Life seems to be about a constant influx of change. Part of this change is the things that we Exchange for something better. Maybe we go to a restaurant, and the food is not what we expected, so we change it out; maybe we buy clothes that just don’t fit right, so we exchange it for something bigger or smaller, but whatever it is, we are in a constant state of change and exchanging things in our lives. The story of Jesus on the cross and then in the resurrection is about exchanging one life for another. In Mark 14, we find several stories of exchanges between the woman who exchanged her expensive perfume for her admiration of Jesus, Judas being recognized as the betrayer for just a small bag of silver, Peter exchanging his personal safety for owning up to knowing Jesus, and then Judas again the kiss where he exchanges his relationship with Jesus and hands him over to the Roman authorities. Then, in Mark 15, we find the most beautiful exchange ever to have happened in this world: Jesus exchanges his life for ours and then rises again to exchange the keys of death for the keys of life in Mark 16.
1. When you think about your faith journey, what do you exchange your faith for that becomes a distraction in your faith life?
2. In today's sermon, we listed several exchange stories, including the woman with perfume, Judas, and Peter, and then the ultimate exchange was Jesus exchanging His life for ours. If you think about these stories, excluding Jesus’s, do you feel you fit into any of these stories? Judas exchanged Jesus for worldly comfort (silver), Judas betrayed Jesus as he turned Jesus over, the woman with the perfume that gave all her love to Jesus, or Peter, who exchanged his personal safety for Jesus.
3. What is something that you could change in your life to allow Christ to be more at the center of your life?
4. As Christ rises from the grave, we see that He defeated death and has exchanged His life for our sinful life. According to Colossians 2:13-14, “God made you alive with Christ and forgave all the things you had done wrong. 14 He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us.” Tell us what that means to you.
5. Who in your life needs to hear these same words and why? What would it take for you to share this “Beautiful Exchange” with them?
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