Matthew 27:1-50 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational we call this a textual community let's rejoice and learn God's Word in an interactive and enjoyable new way so let's pray father we pray the prayer that the Apostle Paul said we should we present our bodies before you as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to you which is our reasonable service or our spiritual act of worship we need wisdom we need insight and we pray father that as we cover familiar ground the crucifixion of Christ that our hearts would be once again stirred in Thanksgiving that you gave your only Son to die in our place so that we might be your sons and daughters and spend eternity in heaven with you we couldn't do it unless Jesus would have decided to come to this earth at your bequest in cooperation with the plan of the Godhead father son and spirit to give himself for us so we thank you and we present ourselves to you for your will to be done in Jesus name Amen I think if you were to take a poll and ask people the meaning of the Cross you would get some typical answers probably most people would say the cross is the symbol of Christianity as opposed to the Star of David or other icons or symbols of world religions that's the symbol they would say of the Christian religion others who know their history perhaps a bit better would say well yes that's true but I see the crosses historically simply a means of Roman justice it's how they dealt with people who committed capital crimes and needed in their view to be dealt with as criminals both those answers would be insufficient the real meaning behind the cross is that it is the ultimate demonstration of the love of God Paul said in Romans chapter 5 God demonstrated his love for us in this while we were still sinners Christ died for us Paul the Apostle said that to him in first Corinthians it was the focus of his entire life he said that I have determined to know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified he identified with Jesus so much so that in Galatians Paul writes I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live William Barkley said something very interesting I'm trying to remember the quote he said the cross is the proof that there is no length to which God won't go to win the hearts of men it shows how far God will go to bring us to him however for the Jews living 2,000 years ago in Israel it was unexpected across the Messiah on a cross no way unthinkable untenable because you remember the Jewish nation expected a political Messiah one who would come in and conquer the Romans overthrow the enemies set up Israel in Jerusalem for a theocratic Kingdom so that when John the Baptist came and he said repent for the kingdom of God is at hand that got people's attention at hand is he announcing that that kingdom is about to start then just a few weeks later Jesus came on the scene same message he said the kingdom of God is at hand and the hopes of people began to rise so that when Christ started going from place to place and healing people performing miracles people recognize this can be none other than the promised Messiah that we're told that in Galilee in John chapter 6 they sought to take Jesus by force and make him a king and then finally just a few days before the event were reading about here tonight when Jesus crested the Mount of Olives and sat on that donkey fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah and started marching into Jerusalem on that donkey and the crowd said Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord the king of Israel the crowd went nuts they thought this is it it reached fever pitch the expectation that Jesus would be the Messiah so they did not expect a crucifixion at all even the disciples did not but they would soon understand they would be corrected their thinking was amiss because Jesus first before he will become King and he will he must first be the Savior that's what the angel predicted that's what the Angels told Mary and Joseph before his birth and you will call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sin in other words first he must deal with sin that's what the cross is all about then eventually he will come and he will reign so chapter 27 begins when morning came all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death now the reason they had to plot to put him to death is because they couldn't put him to death on their own the Romans had taken away their right of capital punishment years before they didn't want anyone putting down the gabble as judge executing a person unless they the roman government the government now in charge of the world at that time the known world this part of the world they were the only ones that had that right there's something else going on behind the scenes they want Jesus killed so they bring Jesus to Rome for a trial verse one signifies the third trial Jesus is going through the night before he went through a trial before Anna's the high priests the father-in-law of Caiaphas number two before Caiaphas then the next morning early in the morning verse 1 chapter 27 the third trial before the whole court the Jewish Sanhedrin but even though they deemed him worthy of death they couldn't execute him so the Romans must have a trial they bring him there before Pontius Pilate the procurator the governor the Roman prefect to Tiberius Caesar there's something interesting though I just want to throw out even though the Jews had no right of capital punishment