darkness over the land, Jesus cries Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani
33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
by his wounds we are healed, attributed in connection with 1 Peter 2:24
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.
4 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.
8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
9 They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I give him a portion with the great, and he will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This Easter Sunday message walked through the seven statements Jesus made from the cross, reading them not just as historical record but as a window into who Jesus is and how his people are called to live. The preacher framed the whole series between the first recorded words of Jesus as a boy, "I must be about my Father's business," and his post-resurrection commission to the disciples, showing that everything in between was one unbroken act of faithfulness to that same purpose.
What was said
The message opened with a question: what were the first recorded words of Jesus? The answer, spoken at age twelve in the temple, was "I must be about my Father's business." That thread was then carried forward to the cross, where his last words were examined as the completion of exactly that business. A poem by Victor Hugo was read, offering the invitation that because Jesus wept, suffered, and endured, those who are grieving or afraid or dying have somewhere to go.
The first statement, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do," was addressed to God on behalf of the soldiers nailing him to the cross. The standard that Christ sets here was connected to the call in Colossians and Ephesians to forgive one another just as God in Christ has forgiven us. That is a high bar, and it was set in the most extreme of circumstances.
The second statement, "Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise," was spoken to the penitent thief who recognized his own guilt and Jesus' innocence. The contrast between the two criminals was held up as a picture of pride receiving nothing and humility receiving everything. The thief had not been baptized, had not memorized a catechism, and had done nothing to earn his place. The only credential was that the man on the middle cross said so.
The third statement, addressed to Mary and to John, "Woman, behold your son" and "Behold your mother," was read as Jesus tending to an earthly relationship from the cross. Even in the final hours, he made sure someone would care for his mother. The point was made plainly: God established the family, human relationships matter, and what we do for one another on earth is not a small thing.
The fourth statement, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me," is a quotation from Psalm 22. The desolation was real, and the preacher was clear that the reason for it was the sin of the world being borne by Jesus on that cross. But just as David turned the corner in that same psalm, moving from anguish to trust, the statement was not treated as despair without resolution.
The fifth and sixth statements, "I thirst" and "It is finished," were read together as the full humanity and the completed work of Christ held in one moment. The Greek word behind "it is finished" was explained as a perfect tense verb, meaning the action happened at a point in the past and its effects reach forward without end. The finished work of Christ means the gift is not earned by addition but received as something already paid.
The seventh statement, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit," was drawn from Psalm 31 and read as the posture of total trust. First Peter 2 was brought in to show that this same entrusting is held out as an example for believers. Jesus did not threaten, did not retaliate, but kept on entrusting himself to the one who judges rightly. The message closed by moving from the cross to the resurrection and then to the Great Commission in Matthew 28, where Jesus, now risen and holding all authority, sends his people out with the promise that he is with them to the end of the age.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The preacher pointed out that Jesus prayed 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do' while he was actively being nailed to the cross. Is there someone in your life who has hurt you, possibly without fully understanding what they were doing? What would it look like to pray for their forgiveness the way Jesus did?
The penitent thief had no time for baptism, confirmation, or any formal step of faith. He simply recognized his own sin, recognized Jesus' innocence, and asked to be remembered. What does that tell us about what God requires of a person, and does that change how you think about sharing faith with others?
Speaker 1About now. Can you hear me now? All right. Would you stand with me? We're going to sing a few Easter hymns this morning.
I'm a just make an executive decision and not do announcements today. Is that fine with y'all? There's plenty of stuff going on. If you wanna know, ask me. I'll tell you after the service.
But we're just gonna skip that and sing about Jesus. So if you would, we're gonna sing Christ Rose, hymn number three fifty seven. There are hymnals up here if you want them. We usually just sing off the wall. But if you wanna have your notes, there are hymnals up front.
You can come grab one.
Speaker 2Waiting the coming day. My lord. From from the grave, he arose with
Speaker 1Amen. How about he lives? We serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. Amen.
Speaker 2I serve a risen savior. He's in the world today. I know that he is living whatever men may say. I see his hand of mercy. I hear his voice of cheer.
And just the time I need him, he's always here. He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along my snare away.
He lives. He lives. Salvation to him. You ask me how I know he lives within my heart. In all the world around me, I see his Christ Jesus lives today.
He walks with me and talks with me a long life's narrow way. He lives. He lives. Salvation to him. Him
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can't have a seat. I don't have a whole lot of announcements but how about one good hearty? He is risen. He is risen.
I believe you. I believe you. I believe that. That's good. There are some other things going on this week.
