Matthew 26 - wk2

"Response Required"

Dr. Gary Singleton

When it comes to Easter, Americans celebrate in a lot of different ways.  We take pictures with the Easter bunny, and have Easter egg hunts, and fill our Easter baskets with candy.  We gather the family together for Easter dinner or head out for a fancy Easter brunch.  And who doesn’t love Peeps and Cadbury eggs?  
 
Unsurprisingly, more people attend church on Easter Sunday than any other Sunday of the year.  A recent Gallup poll showed that six in ten Americans will go to church on Easter Sunday.  And according to Google Trends, searches for “church” are highest in the days leading up to Easter.  
 
This Easter season we are looking at all the different responses we have to Easter, and this week we’re going to look at what is probably the most infamous response of all time – the response of the traitor, Judas.  Everyone wants to criticize and judge Judas.  He spent as much time with Jesus as the other disciples.  He heard Jesus’ teaching and witnessed all of His miracles.  How could he betray the One who was clearly the Son of God?
 
Well, the more I studied Judas’ response, the more I became convinced that in some ways we are all like Judas.  And like Judas, we all need a Savior.
 
Easter … the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus … requires a response.  How will you respond to Easter?