Why did Jesus have to die before he could rise?

The message puts it simply: for the resurrection to happen, death has to happen. Pastor Ken says we need to reflect on Good Friday because it makes Sunday so much sweeter. In his words, in order for us to be made alive, Christ had to die and be resurrected, which is why we can be thankful for Friday as well as Sunday.

What does it mean that Jesus is the “second Adam”?

1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Pastor Ken explains that we die because of what Adam did and the sin nature in all of us, and that Jesus, called the second Adam, is the one in whom we are made alive. That’s the heart of the title: what Adam broke, Jesus fixed on the cross.

What is Golgotha, “the place of the skull”?

Golgotha is where Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27:33). Pastor Ken mentions that some think the name came from the hill looking like a skull, while others believe it’s where the first man, Adam, was buried. He treats that second idea as an interesting possibility (“if that is true”), not settled fact.

What happened when Jesus died, according to Matthew 27?

Pastor Ken reads that darkness covered the land from noon until 3 in the afternoon, and Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” before giving up his spirit. The temple curtain tore in two and the earth shook. The centurion guarding him said, “Surely he was the Son of God.”