April 9, 2004 Matthew 27:45-54
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Those who watched the Passion of the Christ and some of the critics complained about how graphically violent it was. It was violent, I will give it that. Ironically, at the same time it was being released, another movie called “the Dawn of the Dead” came out as well. I did not see this movie. But some friends of mine who went to it said that the movie overstepped the boundaries of decency in the death of infants and children that it portrayed. Yet we never heard an outcry by the movie critics about the violence of this movie. It only came from the Passion. They said, “Mel Gibson was trying to achieve shock value from his movie.” It made me kind of laugh. I mean honestly, what is shock value anymore? By the time our kids reach graduation from high school they will have already seen thousands of deaths and murders. After seeing so much, what can shock them anymore?
Imagine, then, being the centurion and the soldiers on duty at Jesus’ crucifixion. These men had not only witnessed but also performed crucifixions on a regular basis. They pounded the nails in the hands and feet. They broke the legs. They saw the birds eat the decaying bodies. After witnessing that week after week, what could shock them? It would have to take an awful lot. Yet what were they about to see in the death of Christ - the death of God - would be enough to open their eyes to something they had never seen before and would never see again. It shocked them so much that we will hear these hardened death machines -
Speaking the Sure Truth
I. Because of what we see at the cross
What was it that was so different about Jesus crucifixion than other crucifixions? Several things come to my mind. I would doubt that many had such a following as this procession did. I would doubt that the Jews - and the religious leaders no less - were ever so involved in the crucifixion of common criminals. But that was the not what impressed the soldiers and struck them - not by looking out from the cross - but looking at the cross. What was different were the words and actions of the Person on the cross. This was not the place for nice people - models of society. This was the place that hardened criminal hung - men full of anger, bitterness, and derision. I would not doubt that they usually heard the men they were crucifying cussing them, spitting on them, and doing everything they could to escape. Some despaired - gave up and cried about how they were being unfairly treated. Others responded with anger. But what did Jesus do? He prayed for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying him. He made sure that his mother would be taken care of. Instead of caring about himself, he was more concerned about them. And instead of being overcome by death - he decided when He would die - declaring, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.” These were not words of despair. These were not the actions of a man who was full of anger or out of control. They were the actions and words of a criminal and an insurrectionist - as they were led to believe. These were the words and actions of a king.
Yet in the middle of the crucifixion - in spite of the way Jesus was acting and speaking - many still refused to believe. When Jesus cried out, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” . . . some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” The Jews would have been able to understand what Jesus was saying - it was a direct quote of Psalm 22. But it was a popular opinion of the Jews that Elijah would rise from the dead in preparation for the Messiah to lead a rebellion. So those standing there - either the Jews or the soldiers - mockingly or mistakenly twisted Jesus’ words - acting like Jesus was calling on Elijah to come to his aid. They weren’t ready to see Jesus for who He was - even though He was obviously not your common criminal. They were in denial.
That was all about to change when the creation started groaning. For three hours - from noon to three in the afternoon - the sun could no longer bear to look at what was happening to it’s Creator. This was no cloud cover or eclipse. Just as God shut the sun out of Egypt in Exodus 10, so He stopped the sun from shining for three hours. But that wasn’t all that happened. When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. These men may have been able to punish and subdue criminals - but when the earth beneath them shook and the sun stopped shining - they suddenly realized that their strongest strength was but weakness. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” They spoke the sure truth - there was no doubt in their mind - Jesus was the Son of God that He claimed to be. Worst of all - they had just put him to death. No longer was there an air of invincibility - no longer an ora of arrogance. Many who were there beat there breasts and walked away. The soldiers and centurion were terrified. They had just had a part in putting God’s Son to death. The same God who made the sun shine and the earth move was now showing His anger! It was a terrifying thing.
On Judgment Day we are going to see something very similar to this scene. No longer will anybody be able to ignore the words of Jesus. Not only will the sun stop shining, but the stars and the moon will also fall from the sky. The earth beneath will open up and release it’s dead. Jesus will come down riding on the clouds - with thousands of angels at his side - at the sound of a trumpet. I can’t imagine the terror that will be on the faces of unbelievers at that time. The threats that they thought were idle - eternal hell - damnation - fiery furnace - will then come to realization. At that moment every person that ever pierced Jesus - every one that ever doubted if He really was the Christ - will bow their knees and have to angrily speak the sure truth - Jesus is Lord. They will have wished that they had never been born. But by then it will be too late. Then they will be sent to the place they never believed existed - eternal hell.
