Let's turn on our Bibles again to Matthew 27. We have here one of the gospel records of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I want us to focus particularly tonight on one verse of this chapter, Matthew 27, and it is this verse, and sitting down, they watched him there. It's verse number 36. And sitting down, they watched him there. This is something that men actually did at the time of the crucifixion of Christ. It is referring in particular here to the soldiers who put the Lord on the tree, those who nailed him to the cross after they parted his garments. It says that they cast lots on his vesture, and then sitting down, they watched him, just taking in the whole scene. And it's always good for us as Christians to meditate upon the sufferings of our Savior. We ought to do this often. We ought to think about it a lot. And we are encouraged to do this, and we are made to do this in a very tangible way as we gather regularly at the Lord's Supper. That's the purpose of this feast. It's not something that we do just because it looks nice. It's not just something that's done by tradition, because churches have always done this. They've always had communion. They've always had the Lord's Supper. That's not the reason. The reason for the Lord's Supper was stated by Paul himself in 1 Corinthians 11, when he said, This do in remembrance of me, quoting the Lord Jesus Christ, and said, by this means ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Now that word show literally means to declare or to preach forth. So there are two preachers here tonight. There's me and there's the table. The Lord's table preaches. It declares something to us, and it's a very simple message. In the broken bread and in the poured out cup, you have the death of the Lord Jesus Christ signified, pictured, represented. And so, we remember the Lord's death until he come. By this means, the communion feast is a time for considering Calvary. And so, in order to prepare our hearts, I think it's always good to come to the Scripture, especially to portions where it talks about the Lord's sufferings and death at Calvary. I seek to do this on a regular basis, bring suitable passages before the congregation that will remind us of exactly what happened when Jesus was at the cross. And so, tonight, we're not going to literally watch the Lord, because we don't have that privilege. We can't see the Lord. We can see him, however, by faith. The Bible says that we live by faith, not by sight. And by faith, we can see spiritually what happened in this great event, which is actually the focal point of all human history. There are several things that we can notice about this portion of Scripture. that really come out of the text itself. The text is, and sitting down they watched him there. And I want us to underline that word there. And sitting down they watched him there. We might ask the question, where? Where did they watch him? And it makes us think about the place where they were. Where were they? They were literally under the shadow of the cross. They were watching the Lord Jesus impaled on that tree, a tree to which they had nailed Him. And they're just watching Him and His sufferings. If you look at the New Testament as a whole, there are a number of references to the enemies of Christ watching Him. For instance, in Luke chapter four, verse 20, the Word of God records that those who were in the synagogue were watching Christ. Luke chapter four and verse number 20. It says, and he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him." Every eye was upon Christ. They were all looking at him. What were they expecting? What were they wanting to see? Well, I think it was what he was about to say that they were more interested in than anything else. They wanted to see what he was going to say. because the book of God was there. He had just read from the book of Isaiah chapter 61, and he applied it to himself. The Bible says that there in verse 21, After they were watching him, they fastened their eyes on him. He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. What I've just read to you applies to me. And we know that Christ is the subject of the Old Testament. Here's another instance of that. He's reading from Isaiah 61, And in reading that in the Old Testament, you would perhaps not know that it's referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, but now you do know who it's referring to because Christ himself applied it to himself in the New Testament. There they were in the synagogue watching Jesus. We go a couple of pages over to Luke chapter six and verse seven, and we find there that they watched him on the Sabbath. Luke chapter six, verse seven. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him. They were watching him in order to find fault with him. It was in the place of worship, once again. The synagogue, place of worship, and on the Sabbath in the same place, they're watching him. Then you come over to Luke chapter 14. And you'll discover there that the Lord was still being watched. This time, he's being watched at a social gathering. It was mealtime, and chapter 14, verse one records that it came to pass as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day that they watched him. They were always watching him. They were always looking at him. not only was it true in the synagogue and on the Sabbath and at social gatherings, but they watched Christ in his speech. This is true of all the places I've just mentioned. It's also true of Luke chapter 20 verse 20, because there the Bible records, verse 20, and they watched him