Cleverness and Clarity | Luke 20:27-40

Date: 10.10.10 Preacher: Kris Martens Title: Cleverness & Clarity For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures... But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,12-14 niv There are innumerable objections people hold to discount, minimize, marginalize & otherwise reject the person & work of Jesus. While most in our city are open to Jesus as a good teacher (rabbi), or simply as the dude cruising around the middle east, wearing a flowing gown and throwing out pithy statements about life while sipping a chai latte - everybody's cool with that Jesus. But it gets sketchy when you consider what Jesus actually taught about himself - and the implications & authority from a man who claimed to be God. This week we'll see a futile attempt at entrapment by a group of religious Jewish men, Sadducee's, who denied the resurrection. More importantly, we'll see Jesus turn their cleverness on its head - bringing Gospel clarity - and either silence or repentance to his critics. S.D.G.