It's wonderful to be here with all of you today.
Appreciate the presence of all that have come to be with us.
We have a wonderful crowd for which we're thankful.
And as always, I'm honored to be your speaker.
We're continuing where we left off last time in John chapter
19, and we're now down to verse 23 and 24.
Last time we talked on the subject, I simply called the
King on a cross, and now we're going to talk about the events
while Jesus died in the last several hours of his life as
Jesus hung there for our sins. Before this happened.
You remember in our last lesson where we ended up, Pilate had
just put the inscription over the head of Jesus in the three
languages of the ancient world, in Hebrew and Greek and in
Latin, the words this is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the
Jews. Everybody could have understood
and everybody would have understood those words.
But when many of the Jews, the Bible says passed by, they
looked up and they said to Pilate, don't say he's the king
of the Jews. Say he said he was the king of
the Jews. And then Pilate said, and this
is where we left off last time. What I have written, I have
written. And now in this great narrative
of the greatest story ever told, we come to verse 23 in John 19.
Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his
garments, and made four parts, and each soldier apart, and also
the tunic. Now the tunic was without seem
woven from top in one piece. They said therefore among
themselves, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it.
Who shall it be? And the Scriptures might be
fulfilled, which says they divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
Therefore the soldiers did these things.
First of all, have you ever stopped to consider the
significance of the clothing? And why does it matter?
Why would the soldiers be concerned about the clothing of
Jesus? Is it just a passage that
fulfills prophecy that we read in the Old Testament about
casting lots for his garments? It was actually quite common.
This is some history here. The victim that was to be
crucified was stripped of his clothing before crucifixion.
It was a custom of the soldiers performing the execution should
have the victims arraignment as extra pay in addition to their
wages as soldiers. According to the present verse,
there were four soldiers corresponding to the four parts
of the body to be nailed, 2 hands and two feet, so 1 soldier
for each one of those acts. This would call for four
divisions to be made of the garments so each soldier could
have a share, but the coat was woven in one piece in such a way
that it could not be divided without ruining it.
All right, that is history. What was the significance,
though, about a garment or about an outer cloak that was woven
without seeing? We go to the Old Testament, we
see some Old Testament significance, and then we see,
and I love this, we see in the death of Jesus and in this event
we see the New Testament fulfillment of that and why
that's significant for all of us today.
Notice first of all the Old Testament significance.
First of all, the Levitical high priest was commanded to wear a
seamless robe or tunic of fine linen on the Day of Atonement as
described in Exodus chapter 28 and verse 39.
That passage says you shall skillfully weave the tunic of
fine linen, Fred. You shall make the turban of
fine linen and you shall make the sash of of woven work.
In Leviticus chapter 21 and verse 4, it says this was done
in order to not be defiled. So we go back to the Old
Testament. We go back to the old law of
Moses. And the high priest once a year
on the Day of Atonement, would take the blood sacrifice of
animals for the people through the veil, the Holy of Holies,
and he would be wearing the garment of his priesthood.
That was an outer garment that was woven without seeing.
All right. What did that signify or what's
the big deal about that? The seamlessness likely
symbolized the unity and holiness of the high priest role
and his connection to God. Get that part about the
connection to God and His connection to God.
Thirdly, as we sum up, then the seamless tunic was a key part of
the high priest attire, signifying his authority and the
sanctity of his office, and also a symbol of total purity.
Don't you see the point? Jesus is our great High Priest,
Jesus on this great day of atonement, and it's the last one
that ever had to be. Not just once a year, not with
the blood of animals, once a year for the atonement of their
sins, rolling their sins for just another year until the high
priest had to do it next year. The Bible says Jesus was
stricken once and for all on this great final day of
atonement where He took the blood, His blood before the
presence of God and offered it for the sins of all mankind.
What was he wearing when He did that?
Our great high priest, He was wearing the garment of his
priesthood, a symbol of his connection to God and a symbol
of total purity, New Testament fulfillment.
