It’s Dark, What Shall You Do? Matthew 27:21-22
(Show Slides of the Passion of the Christ while preaching)
21 The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!” 22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
So, the question is raised in vs 22, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Crucifying the anointing! I wonder how many times we have crucified the anointing by doing our own thing? May I add, daily, this question is poised to you. “What shall you do with this Jesus who is called Christ?
Thomas Jefferson edited the Bible. He reduced it to the moral teachings of Jesus and left out everything else. He had a particular disdain for the supernatural. His Bible ends with the words, “There they laid Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the mouth of the sepulcher and departed.”
I Corinthians 15:17-18NLT Paul declared boldly, And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!
So Jesus prepared for His crucifixion, He prepared Himself in Gethsemane. Gethsemane was a garden where Jesus found Himself on many occupations. There, He talked to His Father. Gethsemane, means oil press. It was the place where olives grew, and where crushed.
Listen to the process in Matthew 26:36-39NKJ Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Notice, that Jesus travailed for His Father’s will; He didn’t come into prayer for just a quick fix, or just to feel better. No, He came to release His soul, His emotions, and His destiny into God’s hands. Was prayer answered? Yes, He followed His Father’s will to complete His earthly mission.
Now, He was ready for the cross. Philippians 2:5-9NKJ 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.
Suddenly, Jesus cried from the cross, “Eli, Eli, lame sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Abandonment and despair that resulted from the outpouring of divine wrath on Him as sin-bearer. (Psalm 22 fulfilled) Near the final moments on the cross, He cried, “It is finished!” “Father, into You hands I commit My Spirit.”
The earth trembled, daylight became deathly dark, gloom and misery covered the earth, strong soldiers shook with fear, the beating was over, His physical face beyond recognition, body soaked in blood, Mary, His mother weeped openly. All hope seemed gone.
In the expositor Bible Commentary C. Truman Davis, MD. writes, “What is crucifixion?” A medical doctor provides a physical description: As he slowly sags down...on the nails in the wrists, excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain -- the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid stretching torment, he places the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the agony of the nail, tearing through the nails between the bones of the feet. As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps come the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath... hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting joint rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation searing pain as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony begins; a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with fluid and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over -- the loss of tissue fluids reaches a critical level -- the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy thick sluggish blood into the tissues -- the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. He can feel the chill of death creeping through his tissues... finally he can allow his body to die. The Bible records it in these words... “And they crucified him.”
Christ, singly, solely, by himself alone had sufficient worth to die in place of every mortal in history. ( The Father sent His only Son)
Jesus was a sacrifice because only His blood could roll backwards to the first sinner and forward to the last. His death exalted Him from being a mortal Jew, to Christ the Messiah.
Sin must be, and is punished. There is no exception to this rule. The blood shed by bulls and goats under Moses, delayed God's wrath against sin (Hebrews 9:6-10). So, the blood of animals had to be endlessly and repeatedly shed because it couldn't once for all, remove sin.
Daniel Strickland comes:
Weight of sin, more than ever
Guilt within, more than ever
punishment, more than ever
Help us Lord, Help us Lord
Angry crowd, more than ever
Confused world, more than ever
Doubt and fear, more than ever
We need you Lord, We need you Lord
A cross to bear, more than ever
Crown of thorns, more than ever
Nail pierced hands, more than ever
We Love you Lord, We love you Lord
Grace and mercy, more than ever
Souls saved, more than ever
His blood delivers, more than ever
Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord.
Prayer, as Donna sings, “Lead Me to the Cross”
