Message
Matthew 27:45-56
Jesus Pays ... Mankind Stutters
Good Friday is the day we specifically focus on the death of Jesus.
Now let’s remember that His death is just a small part of the whole – what we call – Passion Narrative.
It seems a bit strange to call this act “The Passion” especially since our understanding of passion has very little to do with suffering.
Originally however the English word “Passion” was based on the Latin word “passio”, which means, simply, "suffering."
So when we talk about the Passion of Christ we are not talking about Jesus’ girlfriends, or hinting that He might be having secret affairs – or anything like that.
The Passion is a term that describes all of the events which took place from the Last Supper right through to the resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus’ death is just one part of that narrative.
Let’s read about it in Matthew 27:45-55
Up to this point Jesus has been through so much pain and agony and suffering.
At His trial He is falsely accused, and then condemned to death, then this happens:-
Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”
Matthew 27:67-68
After Pilate has set Barabbas free and sent Jesus to be crucified.
Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged
Matthew 27:26
(a flogging consists of 40 lashes)
While Jesus was waiting to be crucified
The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.
Matthew 27:26-30
Even before Jesus is crucified He has suffered at the hands of brutal men. Even before He gets to the cross Jesus has been beaten, bloodied, disfigured, scourged. After all that He is crucified. Nails put through His hands and feet so that He can be held to a cross.
More agony and pain and suffering.
At any time in that process does Jesus cry out … or ask them to stop … or accuse them of being cowards … or say that this is all so unfair?
Quite the opposite.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34
Not only does Jesus endure it all. He prays for those who are persecuting Him and beating Him and causing Him to suffer so much pain.
And now it has been dark for 3 hours … dark from mid-day to 3pm.
An eerie darkness.
An oppressive darkness.
It seems that Jesus just spends that time hanging on the cross – struggling for breath.
None of the Gospel writers tell us anything about that time so we assume there was not really much to see.
But something was going on. Because at the end of the darkness all of the sudden Jesus cries out from the cross.
Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
It would have been a cry that sent shivers down the spine of all who heard it.
What forces this sudden outburst … directed toward God no less … when everything else before was taken in silence?
To be forsaken means:- having no access to God the Father.
To be forsaken means:- being on the wrong side of God.
To be forsaken means:- God doesn’t listen to you.
To be forsaken means:- grace is finished.
You know what being forsaken is? It’s hell.
This is not a light moment – it is perhaps one of the most significant moments in history … God the Son is being forsaken by God the Father.
Jesus at this very moment is going through hell.
Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?
It’s the cry of One who is expressing a sense of desolation and abandonment.
The cry of an innocent member of God’s family who is seeking justice.
It’s the same cry which has been used by widows and the poor who have been exploited.
The type of cry which is being made here is a cry which God has never ignored – except for now. Even when Jesus uses words which tear at the Father-heart of God heaven is silent. Jesus is being forsaken … Jesus is going through hell. Something really significant is happening here.
Little Jason was not a good student and after trying everything they could his parents enrolled him into the local Catholic school.
On the first day after school Jason came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t even kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Jason was hard at work. When it was time for dinner Jason came to the table, ate quickly, and then went back to studying. This happened for two weeks straight.
His mother couldn’t believe the transformation, so she sat and talked with little Jason. Why have you been studying so hard? Little Jason looked at his mum and said, “Well, on the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they were not fooling around.”
When we see God’s Son nailed to the cross … and then that Son being forsaken … we know that God is not fooling around. Something significant is happening here. Something that is going to have huge consequences for each one of us.
God the Son being forsaken by God the Father … for us.
By forsaking His own Son God is wrapping caution tape on the gates of hell and He is putting up a million warning signs on the road to the entrance. A walk down the road to hell requires you to cover your ears, blindfold your eyes, and most of all, ignore this most epic cry, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
The God who sees all and knows all and understands all is the same God who pouring out His wrath on His Son so that you don’t need to enter this terrible place.
Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?
These are the words of freedom ... our freedom.
Then Jesus dies.