OK, so the soldiers, they didn't tear the garment, but instead
they cast lots for it. Why?
Psalm 22 and 18 fulfills Old Testament prophecy.
They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they
cast lots. Now last time we showed when
Jesus was dying and he was pretty busy, don't you think He
was bearing the sins of the world?
It would be a time when Jesus would do so without the presence
of God. The face of God was turned and
all we know for sure about that statement, although there's much
speculation about God can't look on sand.
All that. All I know for sure is it was
something Jesus had to do alone. It was something that Jesus had
to do without the aid of his Father.
And so whether it's literal or symbolic, the face of God was
turned. Don't you think the Lord was
pretty busy? I think he was pretty busy
bearing the sins of the world and doing it all alone.
And like that song we just sung, I'm so thankful and so grateful,
as I paraphrase, that he didn't call down the angels to put a
stop to the whole mess. And he could have done it.
I'm grateful that he did not do that.
And yet, as Chris, Chris taught recently about those thieves
that hung on the side of Jesus, one on each side, Jesus still,
as we talked about last time, took the time to take into his
arms a dying thief and care for a dying thief, somebody he did
not even know. You know what happens next.
He cares for somebody he did know and love, and that was his
mother. I wanted to research this a
little bit so I didn't talk out of school.
It's something that I have always thought, and so I wanted
to find out some research scientifically that was done,
whatever that means. We live in a Google age.
I googled it, but I want to make sure that I wasn't just talking
out of school. So I'm going to say something
here and I'm going to clarify my statement.
So afterwards nobody has to question me and say I love all
my kids the same. Yeah, yeah, I know you do.
I love my kids all equally too. Mothers love their children,
boys and girls, the same. But the study that I actually
looked at is there's a higher level of protection between a
mother and a son than there is necessarily say she loved more
than a mother and a daughter. There's a level of perfection
protection, a higher level of protection.
Same is true with a father and a daughter.
There's a level of protection that is higher.
These are studies that were done.
See what I got to thinking about.
I got to thinking about when I played football as a
quarterback. Now, I was a little quarterback.
I was 5 foot nine, 170 lbs. I was a little quarterback.
So when I took hits, I really took hits from big guys.
When I went used to go to these quarterback receiver camps,
coaches would say, you know what, when a quarterback goes
back to pass, all the eyes in the stadium are on the
quarterback. Well, he has the ball and the
rush is coming in. He's about to get blasted,
right? And everybody's staring at the
quarterback while he's got the ball until it leaves his hand,
and every eye in the stadium turns to the receiver or where
the ball is going. Except two eyes.
Yeah, that's mama's eyes. Make sure they're her little boy
gets up and OK, There's a level of protection that's increased
between a mother and a son, and that's normal.
She feels the blows too. Now with that being said, I want
you to picture Jesus's mother, Mary at the foot of the cross,
who her son had nails driven into his hands and into his
feet. A crown of thorns that was
pressed down, pressed down on his head, the blood running down
his neck and mingling with the blood on his back from the
scourging, the ribbons of his flesh laid bare.
He's in agony and pain. And there was his mother.
She felt the blows too. And the Son, Jesus knew that
because guess what, there else there is.
There's times when us, we as sons get, we're sometimes in our
life, we go through periods of where we're little rotten.
But I'm going to tell you something.
There's one thing that's true, and that is a son will protect
his mother. Absolutely.
And Jesus looks down from the cross and sees his mother.
The level of protection kicks in and the Bible says beginning in
verse 26, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple
whom he loves standing by, he said to his mother, will and
behold your son. Then he said to the disciple,
Behold, your mother. That was John, by the way.
And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
OK, Jesus took care of a dying thief.
He didn't know. Jesus took care while he was
dying for the sins of the world. He took care of one that he
didn't know and love, and that was his mother.
