The Death of Jesus | Luke 23:44-49
Sermon Transcript
Good morning, I got so excited, baptized in white. I forgot to mention he's got all his family here. He's got parents and grandparents and family and everything. So we're so glad you're here to be his support system, and so excited for him. We have been going through for the entire year the life of Jesus. And these last few weeks, we've been talking about his betrayal, and we looked at his betrayal from Judas, and we looked at his arrest, his trial. Last week, we looked at the crucifixion, and today we're looking at his death, which is a somber passage, but it's an important one. And next week, we're looking at this burial, and then we're going to finish the year all about His resurrection and his ascension. So it'll be ending on, of course, a high note. But today we're looking at the death of Jesus, one of the benefits of getting out of daylight savings time. One of the benefits of falling back an hour, it's not driving at seven o'clock last night. Me thinking it was 930 I think that was the case. That wasn't it, but it's taking my kindergartner to school and getting up in the morning and not being pitch black dark when I put him in the car. That's a benefit. So something seems odd when I have to leave so early that my little buddy can't see getting to the car or whatever, but it's but now it's not dark in the morning, and I find myself waking up earlier than I would like sometimes. Well, that's okay. He does too. Five year olds don't get the memo that they can sleep longer, but there's no darkness in the morning which puts me in a good mood. It makes me in a better mood. Darkness is something that the Lord gives us to tell us, it's time to quit. It's time to quit working. It's time to go to sleep. It's time to rest. Now, with the modern technology, we can be nocturnal if we want. We can be up all night and sleep during the day, but our natural body rhythms, the way we're created, is to be up during the sunlight and to be asleep at night. This is why your mother and grandmother said, Nothing good happens after 9pm right? We all know that darkness is something that tells us it's time to calm down, it's time to slow down, it's time to be safe. It's time to bring everything inside. So to speak, we've all experienced darkness. You know, as you get older, you can't quite see when you're driving at night, a lot of crime happens at night. Jesus himself was arrested at night where people are home and can't see well and can't see what's happening. And so physical darkness is, in many ways, especially in the Bible, a metaphor for spiritual darkness. We saw it today in baptism. We we are, we are. We've died to our old selves in the grave, where it's completely dark, but we're raised to walk in the noon. It's the light of Christ. It's a metaphor of it when we find ourselves in physical darkness, or let's go even deeper in a metaphorical, spiritual darkness in our lives. We feel that whatever that feeling is, we feel maybe disconnected. We feel maybe alone at night, in darkness, you're more vulnerable than you are in the day. This is why many people don't like to go out at night. Many years ago, when I was spending a week with my grandmother, you know, back when I was a kid, parents would just drop you off at grandparents camp. That didn't really happen anymore. Apparently, I don't know why, but they just, I mean, I'd be gone for weeks at grandparents camp. And I remember someone rang the doorbell at nine o'clock, and I was like, seven or eight, and I wouldn't go get it. She said, No, no, no, no, we don't answer the door past nine. We don't who would that who would that be? Who could that be? Right? And now we don't answer the door wherever, but that's a different thing. But exactly then you would answer the door if it was not too late. So there's a feeling of not being safe, maybe at night, and the same way with darkness in our lives, we're looking at the passage of Scripture today about about the death of Jesus, where, as he died, darkness covered the land, and it was a metaphor, so to speak, of The spiritual darkness that Jesus had to descend into for us to be saved. Amen, Luke 2344 through 49 Luke writes, it was now about the sixth hour, and there was dark. Darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands. I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last when the Centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, certainly this man was innocent, and all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts and all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things Heavenly Father, As we continue to worship today. We thank you for new life demonstrated in baptism. Lord we thank you for what you've done for us and today. Lord we come to this passage Lord Jesus that you died fully man, fully God, yet you died something that is hard for us to fathom how that's even possible, but you allowed that to happen so that we would not have spiritual death. It's a mystery. It seems complicated, yet it is a simple truth and a profound one. So Father, as we look at this passage today, pray that You would speak through me your words, that the Holy Spirit today would be present in