I'm not going go into all of em. We'll sting something else, but I just thought four songs in a row this service, y'all usually get a chance to take a break. We've got folks visiting from out of town. I've seen a few of them, but I've got one that's kinda special to me that I'm gonna ask you if you would stand up. He probably don't want this, but Randy, would you stand up?
Randy Richards and Virginia, would you stand up too? So my dad called last night and he said, hey. You remember Randy Richards? I said, yeah. He he said when I saw him, he said, you're a lot taller than you were last time I saw you.
Because I think I was about this tall last time he saw me. But he served in Vietnam with my dad, and, they get together pretty regularly. And I'm glad you're here. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Let's stand up and do something else. We are having Monday night tomorrow night. We are having Awana tomorrow night. There are lots of announcements. There's a men's alliance on Wednesday in the morning, but trust me, if you wanna know, ask me, I'll tell you.
Glory to his name. This is the next song.
Speaker 2Down at the cross where my savior died down wherefore cleansing from sin, I cried. There to my heart was the blood applied. Glory to his name. Glory
Speaker 1to his name. Glory to his name. His
Speaker 2There to my heart was the blood of blood. Glory to his name. To my heart was the blood of blood. Oh, mountain that saves from sin. I am so glad that I entered in.
There, Jesus saves me and keeps me clean. Glory to
Speaker 1Amen. And we'll sing At Calvary. How about that one? Three and four. There, across the pages from one another.
Speaker 2Pardon there was multiplied to me there my burdens sold my liberty by God's word at
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm going to invite the ushers if they'll come forward and we have a trio here today. They actually all work together at the classical school, and you can hear that they are classically trained. I'll let Evan tell you what it is that they're gonna play for you.
But I'll also pray. God almighty, we thank you for what you have done. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span. There is a great chasm fixed, Jesus says, in the story about Lazarus and the rich man. There's a great chasm fixed, but lord, God almighty, you had a plan.
Jesus, you carried it out by the power of the spirit, and we are here today to celebrate resurrection power, resurrection Sunday. In Jesus' name, Lord, we want to live and move and have our being. We pray, Lord, that you'd be actively engaging and pursuing the world that we live in today through us. So we want to be a part of that mighty plan, the mighty gulf that God did span. We want to be a part of that, Lord.
Would you show us your way? Would you show us your will and your way and allow us the strength to walk in that way. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
Speaker 3Alright. Good morning. Woah. That's a lot louder than I thought.
Speaker 1Happy
Speaker 3Easter. We're gonna play a Baroque trio. This was written in the seventeen thirties. So Bach was still alive. Vivaldi was still alive.
But this is by Arcangelo Califano, an Italian composer and a contemporary of Bach's.
Speaker 1Amen. Wow. I heard it this morning. We don't usually do special music in that first service, but we do and you're welcome back anytime you all want play anything. All right.
So thank you. That's great. Evan and Julia Campbell and Emily Feasor. A lot of you all know Emily already. So glad y'all are here.
We're... It's Easter twenty twenty three. Here we are. We're gonna be considering today the last recorded words of Jesus, the seven words in church history that's been called the seven words since very, very early on, just a few months after the crucifixion they started, calling it this or just a few years after. It's the seven words of Good Friday on the cross, but in light of resurrection Sunday.
Okay? This is a form that is not new. Like I said, they've been preaching in this form or format. What we usually do here or what I usually do here is try to go with a text that's usually a paragraph or two at a time, and some of y'all would say, come on, Ray. Sometimes it's a page or two, but sometimes it is.
Usually, it is whatever makes the most sense to me that we can get it going and get it stopped within the time frame. But as I'm considering the last words of Christ, I wanted to ask y'all a question. What are the first recorded words of Jesus in the Bible, in the New Testament? And somebody who didn't come to the first service maybe. What do you think?
We've gone through Christmas hymns in our head, and then, you know, Christ says a baby. The cattle are lowing. What's Jesus doing? What's he saying? We'd imagine it'd be a mama at some point.
I don't know. But the first recorded words that we have of Christ are when he's 12 at the temple, left behind by his family. They probably joined the mighty throng heading back up towards Galilee, and then they realized Jesus wasn't playing with all the rest of the youngins. And that's a disturbing event for a parent. And when they did find him, it says, and Joseph and Mary found him, and he's teaching the doctors.
And they are all amazed by his understanding. And he said to Joseph and Mary, why did you all seek me? Didn't you know that I must be about my father's business? That's good. That's really, really good.
That's the first thing we hear from the lips of Jesus. And if you think about it, wasn't he always about his father's business? He really was. So that's the first recorded, but what we're gonna go with is the last seven. This is an unusual painting.