But now we go to Matthew's account in this narrative in
Matthew 27 and 45. Notice please.
Now from the 6th hour until the 9th hour, there was darkness
over all the land. Notice Jesus was crucified.
The Bible says the third hour of the day, or 9:00 AM.
Three hours later, beginning at noon all the way to 3:00 PM,
before Jesus gave up the Spirit and before Jesus died, OK, there
was darkness over all the land. And I've heard people try to
explain this and say there was an eclipse.
No, there wasn't. This was not an eclipse during
the time of day when there should have been the greatest
amount of sunlight and the brightest of all, noon to three,
there was darkness over all the land.
You know, concerning this idea that it couldn't be an eclipse.
This happened at the time of the Passover.
The Passover falls in the middle of the month.
The month always begins with a new moon.
In fact, Mr. Mcgarvey and brought us said that the moon
would have been full. So at this particular time the
moon would have been full. It could not have been an
eclipse. I like what one man said though.
For three hours, from noon to three O clock, the heavens wept.
I love that. For three hours, when Jesus was
on the cross in support of Jesus, the heavens wept and
there was darkness over all the land.
Then what happens at the 9th hour or 3:00 and about the 9th
hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, la
Master Bakhtani. That is to say, my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? These are very familiar
messianic words that come from the Old Testament.
They come from Psalm 22. They're spoken, Please get this
in Aramaic. Why is that significant?
It was the common language of the day, meaning if anyone
overheard the words of Jesus when he spoke those Aramaic
words, they should have known exactly what he meant and what
he said. Even though later some say, oh,
he's calling for Elijah, he should have known exactly what
he meant. This is referring to, by the
way, to Psalm 22 and verse one. Please get this.
The Psalm that Jesus quotes from is more than a cry.
It's not just a cry of a forsaken son.
Let's notice the Old Testament passage and the context.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my
groaning, This is more than a cry of a desperate forsaken son
in careful look at the context of the passage.
And here I go again. You know me about context.
We go to the context of this Psalm, 22nd Psalm.
And while it does obviously reflect A passionate expression
of grief, that's true. Though it does express anguish,
that's true. It is also an affirmation of
trust and an anticipated deliverance.
Why Psalm 22, beginning in verse 20.
Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of of the
wild oxen. You have answered me.
I will declare Your name to my brethren in the midst of the
assembly. I will praise you.
So in other words, from a prophetic perspective, the
Lord's Prayer here. And by the way, if you want to
know what the Lord's Prayer is, it's got to be a prayer.
Jesus prayed, not an example that he gave for other people to
do so. And so this is one of the Lord's
Prayer, just like in John 17, that was the Lord's Prayer when
he actually prayed, this was a prayer too.
And his prayer is not one of hopelessness.
Please get that. It's a request for mercy and a
request for deliverance. In other words, Jesus is
basically saying this, having bore the sins of the world,
having hung on the cross for six hours, having shed his blood,
having gone through the shame of the cross, having gone through
the pain of the cross, having gone through everything he went
through, having fulfilled every single prophecy.
The Lord in these words is saying, can it be done now?
Is it not time for your deliverance?
Is it not time for it to be over?
Have I not suffered long enough? And do you know, as soon as the
Lord said that, as soon as he said that, it's almost like
metaphorically, the God's face turns back and took Jesus's
spirit into his hands and lovingly cradled him in his
death. But some of them just said
always calling for Elijah. You know, I kind of thought
about this other passage. Remember when the Bible says
that God spoke in the Gospels from heaven and some said it
thundered? In other words, they didn't get
it. I think that's really the
picture of a lot of people sometimes.
Well, the word of God can be totally clear on a matter and
yet in their mind it just thundered.
It was very clear in Aramaic the words of Jesus, and yet some
misunderstood or misinterpreted and said he's calling for Elijah
in verse 48 as we drop down in Matthew 27.
Then immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it
with sour wine and put it on a Reed and offered it for him to
drink. OK, why did they do that?