As a Pastor I have had the responsibility – and the privilege – to be with families when loved ones have died.
Sometime it has been in a hospital. Sometimes it has been at their own homes.
On all of these occasions the people have been believers who had a strong faith in God.
Never – in connection with any of these deaths – did anything really spectacular happen.
But when Jesus dies ... wow. Stuff happens doesn’t it. I’ll just focus on one thing.
The Torn Curtain
This is not just any curtain - it is the curtain which separates the holy place from the most holy place. And it is huge.
18m high, 9m wide
The Jewish historian Josephus said the veil was 10cm thick, and that horses tied to each side could not pull the veil apart.
Basically the veil was a big sign saying “no access”.
That’s because the Holy of Holies was God’s seat on earth. To go behind the curtain meant entering heaven. That is why no one was allowed behind that curtain except the high-priest ... and that was only once a year ... and only after some elaborate rituals had taken place.
The place was so sacred the high priest would go in there with a rope tied around his waist just in case he was not properly cleansed and God struck him down.
Imagine that you are one of the priests who were on duty on the day Jesus was crucified. It is the Passover time so the population of Jerusalem is 10x that which is normal. So much sacrifice has taken place.
And what a day.
All this talk about the impending death of the rebel called Jesus. People in the street yelling. Then it went dark – it has been like that for about 3 hours.
You are kind of glad to be in the temple where there is plenty of light and the feeling of safety. What could possibly go wrong?
Then you hear this massive tearing sound.
You turn to see the most most horrific sight you have ever seen. The curtain …
… the curtain which hides God.
… the curtain which covers the unapproachable.
The curtain is tearing.
... not just falling down, because the fasteners holding it up have broken.
... not just disintegrating because it is so old.
But tearing, from the top, as if two powerful hands had grabbed it and ripped it apart. And now you are staring into the Holy of Holies … a view few people have ever had.
What does this mean?
Well it depends on your perspective. If you were a Jewish priest the torn curtain means that you are dead. You would be shielding your eyes trying your best to not take another look at the Holy of Holies. After a while you would be a little confused that you are not dead.
What’s going on?
What is going on is that God has left the building.
By tearing the veil God is showing His grief over what the temple had become. The temple was meant to bring the people closer to God.
For them to know that He was willing to forgive and help them in their daily walk.
For them to be assured that He was listening to their prayers and respond.
But instead of seeing God as one who wanted to be near they kept Him at arms-length – basically they put God into a box.
BUT NO LONGER
Let the Most Holy Place be revealed, for now it is just another room in the temple.
Let the world see an empty room … an empty room that reflects an empty religion.
Let centuries of mystery, wonder, and awe be peeled away; it’s not necessary anymore.
God has left the building. His presence will no longer be there.
Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani?
Why have you forsaken me?
“My Son you have been forsaken so that I can get out of this building”.
Gone is the ritualism and hollowness.
Gone is the burden and hopelessness.
And in its place stand … what?
Therefore since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:19-23
In a word what we now have is a RELATIONSHIP
God doesn’t want secrecy, and fear.
God doesn’t want priests, and sacrifices and rituals.
God doesn’t want mystery, and limitations, and uniqueness.
He wants you.
He wants you to see the wonderful grace that He is offering in Jesus – access … direct access to His presence.
Jesus dies – Jesus goes through Hell – having paid the price.
The curtain tears – to show us that nothing now stands in the way.
Hell does not need to be the outcome.
That’s the message of Good Friday.
There is nothing keeping us from being right with God today. Right here. Right now.
Once death was the last stop – a trapdoor into the pit of hell.
But not anymore.
When we put our trust into the hands of the Saviour we will discover that the last power we will meet is not death. Instead the last power we will meet is the power which resides in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus.
Jesus went through hell so you wouldn’t need to
God forsook His own Son to clear the way for you to come to Him.
Do you believe that?
Just listen to the cry of Jesus on the cross My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?
Listen to these words and don’t let anything hold you back from coming into a relationship with God.
Prayer