It would explain why it's unusual because it's Salvador Dali. I'm not gonna quote Salvador Dali very often. An unusual dude. He's got a couple of different crucifixion paintings, but I really like this one. And this one does not have the traditional look of Jesus on his face because you can't see his face.
And it doesn't have the nails because you just can't see him the way that his hands are suspended there. And there's doesn't seem to be any earth underneath that cross. It's just floating above the world, above the... Hovering above the deep. Actually, there's waters down at the bottom.
Y'all can't see it very well, but there are three people down here below, and he just seems to be looming. Salvador Dali was a surrealist, so it doesn't have to make sense, but I just like it. It's a different perspective, and for me today, I'm doing a slightly different perspective. This painting is eighty one inches tall, which is three inches taller than me, and forty six inches wide, which is a bit wider than me. But it was 1951 is when that was finished.
And this is what it was based on. You see the perspective on this one. The light on this one is coming oblique from up above and to Jesus' left. And this is seen from up above from Jesus' to the left. This is of Saint John of the Cross.
It was fifteen fifty ish, somewhere between 1550 and 1575. And this one is a drawing that is this big. It's two and a quarter inches tall by two inches wide, but something about this sparked in Dolly the need to paint that other painting with an unusual perspective. Saint John of the Cross is better known as San Juan de la Cruz. He's a Spanish mystic, and I just like him.
I just like... I like some of his ponderings and some of his thoughts. He's a mystic, like I said. And he's one of the guys that speaks of the dark night of the soul. He came up with that terminology for Christians that are going through difficult times.
And being a pastor, I end up talking to a lot of people who are going through difficult times. I just like San Juan De La Cruz. But that painting, if you wanna look
Speaker 2a little
Speaker 1closer, it's just interesting. Afterwards, I got lots of I don't like it, and I got a couple of I do like it, but it was interesting. So at the foot of a crucifix, we've seen a million different straight on crucifixion shots with Jesus in the same position. Central figure. He's a central figure of all history, so that makes sense.
It's good. Two thieves, one on his right, one on his left. That's scriptural. It's always scriptural, but just a different perspective. Victor Hugo, author, had been through a lot of really hard times, and speaking a dark night of the soul when he was in the midst of one after the death of a dear loved one.
He wrote this poem, and I love it. So it says, you who weep, come to this God for he weeps. Last week, we talked about Jesus weeping over the town of Jerusalem, and I mentioned briefly Jesus weeping with Mary and Martha at the death of Lazarus. Right? Of course, he was gonna resurrect Lazarus.
He knew that, but it's still... He feels the sorrow that we feel. You who weep, come to this God for he weeps. You who suffer, come to him for he cures. He's a great physician.
You who tremble, come to him for he smiles. Isn't that a soft word? He's for you, not against you. You who tremble, come to him for he smiles. You who pass, come to him for he remains or endures.
It was written in French. So you who pass means in death. Those of you who are finite beings and will eventually face death. Come to him because he endures. Resurrection Sunday matters.
He... We should listen to him. This is another interesting perspective. This is James Tissot. We've seen a lot of Tissot's painting over the years.
I was an art major before I was ever a pastor. And so I I kinda like to bring art into it. Helps helps my nerves, honestly. This is from Jesus' perspective. This is a painting from Jesus' perspective.
And so looking down, you see the beloved disciple John. You see centurions. You see Pharisees. You see scoffers. You see the ladies, Mary Mary, and the other...
Another lady there at the foot of the cross. And looking down, James Tissot's crucifixion as seen from the cross. That's about 1890. So we're getting... Our typical method for presenting a sermon here is like this.
We usually say, what does it say? I take a paragraph, maybe two at a time. Sometimes it is a page. One time I did four chapters of Acts. I probably wouldn't do that again.
But what does it say? We go through it and say, this is what it says. And then if there's anything that needs clarifying grammatically or etymologically or anything else like that, I try to study the text in its historical context and bring out the different things to see what it is that it means. And then hopefully, we have an application. Sometimes it's explicit.
I say this is something we can apply by blah, blah, blah. But most of the time, I just say, what does it say, what does it mean? I'll leave it in your lap and you all have to decide what you're gonna do with it. We're gonna switch it up a little bit today. On the cross, the Bible records Jesus speaking these seven words.
So what did he say? What are the seven? I have preached this passage now. This is... I've been here eleven years, so I preached it 10 times, I think.
We got here in June, so 10 times. What did he say from the cross? And the Bible records in the four gospels seven statements that he made. What did he mean? I think that to decide what he means, obviously, words matter, so you figure out what the words say.
