“They Have No Problem with a Dead Jesus — It’s the Living Jesus They Cannot Handle.”
John 19:14-19
14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Skip to verse 38 …
John 19:38-42
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. 39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
John 20: 11-18
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
They couldn’t stop Jesus, so they tried to stop the story.
A DEAD JESUS IS MANAGEABLE, BUT A LIVING JESUS TAKES OVER
Pilate only feared one thing:
“Make sure that deceiver stays in the grave.”
(Matthew 27:62–66)
A dead Jesus is: controllable, silent, containable, historical, non-confrontational
But when Jesus lives again:
He walks through walls
He overturns political power
He breaks religious systems
He rewrites human stories
He cannot be silenced or contained
A dead Jesus stays in a tomb.
A living Jesus walks into locked rooms.
(John 20:19)
The living Jesus isn’t a doctrine —
He’s a presence that fills the room.
A DEAD JESUS CREATES RELIGION, BUT A LIVING JESUS IGNITES REVIVAL
Religious leaders were comfortable with Jesus when He was dead.
But when the stone rolled away, they paid soldiers to lie.
Why? Because a living Jesus means:
Truth is about to break out
Power is about to flow
Deliverance is about to happen
Miracles cannot be stopped
People will no longer need religion to reach God
The veil was torn; Access was granted.
Heaven invaded Earth.
A dead Jesus is a painting.
A living Jesus is a Pentecost.
A dead Jesus produces membership.
A living Jesus produces fire-baptized sons and daughters.
A DEAD JESUS CAN BE EXPLAINED, BUT A LIVING JESUS MUST BE EXPERIENCED
A dead Jesus is a story you can teach.
A living Jesus is a presence you must encounter.
(Revelation 1:17)
John didn’t write notes that day on Patmos —
he “fell at His feet as dead”
because the living Jesus walked into his atmosphere.
My Jesus is alive: I feel Him, I smell His nearness, I tremble under His glory, I hear His whisper. We sense angelic activity, Scripture comes alive, Dreams increase, Worship becomes a doorway, The Spirit becomes your realm, not a doctrine.
Religion will mock what it cannot explain.
But the Spirit-filled believer will live in what others fear.
“People have no problems with a dead Jesus…
but a living Jesus the world can’t deal with.”
Why?
Because the living Jesus keeps showing up where religion has lost control.
WHEN JESUS LIVES, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS UNLEASHED
Acts 2 is proof:
If He lives, the Spirit falls.
The enemy is not afraid of the cross, He is terrified of Pentecost.
The resurrection is Heaven’s announcement:
“The Spirit is coming.”
A dead Jesus keeps the veil intact.
A living Jesus tears it open.
A dead Jesus makes the church intellectual.
A living Jesus fills it with tongues of fire.
A dead Jesus gives doctrine.
A living Jesus gives dimension.
This is why the world fears the supernatural.
Because a living Jesus activates a supernatural church.
A DEAD JESUS STAYS IN THE PAST, BUT A LIVING JESUS WALKS IN YOUR PRESENT
Mary went to the tomb looking for the past.
She found the future.
He said to her: “Do not cling to Me” Why?
Because He is not a memory.
He is alive, He still walks: into hospital rooms, into dark nights of the soul, into the wilderness seasons, into prayer closets, into youth services into places religion wrote off… into the hearts of the hungry
A LIVING JESUS MAKES A LIVING CHURCH
The church that carries a dead Jesus:
Avoids the supernatural,
Mocks spiritual hunger,
Explains away encounters,
Fears the Holy Ghost,
Lives in form without power
But the church that follows a living Jesus:
Smells the fragrance of heaven,
Hears the whisper of the Dove,
Welcomes the realms of the Spirit,
Expects miracles,
Dreams prophetically,
Carries revival,
Burns with holiness,
Walks in authority,
Sees angels minister,
Knows the Presence is real
BASH is not built on an historical Jesus.
It is built on a Living One.
That is why dreams are coming.
That is why youth are awakening.
That is why Dove is resting.
That is why heaven keeps touching people.
The Shamar on my life means I guard the presence of a Living Jesus,
not the memory of a dead one.
THE JESUS WHO WALKS INTO ROOMS
The angel said: “He is not here.”
“He is risen.” “Go tell.”
Don’t preach a dead Jesus.
Don’t settle for a museum of memories.
Don’t let the world shrink Him to history.
He lives in us, He is moving in this house, I can tell when He enters, I can tell when He speaks, I feel His breath in my soul.
He’s saving, healing Souls, filling hungry hearts with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, speaking in a heavenly language breaking into the Spirit realm
And He is walking into this room right now.
This altar service tonight is not for the curious…
it is for the hungry.
Lift your hands if you want the Living Jesus
Tell Him, Jesus:
Come alive in me
Come alive in my church
Come alive in this region
Come alive in my calling
And I promise you if you make room for the Living Jesus,
He will make room for heaven in your life.
I’m not called to guard a dead religion
I am called to reveal a Living Christ.
I am not called to maintain order.
I am called to host His Presence.
I am not called to preach a memory
I am called to tell His story!