The Truth about the Crucifixion of Jesus

 

"Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

Matthew 27:45-54

Good Morning my beloved,
 
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are so grateful that you could be here with us today. I hope you are looking forward to returning to our study of the book of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, this has been a long journey, it's been several years since we first begun. But that's what it takes for us to go through the whole book of Matthew without short-changing you

We still have more sermons to go in Matthew chapter 27, then we will move on to chapter 28, which will be the end of this long journey. Thanks for hanging in there so long. I pray that it has been as much of a blessing to all of you, as it has been for me.

 

In western society, God has been all but completely removed from public discourse; ironically, even those who don’t believe in God want His blessing on our nation. However, I believe one thing is clear: while Americans universally want God’s blessing, they do not want God. Prayer, even silently, has been virtually banned from the public forum. Atheistic, anti-God human philosophies clearly dominate our culture. Religious hypocrites, those who are informed, still reject the true Savior, ordaining openly homosexual pastors, transgender bishops, hosting "family friendly drag shows" and inviting drag queens to church for 'children's ministries, propagating an all inclusive "love is love" gospel to support LGBTQ+ congregants. Even though Scripture clearly condemns such behavior. Many churches are apparently willing to imitate the world rather than confront the moral evils of society with biblical truth.

 

In 1 Peter 2, Peter writes "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."

 

And, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Paul says "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

Paul uses the Greek word "arsenokoités," which means a sodomite, one who engages in the act of sodomy. The sin which was the intention of the male inhabitants of the ancient city of Sodom to practice on Lot's male guests and was destroyed by fire from heaven in Genesis 18-19. And the word "malakos," which at the time of Paul in the 1st century, was effeminate by perversion; a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness, including feminization of the outward form of the body. In other words, altering the God given gender roles.Though this does not necessarily exclude a catamite, which in ancient Roman times was quite common for well-to-do, married men to engage in the active male role of sodomizing young males.

Merely reciting a Bible verse, while practicing anti-God behavior does nothing, but forfeit the true blessings of God! Christians, of all people, had ought to know that you can’t have it both ways, you must believe in the Christ as revealed in Scripture or you reject Him. You don't get to invent your own version of Jesus. God cannot bless that which He condemns, Scripture is clear on this. Society as a whole cannot be delivered from its current state of moral bankruptcy unless the individual lives the people of God are transformed. The body is not for immorality, but the temple of the Holy Spirit. The influence of Satan is everywhere, especially in the Church, who are today living in the shadow of Satan himself. Saving faith is a choice, an individual decision. Christ will not force Himself on anyone but is eager and ready to receive those who are willing to come to Him, regardless of your past. Jesus loved the tax collector, adulterer, and the prostitute, enough to tell them the Truth, His love was never the acceptance of a sinful lifestyle. Openly celebrating and taking pride in any sin, regardless of what that sin is, is blasphemy.

1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

How gracious is our God to save those who are guilty of such rejection, if they are willing to confess their sin, repent and follow Christ. 

Let us pray

Heavenly Father,
 
Father, we thank You for the clarity of Your Word. Teach us to follow it well, that we might help others to understand the Truth that Jesus came to take away the sin of the world, not to celebrate their sin with them. Bless all who are joining us today, opening our deaf ears and our blind eyes that we may believe what Scriptures says about sin. The Gospel is not intended to be smooth and easy but to convict the sinner to save souls and transform lives. The same Gospel that would cause a pagan soldier would confess that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Teach us O Lord to live for You and not for the things of this world. Father, we ask that You would make the Truth clear to every heart that they might believe, recognizing their own sinfulness and come to Christ in repentance. All for Your glory and for Christ's sake. In His name we ask and pray
Amen

Today's  Message: The Truth about the Crucifixion of Jesus

While there are some elements of the recent TV shows and films about Jesus that are not necessarily biblical, many people who have never read the Bible or have never heard the Gospel, went out and bought a New Testament, which all four Gospel writers do give an account of the cross. Therefore, it does provide us with a tremendous opportunity to go beyond the visual image, and share the real message about Jesus, according to the precious Word of God, when everybody is talking about Him. It is tragic, that there are a growing number of people who claim to be Christians, however, there are very few whose lives support their claim and are actually growing to be more like Christ. A true Christian is not a person who claims to be a Christian, but one who actually lives like one, according to God’s standards, not yours or mine. Justification and sanctification are inseparable from true salvation and it shows up in their lives. There’s no such thing as a half Christian. Your body is either the temple of the Holy Spirit, a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, or it is not. 