But also, who's he speaking to? And in the greater context, what's going on? And then what are we gonna do with that? You know, if Jesus is our example, and he is. He claims to be.
God has set him up as an example. Paul says it multiple times that he is our example. Peter says it once that I'll mention. What are we gonna do if we see how our savior is in his last words, on his first trip, at least? Seven words.
I'll I'll go with seven statements. And so think about who he's speaking to on each one of these as we attempt to apply it to how we live life today. The first statement, and I'll bounce, I know seven statements sounds like a long I finished before the hour last service. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. That's the first of the statements.
This is actually one of the set of the... If you come from a Catholic tradition or if you come from a Lutheran background, you may have heard these multiple times, the stations of the cross. This is one of those places. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. And it's from Luke 23.
And it says, there were also two others, criminals, that were led there with him to be put to death. This is outside the city wall of Jerusalem. And when they had come to a place called Calvary, there they crucified him and and the criminals. One on the right hand and the other on his left. And then Jesus said, father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.
If you look at that text alone, you might look and say, for forgive them is those criminals. And and it could be. It's it's nonspecific them. In Matthew and Mark, it makes it seem that he's praying this as he's being nailed to the cross. So he's praying for his Roman soldiers that are nailing him to the cross.
Now I I mentioned that I do quite a bit of counseling. And when people are having a hard time getting along, often we come back to forgiveness is what it comes down to. God's message of love and forgiveness. That's the short form for what is the gospel. God's message of love and forgiveness.
And we've been given a standard by which we are to forgive one another. And that standard in Colossians and in Ephesians is, you should be forgiven one another. If either of you has offense against the other, or is holding on to the fence, you should be forgiven one another just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Woah. That's a high standard.
And we see how Christ forgives while he's being nailed up with two guilty criminals that deserve their punishment. He is praying, father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. That is a very merciful statement from the cross. People who are actively sinning have not yet turned, and Jesus is already leaning towards when... Them with forgiveness.
Mercy there was great, grace was free. Mercy means not getting something bad that you do deserve, and grace was free. Grace is getting something good that you do not deserve. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. So that's the first statement.
If you consider to whom is he speaking, he makes it very easy right there. He says, father, And I'll capitalize the w for father God. Right? To whom? To father God.
Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. Wouldn't it change our perspective if we recognize that when people are offending us, that sometimes they just do not understand that that's what they're doing? It helps. It helps us as we think through it. What are we going to do with that?
If we are to be following our example, we're going be leaning towards standing ready to forgive and actually praying actively for God to forgive. Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. Second statement. Second statement is, assuredly I say to you, today you'll be with me in paradise. Oh, so this is great.
It's from the same passage. It just picks up where that last one left off. One of the criminals who were hanged next to him blasphemed him saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. So it says he blasphemed. He had mistaken good for evil and evil for good.
He had switched things around and he's deriding and mocking him. Actually, Matthew and Mark say both of them were reviling Jesus. And Luke says, but there was a change, perhaps because of Jesus' prayer. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. What kind of grace is that?
What kind of mercy is that when they're actively crucifying and he's praying for forgiveness? One of the criminals who was hang... Blasphemed him saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other answered and rebuked the first one saying, do you not even fear God? Seeing that you're under the same condemnation, here you are hanging on a cross right next to him.
Do you not fear God? We indeed justly... We are hanging here on this cross justly condemned, and this is the punishment that we deserve for the crimes that we've committed. We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. Do you see that that penitent thief recognized his own sin, his own shortfall, and he recognizes Jesus' innocence?
He said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Recognize the sin, recognize Jesus' innocence. And immediately, that heart was changed, and it says what it's full of, I need you to remember me. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, assuredly, certainly, without a doubt, I say to you today, you'll be with me in paradise.
No doubt about it. He doesn't have to worry about it anymore. Now here we go. I use this guy all the time in counseling too. Did that guy get baptized?
Nope. Not even sprinkled from below as far as we can tell. You know, definitely not submerged. Definitely not immersion. Did he go through his confirmation?
Did he memorize the catechism? Alistair Begg has a great clip that's a few minutes long where he says that that guy, upon his entry into heaven, into paradise, talking to somebody there. What what are you what are you doing here? He goes, the man on the middle cross said I could come. Honestly, that's the only thing that gets any of us there.
The man on the middle cross said so. Assuredly, say to you, without a doubt, don't have to worry about it. I say to you, today, you'll be with me in paradise. So that's the second statement. To whom is he speaking?
