Ain’t No Grave

Now baptism is gonna sound weird, but baptism is not a church thing, and it's not something you do today to satisfy your grandma. It is actually the most radical act a human can perform. You go under the water, your whole body, and your body says, I'm done. I'm done trying to be my own shelter, done trying to gather up control. I'm done. I'm done running. Bury me. And then you come out of the water, and your whole body says, I trust in the one who came out of the grave. Raise me with him. [00:40:22] (48 seconds)  #BaptismRadical

Now, that's not religion. That's resurrection. That's standing on the edge of your own grave and saying what Johnny Cash said and what Claude Eli wrote. The grave is not gonna win. It's not gonna have me. Not today, not ever. So here's what I'm asking. Right now, not a day from now, not a week from now, not a month now, but right now, do you feel the spirit moving in you? Do you feel the spirit telling you, yes, That's my desert. Yes. That's me. I am thirsty, and I'm tired, and I wanna come up out of the water with Jesus. Then come. The water is ready. [00:41:25] (53 seconds)  #ResurrectionNotReligion

They are not just celebrating that ceremony. They are feeling forty years of being in the desert and wandering in terror, but then joy at the end. You provided in the wilderness, provide now. That's what they're saying in that ceremony. And just at this point, just at the peak of the week, at the peak of this ceremony, as they're pouring out the water, the water is still coming down. You can see the light shining off the water. Jesus stands up in the middle of this crowd and shouts out, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. [00:33:32] (37 seconds)  #ThirstAndInvitation

And that Saturday, the longest Saturday in human history. The disciples sitting there behind locked doors, not talking, not eating, trying to make sense of how everything got turned upside down. But you know what was happening while they were up there not talking, while the stone was in place and while the guards were posted? Sunday was coming. And on Sunday morning, that stone rolled away. The grave opened, and death found it had made the biggest mistake it had ever made since the creation of the universe. Ain't no grave gonna hold him down. [00:37:21] (55 seconds)  #StoneRolledAway

But the crowd does not know yet what saving them is gonna cost him. Friday comes fast. That same crowd that was screaming Hosanna on Sunday is condemning him on Friday. It changed because provision wasn't supposed to look like this. Provision was supposed to look like a king on a throne, not a man on a cross. Provision was supposed to feel like winning and conquering. It wasn't supposed to feel like this. The cross, the nails, the darkness that falls over the city at noon like drapes being closed. [00:35:36] (63 seconds)  #CostOfSalvation

Now I used to think about it like in the movie where it's a little trickle of water. There's 2,000,000 people. That little trickle of water in the movie, it had to be a river. You had 2,000,000 thirsty people. So when Moses hit hit that, God gave them a river of water to drink. And at night, the fire, warm, present, always there, letting them know, I am here. You are not alone. [00:28:48] (33 seconds)  #DesertRiverProvision

And they're forming in their mouths the same word that they would say during the feast of tabernacles when they're celebrating, Hosanna. Now I used to think Hosanna was was praise and and a happy joyous. Hosanna isn't. It's a plea. Hosanna means save me. Save us now, please. We are thirsty, and we are tired, and we have been waiting. You provided in the desert. Provide now. Are you our provision? Are you here now? Are you the one? [00:31:13] (35 seconds)  #HosannaMeansSaveUs

He has always been your structure and your support. He proved it in the desert with manna and water and fire. He proved it on a cross when he went to the darkest wilderness that's ever existed, death itself, and come out the other side. He is the provision, not the provider, but the provision. And he is standing here right now, and he's shouting the same thing to you that he shouted at that crowd during the sukkah when they were pouring out the water. Come to me, anyone who is thirsty. Come to me now. [00:39:31] (45 seconds)  #JesusTheProvision