and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor." They watched him. They were listening to him. They were hanging on every word, not because they wanted to hear the truth, but because they wanted to find fault. They wanted to find something wrong with what Christ did and what he said. But there's a point here for us to note as Christians, as the followers of Jesus, just as it was with Jesus himself that they watched him all the time, his enemies, those who were against him, were watching him all the time, so it is with us. We are constantly, continuously being watched. The ungodly world are looking at you, your co-workers, your family members, your neighbors, people that you interact with. They're watching you all the time to see, does your Christian profession match up with what you do? They're watching you. They're watching me. What do they see in us? What do they see? Do they see something that reminds them of Jesus? Or do they see something else? They watched the Lord in the synagogue, on the Sabbath, at a social gathering, in His speech, but here they are in Matthew 27, in our text, watching Christ in His suffering. These men are sitting at the foot of the cross, and they're watching Jesus. They're watching Him die. They're looking at Him suffering on that cross. What were they thinking? What do we do when we see Christ on the cross in our mind's eye? Because no mistake about it, this is where we need to be as God's people all the time. The hymn writer wrote, Jesus, keep me near the cross. They're a precious fountain, free to all a healing stream, flows from Calvary's mountain. Near the cross I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever, till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river. We ought to be found often under the cross. This is where we need to be as God's people. This is the place where these people were. And as it was for them, there is in our lives a great need for a consideration of Christ. Obviously they were looking at him physically, they're looking at his body, they're looking at how he's suffering there on the tree. But there are many things about the Lord Jesus Christ for us to consider spiritually. You go to the Bible and you look to see there are things about Christ. And you should look for Christ in the book. We're taught to do this, even by the Lord himself. Think of what he said to those enemies of his in John chapter five. He said, search the Scriptures. Search the Scriptures. He said, these are they which testify of me. You find that in verse 39 of John 5. Search the Scriptures. It's not just give a little cursory glance at the Bible once in a while. It's not just open your Bible when you're in church on Sunday, but search the Scriptures. Go through them as with a fine tooth comb. For, he said, in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. The Bible speaks about Christ. So should we not be studying the Bible to find Christ? You go back to Luke chapter 24. It's one of the greatest passages in the Bible that teaches us this lesson, that when you go to the Old Testament, you should be looking for Christ. Luke 24, he's with the two on the road to Emmaus. The Bible tells us that beginning at Moses, verse 27 of Luke 24, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. He drew out of the Old Testament all the things that applied to him. That's what we should do. Later on in the same passage, the Bible tells us that he said to the larger gathering of disciples, In verse 46, thus it is written, thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem, and ye are witnesses of these things. But just prior to that, what does it say? Verse 44. These are the words which I speak unto you when I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me." What's that? That's the Old Testament. That's the entire Old Testament. This is the threefold division among the Jews. The law, the prophets, and the Psalms. It's the entire Old Testament. Who does it talk about? It talks about Jesus. If we're gonna look for Christ, if we're gonna consider Christ, then we must find him where he is found, and he's found in the Old Testament. Think about his great teachings. Read about his wonderful miracles. Think about his deeds of mercy and love and kindness. In all of these, we're able to consider Christ, but most of all, we need to come to the cross. Hebrews 12 tells us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Is this what we're doing on a regular basis? But there's a vital need in our lives, not only for a consideration of Christ, but a concentration upon Christ. One thing that I find in this verse that's quite striking, and it is the posture of these men who had just put the Lord on the cross, sitting down, sitting down, they watched Him there. They took up their positions under the cross, and there they sat. That would suggest to me taking time out from other things just to meditate upon Christ. We need to sit down. When you're gonna read your Bible, sit down. Don't get too comfortable of a chair, however, because you'll fall asleep. I think it's good to read your Bible in a hard chair. you're not going to go to sleep in a hard chair, but you should read your Bible out loud as well. That'll help you to concentrate upon it. Something you may want to do, I do this quite a bit, and that is to go to YouTube, not to watch other videos, but to listen and to watch to Alexander Scarabee reading the King James Version. It's beautiful. His lovely English dulcet tones are very attractive, but he's a tremendous reader of Scripture. And oh, how it fixes it in your mind when you hear it read and