When Deity Died

Intro. Why a sermon like this? Various critics over the centuries have declared God is dead. They are wrong, but we must never forget, there was a day that Deity Died. Over the centuries, we have commercialized and idealized what Jesus did for us so much, that we do not have a clear picture. In reality, most that name the name of Christ are an ungrateful bunch. Maybe the greatest sin of us all is the lack of gratitude toward an awesome, holy God. A few weeks ago, we saw as Jesus has entered into Jerusalem as a great Leader. He cleansed the Temple, was anointed by Mary, shared the passover with His disciples, and dismissed Judas to go and betray Him. We will start where the night before his crucifixion begins, late Tuesday evening. He finds his place to pray. That is our starting place, Gethsemane.

I. The Sorrow (the garden)

A. The Place- Gethsemane -“oil press” Christ would be pressed.

B. The Plea - Matthew 26:37 "And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me." Tarry -Be with me- None likes to be alone when facing heartache! Not even Jesus. Watch and Pray! - Be Alert! An attack is coming!

C. The Pain - I believe that in the garden, Jesus began to lay aside his power, or He would never die. He began to feel the stress of what was about to happen.

1. He began to Sorrow - vs. 37 - He began to grieve

2. Very Heavy - vs. 37 HE WAS AS LOW AS ANY HUMAN COULD GO!

3. Exceeding Sorrowful - vs. 38 Overcome with sorrow to the point of causing death - He felt that His heart would explode!

4. Extreme Agony - Luke 22: 44 "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

5. His Horror (To be separated from the Father) - Mark 14:36 "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." “Abba” is the Aramaic word that means Papa or Daddy! It reveals that intimate relationship that was about to take a vicious blow! “THE Cup” - The Judgement He would face - Isa 51:17 "Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury;"

But He had been born to do the Will of the Father, to die for ME! God’s Judgement on sin disrupted the relationship of the Father and the Son - For Me!

II. The Scoffing (the house of Caiaphas) - trial at night

Briefly, but we need to realize this happened - account in Mat. 26

A. Jesus was directly asked was He the Messiah, He confirmed.

B. They called Him a Blasphemer and began to spit and beat Him

Jesus was already bruised when taken to Pilate! It was here that John and Peter watched from a far, and Peter denied the Lord. They beat Him (suspended), made sport, and put Him in a pit until early morning.

III. The Suffering (Pilate to the Cross) (Romans did not invent torture, but they perfected it) I will not deal with Pilate to Herod, back to Pilate. We come now to the last time before Pilate.

A. He was Tested - John 18:37 "Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. 39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber."

B. He was Tormented - Scourged - Mk 15:15 "And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. 16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. 17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 18 And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! 19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him."