do you remember when they brought that woman who was caught in adultery before Jesus and they said the law commands that we stone her and they had rocks in their hands ready to execute death by stoning then fast-forward to the book of Acts when Stephen who stood before that same Sanhedrin was executed and they stoned him to death so even though the Romans reserved the right of capital punishment evidently the Jews would sort of sneak one in here and there and face the consequences but they would still go out and kill people by stoning even though it was forbidden they did it with Stephen they tried to do it with the woman the reason however that they're going before the government unwittingly unbeknownst to them is because the Bible predicted that Jesus would die by crucifixion not by stoning curse it is everyone who hangs on the tree the Bible says and Jesus became a curse for us the Bible predicts that it would be death not by stoning but by the cross so all of this the writers of the Gospels will often show was pre-arranged by God and so they bring him before Pilate to put him to death and when they bound him they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor now I'm going to tell you a little bit about punches pilot as we go through our study tonight but he was the governor the procurator of that southern province of Judea his headquarters was not in Jerusalem his headquarters was on the ocean he was as in that sense a smart man because if you've ever been to says areia by the sea where the Roman procurator has his hat his palace you look at that Mediterranean and there's even waves out there I mean this guy just had it made beautiful ocean view that's where they kept the center of power for the province of Judea however because the Jews made pilgrimages three times a year to Jerusalem for Passover here Pentecost and Tabernacles because there would be so many people that would gather in the city of Jerusalem millions of them and that could mean that riots could develop the governor punches pilot and at least 600 of his men an entire cohort would go and stationed themselves during the festival's in Jerusalem and there is a section in the Temple Mount area I could show it to you today if you've been to Israel you have been there the remains of what is called the Antonia fortress or the ancient Roman praetorium where punches Pilate had his headquarters and where people were judged for capital crimes Jesus included in fact the very pavement is still intact today the pavement that Jesus stood on to be judged by Pontius Pilate you can stand on it to this day so about six o'clock in the morning Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate now you don't have to turn to it just keep reading but I'm flipping now over to Luke chapter 23 the parallel account it says this the whole multitude of them arose and led him to Pilate right it's the same scene but listen and they began to accuse him saying we found this fellow perverting the nation there's three charges charge number one perverting the nation a better translation would be subverting the nation number two forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar and number three saying that he himself is Christ a king were those charges true or were they false well look at the first charge number one he's subverting the nation was that true or false that was false because he came and he said don't think that I've come to destroy the law or the prophets which is what binds your nation the Jews together I've come to fulfill it second charge he's telling us not to pay taxes true or false false Jesus had a coin and he said whose inscription is on this they said Caesar Jesus says great render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar which would mean tax money and render to God the things that are gods so out of the three charges two of them are false the third one however was true he says that he is a king and he did say that he was a king he said it to punch his pilot he said it to the Sanhedrin he claimed to be a king but he wasn't the kind of king that they thought he wasn't a political reactionary he wasn't setting up a immediate theocratic Kingdom on earth at that time it was a spiritual Kingdom where people would invite Jesus the Messiah to be the king of their heart rule internally a rule of love a rule filled with hope but eventually he would set up his kingdom on the earth he was indeed a king so verse 3 now chapter 27 then Judas his betrayer seeing that he had been condemned was remorseful and brought back thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders saying I have sinned by betraying innocent blood and they said what is that to us you see to it I find this absolutely fascinating that Jesus after being observed by Judas all of this time and Judas did betray Jesus but now Judas is remorseful and he says I betrayed innocent blood don't you think that if Jesus had been a hypocrite in any area I mean let's just say he like you know got angry a lot and kicked dogs you know when he was traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem anything at all that Judas would have noticed living so closely to him any hypocracy at all any shadow at all in him and would have justified what he did in betraying Jesus he betrayed Jesus we discussed some of the reasons for that in the past but here he was remorseful he realized he's innocent he didn't do anything wrong and then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and he departed