But you have to understand that that has ramifications beyond the fact that it's about oil and some people think it's just about oil for the United States. So we can have more and so we can have cheaper gas prices. Well, there was more concern about that dynamic many years ago, but now the United States

8:21is energy independent. We don't need oil from another country. We have plenty of our own. So that argument, that aspect of this is a little different, okay? But you have to remember that this touches lots of things. And so when we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and we see this war going on and we know it's about a nuclear weapon, we know it's about the mischief Iran has been up too over time and we can talk about that a little bit more in a minute. And we know it's about oil, but think that through a few months ago, there was this military action in Venezuela that changed everything about that country. Venezuela had been a major supplier of oil to the Chinese. Now that's different. The Chinese can't buy cheap oil from Venezuela. They are back to paying market prices for that. Well, in the Middle East, in the strait of Hormuz, where the oil comes out of the Middle

9:25East, much of it comes through that waterways, that's straight. Much of that oil goes to China and a significant amount of the oil China needs came from Venezuela and the Middle East Iran and probably some other countries. The details aren't the main thing. The important thing is to begin to see what's going on and how praying for the peace of Jerusalem affects much of the world. Well, whatever you think about China, and I'm not trying to mix that in too much here, just to realize it does touch that, the oil to China makes a big difference in China's efforts to be aggressive and to do mischief towards the United States and other Western, South American, Central American nations. So you see this whole idea of praying for the peace of Jerusalem has a lot of impacts.

10:27Now, we should talk about a little bit all of the things that China has done relative to the United States. Now people have said, well, we didn't have any real reason to start this war. Well, I think there's a whole lot of reasons that we needed to get involved in this and believe me, I'm sure you do. We don't want war. That's not what we want. We just don't want it at all. We aren't interested in war. We dislike it. We know something about the horrors of it because we're not blind, but sometimes war happens and sometimes for a reason, sometimes for many reasons. So just a brief reminder, again, we're talking about praying for the peace of Jerusalem a brief reminder that Iran has been up to no good in the world for a long time. I remember very well in 1979 the hostage crisis when the government of Iran was overthrown

11:33by Islamic radicals and they took Americans from the US embassy into Iran hostage. And that went on for way too long. Well, that was a very serious act against the United States. There have been bombings since then in 1983, there was a bombing in Beirut that killed a bunch of Americans. Well, we can't, shouldn't, but we have, sit by when those kind of things happen in the world because without correction, stuff will continue. So in 1996, there was another attack on Iran, on the United States, at the Kobar Towers and you may remember that. Well, these kind of things have been going on for a long time. Not only have they had direct attacks against Americans and not only have they killed Americans, they have done it using other groups during the time that we were in Iraq, for example.

12:35There was involvement by Iran to fight and kill American forces. Now again, you can argue the good and the bad and everything else about whether or not that involvement in Iraq was appropriate. That's fine. I'm just making the point that Iran was purposefully and intentionally involved in killing Americans. So that's an important thing. Also, you need to remember, and this is where I'm just reminding us, we need to connect the dots here to make sure we don't forget what's going on and we don't lose sight of why we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Well, Iran has funded radical terrorists in several places in the world. You're aware of this probably. I'm just reminding us. For example, they have funded Hamas. You remember that Hamas was behind the attack on October 7th in Israel a couple of years ago.

13:35I was there when we went to visit it. We went to the site, the location of the music festival where hundreds of people were killed. And across that area, we visited a kibbutz where people were attacked and mercilessly killed. It's a horrible thing. Hamas did that with the support of Iran. As we forget all those things, so we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that's part of what we're praying for. You might remember the Houthis. They've been attacking American assets and other people in the Middle East and they've done some recently and they have been funded by Iran closer to home. You may remember, some weeks ago, there was an attack on a synagogue in Michigan. Well, report of the news, the authorities came to the rescue, there was a lot of people there that helped out some unsightful and defense security people, and they minimized

14:37the damage at that synagogue. Well, now we have discovered the Department of Justice, they just claimed that Houthis was behind that attack. Because they were the group that, in the Senate, made up of the C, gave the information to the committee, gave the instructions that the attack were followed, including those who have been involved. I think that I am a little confused. We have a nuclear negotiate. We're still pushing before. I think you get the idea of what I'm trying to communicate here, that we have a long-standing problem with a lot of the communist Chinese. What Iran has been up to, and they have been, how should I say, worldwide, probably that's safe to say, in their terrorist activities. When we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, it's reflective of those activities and we pray so that God will bring peace and put a stop to that.