the speaking and hearing and listening, and that those in here would receive your message today, and that you would show us in our hearts what changes we need to make in our lives based upon your death. Father. Be with us today. Jesus, name Amen, three things that we see the death of Jesus displaying today, three things that we see the death of Jesus displaying. First, it displays the accessibility of God. It displays the accessibility of God. Verse 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour while the sun's light failed. Now, if you were reading this in 21st century eyes and had no knowledge of the Jewish calendar, perhaps you would think, well, of course, from 6pm to 9pm It's dark, they have fallen back on their time, right? Of course, it's dark from six to nine. But that's not what it's saying. The Jewish day started at 6am so six plus six is noon. Alright, say that to your math teacher. Six plus six is noon. It's 12. So the sixth hour would be noon, from noon until 3pm the time where the sun is the most high over the sky, the time where it should have been the brightest, the hottest, it was dark. Now, how in the world does that happen? Well, from a scientific standpoint, there's no direct natural explanation, although there are some Christian scientists who believe that possible there was an eclipse around this time in the area. It possibly could have been an eclipse, but I've never known an eclipse the last three hours. Remember the one in 2017 lasted about what five minutes and it was cloudy, so it's kind of hard to see, right? But I remember that time, it was kind of weird when darkness came over the Eclipse. But whatever the reason, a solar eclipse, some localized weather event, the darkness has a deeper meaning than just the physical darkness. This is a supernatural, clearly a supernatural occurrence right at the moment that Jesus commits his spirit, gives up his spirit, right at the moment he dies. At that time there is a physical, visible darkness over all the land, and it was there to show us the gravity, if you will, the seriousness of the situation that at that moment, Jesus was taking the punishment for the sins of mankind on himself. Off so we would not have to in that moment, he was being judged by God. Even though he was innocent, he was being judged so we would escape it. And it says in verse 45 at that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The curtain the temple was was torn in two. This curtain was also known as the veil. It was a thick and heavy curtain in the temple, and it separated the room that was called the Holy of Holies. And the Holy of Holies is where the very presence of God dwelt, where the power of God was and to enter into that area would be instant death, because your sin cannot be around the holiness of God. And so that, for that reason, sacrifices were made to cover the sin of the people of Israel. And once a year, the high priest could go in there very briefly and make a sacrifice, but then he had to skedaddle and get out fast. It was the sacred space where the presence of God dwelt, and this veil, this curtain that kept God inaccessible from the people because of our sin, tore in two. Now there's a lot of mysteries that happen in my house with four children. Things get broken, things get torn, but a curtain to tear in two without some little rascal cutting it with some scissors. I don't know how it happens. It rips into a supernatural event, and it symbolizes that that barrier separating God, between humanity people, is now gone, that now through Jesus' death, we have complete accessibility to God. If you are a believer, you have that availability. You have that accessibility. You can come to Him for anything and ask and he hears you. Amen. He hears you. Now that doesn't mean he's going to give you whatever you want. I don't give my children whatever they want. Sometimes they come to me with some idea they want to do, and I'll say it's probably not best for you. Why I really want to do it. I'm like because I'm older and I've been around longer, and that's probably that's probably not going to be something you want to do. Many times we will ask God for things, and he won't give unto us. You know, it's like the great theologian Garth Brooks says, Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers. And that is true. An unanswered prayer means that God is protecting us. That's not what's best for you, that's not what's best for me. God says and so we have that accessibility to God, but doesn't mean he gives us our heart's desires. He gives us what he knows we need and what gives glory to Him. We have this accessibility. We can go to him at any time. It signifies that this, this relationship between God and mankind, is now reconciled. Nothing you can do will break that accessibility to your Lord, to God, when you're saved, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit, final and complete. Verse 46 shows us then Jesus calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, I'm coming to you into your hands. I'm I'm putting my spirit into your hands, which is the safest place for him. And then he breathed his last. At this moment, Jesus died, God in the flesh, 100% God. 