and he went and he hanged himself but the chief priests took the silver pieces and said it is not lawful to put them into the Treasury because they are the price of blood and they consulted together and brought with them the and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in therefore that field has been called the field of blood to this day now we have a discrepancy now we have a contradiction so-called supposed contradiction at least some people will say that here it says Judas went out and hung himself in Acts chapter 1 Peter addressing his brother said well we know what happened to Judas Judas bought that field and then he said this falling headlong falling headlong he burst in the middle and all of his entrails gushed out that is he fell down he broke his gut open and all of his intestines poured out so some people will read these two things and go oh we have a contradiction Matthew says he hung himself Peter in Acts chapter 1 says he fell down and he busted a gut and as guts poured out they both can't be right there's a contradiction really do you think Peter would be that stupid do you think Matthew and these early people who knew each other would be that idiot to have such an apparent contradiction no contradiction at all each is telling a piece of the story here's the full story put it all together Judas buys the field it's on a precipice if you go to Jerusalem today you can see the area where the Valley of Hinnom and the Kidron Valley meet in an area known as a called amother field of blood known as the ancient potter's field where they would dump pottery in ancient times worthless field Judas in remorse tied a rope around his neck and tied a rope around the tree and then he jumped and the weight of his body either broke the rope or broke the branch he fell down and then busted a gun no discrepancy no contradiction complimentary rather to each other and telling the full story now interesting thing about Judas he died by hanging on a tree Kerr said the law says is everyone who hangs on a tree in Deuteronomy chapter 19 you can just write it down and look at it later there's an interesting little phrase that says if a malicious witness comes forth and accuses somebody wrongfully and the judges discover it was a false witness that the guy who came forth was lying that you shall do to him what he sought to do to the innocent victim Judas sold Jesus to be crucified death on a tree Judas dies by hanging on a tree sort of a divine poetic justice even though tragic at the same time something else did you know that if you were to look at the list of the Apostles in the New Testament Peter is always listed first when the apostles are listed in Judah has always listed last but I think there's sort of an interesting corollary between Peter and Judas both of them were called the devil in caesarea philippi after a Peter said no no no Jesus you can't go to Jerusalem far be it from you Jesus said get behind me Satan you're thinking not as God but as a man but then Jesus also said of Judas Iscariot haven't I chosen twelve of you but one of you is a devil the second interesting corollary is that Jesus predicted both of them would fall that night Peter before the crows twice you're gonna deny me three times oh no never Peter said Jesus predicted he would Jesus also predicted that Judas would betray him when they said who is it who's the one that betrays you it's the one that dips his hand in the Sopwith me and Judas dipped at that moment the third interesting corollary is that Jesus tried to help them both with Peter after Peter denied Jesus the third time the Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus turned and looked at Peter and I don't know if you how you pictured it maybe you thought Jesus sort of looked at him like you rat you idiot you untrustworthy friend I don't believe he looked that way at all I think it was a compassionate loving look that kind of a look that Peter needed because it says Peter went out and he wept bitterly and I think it was that help that look from Jesus that kept Peter from committing suicide because he was overwhelmed with sorrow he went out like Judas and he wept bitterly I betrayed him it was wrong but he didn't he was restored he was repentant Judas on the other hand was also helped by Jesus because you remember in the garden when they came to arrest Jesus and Judas came and kissed him Jesus turned and looked at Judas and said friend why have you come he reached out to him friend friend how do you call him a friend he just betrayed you he was giving him a hand willing to help even at that moment Judas it's not too late you can turn you can repent but therein lies the big difference Peter repented Judas was just remorseful he was just sorry and sad and sorrowful the Bible says in Corinthians that godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation but the sorrow of this world produces death wasn't godly sorrow he was just sorry that had happened he was just sorry that he felt that he was sorry that he got in this situation but no real repentance therefore verse 8 that field has been called the field of blood to this day then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the Prophet saying and they took the thirty pieces of silver the value of him who was priced whom they have the children of Israel priced and gave them for the potter's field as the Lord directed me okay now we have another contradiction it would seem because Jeremiah the Prophet never announced that at all this