you're reading it as well. You say, well, why would you read the Bible out loud? because there's a hint in the Scripture as to the benefit of this. Back there or further on in Acts chapter eight, there's a story of the Ethiopian eunuch, a man who was coming back from Jerusalem, riding in his chariot, and what was he doing? He was reading from the book of Isaiah 53. We learn this from this passage. But one thing that's often missed by people is that this man was reading the Bible out loud. How do you know that? How do I know he was reading out loud? Well, because the Bible says it. In Acts chapter 8, look at it. In verse 29, then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran thither to him, watch, and heard him read the prophet Esaias. He heard him. What does that tell you? It tells you he was reading out loud. Philip heard him reading, and he knew the place where he was reading from was Isaiah 53, and he began at that same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. It's a good thing to read your Bible out loud. You might want to read it too loud. You might not want to read it too loud to disturb other people, but you can certainly whisper it as you're reading it. Try it. It helps your concentration, no end. We need to read the Lord's Word. We need to take time out to do that and meditate upon Christ. In Luke chapter 10, the story is given of two sisters, Mary and Martha. They were both godly women. The Lord Jesus came to their village, Bethany. In the latter verses of Luke chapter 10, tell us about this incident. Verse 38, "'Now it came to pass, as they went, "'that he, Jesus, entered into a certain village, "'and a certain woman named Martha "'received him into her house.'" She owned the house. "'And she had a sister called Mary, "'which also sat at Jesus' feet.'" See that? Sitting, the posture, "'and heard his word.' But Martha was cumbered about much serving. She was all concentrating on the meal. She wanted it to be the best that it could be, and she got all flustered about it. That's what the word cumbered refers to. And she came to the Lord and said, Lord, does thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me. Now that's significant. See, a lot of preachers miss that. They'll tell you that, well, Martha was working and making the meal, but Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet. Mary had been working. Mary had been helping her sister. That's why Martha said, do you not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? She had been serving with her sister, but when Jesus came, she stopped working and she sat at Jesus' feet. It's so easy to become caught up with the work of Christ rather than Christ himself, you see. That's what happened to Martha. And what did Jesus say to her? Martha, Martha, thou art careful, which means full of care, and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Mary got her priorities right. She had done the work. She didn't need to do any more work. Christ had come. She needed to sit and listen to him. See, it's far too easy for us to be caught up with the work of the Lord rather than the Lord himself. Some people are all about the church. I, all about the denomination. But we don't need to be carried away with the work of the Lord. We need to be taken up with the Lord himself. That's the most important thing. Now sadly there are some who are taken up with neither. They're not taken up with the work of the Lord or with the Lord. They've got no time for either one. Hopefully that's not you. In the book of Acts chapter 10 there's a scripture I want to mention. It's verse 9. And it tells us, on the morrow, as they went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour. Went up there to get alone with God. Do you ever sit down to watch and pray? Do you ever sit down to meditate upon Christ? Sit down to read your Bible? Sitting under the cross, will burden your heart to serve the Lord fervently. Because as Paul put it in 2 Corinthians 5, 14, the love of Christ constraineth us. That's what motivates me to serve the Lord. Nothing else but his love for me. When I think of what he did for me, how can I not serve him? But as well as the place where these men were, I want us to think about the person whom these people watched. And sitting down, they watched him there. Now, it could have said, sitting down, they watched them there, because there were three crosses, weren't there, at Calvary? Jesus and the two thieves, three crosses standing. But they weren't watching them, they were watching him. The one on the center tree, Three crosses there, three hanging there to die, but they watched him, not them. Why? Because there was an attraction about the center cross that there was not in the other two. Even the other two, the thieves, were talking about him. If you notice what the Bible says about both of those thieves, they were talking about Jesus. He was the subject of their conversation. They were divided about Christ, though initially they were together in their thoughts about Christ. Initially, they both mocked the Lord. Initially, both of them were joining in with all the rest of the people, but then it seemed like all of a sudden, the one thief turned. And we learn about this in the 23rd chapter of Luke. And in Luke chapter 23, The Bible tells us very clearly about these thieves, and how that one of the malefactors, who had, if you study the context, been mocking with the other guy, But one of the malefactors, verse 30 it says, or verse 39 rather, which were hanged, railed on him saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. Come down from the