But you know, that's how it is in life. Sometimes you have an idea of what somebody is like or what a person is like. And then you meet them and you realize that they're just, that's not the person you thought they were. You know, you have this idealized image sometimes. You know, that's what they say about that saying, never meet your heroes. This really addresses that idea. It suggests that meeting somebody that you admire, that you put up on a pedestal, will likely lead to disappointment because the real person will never match that elevated expectation that you have in your head. And a lot of times it just shatters your image of what they are.
[00:35:47]
Well, today we're going to see somebody who got a glimpse as to who Jesus truly was. And it was the exact opposite experience. Instead of being disappointed, he found out that Jesus was much more, much, much more than who he thought he was and who he claimed to be.
[00:37:18]
So after three years of ministry, Jesus was betrayed by one of his 12 disciples, namely Judas. And late at night after praying at the Garden of Gethsemane, he's arrested and he's brought before the high priest and the council there, and they accused him of blasphemy. But they can't put him to death, so what they do is they turn him over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. And pressured by the crowds and afraid of another uprising, Pontius Pilate sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion. And the soldiers, they take Jesus away, and they mock him, and they beat him, and they create a crown of thorns, and they put it on his head, and they force him to carry the heavy cross beam of his cross up the hill outside of Jerusalem to Golgotha, where they nail him to it.
[00:38:34]
But why does God darken the skies here? Well, the best way to understand what God does and why he does it is to take a look at the other examples in the Bible of God doing the same thing and try and see a pattern and try and understand why God does what he does. And so we don't have time to go through every single verse here this morning, but let me tell you what that, when you go through and you take a look at all the examples of when God darkened the skies, what you see is a clear sign that it's God being displeased. It's God's displeasure and the anticipation of judgment that's coming when God darkens the sky.
[00:41:09]
So when we see this during Jesus' crucifixion, what we're seeing here is a physical manifestation of God's displeasure, his anger. But wasn't this God's plan all along? So why is God displeased? Well, Acts 2 sums it up perfectly. Peter explains that this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. So in other words, God used the horror of the cross for good, but that does not excuse the sins of those who carried it out. He was angry at the betrayal. He was angry at the mockery, angry at the violence that was committed against his son, Jesus, even though he used it to accomplish what he did. He accomplished our salvation.
[00:42:13]
When Jesus cried on the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He wasn't simply uttering words of despair. He was revealing the depth of the suffering that he was enduring to accomplish our salvation. As he hangs on the cross, as he's in pain, fully aware of what's going on, fulfilling the very reason why he's there. Why would God's beloved son feel forsaken or abandoned by his father? Because scripture makes it perfectly clear that Jesus was acting in perfect obedience his entire life to the father. Scripture makes it clear that Jesus was in complete favor with God. God, the father still loved God, the son. So why does Jesus cry out that he has been forsaken or abandoned?
[00:43:41]
You see, in the moment that is happening at this point, Jesus bore something that nobody else could carry. The full weight of humanity's sins to be judged at that time. The death sentence for all those who sinned. And Isaiah 53 puts it perfectly. He writes, but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. So you see, all this sin for all the sin for all time, from the very first sin of Adam to the very last sin yet to be committed, all of it was placed on the shoulders of Jesus. And he took upon himself the judgment, the punishment of everybody that we should have been experiencing. He took that upon himself.
[00:44:49]
And so what does sin do to our relationship with God? Well, it separates us. It separates us from God. So when Jesus bore all of our sin, all of our guilt, our shame, our punishment, as he carries all of it, it simply, it separates us from God. He becomes, it separates him from God, excuse me. And so he becomes sin, and that ultimately separates from God, and it's the ultimate separation from him. And so that cry, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, was his heart crying out in anguish to the Father, because this was the first and only time that Jesus experiences any kind of separation from the Father.
[00:46:18]
And so there, Jesus was on the cross bearing our sins, and he was forsaken forsaken so that we would not have to be forsaken. Jesus was experiencing the distancing from God that we deserved, so that in turn, we may experience closeness with God forever. He experienced death on the cross so that we may experience life and life everlasting.
[00:47:10]
By quoting the opening of this psalm that literally just describes exactly what's going on with Jesus, Jesus is urging all of them to look back and see that the suffering is not random. The suffering that he's going through is not meaningless, but it's the very fulfillment of prophecy, the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation.
[00:48:34]
So why does he cry out? Because in those moments, he bore the wrath of God against sin. He experienced separation from God that awaits everybody who dies in their sin. Jesus suffered that horror of separation only for what comparatively we would say a short period of time. And you can see the agony that Jesus goes through. Now imagine that, experience that agony for eternity and what that must feel like to be cut off from God. To be cut off from God is truly agony and utter hopelessness.
[00:49:05]
But the gospel makes it very clear that the Elijah that they all have been waiting for has already come. Jesus says himself that John the Baptist already came in the spirit and in the power of Elijah. John had already come, and John had already fulfilled the mission that he was given. And now it's the Messiah who's doing that. The Messiah is fulfilling the mission that he was given. And it's not being fulfilled by a rescue off the cross, but actually by a death on that very cross.