is a direct quote out of Zechariah chapter 11 Zechariah not Jeremiah so the untrained reader would look through this ago there's another problem with the Bible it's a misquote okay so again just think um Matthew had a Jewish background he was the son of a Levite he was the son of a priest yes he became a tax collector but he knew the law really well and he knew the Scriptures really well do you think he was really that much of a dummy that he would purpose misquote saying Jeremiah when it was Zechariah so how do you how do you deal with the discrepancy simply this according to Talmudic tradition Jewish Talmud Jewish tradition the Old Covenant the Old Testament writings were divided into three by the Jews the law the prophets the writings or in Hebrew Torah Nevi'im kept you Bheem law prophets and writings the prophets were listed in the order in the Jewish Talmudic tradition as number one Jeremiah number to Ezekiel number three Isiah now in our Bible Isaiah is first and then Jeremiah Jeremiah in Jewish tradition was always first and often referred to when they wanted to refer to any prophet would just use under the first heading of the most prominent book in the Canon Jeremiah since he was first on the list because if you said the Prophet Jeremiah they didn't have Bibles like this they had Scrolls that would cover all of the prophets and you could say Jeremiah because he was first in the canonical list of prophets and you could be quoting any of a number of the prophets so that's how it is resolved I've seen a few other attempts but they don't work that really is the answer now Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him saying are you the King of the Jews jesus said to him it is as you say now all four Gospels record that punches Pilate asked Jesus this question and the way it is written in the Greek the original there's an emphasis on the word you you are you the King of the Jews now you can understand why Pilate would ask that question that way he's looking not at Roman regalia he's looking at a peasant he's looking at somebody dressed in simple clothes blood-stained from the Garden of Gethsemane beaten tired this isn't the frame of reference that punches pilot would have for a king for him Caesar is king and a kingdom is Rome and the Roman armies ruled by force are you the King of the Jews it's not what Pilate expected Jesus said to him it is as you say in other words yes that's right you said it I am a king not a political King John's Gospel said that he said to Pilate My Kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world my subjects would rise up and they would fight and then Pilate said ah so you say you are a king Jesus if you said it I am so he was not a political King he was a spiritual king that is you can ask him to rule and reign in your heart so that the kingdom of God can come to you in your life experience right here right now as you allow him to rule over you that by the way is what a Christian really is a Christian is somebody who is allowed God and his kingdom to take the place of me and my kingdom it's surrendering myself to an alien will not as I will but as you will that's what a believer is is not just somebody who goes to church and sing songs and says I feel really good when I go there it's somebody who was allowed kingship of Christ to take the place of his or her own desires so not a political king the spiritual king but make no mistake he will eventually be a political worldwide real ruling king Revelation chapter 11 the seventh angel sounds the seventh trumpet and the good news is broadcast throughout all of the earth the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he will rule forever and ever that will happen he will bring in a Millennial Kingdom in which he will rule and reign for a thousand years upon the earth so an interesting conversation with punches pilot and while he was being accused the chief priests and elders by the chief priests and elders he answered nothing and Pilate said to him do you hear how many things they testify against you but he answered him not one word so the governor marvelled greatly Thal Mazo is the greek word we would say Pilate was blown away he's been in many of these trials before and he was used to criminal saying please let me go I didn't do it they're wrong Jesus said nothing Isaiah the prophet said as a lamb before it's Shearer's is silent so he opened not his mouth now who was punches pilot he actually wasn't Roman at all let me give you his background Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of Judea given the post in 26 ad by Tiberius Caesar and he occupied that post for ten years he wasn't Roman he was Spanish he was born in Seville Spain he loved fighting he loved armies and when the Roman legions came to his area of the world he decided to join the Roman army and fight for Rome but how did he get a job like this well he married well he married a young lady by the name of Claudia proculus the granddaughter of Augustus Caesar though he got a good post he got a government job he was the governor the procurator of Judea the Bible portrays him as a weak man not a good leader very selfish self inclined one who is arrogant and that comes through in several passages now at the feast verse 15 the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished and at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas a notorious prisoner would be a murderer or an insurrectionist or a terrorist somebody really really bad because prisoners