Series: Man, Myth, or Messiah- God & We Crucified Jesus? / True or False
ICEBREAKER
Ask: Have you ever been blamed for something you definitely didn’t do… or maybe kind of did but didn’t want to admit?
Then ask:
• What’s your go-to move when something goes wrong—own it, deflect it, or disappear?
• Why is it so hard for people to take responsibility?
SAY:
“No one likes to take the blame. But when it comes to the cross, the real question isn’t who’s to blame… it’s what are we going to do with the truth?”
SECTION 1: WHO CRUCIFIED JESUS?
READ Matthew 27:1–2, 24–25, 27–31 (NIV)
“Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor…
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’
All the people answered, ‘His blood is on us and on our children!’
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head… They mocked him… and led him away to crucify him.”
Discuss
The message shows several groups involved (Judas, leaders, Pilate, soldiers, the crowd).
Which group do you think you would have most related to in that moment—and why?The message says: “No one wants to take the blame… but will you?”
What does it look like personally to admit, “My sin put Jesus on the cross”?Why is it important that this truth is not about blame—but about truth and grace?
SECTION 2: WHAT DOES THE CROSS MEAN?
READ 2 Corinthians 5:18–21 (NIV)
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them… God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
READ Romans 5:20 (NIV)
“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”
READ John 1:12 (NIV)
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Discuss
The word “reconciled” means “to exchange.”
What exactly did Jesus exchange for us on the cross?The message says God is the initiator, not us.
How does that challenge the idea that we have to “earn” our way to God?Which is harder to accept:
• That you are not beyond saving
• OR that others are not beyond saving
Why?How have you personally experienced that truth?
SECTION 3: WE ARE AMBASSADORS
READ 2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
Discuss
What stands out to you about the phrase: “God making His appeal through us”?
How does seeing yourself as an ambassador change the way you live daily?
Who is someone in your life right now that needs Jesus?
SECTION 4: WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH JESUS?
READ 1 John 4:9–10 (NIV)
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
READ Colossians 2:13–14 (NIV)
“When you were dead in your sins… God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness… he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
Discuss
Why does the Gospel demand a response—not just admiration?
The message says: “A NO decision is still a decision.”
Why do people try to stay neutral when it comes to Jesus?How does the truth that the same cross that exposes your sin also erases it change how you see yourself?
FINAL THOUGHTS:
• Who will you commit to praying for and reaching this week to invite to Easter?
• What is one step you can take this week to live more boldly for Christ?
PRAYER TIME:
• Gratitude for the cross
• Honest confession and humility
• Boldness to live as ambassadors
• Specific people who need Jesus