24 Hours that Changed the World

This Wednesday, February 17th, is Ash Wednesday, the first Day of Lent, the season that leads up to Easter.  For the next 6 weeks we will be looking at the last 24 hours of Jesus life, the few hours that led to and included the crucifixion.  What about those hours, something as egregious as a crucified Jesus, changed the world, led to 2 billion people claiming the Christian faith.  He was betrayed, doubted, and denied.  Yet somehow, those moments on the cross draw us to Him.  Can someone love us this much?  Is there more to this than just a cruel death?  If I have rejected these claims, should I reconsider them?  If I have embraced the claims of the cross, how should I respond?  Why, and how did a piece of wood stuck in the ground on an insignificant hill outside Jerusalem 2000 years ago change the world, and can it still change me?