Luke 23:27-33
27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.
28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Intro.
When we seek to know Jesus better and our minds wish to delve into that great love wherewith he loved us. There is no better place to go than just outside the gates of Jerusalem. There is a narrow road that leads to a small knoll; the road is most commonly referred to as “Via dolorosa” the way of suffering or the way of tears.
As we cautiously climb the little knoll we encounter sounds that are coming from it. Whereever we journey we identify places by sight and sound, and I want to center in on those sounds atop this hill called Calvary. Listen carefully as we approach the cross.
I. The Sounds Of Weeping:
A. The Professional Mourners: “We find them also at Jairus home when Jesus raised his little girl from death.”
B. The Friends Of Jesus:
1. A Mother of a Child healed by Jesus:
2. A man who had a withered hand that Jesus had restored.
3. A Man that had been born blind.
C. Mary The Mother Of Jesus, 33 years before Simeon had declared, “(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:35
D. Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had cast 7 devils from her.
E. John the beloved Disciple that Jesus loved, as he stood by Mary’s side.
F. The Two Thieves on Either side of Jesus crying in pain and agony.
We should hear weeping today as we draw near to Calvary and see poor sinners coming to Christ Jesus.
Tell of the cross where they nailed him,
Writhing in anguish and pain.
Tell of the grave where they laid him,
Tell how he liveth again.
Love is that story so tender,
Dearer than ever I see;
Stay let me weep while you whisper,
It was love that paid the ransom for me.
II. There Was Also The Sounds Of Cursing:
A. The Roman soldiers as they beat him, and finally crucified him.
B. The Pharisees, taking care not to take the name of God in vain.
C. The rabble that gathered around the cross, they were weak men pushed by the priests, Shouting curses at our Lord, they reacted as men with the emotions of a mob.
D. Those dying thieves cast curses at him, the Bible says they railed at him one to the very last. The other till mercy and grace began to enter,
E. And certainly we must rememebr Poor Peter who had cursed and declared with vehemence, “I never knew the man.”
F. Modern men today curse Jesus every time they reject him.
III. The Sound Of Prayer:
The most wonderful sound in the world is when a man bears his heart to our Lord.
A. The Women that followed Jesus were praying.
B. The disciples that followed his teaching were praying.
C. The Penitent Thief handing beside our Lord, he prayed, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Luke 23:42
D. And those precious words that were uttered by my Lord, “Father forgive them they know not what they do.” Not just once but in the Greek it was continuous action verb, He continued to pray, as they beat him, as they spat on him, as they drove those awful spike in his hands and in his feet.
E. When you and I go to Calvary, we should go praying for God’s mercy.
IV. We Can Hear The Earth Itself Rejecting men’s cruel Deed:
The earth went into a convulsive fit, the ground around the crosses began to shake, rocks split and graves were opened. The Bible said many saints appeared to many after the resurrection. The earth shook so hard and so violently that the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. One centurion said, “Surely this must be the Son Of God.”
V. The Sound Of Silence: This was the most terrifying sound in the world. The shouting and the cursing stopped. The music, the singing and the dancing were no longer heard, there was no more crying, or praying, the noon day hour was overshadowed with darkness, so that men were afraid to make even the slightest sound. They sat and they waited to see what God would do next.
Mark 15:33, “And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”
Modernist today would try to have you believe it was an eclipse, but for three hours, I think not. This was the time when God the Father hid his face from Jesus, because God’s word said, he became sin for you and I.
Suddenly, as we sit listening we hear Jesus as he cries out, “Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani, which means My God, My God Why hast thou forsaken me.
Calvary should always be a place of silent meditation for you and I.
VI. Let Me Speak Lastly About the Sounds Of the Crucifixion:
A. We hear the whip as it lands upon the back of Jesus.
B. We hear the sound of the cross being dragged up the hill.
C. We hear the ringing of the hammer as it lands upon the spikes in his ahnds and his feet.
D. The sound of them dragging the cross with it’s load of flesh to the hole already prepared to receive it.
E. We hear the sickening thud as the cross falls into the hole, the body of Jesus is almost torn from the cross with only three spikes to hold him.
F. You hear them tamping the dirt so the cross will remain upright to hold its grusome load.
G. We can hear the sound of flies as they drone around the crosses.
H. We can hear the awful gasps from dying men, their labored breathing because of the awkward of their bodies on the cross.
I. We can hear the gurgle from their throats, the rattle most commonly called the death rattle as their lives slowly inch by torturous inch slip away.
J. Then we hear Jesus, say, “I thirst”
K. Immediately after they lifted up a sponge to him, he cries with a loud voice, “It is finished.” And then he is heard to say, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
L. We hear the gaurds as they come with their battle axes going first to one theif and then to the other one breaking their legs to speed their death. When they came to Jesus they found him already dead and the soldier plunged a spear into his side, and out came water and blood.