100% man, somehow died. He allowed himself to die, and through this death, he became the ultimate sacrifice, to not only cover the sins of people, but to remove them. See the Old Testament sacrifice just covered the sins like I'm covering the Bible. Of you can't see it, but, but his death removed it. Bible calls it a propitiation. It's gone as far as the east is from the west. In his death, he became the final sacrifice. This is why we don't sacrifice animals to the Lord. But other cultures still do that, thinking that somehow that's going to appease whatever God they're worshiping, most likely some demon somewhere. Jesus' death displays the accessibility we now have with God number two. Jesus' death displays. Displays the truth of God. Displays the truth of God. Verse 47 now, when the Centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God. Now, remember, this was the man who was joining along with the mocking. He was over 100 people in the Roman guard, which is why he was a centurion, man of authority, mocking and offering Jesus sour wine and casting lots for his clothes. And he sees that he had died, and he sees the darkness, and he admits this man was innocent. See the truth. Is that Jesus was sinless. He was what we call innocent, and that's what made him the perfect sacrifice. Look at Second Corinthians, 521, for our sake, he, being God, made him Jesus to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God. The reformer Martin Luther calls this the great exchange, that Jesus gets our sin on the cross and we get his righteousness. So when God sees us, he doesn't see our sin, He sees complete innocence. We are acquitted no guilt for the rest of our life. Now, we still, as we'll see later, are encouraged to confess our sins, not to earn salvation, but to renew our relationship with Him. Yet we get God's righteousness. So when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the book that's opened will just say one word, innocent. Jesus acquitted. Look at first. Peter 222, Jesus says He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Look at first John 35 you know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him, there is no sin. Now, what does this mean for our lives. How does this what can we what does this mean for our lives? Well, it means that, because he has lived our life but never sinned, he can sympathize with us. He knows our struggles. He knows our pitfalls. You might say, well, I don't know a pastor. You know he never had a mother in law. He never had wild grandchildren. How does he sympathize with that? That's what he's saying. Is that every common relationship problem, every common temptation, Jesus had family, he had close associates. He knows exactly what we're going through. Look at Hebrews 415 for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who, in every respect, has been tempted as we are, yet without sin, whatever you're tempted by. Jesus can sympathize with us. He can empathize with us. He can show compassion to us, even if he didn't experience it, he would, but now he's also experienced it. That's where a lot of our empathy comes through in life, when we have dealt with something difficult, then someone else deals with it. We get it. We know, we understand. That's why it's helpful to have people you have things in common with, who know what you've been through, what you're going through, right? You ever wonder what us pastors sit around and talk about sometimes Jim, who's been ministry much longer than me, COVID has been ministry shorter than me. We can help each other with all sorts of things. We've all been through it highs and lows because we've experienced it. Jesus has empathy for us. He he displays that truth of God. And the truth of God is that He was willing to suffer and die for our sins and and it demonstrates this, this deep love, this understanding of where we're tempted, of where we're weak. In the truth of God shows us that we have a God that loves us, which takes us. Number three, Jesus' death displays the love of God. The love of God, verse 48 and all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle was the word they used. I thought that was interesting. People didn't know what to think about it. Well, that was a. Spectacle, what in the world is happening? When they saw what had taken place, they returned home beating their breasts, and all these acquaintances and the women who had followed him from a Galilee stood at a distance watching these things. What is this beating one's breast? Just it signifies guilt, remorse, sorrow, the crowd that was there just watching, and some of the mob that was mocking him sees this happen, sees it go dark, and at that moment him yelling out, I commit my spirit, and he dies. Can you imagine? It's one thing to know that Jesus, Christ, through His death, is in his resurrection has has forgiven you of your sins. It's another thing to watch it happen. Can you imagine being there and seeing it happen? I can't imagine and instantly knowing, oh, it's my fault. It's our fault. He died for me, and all the way home, they beat their breasts. It's one thing for us to hear about that 2000 years ago, this man, this God, died for us, but for those people that