Well, first of all, I didn't know this till I studied it this
week. But I didn't know that it was
very common when a criminal was hanging on the cross, for
example, because for the purpose of this, when a person would be
on the cross, they would be on the cross for so long, sometimes
hours, sometimes days, they would suffer extreme and
excruciating thirst. So it was very common for
someone to come with sour wine or vinegar and give them that to
drink as an act of kindness and even an act of mercy.
That Barnes said it this way. Wine vinegar is the preferred
drink of common soldiers because it quenches the first better
than water. I didn't know that.
So hey, learned a little something.
Didn't know that. But in the case of Jesus, it
wasn't for mercy and it was not because they felt sorry for him.
It was because of mockery, according to Luke's account.
They did it in mockery. They took a custom that was done
in kindness and they used it in mockery.
It's kind of like when Judas betrayed Jesus.
He took a common way of connecting to someone by way of
love, and that is giving them a kiss, and he used that in
mockery and in and in treachery and as a traitor.
Luke's account says this. The soldiers also mocked him
coming and offering him sour wine and saying if you are the
king of the Jews, save yourself. So it was done to Jesus in
mockery. Now, when you look at John's
gospel, it says they put it on a Reed.
They put a sponge on a Reed, they dipped it and they put it
to his mouth. Now maybe you're thinking, wait
a minute, didn't I read somewhere where it says they put
it to his mouth and he would not drink it?
Here the implication is in this passage, at the end of his
crucifixion, he did drink it. He did take it.
What are we talking about? We're talking about also earlier
on in this very narrative in Matthew chapter 27 and 34.
Notice they gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink, but
when he had tasted it, he would not drink.
That's earlier on in the narrative, so at the beginning
of the crucifixion. They gave him a drink that was
mingled with a mind altering sedative called gall, and he
would not drink it. Do you see the whole thing
there? Jesus took it all.
Jesus bore it all with no help, with no gall, with no sedative,
with nothing to ease his mind or ear, ease his physical pain.
He took it all. But then later on over here,
there was a benign drink, you might call it, you might talk,
talk about a drink here with nothing in it but just a sour
wine. And he did drink it.
Why was that? I think he drank it.
Luke 23, by the way, if you've ever been, I mean, so parched
and so thirsty and your throat is so dry.
I know about that from from radiation and what it did in my
throat, man, I know what that's like.
That's why I got to have water nearby.
OK, I know what that's like. It it gets to the point where
it's impossible to speak. And if Jesus hanging on the
cross was parched to that point, he needed something in order to
say what in Luke's account. Father, into your hands I
commend my spirit. Or to yell out it is finished,
not only between him and God, but for everybody there to hear
it. It is finished.
Some translations say it is accomplished, letting everybody
know that what he did was God's accomplished plan and not just
their hatred in crucifying Him. So what did He do?
He took the vinegar to sour wine and that's why, by the way, to
fulfill one final prophecy. Jesus knew all those prophecies
were already fulfilled. He knew there was 1.
So he said I thirst. And when He did that, they
brought the sour wine. You know why He did that?
He was totally in control and He knew that was one more prophecy
that had to be fulfilled and then that was it.
Then we go to Matthew 27 again and we drop down to verse 50 and
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and he yielded up
his spirit. Here's the implication that
Jesus in his final voluntary act, turns his spirit over to
God. Do you know it's always phrased,
He yielded up his spirit. I think the King James says he
gave up the ghost. He yielded up His Spirit.
You know, this fits what the Bible talks about concerning
that John 10 and 18, Jesus said no one takes it from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it again. This command I have received
from my Father. Now I got to make a clarifying
point here. It's unclear as to whether John
chapter 10 and verse 18, Jesus is talking about the entire
Passion event going to the cross.
Like for example, when they came to take him in the Garden of
Gethsemane and they bound him, He didn't go dragging, kicking
and screaming. He led.