15:40We Christians need to be aware of that. Now, mixed into all of that is this, and I said it earlier, I would say it, as many times they might need to hear it, that war is a horrible thing, and none of us subscribes to it. We read in the Bible, and occasionally God even gave instructions for his people to attack other people, and it's a horrible thing. Nothing good about it, it's a horror, war is awful. I even heard one former military general say one time that war is evidence of failure. What he meant by that was that diplomacy failed, and so war resulted. Well, in one perspective, he's right. I understand that. At the same time, we all live in the real world, and we understand that sometimes war sadly happens.

16:40You can argue sometimes it is necessary to protect people. I think you can argue that when it comes to Iran and nuclear weapons, would any of us want to live in a world held hostage by Islamic extremists threatening the world with a nuclear weapon? I don't think we would. So we pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Now, in mixed in all of that, we have a lot of things that get said, and sometimes misinterpreted, sometimes, how should I say, sometimes people make mistakes. And one of the things that caught my attention, probably caught yours, but it fits with this prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. The Pope made a statement. I believe it was related to Palm Sunday celebration, that he says Jesus does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them. Now, that was an interesting, curious statement.

17:43Let me just read that again. That comes from the text from the Pope's remark. He, referring to Jesus, he calls Jesus the king of peace appropriate. He, Jesus, does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them. And then he quotes a verse from Isaiah that, as far as I can tell, doesn't fit what he's trying to say. He's kind of using that verse to try to make a point that really doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Now, I respect his perspective as I don't take delight in attacking another clergyman, whether it's a Roman Catholic priest, whether it's the Pope, whether it's a Baptist pastor down the street. We can kid each other all the time about what we believe and what we differ on. That's fine, but I don't take any delight in attacking them. But I think when we think about this business of praying for the peace of Jerusalem, he's reflecting the desire for peace, but he's also making a mistake because clearly in the Bible, God recognized the necessity of war and commanded his people to wage war.

18:48Clearly, when we read the book of Revelation, there's no question that Jesus himself wages war against the evil, the evil forces, the evil people, the evil demons, and crushes them in the end. So we need to be very careful how far we go with this, but we also need to remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem so we don't get tied up on all these knots and ask God to do what only God can do behind the scenes to keep this stuff from erupting into war. Well, one other connection we should make, and I guess we could go on for a long time about connections. My point is to help us think about the importance of praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the significance of how that touches so many things. All right, so we are engaged in this war with Iran right now. It's a lot of talk going on back and forth, like always happens, particularly in political circles.

19:52I'm for the war, I'm against the war. We shouldn't do this because we should do this because all that stuff goes on. You are entitled to participate in that, you're entitled to think about that, and I encourage you to. Think about it in a Christian context and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Now, mixed into all these things that are going on, and it's a very dynamic situation, as it always is, is this every now and then on certain weekends, and I don't know why they choose weekends they choose, but we see these no kings rallies pop up around the country. You may have had one in your city or a nearby city. We had one in our city, Cape Coral. We had one across the river in Fort Myers. I didn't go to them. I heard about them. I'm not surprised they were there. But if we're thinking about that in the context of pray for the peace of Jerusalem, why would these rallies, they call them no kings rallies, that they'd be right if they had signs that says,

20:56no king but Jesus, but they don't do that. They're making a political statement in the midst of the United States being involved in a war. They're making a political statement to attack the government of the country. And they're making it because a Chinese billionaire is paying for it, organizing it, all of the stuff, paying for the signs that are printed. And so all of these people now who may think they're doing the right thing, although there's evidence that a lot of them are hired, but let's assume some of them think they're doing the right thing, they haven't thought this through because what they're doing is they're destabilizing this country where we have a constitutional republic, we don't have a king, and they're advocating for countries that have a socialist type of government or communist where they do have a king or a dictator. They're not called kings, usually they're called by other names, but they function the same as kings.

22:01Well, these people are trying to undermine things in the midst of a war, and we can connect all of that to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Now, I don't mention all of those to stir you into some kind of frenzy. I don't mention all of that to disappoint you on Easter weekend, we're going to talk Easter. We're going to take a break here in a couple of minutes and we're going to get back to Easter. I've got some very, very important things for us related to Easter. I hope you will stick around for that. I'm mentioning this in the context of praying for the peace of Jerusalem. Now, yes, I have a little bit more connection to that because of my recent visit. Yes, I got acquainted with three, I guess you should say, pretty well acquainted with three guides that were there, two of them that were our guides on our bus and one that I met on my first day there.