We often hear about the death of Jesus Christ from an earthly perspective, whereas Scriptures gives us God’s own commentary on the cross. It's important to understand that at the time of Christ, there were literally thousands of people who suffered the same excruciating death on the cross that Jesus did, there was absolutely nothing supernatural or redemptive about their crucifixions or the suffering of the apostles of Jesus Christ. Sanctification, which begins at the moment of your salvation, helps you destroy sinful patterns of your life, therefore, must be a vital part of every believer’s life. Most people are aware that Christ died to save sinners from their sin and divine punishment. However, many are unaware that He died, in order to produce sanctification; that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people.

 

1 John 2 says, "The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him....the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked."

In our last message, we looked at how Jesus was tortured, punched and spat on. He was abused, mocked and He was scourged and led outside the city gates to be crucified. Today, as we return to Matthew chapter 27, we're going to see more about how He is going to die. 

Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew chapter twenty-seven. Matthew 27:45-54. I invite you to follow along with me as I read verse 45 to verse 53, to set the text in our minds. Let's open our hearts and our minds to see what the Spirit of God has to say us today.  

 

"Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

Verse 45, "Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour." Mark tells us "It was the third hour when they crucified Him. The third hour, 9:00 a.m, three hours before the sun is at apex, He was hanging there suffering physically, and emotionally in the light. Then, from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m darkness fell upon the land. Keep in mind, it's the middle of the day, yet darkness fills the sky and covers all the land. In the Greek, the word "gḗ,"translated as land means the physical earth. This is the divine work of God. Interfering with the sun was not uncommon for God, in Joshua 10, He caused the earth to stop revolving, making the sun appear to stand still. In Isaiah 38, He moved the sun ten degrees backward on the sundial, a miracle that was obvious to all. In Exodus 10, in a showdown between God and an Egyptian Pharaoh, as a consequence of disobedience and idolatry, He blackened the sun as a part of the horrible ten plagues that fell upon Egypt, to pave the Hebrews way to freedom.

 

Why is the darkness of verse 45 significant?  When Christ was born, there was a great light in the sky. In Isaiah 2, "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them." And, in Isaiah 49, the prophet Isaiah wrote "I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth." In Matthew 2, the magi saw His star in the east and came to worship Him.

 

In John 8:12, Jesus said "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." In John 12, He said "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light." But in His death, there is supernatural darkness, as if God turned the sun off. The Roman historians Phlegon and Tertullian actually wrote that for three hours, from 12 noon to 3 p.m., everyone had to light a lamp, because of this strange darkness that came over the earth. Darkness is associated with judgment on the wicked for their iniquity. Amos 5:18, "Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light."

 

There are many passages in the Bible which clearly explain the significance of His death, and what makes the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ unique, is He died in our place to satisfy the wrath of God.

Isaiah 53:4-5, "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,smitten of God, and afflicted.But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed." In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." And, Peter says in 1 Peter 3, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit." Christ was God’s chosen sacrifice, as a substitutionary death on behalf of sinners, to satisfy the wrath of God. Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Verse 46, "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Even though Jesus suffered greatly, we never hear Him utter a word to complain, or to express His agony. During those three hours of darkness, He only broke His silence three times. The first time He said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." The second time is when "He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then He *said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

 

He cried out, not about the immeasurable agony that He is suffering, about the scourging, the severe dehydration, or even about the mocking from men, but about the real pain, and the real agony He felt, the reality of the loss of intimacy of communion and fellowship with His Father, which He had eternally known. This divine separation is something only our Lord could know, in feeling the sin-bearing wrath of God, He is being treated as if His Father hates Him. He had never been anything but loved by His Father, yet it was His Father’s perfect love for Him that caused the whole redemptive plan to be put in motion, that He might bring a bride to His Son as a gift of His love. This is to fulfill the messianic psalm, Psalm 22:1. 

 

As the darkness ended, so did the sin-bearing judgment on our Lord, punished for our sin, because He had no sin of His own. God is holy, and Jesus is carrying all the sins of His people to the cross, He had to separate Himself from the intimacy of fellowship with Christ. Over the years to explain this divine separation, other than to say because He and the Father are One, He was not separated from the nature of the Father, but He was separated from fellowship with the Father. It's the first time He cried to Him not as the Father, but as God. God must separate Himself from the sin bearer. The point of this divine separation is to prove that Jesus was bearing our sin and is being punished. The cross demonstrates God's holiness. At the same time God is pouring out His wrath in judgment on sin, He's protecting His perfect holiness. I don't care what anybody tells you, God cannot and will not tolerate sin. To tell you more than it is a divine act of God is beyond anyone’s imagination, I can only read the same Scriptures that you can. 

 

I can point you back to Habakkuk 1, which says "Are You not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, my Holy One? Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and You can not look on wickedness with favor."