He was led, He went willingly. So whether or not Jesus is
talking about that in the entire process or if he's talking about
the very last breath that he takes is unclear.
What we do know for sure is this, Jesus is letting everybody
know I'm in control, My Father's in control.
I'm no man's victim and the enemies that are before me.
God is just using the enemies, the wrath of men to praise Him
and carry out His will. And that's really the point.
That's all we really know for sure.
OK, Now going to John's account for the cause of death, in 2011,
I wrote a sermon that you've all heard called The Burial of Jesus
Christ, 2011. And the reason that I wrote that
sermon, I remember I stood right here.
It was the first sermon I preached after cancer
treatments. Never forget that.
And I remember that I made the statement that the reason I
wrote that sermon is I was driving down the road and I was
listening to the radio and there was a religious program on there
and there's a preacher fielding questions from people that would
call in. And one guy calls in.
He says, what was the actual cause of death of Jesus on the
cross? And the guy spoke up
immediately, the preacher. Oh, it was suffocation and I'm
yelling at the radio. No, it wasn't.
And we know that that's not why.
And the reason that that preacher said that is because
customarily the cause of death to crucifixion was suffocation.
And you all know that You're hanging there like your
diaphragm drops. Go to a pull up bar and hang.
You can't breathe, so when you pull yourself up, you get a
breath. That's what happened.
So people would do that for hours, even days, up and down,
up and down. Finally, they're not able to do
that. They would succumb to that and
they would die of suffocation. They would actually out of their
weakness, they would die, right, but not Jesus.
I'm going to get to the actual cause in a moment, but going
back to John 19, right after the Bible says that Jesus bowed his
head, which was a posture, a roof of pillow in the head.
That's what the word means. He gave up his spirit.
OK, John 19 then in verse 31. Notice therefore, because it was
the preparation day, that the body should not remain in the
cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day.
The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that
they might be taken away. All right.
The day of preparation is the word Parischua, and it means the
day before the Sabbath. That's what it means.
And because it was the day of preparation or the day before
the Sabbath, they don't want them hanging on the cross.
But it wasn't just an ordinary Sabbath.
It was called a high day or a high Sabbath, which is a
Passover Sabbath. The religious leaders don't want
these bodies hanging there in eyesight just outside the city,
looking at the north side of the temple, and all of a sudden here
they are hanging on the cross on this Passover Sabbath.
Why did they say that? They were referring back to the
Old Testament, to the book of Deuteronomy.
In Deuteronomy chapter 21, beginning in verse 22, if a man
has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death,
and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight
on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day.
So that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is
giving you as an inheritance. For he who is hanged is a cursed
of God. Now so because of that, the Jews
asked Pilate that their legs might be broken.
They broke the legs to expedite death.
They came to the first thief and they broke his legs.
They went to the second thief and they broke his legs.
But when they came to Jesus, they didn't break His legs.
In fact, in verse 33 it says this.
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs. This fulfilled prophecy.
Psalm 34 and verse 20. He guards all his bones and not
one of them is broken. Verse 34, John 19 But one of the
soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and
water came out. So picture this please.
What they would do is the soldiers would take a large
wooden mallet. I kind of pictured like a wooden
sledgehammer, large wooden mallet, and they would go and
they would break the legs. The word break actually means to
disintegrate. Terrible thing, I know, very
graphic. But they would beat the bones
until they were disintegrated in expediting death.
But then they came to Jesus and they didn't break his legs
because he was already dead. So in their mind there was no
need to expedite death. He was already dead.
But why did they take the spear and thrust the spear in his
side, and from it flowed blood and water?
That was prophecy fulfilled. Now the piercing of the side was
also very common. They would customarily break the
legs, and then they would take a spear and they would thrust it
into the side, and they called that the Deathstroke.
Now somebody might ask, well, if they were going to take the
Deathstroke or the spear and thrust it into the side of the
victim to expedite death, why would they break the legs?