It’s hard to imagine what the soldiers were feeling at that moment when they proclaimed the sure truth. Yet God wants you to do that very thing. He wants you to feel that same way - not just shock - but terror. Isaiah 66 says, This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. This involves more than just watching the movie and being shocked at the amount of violence that is in it. What we have to do is to put ourselves in the soldiers’ shoes. Put the hammer and nails in our hands. Imagine them grasping the hammer and pounding down the nails, blow after blow - with gritted teeth and sweat running down our foreheads. Put the swords at our side. Put the mocking in our mouth. For God’s Word says “he was pierced for OUR transgressions.” Envision it as if you were the one mocking Christ and nailing him to the cross. Imagine God’s fist shaking at YOU for doing this. Imagine the sun blushing over what YOU did to it’s creator. Because that’s what God says. YOU killed His Son. Your sin cause Him to go there. What a terrifying and yet true prospect - we killed Christ. Surely He was the Son of God - and we killed Him - the righteous man! This same Son of God is coming again on Judgment Day! What a terrifying thought!
II. Because of who we hear at the cross
When I was in college, I went to an opening day of baseball season along with a friend of mine. It just so happened that things could get pretty rowdy in the bleacher seats of Milwaukee’s stadium. Before too long, a short guy - for some reason - got angry at a man about twice his size - and hauled off and cracked the big guy right in the face. It either took a lot of guts, a lot of liquor, or a little brain, for the little man to try such a thing. Instead of knocking the man out, the big man just turned his head. It was at that point that the little man realized he was in a world of hurt. In a rage of anger, the bigger man reared his fist and completely leveled the little man. You would expect God to do the same to us - especially after having raised our hands and killing His only Son. We just raised our fist and struck the most POWERFUL Person in the universe - maliciously killing His only Son. The blood is on our hands. God witnessed it with His own eyes. It’s terrifying to think of. But then when we hear what the Son has to say on the cross, it gives us hope.
Instead of asking for God’s condemnation or rearing his fist to strike back, Jesus said, “father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Instead of getting revenge, Jesus prayed for forgiveness. This seemed to have a profound affect on those standing there. When we look carefully at the Gospels, we see that BOTH criminals were initially heaping abuse on Jesus. Later on, however, the one criminal recanted his words and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Instead of saying, “yeah, right! I’ll never forget your sinful lifestyle and what you said to me!”, with confidence Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise!”
Not only did Jesus pray for forgiveness - but He answered His own prayer. Jesus said on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” There is no room for misinterpretation. He wasn’t calling for Elijah. According to Psalm 22, He was calling for His God to come back to Him - for He was going through hell in our place. When we hear Jesus cry out - “it is finished,” Jesus was saying to us - God’s revenge has been satisfied - paid in full. These were not the words of a man who was fighting against death - but that was welcoming it - in control of it - and even USING it. Paul made this very clear when He said to the Ephesians - in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Eph 2:13) His sword has been put back in it’s sheath - all bloody and scarred - from the sacrifice of Christ. After all is said and done, we then hear Jesus willingly give His spirit into God’s hands - knowing that God had accepted His sacrifice. Throughout His life Jesus assured us that, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Whoever believes in me will live - even though he dies.” It’s not in the death of Christ - but the words of Christ connected to His death - that give us comfort. He takes our terrible deed and tries to convince us that He used it as wonderful gift of grace. He talks as if this punishable crime was a wonderful plan of salvation. Terrified, we say, “could this be true?” Jesus calmly says, “surely, it is the truth - for I am the Son of God. I am a righteous man. And that’s what the Son of God was sent to do - I have come to die - for you. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. ”
When we look at the Person that we have crucified - instead of the hands that crucified him - and when we listen to the true words of the crucified - instead of the words of the crucifers - that’s what gives us hope. Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ. Thankfully, we didn’t kill the devil, our mother, or our son. We killed the Son of God - who happens to be the Most Forgiving Person in the Universe. Through His blood God has forgiven us for our terrible crime. He has paid for our sins. Jesus has turned this bad and terrifying Friday into a Good and glorious Friday.
Speaking the Truth in Hate is the theme of our Lent series. Did the soldiers and the centurion do that? Did they say “surely he was the Son of God” in hate? Today’s text says that they spoke in terror. Another text says that the centurion praised God and said that Jesus was a righteous man. Was he speaking this in faith or in fear? At this point, I would imagine it would have been primarily fear. Yet he and they heard the forgiving words of Jesus as well. Heaven knows. If they didn’t say it in faith, their hearts were at least ripe for the truth.
Even though we didn’t physically witness the earthquake or the darkening of the sun, our hearts through faith can clearly see that we also crucified Christ. We can see that God’s anger deserves to come down on us for this crime. It’s a terrifying thing. And yet when we look at who Christ is - and what He came to do - it gives us comfort. This was the Son of God. The Son of God came to die - to pay for our sins - to forgive. Therefore, in faith, not only do we say “this was the Son of God.” In faith we say, “I know this IS the Son of God, and this IS my Lord and Savior. I am sure of it. ” Through faith we speak the sure truth - to our own salvation. Amen.