awaiting crucifixion a Roman citizen couldn't be crucified he was exempt it had to be somebody who was really really wicked and subversive in the Roman government sighs therefore when they had gathered together Pilate said to them whom do you want me to release to you Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ for he knew that they had handed him over because of envy okay now get this according to the church historian origin the name of Barabbas was Jesus Barabbas the word Barabbas means son of a father bar-abba in Hebrew bar-abba son of a father so his name was Yeshua or Jesus son of a father interesting said Origen that you have here Jesus son of a father and Jesus son of the Father and that is the option the crowd is asked to choose between do you want the notorious criminal Yeshua son of a father that is of human origin or do you want Jesus called the Christ Messiah son of the Father the only begotten Son of God and origin said that as always the choice people have to make between humankind or god man's choice for god's choice well we know what their choices you're familiar with the story while he was sitting on the judgment seat his wife remember this is the granddaughter now of Augustus Caesar sent to him saying have nothing to do with that just man for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him but the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus the governor answered and said to them which of the two do you want me to release to you they said Barabbas then Pilate said to them what then shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ they all said to him let him be crucified okay now just Tebow this scene for a moment just pause it and walk around the characters in the scene you've got the judge and you have the accused punches pilot and Jesus one who would willingly give up power that is Jesus Philippians chapter 2 he poured himself out and one who would grab a hold of power at all costs one who is all about a spiritual Kingdom one who is all about an earthly Kingdom of might and strength one who is the judge and one who is being judged but now keep looking at the scene because ask yourself this question who's really the judge and who is really the one on trial not Jesus it's Pilate because depending on what Pilate does with Jesus he will stand before the ultimate tribunal God the Father who sent Jesus and be judged for that choice and the question he asks mark it well is a question every human being must answer what then shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ what will you do with Jesus will you stand against the crowd and would you stand and give him honor or will you bow to the winds and the whims of the crowd that says get rid of him crucify him we're not into that kind of Jesus what will you do with Jesus who is called the Christ they all said let him be crucified and then the governor said why what evil has he done but they all cried out the more saying let him be crucified when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all but rather that a tumult was rising he took water washed his hands before the multitude saying I am innocent of the blood of this just person you see to it and all the people in ant's answered and said his blood be on us and our children and then he released Barabbas to them and when he had delivered Jesus when he had Jesus when he had scourge Jesus he delivered him to be crucified what did the crowd say the crowd said his blood be upon us and our children ooh big words so brave will take the blame his blood be on us and our children fast forward Acts chapter 5 Peter and the other apostles get put in prison for preaching the gospel an angel gets him out at night they go back into the temple and they proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ the chief priests hears about it gets all riled up brings the apostles before them and says what are you trying to do didn't we strictly forbid that you can't preach this Jesus anymore and then he said you're trying to bring his blood upon us and our children exactly it's what you called for it's what you demanded you said we'll take the blame from it for it and now in Acts they say what are you trying to blame us for it and so Peter said this same Jesus whom you crucified God has raised from the dead and Peter preached the gospel to him verse 26 shows us what they did first then he released Barabbas Yeshua Jesus son of a father and when he had scourge Jesus he delivered him to be crucified there were three different levels of being whipped or scourge de cording to the Romans and according to what crime you committed level number one FUS Tecate Oh FUS de gallo was if you committed a minor crime and they would rough you up a little bit verbally threatened you and let you go the second level was called flat gelato it was more of an intense beating with a whip reserved for tougher crimes the third was the most severe it was called the verbal and it was always associated with another form of punishment usually capital punishment in this case crucifixion it's where the victim would have his hands raised above his head in some case he would actually be raised up from the ground so he would be dangling his backs the skin of his back would be pressed tight because of that kind of pressure and there were two lictors or men with whips and a whip was a wooden handle with leather thongs attached and at the very end of the thongs the little leather strips was a piece of bone or a piece of metal