A Roman historian wrote this because death by crucifixion
took so long, so many hours, even days.
Excruciating pain. If all they did was took the
spear and thrust it into the side of the victim as a
Deathstroke, it would have been an act of mercy.
And once again, nothing about crucifixion was merciful at all.
So this Roman historian said they would break the legs to
give the person all the pain all at once.
And then came the Deathstroke, piercing the side.
Amazing though. Look at God's handiwork here.
They didn't break Jesus legs because he was already dead, but
they did come with a death stroke.
Even though he was they knew he was already dead.
Why did they do that? John 19 and 37 and again another
scripture says they shall look on him whom they had pierced.
This is a direct quote from Zechariah chapter 12 and verse
10. Now notice, and immediately when
they did that, blood and water came out.
Now let me just notice with you, by the way, that the cause of
death was not suffocation. Psalm 69 and 20, reproach has
broken my heart. That's the cause of death.
Reproach has broken my heart and I am full of heaviness.
I look for someone to take pity, but there was none and for
comforters, but I found none. How do we know that's talking
about Jesus with a broken heart? Because of the very next verse
in verse 21. They also gave me gall for my
food sound premier and for my first they gave me vinegar to
drink. So the cause of death was a
broken heart. Again, back in 2011 when I wrote
that sermon, I gave this little nugget that I read too.
A medical doctor says while it's very rare, but under extreme
intense pressure and trauma, the heart, which is a muscle, could
in fact rupture and therefore spill its blood into the
pericardium with Olympic serum and create the blood that flowed
out of the side of Jesus Christ. Wow, I can't even imagine.
I've had some stuff. I can't even imagine being in
that kind of anguish and agony. Notice what else?
Going back to Matthew's account, what else happened and why is it
significant? Then behold, the veil of the
temple was torn from top to bottom, and the earthquaked and
the rocks were split. You know, the significance of
these events is almost beyond description.
Amazing. As long as the veil of the
temple remains, OK, as long as it remains intact, it symbolizes
A separation between God and man.
I don't know why. You know, when the apostle Paul
said if you're justified by the law, meaning the law of Moses,
the old law of Moses, you are fallen from grace.
If you're guilty of any aspect of the old law of Moses, you're
guilty of the whole law. I don't know why anybody would
want to resurrect an invalid law.
Under the old law of Moses, where the veil existed, it
existed intact, and it also represented A separation from
man. When I say man, I'm talking
about common men, the common priest.
Guess who that is today? That's me and you.
As long as the veil remains intact, man has no direct access
to God. But when Jesus was crucified,
the veil was rent in two. The King, James says, was rent
in twain. It was torn from top to bottom,
not from bottom to top, from top to bottom.
Notice the veil both in the Tabernacle and later on in the
temple, was the barrier between the Holy Place and the Most Holy
Place. Only the High Priest could go
one time a year through that veil to the presence of God with
the blood sacrifice of an imperfect animal.
You see the symbolism here. The perfect High Priest now dies
on the cross. The veil is torn from top to
bottom and now you got the common folk.
You got the common priest, which is a picture of Christians
today. And we have direct access to our
God. Wow.
Because Jesus one time came to bury the sacrifice of his own
blood once and for all when the veil was ripped apart, exposing
the Holy of Holies. The symbolism is clear.
We now have access to God through the precious blood of
Jesus. Hebrews 9, beginning in verse
11. But Christ came as high priest
of good things to come with a greater and more perfect
Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of His
creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His
own blood. He entered the Most Holy place
once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption for
the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer.
Sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of
the flesh. How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, cleanse your conscience from good works to
serve the living God. And now get this.
I love this part. Let us therefore come boldly to
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. You know, Jewish tradition
suggests that the Temple veil was composed of two exceedingly
heavy draperies. Fowler said it this way.