23:02I have a little bit of a different sense of that because when you know somebody that's there, that makes a difference. I met some shopkeepers. The sense that people you have made in acquaintance with are there, that makes a big difference. It's easy for me to say, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It's also significant to me because I saw where a fragment of a rocket that was fired from Iran on Israel fell in the old city of Jerusalem. I walked right across the street from where that rocket landed. My way to and from the sites, particularly to the western wall, to the holy site for the Jewish people, they're in Jerusalem. So, I do have a little bit more personal sense of that right now, but take that away. And when you see what the world is going through, these are terribly dangerous times. And we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It's not just about a city.

24:05It's about all that that means. And thank the Lord. He has given us a simple, memorable admonition, command to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And so, as you think about it, I want to encourage you just pray simply. I don't know how to tell you to pray, but God knows and we can tell him you said to us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Please hear my prayer for the peace of Jerusalem. You can put it in your own words, but as you think about it, every time you hear a news report, every time something is said that you are aware of, maybe you want to remind your friends. Yes, I'm concerned about the high price of gasoline. And that's part of this pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And so you could say to them, every time I think about the high price of gasoline, I remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

25:08And then they might ask you, well, why does that affect gasoline? And you can explain to them some of the connections that we've talked about. But whether you remember any connections or any of the things that I've said, the important thing to remember is what God has asked us to do. And that is, He has asked us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Will you do that? Please, I'm Pastor Rick. Let's get real. Let's get loud. On America loud, talk news. Yes, this is Dr. Peter McCullough, and I'm personally inviting you to join me in Nashville until I second, third and fourth for historic experience in 2026. America loud news, 250 slash 10 Nashville. Along with clear and the wellness company, we're celebrating two big milestones, 250 years of America and 10 years of America loud news. I'm calling all Patriots to this historic weekend with inspiring entertainment, incredible fireworks, and nationally recognized speakers who proudly stand for freedom.

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31:33Welcome back to Faith Is on this Easter weekend. We are celebrating resurrection and resurrection changes everything. We should celebrate that and resurrection, by the way, in case nobody has told you that, resurrection never ends. That's part of the good news of the story of Easter. Resurrection never ends. Well, I'm the pastor of Diplomat Wesleyan Church in Cape Coral, Florida, and we celebrate all of the things related to Easter, Holy Week, and now we come to this great day we celebrate called Easter and the resurrection of Jesus. And I want us to think about that, and I particularly want us to think about it in the bigger sense, not just what happened on what we call Easter Sunday. Somebody asked me last week, what was my most vivid memory or thought related to Holy Week and the events surrounding Easter?

32:40And I had thought about that, surprisingly enough, and so I want to talk about that here today. I have not gotten away from this that I learned on my very first visit to Israel many years ago. It was very impactful for me, and maybe it will help you understand something about the significance of the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus. So we know Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, Jesus entering Jerusalem, going to the temple, looking around, we know some of the events unfolded, and we know we come to the celebration of Passover. And Passover took place, we tend to think about it on Thursday, there are people that want to argue about what happened when, and I'm glad for people to hash that out, but generally we celebrate it by remembering Passover on Thursday. And so Jesus gathered his men, and there were some women with him as followers, they gathered in the upper room to celebrate Passover. He had given some very specific instructions about how to prepare for Passover and all the related things.

33:56And so they sat down and they had their Passover celebration. They had the meal, they had the beginning of communion, you probably remember that from the story of the Bible. And then they left that room, and they went down the slope, because Jerusalem's on a hill, they would have gone down the slope, and across the Kidren Valley, to the base, not clear up to the top of Mount Olives, the Mount of Olives, but they went to a place closer to the base of the Mount of Olives, and some events unfolded. I learned some very significant things about the events there that weren't readily apparent until I was actually physically there, and our host, another pastor who's now with the Lord, began to explain these things to us, and it made so much sense to me, and it made such an impact that I'm afraid I talk about it too much, but probably because I'm afraid I talk about it too much, I don't talk about it enough.