I say to you, penitent one or penitent thief, the one who recognizes his own sin, but also recognizes Jesus' innocence, recognizes his kingship. Lord, in your kingdom, he's recognizing the supremacy of Christ even. I say to you, penitent one, today that you will be with me in paradise. Amen. That's good.
So we know scripturally speaking, it comes up a lot throughout the Old and New Testaments that God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. And we have a very clear example here of one of them continued to revile him, and the other one said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Humility on the one hand and pride on the other, and humility receives an affirmation of their destination. Third statement. Woman, behold your son and behold your mother.
That's a kind of a dual. You could call it eight, but let's don't call it eight. Seven's so much better. It's it's set at the same time. It's said at the same time.
And just the fact that it's said at the same time speaks to relationship. Earthly relationships matter. God established the family. God established a home. God established this, and he is from the cross saying, this matters.
Now they're stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, Mary, and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother... Remember Tissot's painting looking down? And he sees his mother. And the disciple whom he loved, that's John speaking from himself, and it's...
I don't think that it's arrogant. He just knew that Jesus loved him. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, all of the others had fled. Right? He said to his mother, woman, behold your son.
Woman is not ugly, like it might sound dismissive or ugly in English. It's a term of endearment. It's not a bad thing. Woman, behold your son. And then he said to the disciple John, behold your mother.
And from that hour, that disciple took her into his own home. And John outlived all the rest of the disciples, and he took care of Mary for the rest of her life. Luke had a chance to interview Mary. She pondered and treasured all these things in his heart... In her heart, and he was able to glean a lot of the information about Jesus from her.
From that hour, that disciple took her into his own home. So the third statement is to whom? Well, it's to Mary and to John. Mary and John both received some instruction, behold your son and behold your mother. Y'all take care of each other.
Isn't that a good word? Y'all just be taking care of one another. If you consider that Mary's losing her son. Jesus had other brothers that we know about. I don't hear of any sisters, but he had other brothers we know about in scripture.
But when he looks down and he knows that he's not going to be present right there, he turns over responsibility to John. Behold your son. Behold your mother. You take care of her. John, so good.
It's about relationship. And human relationships are very important, and we should be taking care of one another. James, one of his brothers, says, Pure and undefiled religion is taking care of widows and orphans in their time of distress. Fourth statement. Fourth statement is this.
We're halfway through. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This sounds like a desperate plea of abandonment. It's also a quote.
It's a quote from Psalm 22. It's Psalm twenty two one. It's a messianic psalm, but it's also David's feelings. David, a man after God's own heart, is very, very troubled, and he feels abandoned by God. Now, it goes on.
He always hits a place in the Psalms where he turns it around. But my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Here it is in Mark, and it's in Matthew two. I'll read both. They're very similar.
When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land, that's about noon, until the ninth hour, that's about three. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eloy Eloy, Lama Sabaatanae, which is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now in Matthew, now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there's darkness over the land. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli,. That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22. I don't have it up there. I'm gonna I'm gonna read it on my Bible here in my pocket. Actually, when I think of Psalm 22, I know it's a...
I know which Psalm it is, but when I think of it, I actually go to a different place in my mind. Because one time I was up here and I was doing a baby dedication. And we don't do infant baptisms here. You know, we do baby dedication. It's kind of a dry baptism.
Basically, the same things are said, but we don't sprinkle or dunk babies. So I got up here, and I was trying to get to Proverbs twenty two six. But as I was in my real Bible, paper Bible, I was flipping through, and I was standing over here, and there's this precious family, this precious baby. And I looked down on Psalm twenty two six instead of Proverbs twenty two six. And the text says, but I am a worm and not a man.
A disgrace of all mankind and despised by all the people. All of them who see me deride me and shoot out their lip. They sneer, they shake their heads say, turn that one over to the Lord. Let him save him. Let him rescue him because only he could delight in him.
I kept on reading until I found something that was more appropriate before I spoke out loud. I could not figure out where that verse went. Proverbs twenty two six is train up a child in the way they should go. And when they're old, they will not depart from it. Anyway, that gives you a little break.
Sorry. This is this is very, very difficult words, obviously. But listen to listen to twenty two one. This is a Psalm of David twenty two one. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Far from my help are the words of my groaning. My God, I cry out to you by day, but you're not answering. And by night, but I have no rest. Yet, you are holy. You see him turn the corner?
A lot of times it's a but or a yet. He says, the way I feel is absolutely like there's no hope for this situation. I am utterly forsaken by God. Far from me are the words of my groaning. Yet, you are holy, God.
Yet, you are enthroned upon the praises of your people, Israel. In you, our fathers trusted. They trusted and you rescued them. In you, they cried out and they fled to safety. And in you, they trusted and they were not disappointed.