The veil was elaborately woven and was 60 feet long and 30 feet
wide. For it to be ripped in two from
top to bottom is nothing short, is nothing shy of an awesome
miracle of God. And I love the symbolism of
exactly what it meant when it did.
In other words, as one man said, in one mighty miraculous act,
God proves that the physical temple is obsolete.
The Old Testament law is abolished, the Ark of the
Covenant, you remember, had been gone for centuries, and the
glory of God no longer dwells between the cherubim in the Holy
of Holies. OK, So what exists on this day
was the Temple, the Holy place, the most Holy place, and its
veil is simply a facade of what it once meant.
But God makes it clear. Physical Israel, with all its
corruption, is an empty room with a torn curtain.
Israel no longer is God's chosen nation.
A new era is dawned, has dawned. One scholar put it this way,
God's Shekinah, which is an English transliteration of a
Hebrew word meaning dwelling or settling, denoting the presence
of God. OK will no longer.
In other words, the presence of God and the glory of God will no
longer exist in a dark room, but will once again be with His
people and in their lives. Just like in the Garden of Eden.
God had His people and He was in their life.
The old Law of Moses was a schoolmaster to bring man to
Christ. God dwelt with, dealt with the
nation of Israel. He dealt with the people and
nation with all of its rules and all the things they had to do
under the law of Moses. Jesus dies on the cross, nails
it, all of the cross. And guess what, when that bill
was rent and twain, it shows that God no longer dwells in a
dark room. He's with his people.
He's in your heart. That's why when Jesus says the
Kingdom, get this please. The Kingdom of God is within
you. Who's you baptized?
Believers, Christians. Followers.
Disciples. Now, the Lord's death occurred
about 3:00 PM. You know who was in the temple
at that time? Temple worshippers.
Who were the temple worshippers? Only the common priest, I don't
know how many were in there, but the Bible says under the old law
of Moses, the priest went into the holy place, which is a
picture of the church. The priest went into the holy
place. Priest did accomplishing the
service of God. They did it in shift work.
I don't know how many were there, but when this great event
happened and the veil was torn into, the priests that were
there were the only ones that could witness that event.
But Can you imagine how the story must have spread?
I mean, for the first time, the common priest is looking into
the Holy of Holies, signifying where the place of God is.
And I just wonder, I just wonder if some of those priests were
some of the ones that were obedient.
In the book of Acts and came to Jesus.
I don't know. Look in Acts 6:00 and 7:00.
Then the word of God spread and the number of disciples
multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great number of priests
were obedient to the faith. Just maybe some of those priests
were some of the ones that were there that day.
Who knows what else happened, Matthew 2752 and 53 and the
graves were open and many bodies of the Saints who had fallen
asleep were raised. Notice, first of all, we have to
get the first sentence here at the time of his death.
When? When the earthquake and the
rocks were split. When did that happen?
At the same time, I'm making a point here.
At the same time, the veil was torn in two from top to bottom.
Same time. When did that happen?
When Jesus died at his death, right?
So over here at his death, the graves were open and many bodies
of the Saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
When at his death. This is where people get a
little confused because of the next sentence and coming out of
the graves after his resurrection.
So people say, well, it happened when he was resurrected from the
dead. It didn't happen when he was
crucified. Not so fast.
Lenski gives a little bit of a explanation to that.
Lenski says this. This phrase modifies only their
appearance in Jerusalem. When?
After the resurrection. OK, the act happened.
They were raised when the earth did quake and the rocks were
ripped. And picture this, it wasn't like
graves of we got today at a cemetery.
They had stones that covered the mouth of those tombs.
They were split and they rose from the dead.
But they were seen in Jerusalem after his resurrection.
So that's the modification there.
So Lenski says, thus making their resurrections occurring on
Friday evening preparation when Jesus was crucified at the time
of his death. OK, what else?
Let's he also said a couple more things.
I'm going to put it up here we go.
