The Crucifixion (3)

Well, it has been our privilege to be able to look more deeply at the old rugged cross and find what actually happened there and not only the details of what happened but what it means to us, what it means for our salvation, what Jesus was actually doing there. Notice the line is we just saying that song, the emblem of suffering and shame. Quite often the cross is something different to many people in our culture today. It's an emblem of jewelry and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I'm not going to try to embarrass anyone tonight but sometimes the emblem is not really symbolic of what happened there. It was a cruel instrument of torture and I understand why people have crosses on their person to remind them of the sacrifice of Christ but we should be reminded that it was it was certainly not an emblem of pride in those days. It was an emblem of huge suffering and shame. Last couple of weeks we've been looking at the cross and what happened there and we've spent some time, a good bit of time talking about the beginning of the crucifixion, the first three hours actually the journey to the place of crucifixion and then the first three hours of the crucifixion. In those first three hours what we have focused upon because this seems to be the focus of the Scriptures, what we focused on is the interaction that Jesus had with various people and so we have looked at Jesus and Simon, the man who ended up carrying the upper beam of the cross for Jesus. We've looked at Jesus and the mourners, the professional mourners that he encountered on the way to the cross and then Jesus and the soldiers and their interaction with him, his forgiveness of them, for they did not understand what they were doing and also they're gambling for his undergarment and splitting up the rest of his clothing. We've talked about Jesus and the mourners and remember there are four groups of people that mocked the Savior as he was on the cross and we took a look at those and then last time we finished with Jesus and the thief or the rebel is actually a better word to capture the enormity of his crime but he was a man who recognized under the conviction of the Holy Spirit that he was a sinner that Christ was indeed perfect, sinless, not worthy of any of the punishment he was receiving and that he humbly cried out to him to remember him when he came into his kingdom and you remember Jesus responded to that that today you will be with me in paradise. Now there's one other person that Jesus interacts with in the first three hours on the cross and that is his mother and so let's take a look at this in John chapter 19. We will spend most of our time this evening in Matthew's gospel but let's begin in John 19 verses 25 to 27. Near the cross of Christ stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Kloepus and Mary Magdalene. Now a little bit later we will compare one of the other gospels that lists the names of all of them. There were these four ladies in particular around the cross but the Bible also talks about other women who had followed him, who had ministered to him and provided for the needs of Christ and the disciples, monetarily during his ministry and so there were other people around but these four are recognized here and notice what verse 26 says when Jesus saw his mother there. Again his focus is on others as he's on the cross not himself. His focus is on others and I think what we're seeing in his interaction with all of these different people is that his focus was others centered, not self centered which really is the whole meaning of the cross isn't it that Jesus was dying not for himself he was not consumed with or concerned with himself he was concerned with others he was concerned with us and certainly that is seen in the interaction he has with many other people and one of those people that he focuses on is his mother when he saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby let's pause there just a moment who do you think that is referring to John why do you think that heard something pardon me his brother okay John never refers to himself throughout the gospel of John there is this disciple that's just listed as the disciple that Jesus loved and we would probably might be able to figure it out but we probably would not know for certain who that was although you would maybe expect that the one writing the book would would approach it with that sense of humility if it were not for a couple of expressions in the 21st chapter of John notice just turn over there real quickly it didn't mean to do this but in chapter 21 verse 20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them this was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said Lord who was going to betray you when Peter saw me ask Lord what about him Jesus answered if I want him to remain alive until I return what is that to you you must follow me because of this the rumors spread among the believers that this disciple would not die but Jesus did not say that he would not die he only said if I want him to remain alive until I return what is that to you now look at verse 24 this is the disciple who testifies to these things and wrote them down we know that his testimony is true and then he goes right on to say Jesus did many other things as well if everyone of them were written down I suppose that even the whole world would not have had the room for the books that would have been written it appears to be that John is finally identifying himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved he is the one who testified to these things and wrote them down speaking of the things that have just been written down in the gospel of John the very things that had been written in this book because he says a lot of other things happened and those could have been written down too so it probably is John and so John is the one at the cross and we know from other details as we have seen in recent weeks that John was the one who actually followed Jesus to his trials Peter was there too but he didn't last too long you remember he denied Christ and then wept left and wept but John was there we know that he was there so we would expect of any of the disciples it would be John that was at the cross now when Jesus sees both his mother and John standing there he said to her woman here is your son and to the disciple here is your mother from that time on this disciple took her into his home why why did did he commit the safekeeping of his mother to one of his disciples didn't she have a husband Joseph speak up I can hear probably already died why why would we say that okay after Jesus 12 years old we don't hear Joseph again and when Jesus