saw it, experienced it, you know, they were forever changed. They realized the depths of the love of God. In closing, what do we do with this passage as believers? You go, you come to a sermon. You want to hear some practical application. What can I do based on this, but, well, I got several things for us. First, reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus. One of the problems we have in our modern day life, especially with cell phones, is we never. I don't say never. It's harder than ever to give our time, to give ourselves time to just not have anything beeping at us, calling at us. It's like we're on a leash here. Feel that way. Sometimes I just want to take it and just throw it in the river, but then I wouldn't be able to drive anywhere, because it's my map navigation. Map Navigation. You need to take time, maybe today, this week, to meditate on the sacrifice Jesus made. This is why a lot of times on Good Friday services, some churches and I went to one one time on a Good Friday, where he died, and then he was raised on Sunday, right, Easter Sunday, I went to one one time where it was all dark, and then when we left, the instructions in the bulletin were no one talk on the way out and walk out silently to underscore, to emphasize the importance. So this is a time where we need to realize and think about our lives and what he's done for us. Secondly, as Christians, you need to be seeking forgiveness and repentance. Repentance means that you're going in a certain direction, and you stop and you said, Nope, wrong way. I'm going this way. Now, as Christians, you need to do this every day. It can be hard for men, especially to admit they're going the wrong way. Amen. This is why my GPS is constantly telling me recalculating all that, right? But we need to be in a place where forgiving people and asking for forgiveness and turning from that sin, not that because we have to be saved every time we confess our sin, but because, by sinning, we in a daily or a weekly scenario, whatever we're doing, we are putting up this barrier, this False barrier, relationship between us and the Lord. So repentance allows us to kind of cut through those barriers. Third, we do this in prayer, in prayer. Now, a lot can be said about prayer, and I don't like reading books about prayer, because when I do, I feel like I'm never praying enough, but Jesus has told us how to pray, Amen, he's giving us the Lord's prayer gives a basic outline. So I would, I would not worry about how long you pray, and I would just pray, approach God in prayer. Thank him for what he's done for us. Ask him to lead you, not into temptation. Ask them. Ask him to to give you your daily needs. Ask him these things. Fourth, respond in faith and obedience. You. Whatever God tells you and leads you to do, commit to living a faithful life. You're going to mess up, you're going to sin. Then there can be days where you're not going to feel as good of a person as you were the day before. But you know what I learned a long time ago? Truth is greater and more accurate than feelings. So you might feel a certain way, but does it mean that you're no longer a child of God? So respond in faith, respond in obedience. Follow Jesus, example, fifth, share the message of the cross. There are people in your life that you are the only one who can reach. We Berkeley County. Now I've only been 11 years. You know, I moved here. If I left moncks corner and went down 52 I couldn't get gas until the Hess station in Goose Creek. Y'all remember those days that's the nearest gas station. Has changed a lot, and it's not even a hesitation anymore. I don't know what it is now, but anyway, it's changed a lot. Don't assume people, everyone in this town even heard about the biblical Jesus. There's people in your life that only you can reach. And finally, number six, worship and praise God for what he's done for you. Amen. This is why we give you this opportunity on Sunday mornings, worship and praise God and thank you for what he's done. Worship Him. Thank him for his death, so that through His death, through His burial, through His resurrection, that any person who believes in what he's done is saved, is made right with God, is born again and has eternal salvation. Heavenly Father. We thank you so much for who you are, Lord. I thank you for baptism. I thank you for this precious family that's here today that's celebrating this decision. Thank you for that, Lord. We don't ever take those things for granted. We don't ever take those things for granted, and we what do we sure celebrate that, father as we sing you this last song today, show us each in our lives where we are to improve our faithfulness to you, Lord, if there's one here Today that's never placed their faith in you before you, before that today they would that. Today they would if there's one here Lord that's never been baptized that today, they would say, You know what? That's something I need to do. I need to show my profession of faith in you. I've never done it. I need to do that. That today you lead them to do that, Lord in obedience as he asks us to do. Father, we thank you for Jesus. We give this time to you. We ask these things in your name. Amen. Amen.
