Crucifixion: Words of Anguish•
I. FACTS OF THE SAVIOR’S SUFFERING
A. SIGN OF JUDGMENT
Mt 27:45 Now from noon until three o’clock there was darkness over all the land Lk 23:45a as the sun’s light was eclipsed.
1. BORN IN LIGHT OF THE WORLD
Luke 2:9 “glory of the Lord shone all around them”
John 1:4, 9 “the light of men” and “the true light that, coming into the world, enlightens every man”
John 8:12 “I am the Light of the World”
2. DIED IN GROSS DARKNESS
Isaiah 5:30 “darkness and distress . . even when light is darkened by clouds”
Isaiah 13:10-11 “For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.”
Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Joel 2:2 “a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness”
Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
B. SEPARATION FROM GOD
Mt 27:46 At three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?”
1. FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY
Psalm 22 = agony and in its exultation
Psalm 22:21b-22 You have answered Me. I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You
2. FORSAKEN BY THE FATHER
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him
C. SOMBER RESPONSE
Mt 27:47, 49 On hearing this some bystanders said, “This one calls for Elijah.” The rest said, “Wait. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save Him.”
1. MISUNDERSTOOD
They hear “judge not” – Mt 6:1
“Plans to prosper you and not to harm you” – Jer 29:11
“Ask for anything in My name” – John 14:13-14
“All things work together for good” – Romans 8:28
“Money is the root of all evil” – 1 Timothy 6:10
“Train up a child” – Proverbs 22:6
“An eye for an eye” – Exodus 21:23-25
2. MOCKED
II. PURPOSE OF THE SAVIOR’S SUFFERING
A. SACRIFICE FOR SIN
1. LAMB OF GOD
John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
Isaiah 53:3-5 “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed”
Habakkuk 1:13 “Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, and Thou cannot look on wickedness with favor.”
II Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him
Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn”
Rom 4:25 “Jesus was delivered up because of our transgression”
2. SATISFACTION
I John 4:10 “He became the propitiation (mercy seat) for our sins.”
Mt 20:28 “to give His life a ransom for many”
B. SEVERENCE OF FELLOWSHIP
1. NOT COMPLETE
II Corinthians 5:19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself at the cross
Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’”
2. PARTIAL SEPARATION
Phil 2:6 “not to be grasped”
Jn 17:5 “Glorify Me together with You, Father, in the glory I had before creating the world”
C. SPIRITUAL TRANSACTION
1. DEBT PAID
I Pet 2:24 “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross”
I Pet 3:18 “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit”
2. STRAIGHTFORWARD ACCOUNT