“No event in American history which was so improbable at the time has seemed so inevitable in retrospect as the American Revolution. On the inevitability side, it is true there were voices back then urging prospective patriots to regard American independence as an early version of manifest destiny. Tom Paine, for example, claimed that it was simply a matter of common sense that an island could not rule a continent. And Thomas Jefferson's lyrical rendering of the reasons for the entire revolutionary enterprise emphasized the self-evident character of the principles at stake.” from Joseph Ellis – Founding Brothers

“The creation of a separate American nation occurred suddenly rather than gradually, in revolutionary rather than evolutionary fashion, the decisive events that shaped the political ideas and institutions of the emerging state all taking place with dynamic intensity during the last quarter of the eighteenth century. No one present at the start knew how it would turn out in the end. What in retrospect has the look of a foreordained unfolding of God's will was in reality an improvisational affair in which sheer chance, pure luck-both good and bad-and specific decisions made in the crucible of specific military and political crises determined the outcome.” from Joseph Ellis – Founding Brothers

"I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry," said Harrison, "when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead." Rush recalled that the comment "procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.” from Joseph Ellis – Founding Brothers

The Context… John 20:1-9 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

The Crucifixion of Jesus BOTTICELLI, Sandro Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saintsc Tempera on panel, 140 x 207 cm Alte Pinakothek, Munich

CORNELISZ VAN OOSTSANEN, Jacob Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen as a Gardener 1507 Oil on oak, 55 x 39 cm Staatliche Museen, Kassel

The starting point of the revolutionaries… John 20:19a 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews,

The sudden appearance of Jesus John 20:19b Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

“Hey, man, show me the money!” John 20:20a 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.

A 180° Shift in EVERYTHING! John 20:20b The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

The Call to a Revolution Matthew 28: Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The Call to a Revolution Luke 24: He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Mark 16:14, Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

The Call to a Revolution Mark 16:14, Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 3: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 6:28, Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 6:57 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 17:3 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

The Call to a Revolution John 20:21 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 17: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

The Power and Message of the Revolution John 20: And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Are you ready to start a Revolution?