umph of Easter and the Resurrection.
             We could just move from one celebration to another.
             We could move from Sunday to Sunday in triumph, and never have to deal with all that messy stuff in between, just look the other way, and pretend it never happened.
             But, you see, as your pastor, I take my responsibility to nurture your spiritual growth seriously.
             And you cannot grow being fed a steady diet of baby food.
             So I cannot and will not skip from Palm Sunday to Easter morning and avoid talking about what happened in between.
             You cannot get from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without going through Good Friday.
             Before Jesus could be resurrected, he had to die.
             So I have to talk about the pain this morning, because the same crowd that shouted "hosanna" to Jesus on Palm Sunday are the same people who, will realize that Jesus is not exactly the kind of Messiah they had wanted.
             And before the week is out, they will turn against Jesus and demand his death.
             To be involved with Jesus involves talking about death.
             Do you remember what Paul said in his first letter to the church at Corinth?
             "I decided to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).
             The New Testament is filled with talk about the death of Jesus.
             Too many people today seem to be looking for a risk-free, cost-free, painless, bloodless faith.
             Like the ouch-less bandaid, they want an ouch-less Christianity.
             Jesus was crucified. Why?
             Many people ask that question about Jesus.
             "If God loves us so much, and if God is all-powerful, why couldn't God just speak, like at the creation when God said, 'Let there be light!' and – poof! – there it is, just like that! So why couldn't God just say, 'I forgive you,' and let it go at that? Why did Jesus have to die?"
             Let me answer that with an illustration.
             Suppose a husband has been unfaithful to his wife. He goes to he...