enters his ministry Jesus is now known as the carpenter of Nazareth not Joseph and so probably had taken over the family business and there are just some some indications that his father had died or that Joseph had died his his guardian father you would say what about his brothers didn't have brothers gospels tell us that he had brothers they didn't believe that Jesus was who he was yeah there's no indication at this time that they believed in Jesus there's a mention in John chapter 7 of Jesus going up to the feast of dedication and it was within a year of his death and his brothers were challenging him to go ahead and promote himself if he really was the Messiah and John adds this little statement in John chapter 7 that even his brothers did not yet believe in him and so that appears to be the case right up to the end but something interesting happens in Acts chapter 1 in Acts chapter 1 where it's listed the disciples that were in the upper room praying right after Jesus ascended back to heaven before the Holy Spirit had come it lists the 11 it talks about Mary and then it says and his brothers and his brothers and then there's there's little cryptic reference in 1 Corinthians 15 to appearing to James and so it could be that Jesus appeared to his brothers after his resurrection and that is the point at which they believed in him but until this time they didn't so this is probably that's probably the reason why that's done but the important thing is that Jesus does take care of his responsibility as the oldest male in the family to make sure that his mother is cared for and even in the intensity of his suffering he demonstrates that kind of love for his mother okay comments questions there okay let's move then into the last three hours of the cross the four gospels all cover this but let's look at Matthew's account in Matthew 27 what we're going to find in verses 45 to 50 is these last three hours of the cross really describe for us the meaning of Christ's death what we have seen thus far is what Kent Hughes called the explosions of grace in his interaction with different people and so there's this evidence of the grace that he demonstrates but in the last three hours on the cross is where you really get focused on the meaning of the cross what he was really there to do and everything that happens in those last three hours serves to highlight why he died and exactly what the purpose of his death was and so the meaning of Christ's death really is described in full here what we see first in verses 45 and 46 is the judgment of God this is a very critical basic part of the meaning of Christ's death what we're seeing on the cross is the judgment of God look at verse 45 from noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice Ali Ali lemma sabakhani which means my god why have you forsaken me okay there is first of all the darkness let's talk about that first in verse 45 from noon until three so last half of the time that Jesus was on the cross we know from what we've seen thus far Jesus was placed on the cross at nine o'clock in the morning so everything that we have seen so far happened between nine and twelve this darkness however begins at noon and lasts until three until just before Jesus dies now this is a dramatic object lesson of what is happening on the cross and it really is that it is an object lesson it is designed to highlight exactly what was happening it appears it appears to be a sudden darkness it came over all the land and many have questioned how far did it reach was it over all of Israel was it over just that region and the text doesn't make that clear but the early church fathers the early pastors and leaders of the church in the first few centuries wrote that it extended beyond Israel and so was it worldwide I don't know there have been many attempts to explain how this could be maybe it was an eclipse of the sun but that could not be true because Jewish Passover is at full moon they had a lunar calendar it was at full moon it's impossible to have an eclipse of the sun at this time so that's not possible it's not any clips of any kind this is supernatural sudden and extended three hours of darkness over all the land and something else that seems to go along with it is silence nothing is recorded that Jesus said in those three hours nothing is recorded that his persecutors said in those three hours everything that we have seen up till now the mocking and so forth occurs in the first three hours there is no record of anything being said by anyone in those three hours the last four statements of Jesus from the cross we've already seen three but the last four happened in rapid succession just before he dies and so you get this amazing scene of darkness and silence and it is a gripping object lesson of what is happening at the cross it is an amazing amazing scene darkness in the Old Testament in particular signified God's judgment or impending judgment or the fact that God would judge darkness and gloom our terms that are often used in the prophets of God's judgment the day of the Lord is the day of darkness not of light amus says Joel says the same thing so darkness is often a sign an object lesson a way of illustrating God's curse and God's judgment it's interesting that back in the book of Exodus remember the ten plagues that came upon the Egyptians that God sent through the hand of Moses most of us remember what the tenth plague was the tenth the last plague was what I'm sorry I'm not hearing death of the first mourn death of the first mourn of all Egyptians and all who did not have the blood of the land do you remember what the plague right before that one was darkness read it in Exodus chapter 10 I believe it is darkness came over the ninth plague was darkness over all the land the Bible says darkness so thick for three days that you can feel it it's it's an object lesson of impending judgment and it's incredible that before Israel sacrifices the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 it's preceded by darkness and on the cross before the Lamb of God lays down his life there is a period of darkness it's just an incredible object lesson that dovetails beautifully with what happened when God judged sin in Egypt right before the application of the blood by the Passover lamb and so it is a sign literally a vivid object lesson of the the judgment and the curse of God but what was it that was being judged on the cross who was being judged and what was being judged sin was being judged for us right yes for us who's sin was being judged ours right okay the scriptures are replete with with testimony to that even in the Old Testament prophecies I've got a few verses on the screen for you