 

Verse 47, "And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is calling for Elijah." They knew better! They spoke the language, they knew exactly what He was saying, they were sarcastically mocking His claim to be the Messiah. They knew the messianic promise. They knew Malachi 4 says "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." They believed that Elijah would come before the Lord comes in judgment and to set up His kingdom. They were saying He cannot possibly be the Messiah, Elijah didn’t show up. In John 19, John adds "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, *said, "I am thirsty." By the way, that fulfills Psalm 69:21, which says "They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

 

In verse 48, Matthew writes, "Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink." Remember, they had offered Him a drink earlier, but He refused, this time He asks and only one of them did. Verse 49,  "But the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him." It's ridiculous, even at the last hour, they are still mocking Him. Verse 50, "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit." Matthew doesn't record that when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" But thankfully, John does.

In the Greek, it means to bring to an end, it has been paid in full. Jesus was in control of His death, He decided when the time had come to breathe His last breath, and so He did. The wrath was over. Luke 23 adds, seeing the Father’s face, He said, "Father, into Your hands, I commit My Spirit!" He did not die at the hands of men, He voluntarily gave up His life. In John 10:17, He said "I lay down My life so that I may take it again." Nobody else can do that, but that's what He did, even the events of His death validate His deity! Being satisfied, the Father welcomes His Son back.

 

Isaiah 53:12, "Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors. "

 

Verse 51, "And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split." These supernatural occurrences; the darkness, the veil of the temple that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies was ripped in two from top to bottom and earthquakes clearly point to the sovereign hand of God at work, as well as the the fact that Jesus was no ordinary man. If it had not been for Christ paying for their sins and ripping open the way into the Holy of Holies, they would have continued to be shut out of God’s presence, except for the high priest, who couldn’t go in without the threat of death, until he had prepared himself through appropriate ceremonies. Now, completely exposed to everyone. This is symbolic that people were shut out of God’s presence, from that moment on, would have full access to the very throne of God. By the way, according to Josephus, horses pulling against each other couldn’t tear that thirty feet wide and thirty feet high, four inches thick, curtain. It required an astonishing three hundred men to lift it.

 

And this happened at 3 O'clock, when there would have been hundreds of thousands of people celebrating the Passover, the priests up to their necks in the blood of slaughtered lambs. And in a split second, it was all over, no more Holy of Holies, no more sacrifices, no more priesthood. The same robbers’ den that Jesus cleansed, thrown wide open by the sacrifice of Christ. I believe that God was making it clear, if we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, there's no longer a barrier, we are free to come into His presence. What a marvelous privilege, what a glorious honor it is to freely walk into His presence. The love of God is seen in the self-sacrificial death of Christ. At the same time, God shook the earth, giving people preview of the end time earthquakes that are going to come to those who do not come into his holy presence by the way of Christ.

 

In 70 A.D., the Romans came in and completely destroyed the temple and it still hasn't been rebuilt, nor has the sacrificial system been restored, even to this day. The writer of Hebrews 10:19-22  says, "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." All of that devastation will lead to paradise regained.

 

Verse 52, "The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised." This is consistent with what Jesus said in John 11, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies." This is not just about a physical resurrection, more importantly it's about a spiritual resurrection. Today, you and I are given this new spiritual life because of the finished work of Jesus, Who died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him. What a tremendous joy it is to obey His will. This is a preview of what is to come.

 

Verse 53, "And coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many." Notice, they didn’t go into Jerusalem until Christ was raised, because He was to be the firstfruits and all others follow Him. Do you know what that means? God is affirming there will be a resurrection for the saints when Christ returns. Christ may have looked like a victim, hanging on the cross for 6 hours, but He will come back as judge, to judge the nations. He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, splitting it wide open, establishing a great valley. Christ is indeed the King of the earth. He will set up His kingdom and reign for a thousand years. Then, He will destroy the entire universe as we know it, in its place will be a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness will prevail forever.

 

That brings us to our last verse for today, verse 54, "Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" This is amazing testimony! Surely, they must have seen lots of criminals complaining and begging for mercy and cursing their day, but Jesus spoke words of love, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." It is staggering, that while the religious leaders accused Jesus of being a liar, a cheater, a criminal, a rebel, a pagan, gentile soldier recognized there was something remarkable about the death of Jesus

 

In Closing..

 

Those of us who have confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, who have received this glorious salvation, I believe this is a good time for us to refresh our minds, reflect upon the glory of the cross and commit these great truths to our hearts, as we come before the throne of the grace and give our thanks, for the amazing finished work of of Christ.

If you haven't yet recognized Jesus as the Savior that He is, the Lord who gave Himself to save you from your sin, I encourage you to confess your sins, repent and turn from your wicked ways and believe today, while there's still time. Apart from Christ, you are an unworthy and wretched sinner, with no hope that you will ever enter into heaven. Christ is the Only One Who can give you new life, new soul, new hope and reconciliation with the Holy God, you can't save yourself.I pray to you will come to Him and worship Him for who He is, the incarnate God.

 

 

May it be so..

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
 
 
 
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