The Giant ‘T’

March 8, 2026

It starts in a garden—Eden, where Adam and Eve rebelled, bringing death. And it ends in a garden–Gethsemane, where Jesus chose the cross, bringing life. God is such a poet!

Devotional: Here

March 8, 2026 • Kendal Anderson •


1. The message started with a story of a pizza delivery guy who asked what the giant ‘t’ on the church building stood for. It was the cross, of course! We are surrounded by people who don’t know the story of Jesus. What conversations have you had lately like that?

2. The good news, we said, was that more and more people who don’t know what the ‘t’ is do know that something’s missing and are curious about Jesus. Share about someone in your life who seems to be spiritually open and curious about Jesus.

3. John 18:4 tells us that ‘Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him…’ We talked about the fact that Jesus was in complete authority over everything that happened to him. Why does that matter, both then and now?

4. In John 18:5, when the soldiers tell him they’re looking for ‘Jesus the Nazarene,’ Jesus replies, ‘I AM he.’ This is a recurring theme in John’s gospel. Read the following:

  • John 6:35

  • John 8:12

  • John 10:11

  • John 11:25

  • John 14:6

  • John 15:1

Now read Exodus 3:13-14. In light of this passage, what overall claim is Jesus making with his ‘I AM’ statements? What does it mean that Jesus is our Bread, Light, Shepherd, Resurrection, Way/Truth/Life, and True Vine?

5. In John 18:6 just after Jesus tells the soldiers ‘I AM he,’ they all fall to the ground. Why do you think this happens? Read Revelation 1:14-17. How is this image of Jesus different from the one most people have? Why does it matter that we have an accurate understanding of who Jesus is?

6. Read and respond to this paragraph from writer Dallas Willard on how we tend to misunderstand Jesus:  

In our culture…Jesus Christ is automatically disassociated from brilliance or intellectual capacity. Not one in a thousand will spontaneously think of him in conjunction with words such as "well-informed," "brilliant," or "smart." 

…But Jesus knew how to transform the molecular structure of water to make it wine…He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life… In the ethical domain he had an understanding of life that has influenced world thought more than any other. 

Saying Jesus is Lord can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate in saying Jesus is smart…he is not just nice, he is brilliant, he is the smartest man who has ever lived. He is now supervising the entire course of human history while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it. He always has the best information on everything and certainly on the things that matter most in the human life.

7. Read Ephesians 1:19-20. How would your life change if you really grasped the resurrection power available to us through Jesus?