beginning with one of those prophecies in Isaiah 53 he was despised and rejected by mankind this is a prophecy of the suffering servant or the Messiah despised and rejected by mankind a man of suffering and familiar with pain like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised and we held him in low esteem that would be that the the reason why most people would think he was suffering but here's the real reason he was suffering surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering yet we considered him punished by God stricken by him and afflicted but again here's the real reason but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed you see that that graphic distinction between who was being punished but for whom he was being punished and then Isaiah ends in verse 6 we all like sheep of Ghanastray each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all that we and us and him contrast graphically so many times placed in those verses it's so clear that Jesus suffering the suffering servant the Messiah who suffers is suffering not for his own sin the curse the judgment is not on him it is because of us he is being judged but he's not being judged because of anything he did for his own sin he's being judged for our sin and the New Testament obviously has many similar examples of this kind of statement first Peter 2 24 he himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness by whose wounds you have been healed okay does his suffering but he's suffering for us second Corinthians 521 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us or to be the offering for sin the sin offering for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God see our sin is placed on him his righteousness has been given to us placed on our account in heaven Galatians 3 13 another example Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us again that substitution for it is written curse is everyone who's hung on a pole if the Bible teaches anything clearly it teaches the substitutionary atonement of Christ or the substitutionary death of Christ that he died as a substitute for us and that's that's at the very core of understanding the death of Christ Jesus did not die as an example now there was example in the way he died not retaliating not condemning so forth there's example in the way he acted in his death but his death was not intended to give us an example of how to be valiant and courageous and stand for a cause willing to die for it that was not the real meaning of his death Jesus did not die as a martyr Jesus died as a substitute and that is the key understanding of Jesus death it was that very thing that liberal theologians denied in the 19 teens and 20s in America and led the liberal revolution away from the word of God that was the core truth they denied they called it Harry Emerson Fosnik who was pastor Riverside Church in New York City called it a bloody religion to think that Jesus blood could do anything for us he died as an example the moral example he said and the Bible makes it clear no no no he died for us in our place he was a substitute for us the Bible makes anything clear it makes that clear so the judgment that was taking place God the Father was pouring out on Jesus Christ the judgment his wrath for all of our sin wave after wave if you will of lies and violence and murder and lust and greed and envy and everything else Jesus bears all of that and these three hours of darkness are emblematic the very the very revulsion of nature to even see what's happening and the silence of everyone so vividly portrays the condemnation the judgment and the curse of God on his own son because of us what what an amazing scene that is but then it is punctuated at the very end of those three hours with the cry in verse 46 about three in the afternoon in other words after three hours of this darkness and silence about three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice Ali Ali Lemus Abokhtani that is translated for us my God my God L is one of the names for God in the Old Testament the ending E it's an I but it's pronounced E and Hebrew Ali is my God the ending means my so my God my God why have you forsaken me and that cry is an amazing declaration of what the darkness meant but it is also an amazing contrast of what you would expect from someone suffering on the cross there was lots of crying out from Roman crosses lots of people yelled screamed cursed lots of people raged pled with their tormentors to put an into it as you can imagine the kinds of things you would hear from people on across everyone standing there that day must have been utterly shocked with what they heard come from Jesus his cry basically summarizes what the darkness has been about what those three hours has been about what his death on the cross is all about he is crying out his inexpressible pain and horror at being separated from his father and he does not even call him my father it is my God my God why have you forsaken me it's not that intellectually or theologically he doesn't understand the answer to that question obviously he does it is a cry of horror it is a cry of desperation why have you forsaken me he knows why he knows that he has been completely cut off from God that he is bearing God's wrath and it's almost impossible it is impossible for us to fully grasp what he was feeling because remember he has been one with his father in nature in heart in mind in every way in perfection in holiness for any eternity I mean even the thought of that is just too much for us to wrap our minds around and now his father has forsaken it turned his back on him judged him cursed him for us and for us to even begin to understand what Jesus is feeling but it was this very horror that he saw in the garden wasn't it and that's what caused him to be so distressed remember as we saw that he was he almost died there he was so horrified at what he knew was coming and that's that's what it is that's what he saw clearly in the garden this separation from his father this bearing all of our sin being cursed and judged and condemned for us what an incredible scene that is you don't begin to understand anything about the cross unless you understand it is the judgment of God and that's what we're seeing here both with the darkness and the cry it is the judgment of God on sin in all of his wrath and the fury of his anger against sin it is all pointed at his son and an incredible incredible display of horror and suffering Jesus understands exactly what's taking place okay questions comments about what's happening there in the judgment of God okay the second thing to understand about the meaning of Christ's death which is again portrayed for