[00:54:11]
Now Matthew tells us twice that Jesus cried out with a loud voice in these final moments of his death. And this is actually very significant. This is not what you would normally expect from somebody who's been hanging on a cross for six hours. At this stage, after that long on a cross, after losing so much blood, after gravity pulling your body down and your arms up, you could hardly say anything. Most men that are too far gone are too weak to say anything, let us...alone to cry out with a loud voice. Their voice would have been little more than a whisper as they just drifted off to unconsciousness. But Jesus cries out with a strong and loud voice. His power and authority is demonstrated in his voice.
[00:55:41]
He didn't slowly fade away. He didn't just die as he was...He didn't die as he was just up there succumbing to the cross. He died with full consciousness, with full control, and fully aware of everything that was going on. And it was with this power and with this authority that he yielded up his spirit. Now, don't miss what it says. It says that he yielded up his spirit. And that's really important that nobody took the life of Jesus against his will. He gave it up at the moment of his choosing.
[00:56:46]
Jesus deliberately lays down his spirit. He releases his spirit. That means that the cross was not some kind of a tragic story. It wasn't just a tragic end to a man's life. It was more than a tragic story. It was actually a victorious moment. It was the victorious completion of the Savior's mission. His cry that was so bold and so loud, it wasn't a gasp of defeat, but a cry of triumph. It was a shout of triumph. And when he yields up his spirit, he was not giving up hope. He was giving up his life for us so that we would have life and we would be with him forever. And what's crystal clear is that Jesus accomplished the very mission that he set out to do. He came to die so that we would have life and that we would have it everlasting.
[00:57:56]
The detail of the curtain being torn in two wasn't just some cool footnote that Matthew put into his gospel. It's actually one of the most significant symbols in the entire scriptures. You see, the curtain separated the holy of holies, the very dwelling place of God's presence from the rest of the temple. And so this is a physical barrier between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.
[00:59:47]
But the moment that Jesus gave up his spirit, God himself tore that curtain in two, top to bottom. Not bottom to top as if some man did this. It was top to bottom, showing that this was a work of God. And the message was unmistakable. Through the death of Jesus, this barrier had now been removed and access to God had been opened. It was Jesus who had now atoned for the sins of all people.
[01:00:51]
In other words, the tearing of the temple curtain really, really points back to the tearing of Christ's body on the cross. His death is what grants us access to God. In Christ, we are now welcomed into God's life -giving presence with boldness and with confidence.
[01:01:42]
What's fascinating is that these individuals that were raised to life, they become living testimonies of the defeat of death. And so, verse 54, and when the centurion and those who were with him, those are the soldiers, by the way, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, truly, this was the Son of God.
[01:04:17]
What I love about these guys is they're not theologians, they're not rabbis, they're not prophets. These were the executioners and they had sat there hearing the religious leaders mock Jesus for being this son of God now they they may not have understood the full meaning of that title and and all all that comes with it but they knew the truth when they heard it they they knew the truth was with Jesus and not with Jesus accusers their confession is so remarkable the very men who mocked Jesus and crucified Jesus are now proclaiming him as son of God.
[01:06:46]
But that's the way that life works sometimes you expect one thing and you get something completely different you think that you know somebody but then when you get to know them um they're not who you thought they were sometimes the truth just doesn't measure up but with Jesus it's the opposite he was exactly who he claimed to be and more much much more.
[01:08:18]
These soldiers had probably overseen many crucifixions maybe dozens maybe hundreds but they had never seen a crucifixion like this before they saw the darkness over the land they felt the earthquake they heard Jesus final cry and and they watched as Jesus and they watched as Jesus and they watched as Jesus surrendered his life. And what stood out most to them was the way that Jesus died, with authority, even in his suffering. And he had peace, even in the midst of all that was going on. It convinced them that he wasn't lying, that he wasn't crazy. He wasn't just some great man, or maybe some revolutionary that had come to save people from Rome, but somebody altogether different. He was the Son of God.
[01:08:48]
And the centurion, you know, he may not have fully understood all that was going on, but, you know, he had enough, he'd seen enough to know that Jesus was genuine. He was true. He was unlike any man that he had ever seen or encountered. And so with limited information, but undeniable evidence, they came to the right conclusion. Truly, this was the Son of God.
[01:09:57]
His death tore the curtain. It broke the barrier. It opened up a pathway for us to enter into God's presence. But access is only access if you take advantage of it. If you don't, it's not really access.
[01:10:59]
If you believe that Jesus is truly the Son of God, then surrender to him this morning. Lay down your life at his feet and walk in the newness of life that Christ purchased for you.
[01:11:18]
So make that choice this morning to follow him because the death of Jesus grants us access to God's living, life -giving presence and testifies that he truly is the Son of God.
[01:11:52]
