The Park Road Pres Podcast

Leading to this Word of Relationship we find this sort of behind the scenes bargaining between the religious leaders and the Roman Governor, the notorious Pontius Pilate. These frenzied negotiations (if we could call them that) stand in stark contrast with the apparent tenderness and composure of The Third Word. There's an unholy alliance between the Church and the State at the start and… at the finish, a sweet and caring HOLY alliance, that's familial and generous.

I want to look at this juxtaposition of blindness and kindness, of tenderness and treachery and some deeper things we might easily miss but that show the profound significance of this moment and this Third Word:

The two transgressors (Mark 15.28) are called simply "bad workers" in Luke's version while Mathew and Mark call them "thieves" (λῃστής) not likely petty thieves but likely repeat offenders, armed robbers or even revolutionaries against Rome who had stolen to support their cause. This morning, I want to look especially at ONE of these thieves and even though we only have very few words describing him we actually get quite a bit of information.

So, let's look at:

Today I want to look at this oft-quoted prayer of Jesus Christ, "Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing" IN its wider context. I hope this look will get us into the series AND help us to think WITH God about the meaning, the reception and the practice of forgiveness.

Let's look at:

What happens when YOU get it…and the people around you DON'T? What happens when the real core meaning of Jesus Christ's coming DAWNS on you and you see, feel, and embrace it…WHEN IT EMBRACES YOU…and the people around you don't? This scene is a gripping case-study in THAT. It's enthralling.

Let's look at:

And now we meet a character, also included in Matthew's and Luke's accounts, a very interesting and also rather tragic figure. By harmonizing Matthew, Mark and Luke, we know him to be The Rich Young Ruler. He occasions this amazingly vivid contrast, a study on how the kingdom of God and the gospel, the basic message of Christianity, how the gospel provides a unique alternative to one of humanity's basic pursuits that is the quest for security.

That's our topic for today:

YOU may wish YOU had faith… you may think that your educated, scientific mind is getting in the way of faith. OR you may think that IF you had proof THEN you could believe (and have faith) … So what IS faith and how does it come about…how do we get it/grow it?

Let's see what Jesus Christ does:

The passage presents a side of Jesus Christ we try to ignore because it doesn't always fit our categories. And yet to face this part of the portrait is both painful and liberating.

So, let's look at

Today, we meet a group of friends who won't take "no" for an answer. They have a need; they see Jesus Christ as the answer to their need and they must get TO Him …and WILL get to Him at any cost. And Jesus Christ not only honors their persistence (really more like desperation!) but He also uses the whole crisis moment to reveal something about Himself that leaves the whole crowd looking to God in a new way, joyful – "we have NEVER seen anything like THIS!"

Let's look at four markers of a time of revelation and growth and see if these may exist in our own present experience: This was a time of: