What’s the Word on the Street?
Introduction:
Some clever people have said that the resurrection was just a made-up story while others have said that some people only saw a vision of Jesus after His death. However, the New Testament and the early church maintained that Jesus was raised from the dead physically, supernaturally, and to never die again. Here’s the question- What’s the word on the street?
Point 1: Who do men say I am?
A. READ Matthew 16:13-17
B. Jesus in essence said, “What’s the word on the street?”
So they said:
a. John the Baptizer- this is what Herod the tetrarch believed (Matt 14:1-2)
b. Elijah- forerunner to the Messiah
c. Jeremiah- maybe some Jewish traditions surrounding his name (prophet of doom)
d. One of the Prophets- shows the great variety of opinion
C. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
a. This was a major step in the training/ministries/lives of the disciples
b. This was a God-given insight that separated them from the rest of the multitudes.
Point 2: The First Easter Sunday
A. READ Matthew 28:1-10
B. What was the word on the street that morning?
a. Most did not believe
b. Some believed
c. Many wondered
Point 3: This Easter Sunday
A. What is the word on the street today?
B. What is the word among this church?
C. What is the word in your homes?
D. Who do you say that Jesus is?
Conclusion:
Do you really believe what you say you believe?
Let’s confess with Peter that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter also proclaimed on that first Pentecost of the church:
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”