or a piece of glass so that when the lictors whip went across the back of the victim it would actually stop grab into the skin and then the lictor would pull back and eviscerate or tear the skin to lictors in diagonal blows across the back so severe was this verb Adagio this flogging that many victims died and never went on to crucifixion they died simply from the scourging itself because these Roman soldiers hardened frustrated hating their position and post in Jerusalem at a Jewish festival day would take out all of their anxieties and frustrations on the victim according to one church historian Eusebius the skin was so lacerated in ribbon-like shreds that he said oftentimes the great vessels could be exposed and even the organs like the kidneys exposed to light exposed to sight that's what a scourging was a painful often ending in death kind of an experience and Jesus was then delivered after that to be crucified then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium that is that Antonia fortress in Jerusalem and gathered the whole garrison that six hundred men around him and they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him probably something that a soldier had twisted a crown of thorns put it on his head and a reed in his right hand and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying hail King of the Jews and they spat on him and took the reed and struck him on the head when they mocked him they took the robe off him put his own clothes on him and led him away to be crucified when a criminal was handed over to Roman soldiers for capital punishment crucifixion they would first often toy with the victim and they would play games one of the games was called the Kings game and the idea of the crowning of the thorns and the reed and the robe is all part of the Kings game if you come with us to Jerusalem I will take you to the pavement of the Antonia fortress where this took place and they fat made an interesting discovery several years ago on the original pavement they found itched in the pavement one of the carved markings for the Kings game in Jerusalem thought to be the game that was played with Jesus when the robe and the crown of thorns in the reed was placed upon him you can see it today another game was called hot hand and the hot hand is where they would blindfold the victim and so he would not be able to know where the hits were coming from and they would slug him in the face and they would say okay now you have to guess who hit you and if you could guess what soldier then they would be easy on you if you didn't guess which soldier hit you somebody else would hit you in another direction now when you can't see where the blows are coming from you can't move you just are cold cocked and it seemed they played that with Jesus as well and they let him away to be crucified verse 32 as they came out they found a man of Cyrene which is North Africa Libya Simon by name him they compelled to bear the cross and when they had come to the place called Golgotha that is to say the place of a skull they gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink but when he tasted it he would not drink then they crucified him and divided his garments casting Lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet Golgotha is the Hebrew name it means skull the Greek name would be cranny on or we would say crane e'en the Latin name was Cal very we get the name of our church Calvary from the Latin calvaria from the Greek cranny on from the Hebrew Golgotha the same thing it means the skull and that is because where Jesus was crucified looked like a skull we could show you today outside the Damascus gate of Jerusalem and we're showing you a picture the mountain that is part of Mount Moriah where Jesus was crucified and you can look across the street and you can see as plain as day there's an Arab bus station there today that sort of messes it up but right above that Arab bus station is this rock escarpment that looks like a skull it is believed that Jesus was crucified here not on top of the hill that's not where Romans crucified them I know all the songs say on a hill far away and there's three little cross on top of a hill didn't happen that way Romans always crucified on flat level ground in front of a hill typically on the side of a road so that people walking by the road would see right in front of their eyes right on at street level crucified victims see Rome wanted to send a message do not mess with the Roman government this could happen to you and sometimes they would crucify hundreds even thousands of victims along long roadsides and so Jesus was crucified at Golgotha at the place of the skull they divided his garments casting Lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots sitting down they kept watch over him there and they put up over his head the accusation written against him this is Jesus the King of the Jews then two robbers were crucified with him one on the right and the other on the left Romans did not invent crucifixion it was invented by the Persians years before the Persians the Carthaginians and the another group and I didn't come to my mind unfortunately practice crucifixion long before the Romans did but the Romans adopted it and used it as their principal means of capital punishment and here's why crucifixion delayed death for hours and usually for days so that maximum torture could be inflicted before a person would eventually die the condemned was often consigned to carry the upper part