That's a good psalm. That's a good psalm for us. So what are we gonna do with this? We see it and we see how Jesus felt abandoned on the cross. But if we recognize that the reason he was in that situation was he was dying for the sins of the world.
He was dying for everyone who would come in humility and say, I will surrender my imperfect life and my bad record and accept the free gift of the perfect life that you lived, where you were deserving of no punishment, but you took my punishment. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The answer to that question is for us. That's the reason that the rift in the Godhead happened in the wisdom of God. That's why it happened.
To whom is he speaking? My God. My God. You. Directly.
He was speaking directly to father God. Fifth statement. The fifth statement is I thirst. We know that Christ is fully divine. Theologically, we know that.
This shows that he was fully human too. If you do much reading about battlefields, Pascal likes to read about World War two. She reads a lot about World War two. But one of the things that's a pretty common feature of people who are dying on the battlefield, as they're bleeding and their moisture is leaving their body, they begin to thirst so that they want water more than even medication. I thirst with an exclamation point.
This one is showing the full humanity of Jesus that he was taking on this laborious toil. And here it is in scripture in John 19. It says, after this, Jesus, that all things were now accomplished, everything that needed to happen had been accomplished. But that the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst. This is from a messianic psalm, also from David, where he said his tongue feels like a potsherd in his mouth, and it's sticking to the roof of his mouth.
And he was thirsty and thought he was gonna die from it. And that the scripture might be fulfilled. John recognizes in that prophecy and said this was what Jesus had to say, knowing that all things were accomplished. Everything else he said, I thirst. And to whom is he speaking there?
You know what? When you're thirsty and you say, I'm thirsty, you're speaking to anybody who'll listen, I would imagine. The text actually goes on and says, now there was a vessel full of sour wine that was sitting there, and they, whoever they were, filled a sponge with sour wine. They put it on hyssop, which is another detail that John adds that says they put it on hyssop. Hyssop is what they used to smear the blood on the post and the beams before the Passover.
Hyssop is what they use to cleanse and consecrate items for the use by God. They fill the sponge with sour wine. They put it on hyssop and put it up to his mouth. That's to whoever that was. It sounds like the soldiers.
And in the other gospels, it is made explicit that it is. So his sixth statement, he's up there feeling abandoned and feeling thirsty. And the sixth statement is it is finished. What a blessed statement this is. What Jesus is saying there is it's finished.
We we say pretty often in church, I hear pastors and I say it myself sometimes, we must, in order to have any kind of blessed assurance of our faith, blessed assurance of the hope incorruptible in heaven above, we must believe in the finished work of Christ. Finished work of Christ. Finished work of Christ. The finished work of Christ on the cross. You hear people say it so quickly.
But what they're saying is, it is finished. He did it. There's not a worry like, oh, I don't know if I got enough good deeds to get in. Maybe I ought to put a little extra in the plate. Maybe I ought to do a little extra voluntary service.
What should I do? Maybe a little more. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little more. Jesus says it's finished.
It's a free gift. It really is free. So it's finished. This is where it says it. It's immediately after, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that scripture might be fulfilled.
He said, I thirst. Now it is finished. Bowing his head. He gave up his spirit. That sixth statement, it is finished.
I wanna dig into that one just a little bit further. I like the Greek word there, so I'm gonna share it with you. Te Telestai. Teleo is a Greek word meaning to end, to finish, to pay for, to have it completely handled. Tetelestai is a form.
That form is only used twice in the New Testament, and it's used in this same passage right here. When I said up above, all things were now accomplished, that's the other place where to tell us that is used. That all things were now accomplished, and it is finished. They're both good translations for that same word. All things were now accomplished.
It is finished. And if you look at it, for you grammar nerds, here's your slide today. The third person singular indicative mood. It is not a question of whether or not it happened. It happened.
Indicative. It indicates it happened. It's in the perfect tense. It's the middle passive voice. I'll come back to perfect tense.
The middle or passive is ambiguous in Greek. You can... It can either be middle. I I myself did it, or it can be passive. It was done to me.
In this case, the end, the finish, the accomplished, and the paying that was done in the perfect tense, it had everything now had been accomplished. The last statement of I thirst meant it was finished. And he said so out loud. We use an exclamation point in English. But at one time in the past, and that's the reason that we celebrate Good Friday and Easter, at one time in the past, Jesus had completed the work, and that has ramifications all the way into the future eternity.
Right? It happened, and it has ongoing ramifications. That's... Everything has been accomplished. So that's perfect tense.