35:08But today I want to tell you that story. But first let's read the scripture from what happened after they got across the Kidren Valley, and up to the base of the Mount of Olives. I want to read from Mark chapter 14, starting with verse 32, from the Christian standard Bible. Then they came to a place, and the day is Jesus and His disciples. Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and He told His disciples, sit here while I pray. He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. He said to them, I am deeply grieved, to the point of death, remain here and stay awake. He went a little farther, fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.

36:14Then He came and found them asleep. He said to Peter, Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you stay awake one hour? Stay awake and pray so that you won't enter into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Once again, He went away and prayed, saying the same thing. And again, He came and found them sleeping because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to Him. Then He came a third time and said to them, are you still sleeping and resting enough? The time has come. See, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let's go. See, my betrayer is near. Now, what I learned from the geography of that area made all the difference in my understanding of this evening in the life of Jesus. So they left the upper room and you can visit a room today that is like what the upper room might have been.

37:19It's at least set aside as a place for us to remember, not the exact room, for sure. But Jesus left Jerusalem and went down the hill and across the Kidren Valley, and up a little bit of the hill, them out of olives, to Gethsemane. Now, Gethsemane is a pretty common name. We remember it. Most people are familiar with it. We don't always understand that Gethsemane really means oil press. Or as it was explained to me that a lot of times it's thought of as the place of the press, so that identified a specific spot. And we know, and you can visit today, well, maybe not today, because the war is on, and you can't go to Israel right now. But one day, when you go to Israel, you can and may very well, depending on the tour you take, visit this ancient oil press that's there on the hillside of the Mount of Olives. Now, it's an olive oil press that olive oil was frequently used in those days, and so nothing unusual about that.

38:26But what they explained to us was that, and you can see this when we were there, that when you went to this place of the press, Gethsemane, there was this specific identifiable place, and you could walk down into the structure there and get out of the chill of the evening or whatever. There was shelter there. You could get down in there. You could have a light, probably nobody would know you were there, because it was a shelter place. It wasn't like they were hiding, but they went there. Some people think that that was a common retreat location for Jesus and His disciples. I don't know that we can prove that, but it was familiar enough to them, and it turns out familiar enough to Judas, that he went there looking for them. That's a different part of the story. We're not getting into that today either, but here they are. They could have gone into this structure, the place of the press, Gethsemane, and had their conversation, and then you remember what the story said that we just read. Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and they went out a little farther into the garden there.

39:33There's a garden today. It's been cultivated to remember the garden of Gethsemane, and so you can see ancient olive trees, but they would have walked a little deeper into the garden. At some point Jesus said, stay here, and pray, and he went a little farther into the garden. When you visit Israel in that area, there is a church there called the Church of All Nations. That church was built over a large slab of rock, where tradition tells us, is the place that Jesus went to pray, and after he left Peter, James, and John, it says he went on farther into the garden. We don't know for sure if that is the exact spot. We know it's in the general area because we know that's where the garden is, that's where the place of the press was in Jesus' day, so that's not complicated. The only thing we don't know for sure if that was the exact slab of stone where he prayed. It could have been.

40:37But anyway, you can go into this church, and up front there's this stone, you can stand around it, and it's very striking to me to go there and to realize, and to kind of remember in a sense just because we were walking there from the olive press or the oil press through the garden up to this place. We kind of could see in our mind's eye and relive a little bit the experience of Jesus in the garden. And I remember being very, very moved by that experience as we stood there at that rock and realized that Jesus, in a place similar to that, similar, very different because the stone slab is enclosed in a church, and it would have been open air in the time of Jesus, of course we know that. But to realize that Jesus somewhere near that spot had his conversation with God that I just read to you from Mark chapter 14, and that Jesus was making the decision of the ages to follow the will of God.

41:46Now, we get that, we talk about that, how significant it was that Jesus agreed to the will of God, not his own desires to let that cup pass from him. But one of the things that they pointed out when we were there that continues to rivet my attention. Now, remember in those days they didn't have a lot of lights, there was no electricity. So whatever they carried would have been a torch of some kind, or the moon white, whatever that would have provided for them. So it's very dark, very remote from people, and all today it's not remote because population has grown, there's a lot of stuff around there. But in Jesus' day they were out away from the city, and they had left the city and no one knew where they went. Except them, they knew, apparently Judas did too, but again that's a different part of the story. So here's Jesus, he left his disciples in one place where the olive oil press was.