of the cross across sometimes was simply a vertical stake at other times it was in the shape of a tea it seems that Jesus had the what we call the traditional cross where the particular where the cross beam was placed a little bit lower than the top be vertical stake so that a sign could be affixed above it this is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews the particular cross being weighed about 75 to 100 pounds Jesus already sweating drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane already been beaten up already been scourge was extremely weakened without sleep loss of blood and he tried to carry this upper beam but he couldn't make it all the way and so Simon of Cyrene from North Africa Libya carried it the rest of the way crucifixion was so brutal that typically people die of asphyxiation they they are on the cross and they are there with spikes that would go through the radius and ulna not through the hand but through the lower part of the hand the wrists where there's a hook where two bones come together so that the weight of the body can be taken by the wrist and then a spike through the feet usually with the foot placed sideways through that heel bone the calcaneal bone and it was driven all the way into the wood and so the legs were off to the side and it was an unusual twisted position where the only way one could get air because the pectoralis muscles the pectoralis major would become paralyzed and the diaphragm would become paralyzed and the only way to get breath was to raise up on the spike through your heels to take you to breath and let it out and go down again and push up again and that is why roman soldiers just to relieve the tension would break the legs of the victims so they would die quickly they were going to do that with Jesus they found out he had died earlier than they expected and they broke the legs of the criminals that were on either side of him it says those who pass by verse 39 blaspheme him wagging their heads saying you who destroy the temple and build it in three days save yourself if you are the son of God come down from the cross likewise the chief priests also mocking with the scribes and the elders said he saved others interesting they admitted that they knew of his miracles they were undisputed they knew of his reputation he saved others himself he cannot save if he is the king of Israel let him now come down from the cross and we will believe in him now examine verse 42 a little more carefully himself he cannot save if he is the king of Israel let him come down now from the cross he saved others but he can't save himself if he were to save himself he couldn't save others if he did come down from the cross there would be no hope well if he comes down from the cross will believe in him because he didn't come down from the cross I believe in him he bore my sin my Jesus took the blows that I deserved God treated Jesus God the Father treated Jesus Christ like you and I deserve to be treated so that God could treat you and I like Jesus deserved to be treated that's the message of 2nd Corinthians 5:21 Paul said God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him he trusted in God let him deliver him now if he will have him for he said I am the son of God even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing now from the sixth hour that's 12:00 noon by ancient reckoning until the ninth hour that's three o'clock three hours there was darkness over all the land think about that darkness over all the land when Jesus was being crucified when Jesus was born the skies lit up the shepherd saw the angels and the glory of the Lord shone round about them but now there's darkness now there's a darkness that is more than a sandstorm as some people have said or a local Eclipse it was something supernatural I just quoted a guy by the name of origin and early church father from northern Africa origin interestingly has in his writings the quote of a Roman historian who acknowledged that there was a darkness that the Roman Empire knew about and there are several sources of that later on Tertullian who is also an early church historian biographer rights to a pagan rites to a Roman saying about the darkness he said which is written about in your annals and archived in your own history unto this very day then there is also something interesting found in history a supposed letter from Pontius Pilate to Siberia Tiberius Caesar assuming that Tiberius in Rome knew about the darkness that was pervasive hinting perhaps that it was worldwide something is local no way to tell but three different historical sources acknowledge that there was darkness over the land and here it says it was for three hours know why darkness do you remember in the Old Testament when the high priest on Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement went behind the veil he went there in darkness he went there in solitude he was a divine transaction of sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat for atonement it was to be done in darkness it was the darkness of secrecy and so here you have Jesus on the cross when for three years he lived publicly out in the open but for three hours in this divine transaction of our salvation this vicarious atonement the substitutionary atonement presenting himself presenting his blood before the father like the priest on Yom Kippur it was a darkness of secrecy another way to look at it it was a darkness of wickedness a lot of times the Bible will speak about