Already the death of Jesus brought resurrection to these
Saints. So we're seeing the significance
of it. Hence the account of this
occurrence properly connected with the death of Jesus.
And then finally he said this as what is the significance of it?
The great importance of this resurrection of these bodies
coming out of the grave of the Saints for us is the fact that
the resurrection is not merely a future event.
It is already begun. In the case of these Saints, not
only Jesus is raised from the dead and advanced number of the
Saints have been risen with him. This is an assurance that we
also shall rise. OK, here's the difference.
These people that were resurrected in Jerusalem that
had to die again, OK, when Jesus died, was buried and rose again,
he became the first fruits of them that slept.
When that happened, guess what? Great stuff.
When we die and we're buried in the Bible says it appears once,
once for man to die and then the judgement or the resurrection.
Jesus was the first fruits. He's the first one to die, be
resurrected, never to die again. Guess what's going to happen for
us because of that, children of God, we're going to die, be
raised, never to die again. This was a symbol when that
happened. It was a symbol that we will
have a resurrection finally, and I'm wrapping up now in verse 54,
when the centurion, and when the centurion and those with him who
were regarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that
had happened, they feared greatly saying truly this was
the Son of God. Can you imagine all of the
executions that the centurion must have witnessed in his life
in charge of 100 soldiers? How many he would have seen that
were different than this one? I read that people actually were
screaming to the all the way to the end, uttering profanities
and vile things of hatred and bitterness.
Not this man, not the one on the Middle cross.
The centurion saw it all. He witnessed it all, you see.
Here was the man who begs his father to forgive his
executioners and says, Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. Here was the man whom heaven had
blanketed with the dignity of darkness for three hours.
Here was the man who entrusted his mother to his closest
disciple before he died. Here was the man who blesses one
of the thieves hanging by his side and says, today you will be
with me in paradise. Here was the man whose final
words are to commit his spirit to God.
Don't you see the point? Here is the man who is not just
a man, he's the Son of God. And the centurion simply said,
truly, this was the Son of God. Who was this man?
I don't know, but Lenski says tradition says this Gentile
centurion is named Longinus and comes to faith beneath the dead
Savior's cross. Truly, this was the Son of God.
That's it. That's the crucifixion.
Those are the events surrounding the crucifixion and the
significance of them over the last two lessons.
Next, give me two weeks When it's my turn again, we're going
to talk about after he was buried, after he spent three
days in the heart of the earth. He's risen and I'm so thankful
that he's risen because the Bible says if he ain't risen, we
are of all men most miserable because there is no
resurrection. This is it, but there is.
Stay tuned in two weeks. Are you here today and you're
not a Christian? We never preach from the Word of
God without extending an invitation to somebody that
might be subject to the gospel call.
The steps to become a child of God are very simple.
You got to hear the Word of God. Romans 10/17 So faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Upon hearing the word of God, it needs to produce something.
It's got to produce faith. You got to believe with all your
heart. Hebrews 11 and 6.
Without faith it's impossible to please Him, for He comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those
who derigently seek Him. Then you got a choice to make.
I got to change. I got to repent of my sins.
Acts 1730. Truly these times of ignorance
got overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
Then you have to be willing to make the greatest confession you
could ever make, the greatest words you will ever utter, and
that is to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
Acts 837 Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart,
you may. And he answered and said, I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Upon both steps you're a fit candidate to go down to the
point of salvation, which is to be baptized for the remission of
your sins. Mark 1616.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does
not believe will be condemned. Is it necessary?
Does it save us first? Peter 321, the light figure.
We're in the even baptism death also now save us, not the
putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If you've never taken those steps of obedience, we would
love to assist you in it today. You get the blood of Christ,
your sins are washed away. You become a child of God.
Wow, maybe you've taken those steps, but you've drifted away.
Just make it right, come back, repent of those things, confess
those things. We'll pray with you and for you
and God will forgive and restore.
If you want to be to class, come forward while we stand and while
we.