Thinking on those first words that he shared in the temple. Didn't you have... Didn't you know I had to be about my father's business? He was about his father's business until it was all finished. And then and then we get to the next word.
Now to whom has he spoken right here? I think he's speaking to everyone who listen. It's finished. If you're gonna accept the free gift of God, it's gonna be on his terms, and he's saying the terms are complete. It has been paid.
You just have to accept it in humility. That's it. It's finished. Now the last... This clickity clicker just quit clicking, Blake.
Seventh statement. The seventh and last statement we're gonna go over from Good Friday is this. Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. Now this sounds like another psalm. It it is from another psalm, but it's modified.
It's modified because it's Jesus who's doing the speaking. It's from Luke twenty three forty six, and it says, now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness all over the earth until the ninth hour. Thank you, sir. And the... Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
That's no small feat. Do you know the size of that veil? Like, have you ever heard the size of the veil in the temple? I hear veil, I think, something that's sheer that you can see through, but the veil of the temple was almost more like a carpet. It was six inches thick.
It was 30 feet wide, and it was 60 feet tall. That's pretty incredible. Now the other gospels mention an earthquake. How God did it? I'm not sure, but I know he did it.
The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And the veil of the temple is what separated the holy of holies, the place where God dwells. And so at the crucifixion of Christ, when everything was finished, the temple veil over the holy of holies was torn into and access to God was opened. There's no longer just one guy that could go in there once a year They tied a rope around his foot so they could drag him out if he should die in the presence of God. It was opened.
The temple was... Veil was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, he said, father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last. Now this is from Psalm 31.
It's Psalm thirty one five. It's only the first part of it because the second part of it wouldn't make any sense for Jesus to say it. It's the song, and he's saying something that all of them should have known, and maybe we should too. Psalm five is a... I mean, Psalm thirty one five is of David, and he says, into your hand I entrust my spirit.
David is a man after God's own heart. He did have sin, but he recognized where he could go to have that sin purged. Into your hand, I entrust my spirit. You have redeemed me, Lord God of truth. Amen.
For David, that makes sense. For Jesus, he's the redeemer. He does not need redeeming. So he just adds a father in front of it. Father, into your hand, I entrust my spirit.
Let's read Psalm thirty one one through five. I think this is really good for us as far as what are we gonna do about it. If we hear that little verse from the song and it takes us to the rest of the song, it's really a good place to to land. In you, Lord. In you, Lord, I have taken refuge.
Lord, let me never be put to shame. Was was Jesus being put to shame? A public crucifixion execution is the most shameful of death at the time. In you, Lord, I've taken refuge. Let me never be put to shame, David says.
In your righteousness, rescue me, Lord. Incline your ear to me and rescue me quickly. Be a rock of strength for me, a stronghold to save me, for you are my rock and you are my fortress. For the sake of your name, you will lead me and you will guide me. I trust you, God.
You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me. For you, Lord, are my strength. Into your hand, I entrust my spirit. You have redeemed me, Lord God of truth. I'm gonna trust you.
That's David's prayer. It goes on from there. But Psalm 31, Jesus just uses... He appropriates because he's so full. He is God's word, and he is so full of God's word.
It just comes out of his mouth, comes out of his heart. Into your hand, father, I entrust my spirit. So if you think about that one, again, it's explicit. To whom is he speaking? Father.
Father God, I trust you. Now, there's a lot to be said here for what was Jesus' expectation on the cross. He did say that he'd be raised three days later. He'd said that to him multiple times. They didn't pick up on it, but he knew that he had to die a death.
He did not know what that was gonna be like to the point that he prayed in the Garden Of Gethsemane, not my will, but yours be done. I'm feeling the weight of this, and it feels like more than I can bear. But he took it all the way to the end. He finished the work, and then he entrusted his spirit to his father. This reminded me of first Peter two.
I love this. When we're getting to the what are we gonna do about it phase, what does it say, what does it mean, he trusted God. He trusted him. Every step of his life, he lived by the spirit, but he continually trusted even when it looked dark. And Peter says this, for you Christians, y'all have been called for this purpose because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you would follow in his steps.
He, Jesus, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth, he spoke plainly. And while he was being abusively insulted, he did not insult in return. And while suffering, he did not threaten. But he kept on entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. I I have this memorized in NASB.
But he kept on entrusting himself to the one who judges rightly. Will not my lord do what is right? It's what David said in in the deepest, darkest moments of his life when he didn't know what he was gonna do. Will not my lord do what is right? And Jesus kept on entrusting himself to the one who judges righteously.