walking in darkness versus walking in the light work walking in wickedness sin versus walking in the open in in the light before God and before people being open and honest the nation of Israel the world was extinguishing the light of the world they were putting out the light and darkness covered the land but a third way to look at it is it was a darkness of judgment get this according to the Babylonian Talmud written long before this the Jews said that God reserves darkness when he wants to punish someone for an unusual sin and they cite the ninth plague in Egypt what was the ninth plague darkness that covered the entire land for three days of darkness that could be felt I believe the fifth bull judgment in the book of Revelation in the Tribulation Period is a bowl poured out on the kingdom of the Antichrist and it's a darkness that brings sores out on people's flesh a darkness that can be felt palpable God judging for an unusual sin extinguishing the light of the world darkness covers the land and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Ellie Ellie lama sabachthani that is my God my God why have you forsaken me this verse so bothered Martin Luther when he read it that he read it over and over and over again and he even went into seclusion to meditate on it and to understand it and when he came out of seclusion he said he was far worse off than before he went into seclusion to try to figure it out he didn't get it why would the Father allow the son to be so forsaken you see it seems that for a moment in a way God the Father who had always been close to Jesus broke fellowship with his son his eyes were too pure the Bible says to behold evil and he turned as it were his face away predicted in Isaiah 53 as Jesus bore the sin upon himself our sin God the Father turned away now this is something jesus never experienced before oh he had been abandoned up to this point he knew what it was like to be abandoned for example Jesus brought twelve men into the Upper Room for Passover one of them Judas walked out into the night to betray him so he had eleven left with those eleven he walked into the Garden of Gethsemane he took three and said let's leave the others you guys come Peter James and John pray with me for an hour they fell asleep he woke him up they fell asleep again he woke him up they fell asleep again then Jesus was taken away to the house of caiaphas John and Peter followed him Peter denied him John was left but eventually the Bible says all of the disciples fled and forsook him but although people had forsaken him jesus never had experienced the father leaving him until now now is the weight of the sin is placed upon him the father turns away his face for that moment Jesus felt and said my God my God why have you forsaken me fulfilling Psalm 22 verse one and some of those who stood there when they heard that said this man is calling for Elijah immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and offered it to him to drink the rest said let him alone let's see if Elijah will come to save him Jesus cried out again and with a loud voice yielded up his spirit now there is a interesting reason why the first time they offer Jesus that sour wine he didn't take it an interesting reason but it's 8:31 so that reason is going to have to wait till we gather together next time as we discover why Jesus refused at the point of his utmost suffering to take something that would have a swatched his pain so hold that thought till next time father how grateful we are how humbled we are when we read these passages that we just fall silent because we realize that you did it for us as we look at the crucifixion scene we see that those two criminals on either side should have had somebody else being crucified with them and that was Barabbas probably their gang leader but Jesus literally took Barabbas his place Jesus son of the father took the place of another one named Jesus the son of a human father God died in our place were amazed were humbled were grateful father reading these passages we feel like we've just stood on holy ground and our response is simply glory to God thank you Lord because now we have a relationship with you now we have hope now we face our future even the end of years and death itself with hope because Jesus conquered death and took the full brunt of pain and suffering so that we might have life Lord we'll never really know the depth to which Jesus suffered in those three dark hours feeling forsaken by you but what a glorious truth that Jesus was forsaken so that we never would have to be so that your promise to us to everyone here is you will never leave us you will never forsake us lo I am with you always even to the end of the age Lord whatever our situation whatever our struggle whatever our trial whatever our hardship I pray that everyone here would experience this weak closeness with you fellowship and intimacy with you as you meet their needs as you meet our needs in Jesus name amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 5,220

Rating: 4.8769231 out of 5

Keywords: Eusebius, Origen, Tertullian, Tiberius Caesar, Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Sermon, Matthew, Calvary Church, forsaken, abandonment, Sour wine, Darkness, Chief priests, crucifixion, Romans, Persians, torture, King of the Jews, Cyrene, Golgotha, flogging, blood, Barabbas, Pilate, corollary, Betrayer, Judas, The cross

Id: 8Vvmf4JBJ5s

Length: 61min 16sec (3676 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018