42:49He goes into the garden a little farther with his friends, Peter, James, and John, and then he goes farther still. Now the movement, as we understand it from the story in the geography, is Jesus moved farther away from the olive oil press and closer to the road that would lead to Bethany, on up the hill of the Mount of Olives, and over the top of the hill and down the other side toward Bethany. Peter's friends lived in Bethany, you may remember Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. So here on this absolutely significant night where Jesus battles with his will or the Father's will, he had gone into the garden to a place that his disciples did not even know, they did not know where he went. It was dark, and he was very close to the road. He could have gone from that place where he prayed and walked over to the road, walked up the hill, and over to Bethany, and escaped across.

44:00No one could have found him that night. It would have been impossible. It was an easy escape, easy to avoid a rest by the authorities that came to get him. I remember being in that church and realizing that and thinking of what that was like and what that meant. But instead of walking over to that road, going up the hill and over and off to Bethany, Jesus turned to the other way, went back to where his three disciples were, sleeping as it turns out. They get up and they walk back toward the other disciples, and Judas comes and meets them, and Jesus is arrested, and take it off to trial, and ultimately crucifixion. I've heard all my life how Jesus could have escaped across, and it's very familiar song. He could have called 10,000 Angels, well familiar years ago. I'm not sure it's as familiar now.

45:05But the song says he could have destroyed the world. They could have set him free, but he didn't do that. He deliberately walked toward a rest and crucifixion. To me, that is just stirring and stunning, and I often think of that, especially this time of year. Jesus deliberately went toward crucifixion. And of course, crucifixion led to his death and his burial and his resurrection. And when you visit Jerusalem, you will have the opportunity to visit most likely have the opportunity to visit both possible sites of the resurrection. One is the garden tomb. Lots of people like that because it looks like a garden, and it really does. It's very well done, and it could have been. We just don't know if it was the tomb, but it could have been. It certainly would have been a tomb similar to it.

46:05But you can go to the garden tomb, and you can walk into that tomb, and you can look in the tomb as empty, significant remembrance. You can also go to the church of the Holy Sepulchre. And you've probably heard that name. It's been in the news a little bit lately. And inside that church, you can visit a slab of stone, where tradition says the body of Jesus was prepared for burial. You can go up some very steep steps, and yet to be really careful going up there to the site. Again, it's all enclosed in this church, so it's a little different than what we might expect. It's not outside, but the site where many people believe was the site of the cross, and you can go up there and pilgrims travel to that site, and they go and they kneel down there, and they put their hand in the spot, in the very hole in the rock where tradition says it was the cross of Jesus. And then you can go back down the stairs and then go across to the other side, and there is a tomb that's been preserved.

47:07That tradition says that was the tomb where Jesus was buried, and from which he came out resurrected on Easter Sunday. Staring and interesting, I don't know which one's the one, maybe neither. It doesn't really matter, and in some ways I'm glad we don't know exactly because we might tend to worship it inappropriately. But what we need to celebrate is the effect of that resurrection, and what it means for us. And the best illustration I've ever come across, and I came across this many years ago. Oh, I'm trying to remember now how many years ago. It probably was, what would I say, 40 years ago, at least, could have been more than that. It came across this story. It was told by a man named Paul Harvey, who had a daily news show, and every year, on Good Friday, he would tell this story.

48:07And it really struck me, and I've used it many times, and I want to take you down that lane as well, because it so well illustrates the impact, the impact, the effect of the resurrection of Jesus on all of us. But it turns out it was an Easter Sunday morning, and it was a pleasant Sunday morning in Boston, and the preacher, Dr. Gordon, walked into his immaculately prepared church, walked up to the platform, and next to the pulpit, he placed a beat-up, bent, rusted, old. Next to the pulpit, the service continued, and then he got up to begin to sermon, and he began to tell them a story about how he had been out for a walk earlier that week, enjoying the more pleasant weather, spring was arriving, and he went out for a walk, and enjoyed that walk very much, and he came across a little boy about 10 years old. Now this was a rather unkempt, unwashed little guy, and he was coming down an alley, having a wonderful time, enjoying the outdoor swinging a birdcage, a kind of beat-up, bent up, rusted-old birdcage.

49:21And inside the birdcage, the preacher noticed, were several small birds shivering on the floor. Well, all of this caught the preacher's eye, and so he stopped to talk to a little boy and asked the boy where he'd gotten the birds, and got acquainted with him a little bit, and finally the boy said, well, he had trapped those birds, they were his birds, and he was going to enjoy them. Well, Dr. Gordon said, well, what do you mean by enjoy them? What are you going to do with them? And Dr. Gordon had some idea about little boys, but the boy wasn't dissuaded or confused or anything about that, he said he was going to play with them and have fun with them. There were his birds, and he was treating them like toys. Well, the preacher also knew that boys got tired of toys, and so he said to the little guy, well, sooner or later you're going to get tired of those birds, what are you going to do with them then?