us amazingly and so beautifully here is the completed payment for sin not only is there the judgment of God but what happens next highlights the completed payment for sin now remember these three hours really describe for us what is happening there the meaning the purpose for Christ's death and part of the purpose is to bear the judgment of God part of the purpose is to completely pay for our sin notice how this is described verse 47 when some of those standing there heard this they said he's calling Elijah Elijah Ellie Yah my God Jehovah my God is Jehovah that's the literal meaning of the name you like Ellie Yah or Jehovah and when Jesus said Ellie Ellie some thought that he was calling out for Elijah now were they saying this ingest possibly were they saying it because they really thought that's who he was crying for possibly remember there's a mixed multitude of people standing there some of them are religious leaders some of them are just passerby remember so it's hard to tell what they implied or meant by this but something happens next which is not recorded in Matthew's gospel but to get the full picture remember we put all the gospels together that's what we've been doing kind of a harmony of the gospels the next event is recorded in John's gospel where Jesus says John 1928 I think we have it on the screen for you later knowing that everything had now been finished and so that scripture would be fulfilled Jesus said I am thirsty okay the three hours of darkness are over the darkness has lifted Jesus has cried out in his desperate horror about God forsaking him and after the people say he's calling for Elijah then Jesus says something else he says I'm thirsty now look at verse 48 you see what happens next immediately one of them one of verse 47 those who were standing there one of them ran and got a sponge he filled it with wine vinegar put it on a staff and offered it to Jesus to drink the rest said now leave him alone let's see if Elijah comes to saving now remember when Jesus first got to the cross he was offered wine mixed with gall which was a narcotic it was a drug designed to dead in the pain and remember he refused that but this is different Jesus does drink this why what's the difference the scriptures had to be fulfilled he was thirsty you know we've described about the excruciating pain and movement on the cross and all they had suffered prior to getting to the cross no doubt his throat is parched but in order for the scriptures to be fulfilled there's something else he has to say two other things he needs to say and so in all likelihood the reason for Jesus saying I'm thirsty is so that he will be given enough moisture to clear his throat and enable him to say with a loud voice notice verse 50 and when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice everybody must hear this it is important that this does not come out as a gasp it does not come out with a raspy horse cry everybody must hear this what is it that he actually cried Matthew doesn't tell us John does next verse on the screen verse 30 when he had received the drink Jesus said it is finished that's why I needed the the moisture on his throat it is finished with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit now we'll see in a moment that he said something else as he died or just before he died but this is a triumphant declaration that payment has completely been made for sin it is a victorious shout in a loud voice the Bible says he cried out this actually the word he cried was a word that was actually used in that day of paying off a loan and when somebody paid off a debt there was a word that was stamped on that document showing that it was paid in full and that word was to tell us die it is a it is a particular tense of a word which means it has been paid paid in full and that is the word Jesus cried out it is paid in full it is finished and what he is saying is that the payment necessary to pay off the debt of sin has been completely paid the debt has been erased it has been paid in full it is finished by his work on the cross the debt was paid at that moment there we think we can add anything else to what Jesus said was finished when he made that cry what presumption and arrogance and audacity to think that we could contradict Jesus statement and say well yeah you need the death of Christ but you also need no no no Jesus said this is all you need it is paid in full when I have borne the wrath of God on the cross the darkness the cry the punishment the condemnation the curse of God on him with that done it's finished that's all that it takes nothing else can be added to it you don't try to add anything else to it to earn your way to heaven there is no human work that can be added to it it is for that reason that any other verse that seems to imply that there is something else that is required for salvation and there are three or four of them that are interpreted that way a basic Bible rule of interpretation is you always interpret the unclear by the clear and if there is anything clear in scripture it is that Christ's death is fully and only sufficient for salvation that's all that's it nothing else can be added to it and salvation if the Bible teaches anything clearly is by grace that means free gift of God's not earned in part or in whole but anything we do and it is received by us through faith any verse that seems to contradict that or add anything else to it must have another meaning and they all do they all have good interpretation within their context in other ways you cannot add anything to the death of Christ cannot add anything else to the death of Christ Jesus said it is finished it is paid in full with my death the completed payment for sin well there's more here so much more about the meaning of the death of Christ and also its effects but we'll have to wait well next week is the award ceremony two weeks from tonight we'll finish up hopefully the crucifixion let's pray father help us to understand quite clearly as clearly as we can grasp by your spirits enablement and insight illumination help us to understand what Jesus did for us at the cross thank you father that all the work that was needed to be done was done there when he bore our sin took our condemnation took our penalty thank you that he cried it is finished not just speaking of his death being done but speaking of the full payment of a debt thank you father that Jesus willingly gave up his life so that we might be forgiven cleansed freed saved I pray for anyone who may be here tonight who may not know the Lord Jesus the Savior that they would understand what he did for us and come in simple faith to trust Jesus and him along we ask in his name amen