What Are You Clinging To? Easter Hope in the Risen Christ (John 20)

The speaker argues that what we cling to in life determines our ultimate destination, using a personal whitewater rafting story and the danger of “Dead Man’s Rock” to illustrate holding on for dear life. He warns that clinging to painful emotions like grief, fear, hatred, or bitterness leads toward despair, and that even good but finite things—family, friends, work, status—cannot deliver lasting love, peace, and joy because they pass away. Centering on Easter, he presents Jesus’ resurrection as the pivotal historical event and cites claims from C. S. Lewis, Martin Luther, and the Apostle Paul, along with three widely accepted scholarly points: the empty tomb found by women, disciples’ experiences of the risen Christ, and the church’s growth. In John 20, Mary Magdalene is told not to cling to Jesus yet, implying that believers are meant to cling to the risen Christ by faith as the only source of eternal life, forgiveness, love, peace, and joy starting now.

00:00 What We Cling To
01:23 Rafting Near Death
04:42 Clinging To Emotions
07:09 Easter Resurrection Hope
09:04 Evidence For Resurrection
11:56 Believing Is Seeing
13:49 Counterfeit Sources Of Life
15:26 Mary At Empty Tomb
17:02 Do Not Cling Yet
19:41 Cling To Jesus