And because of that, he himself brought our sins in his body up on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness before it is by his wounds that we are healed. That's Isaiah 53. Wow. So if we had to boil it down to just seven words. I said seven statements because it's obviously more than a word.
But if you had to boil it down to seven words, here we are. Forgiveness. Jesus is praying, interceding for people. I know some of y'all have been praying for the same people for many, many, many years, whether it's a child or a spouse or someone that you know, and God has laid it on your heart to be praying for them, Jesus also is praying for forgiveness for them. Think about that.
Forgiveness, the first of the words. Salvation. Assuredly, I say to you, anyone who turns to me in humility and lays down the sin that they recognize and leans into me, the innocent one, I have salvation ready. He is mighty to save. God loved the world and gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
Forgiveness, salvation, relationship. So don't be of so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good. Alright? Don't be so heavenly minded you're of no earthly good. Be living it out.
Take care of people. Be taking care of people. Relationship matters. Behold your mother, behold your son, is saying that what we do here on earth does make a difference. Take care of one another.
Be gentle with one another. Abandonment. There's not anybody here who has not felt some sort of a moment that God has abandoned them. For Jesus, it was true, and it was on your behalf. Does that make sense?
It was the plan of the father all along. I believe when Jesus emptied himself, he had to empty himself to be able to carry it out perfectly. Abandonment, he felt and it was real. David had felt it before him. He used the same words.
My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? If you're feeling abandoned, entrust yourself to the one who judges rightly. That was Jesus' way. Distress. He knew distress.
I thirst. You can live a good long while without food, but you can't live very long without water. And Jesus felt thirst, fully divine, but also fully human. There's nothing which has overtaken us that's not common to man, but Christ will provide a way of escape. Distress, I thirst, and then triumph.
It is finished. The finished work of Christ on the cross is real, and it is available for anyone who would put their trust in him. He proved that. I love the story of the penitent thief because there are some steps of obedience, baptism, and whatnot that we should probably and can do. But you know what?
Triumph, it is finished as the work has been done. Trust in the work that Christ has done. And there will be blessed reunion. And so I think that, for Christ to say, father, into your hands I commit my spirit. May we be living life in exactly that, where we are continually entrusting ourself to the one who judges rightly no matter what.
There's the line in the song that says, no matter what men say. Right? We sang it a few minutes ago. Reunion. Those are the seven words.
Now, would you say the resurrection is the greatest exclamation point ever? We get to listen to what he says because he said, I'm gonna die and be resurrected. That's what we're celebrating this morning. But you know what? That also means the resurrection being the greatest exclamation point ever is that Jesus gets more last words.
Right. He gets a whole another set of last words, and this is what I'll leave you with today before we sing the fifth song, which is because he lives. Twenty eight eighteen. Matthew twenty eight eighteen. It's Jesus up on the mountaintop with the disciples, and he says to them, Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
If we put together with that Philippians two where it says, he humbled himself unto death, even the death of a cross. He laid it down. And because of that, God so highly exalted them that everything is put under his power. He has authority. And he says so.
Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Based on that authority, I say this. Now, y'all be going, and as you are going, y'all be making disciples out of all the nations, every family on earth. Be baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit, and be teaching them to observe all the things that I have commanded you. One of my professors would not let this opportunity pass ever.
How do you teach somebody to obey all that Christ has commanded you? You obey what Christ had commanded you. He said there's no other way to do that. You can't just tell them. You've gotta do it.
You gotta show them. And by the power of the spirit, we can. Go as you are going, participle. Be making disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, the Holy Spirit. Be teaching them to observe all the things that I've commanded you.
And lo, I'm with you always, even to the very end of the age. Amen. So be it. That's the last words before the ascension, and that is the great commission. So I think that's the last thing I've got to say.
Would you stand? Amen. Hallelujah. We're gonna sing because he lives and we'll Benedict out the door.
Speaker 2Amen. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to heal, and forgive. He lived and died.
To buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my savior lives because he lives I can face tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone because I know he holds the future because he lives I can face tomorrow because he lives all
Speaker 1No war with pain.
Speaker 2And then as death gives way to victory,
Speaker 1I'll
Speaker 2I'll see the lights of glory, and I'll know he reigns because he lives. I can face tomorrow because he lives. All fear is gone because I know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he Amen.
Speaker 1Amen. Amen. And as a benediction today, we're gonna go from second Corinthians five seventeen. This means this Easter, this message, this celebration means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. Rebirth is possible.
The old life is gone, a new life has begun. From today, Lord God, may we be living that life just by the words of Christ from here forward into eternity future. In Jesus name, amen.