50:21Well, now, became apparent that the little guy had not thought about that, what would he do with them then? So I thought for a minute, and finally he said, I've got it, I have some cats at home, they like birds, I'll feed them to my cats. Well, Dr. Gordon wasn't too impressed by that answer, and so he said to the little guy, well, son, how much do you want for your birds? Well, now the boy was really interested because he realized what was going on, and he had more involved than he realized, and he was surprised and hesitated, and finally said, Mr. you don't want these birds. These are just plain old field birds, they're ugly, they can't sing, they're just, you don't want these birds. Well, the preacher persisted and said, well, just tell me how much you want for them, I really would like your birds. Now, the little guy realized he had a live one, and he thought, and he squinted, and he looked at the preacher, and he calculated in his head, and hesitated, he didn't want to ask too much, or too little. So he finally came up, and he said, two dollars.

51:36Now, we all understand that if you met a little boy with birds today, he would probably ask for more than two dollars, but that was the case then. And to the boy's surprise, the preacher reached into his pocket and pulled out two one dollar bills and handed them to him. Well, now the boy knew what to do, and he wasn't going to be messed up by this. He snatched those two dollars and put the cage down and took off up the alley. Quick, he didn't want the preacher to change his mind. So good, Dr. Gordon, he picked up the cage, and he knelt down beside it, next to a building, sheltered a bit by the wind, opened the door of the cage, and he tapped on the exterior of the cage to encourage the little birds to hop out, and one by one, they did. They hopped out, flew away. Well, now the preacher had explained to the congregation why he had a beat up, bent up, rusty old bird cage, beside his immaculate pulpit on Easter Sunday morning.

52:41And so now, without hesitation, or delay, he proceeded to tell them a different story. And he told them about how Jesus and the devil had been out for a walk across, I guess you could say, the stairway of stars, and they had engaged in a conversation and a negotiation. Jesus asked Satan what he had been up to, and Satan said, well, I've been here and there, and I trapped me a world full of people. Oh, you did, Jesus said, a world full of people. Yep, Satan said, I baited a trap in Eden's garden, and I caught that world of people in their mind. Oh, said Jesus, what are you going to do with those people that you caught in your cage? The devil said, well, I'm going to play with them. I'm going to tease them. I'm going to make them marry and divorce. I'm going to make them fight and kill each other. I'm going to teach them how to throw bombs on one another. I'm going to have fun with these people. Well, Jesus said you can't have fun with them forever.

53:45When you get tired of all of that fun, what are you going to do with them? Without hesitation, without even having to think about it, Satan looked back at Jesus and said, I'm going to kill them. They're no good anyway. I'm going to kill them. Without hesitation, Jesus says, well, how much do you want for your world full of people? Well, now Satan couldn't believe it. You can't be serious, Jesus. You don't want these people. Well, they're no good. You don't want these people. If I sell them to you, they'll just spit on you. They'll hate you, Jesus. They'll hit you. They'll beat you. They'll hammer nails into you. These people are no good. Without flinching, Jesus just answered how much. And now he was the one that did not flinch. Satan looked back at Jesus and said, all of your sweat, all of your blood, and all of your tears.

54:54That's the price. And Jesus took the cage, paid the price, and opened the door. For me, that is Easter. That the Lord Himself has opened the door to let us out of the cages of our own making. Now people will say, I don't live in a cage. I'm not trapped. Well, let me ask you, do you have habits that trap you? Do you have habits that you just can't shake? You're trapped. You have attitudes. Maybe there's someone you need to forgive. You're trapped. We live in a world of political correctness. I don't hear that phrase often anymore, but that's what happens. You better believe the current dominant orthodoxy, and you're trapped in it if you want to get ahead,

55:57or you will feel the wrath of all of those other people who are equally trapped in the orthodoxy of the day. The transgender madness traps people. You have to agree that boys can be girls and girls can be boys. Friends, I know we don't often think about being trapped, but in the same way God delivered His people from Egypt back in what we celebrate His Passover, He can deliver you to. He is able to deliver you, and the doors open. Walk through it. I'm Pastor Rick. You