cross and get us down as well. But the other, that's the other thief answering, rebuked him saying, does not thou fear God, saying thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, we deserve what we're getting, is really what he said. for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day. And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away. Jesus was the central figure at Calvary's cross. There are a number of scriptures in the New Testament that speak to us of Jesus in the midst. And this is particularly true in John chapter 19 and verse 18, where it tells us when they, or where they crucified him, and two other with him on either side, one and Jesus, where Jesus in the midst, in the midst. That means in the middle, in the center. That's where he was, in the midst. When you compare that with Revelation 5 verse 6, the Bible tells us there again about Christ. This time not on the cross, but he's on the throne. He's in heaven. And it says in verse 6 of Revelation 5, He's in the midst. Christ was the center of attention at Calvary. He was the focus of everybody there. But when we think about heaven, the focus of attention there is Christ as well. The hymn writer wrote about loved ones being in glory, about all those that were longing to see. But I long to see my Savior first of all. I shall know him, I shall know him. As redeemed by his side, I shall stand, I shall know him, I shall know him by the print of the nails in his hand. The focus of attention and glory is the Christ of God. Now, why was there such interest in this particular cross and this particular crucifixion? These men had seen this tons of times. They crucified thousands of people. The Romans were always crucifying their victims. When they took over some place, they were conquering all over the place, and those that they conquered, many of them they crucified. This was no new thing. This was no novelty. Why such interest in this crucifixion and in this cross? Who were they watching? Was he merely a great teacher? Was he some sort of a prophet? Was he merely, just as some said he was, a good man? Who was he? We read in Mark chapter six of the verdict of some people concerning Christ. Mark chapter six, verses 14 and 15. King Herod heard of him, for his name was spread abroad, and he said that John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works to show forth themselves in him. Others said that it is Elias, and others said that it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. See the different opinions that there were about Jesus? Some of them thought he was John the Baptist that had been raised again. Some of them thought that he was Elijah reincarnated, or some other prophet, or like one of the prophets. People had all sorts of opinions about who Jesus was. When you go earlier into this passage, you see that there were those who witnessed Christ doing what he was doing, and they said in verse three, is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and of Judah and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. Is not this the carpenter? That's how they viewed him, just as a mere ordinary man. Now those that sat under the cross would have known about his startling claims regarding his origin and his mission. For example, the person on the middle tree had claimed to be the Christ of God. These soldiers and others who were there at the cross knew about these claims of Christ. In fact, those who put Christ on the cross, who went to the Roman soldiers telling them to put Christ on the cross, did so because they had heard what they called his blasphemies. He claimed to be God and they said, you're a blasphemer. They knew about his claims. John 4 verse 25 and 26. Here he is with the woman at the well. And the Lord Jesus here, verse 24 and 25 and 26. You're looking at him. I'm the Messiah. What a claim that was. If Christ was not the Messiah, that was the height of arrogance. But he was and he is the Messiah. Jews to this day don't believe it. Judaism does not accept that Christ is the Messiah. They're still looking for the Messiah. There's an empty chair waiting for him at some of their feasts. But listen, their Messiah has come. I that speak unto thee am he. He claimed to be the Christ of God, claimed to be the Anointed One, claimed to be the Messiah. He claimed to be co-equal with God further. Find that in John 5 and in John 10. In John 5 from verse 17, my father worketh hitherto, and I work. They knew what that meant. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because they not only had broken the Sabbath in their opinion, but said also that God was his father, making himself equal with God. That was the claim of Christ. He claimed to be co-equal with the Father. You go to John chapter 10, the same thing. In verse 30, Jesus said this, I and my Father are one. I remember the Mormons quoting that, or giving me their opinion of that when I quoted that to them. I quoted this to them, I and my Father are one. They said, oh, they were one in their objectives. They were one in their aims. But it doesn't mean that they were one. I said, well, you haven't read the context, have you? Because the next verse says, then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Why would they stone him for saying he was at one with the father, agreeing with his will? That's not why they stoned him. That's not why they tried to deal with him that way. Because he went on to explain. Many good works have I showed you from my Father, for which of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Now, did the Lord correct them? Did the Lord say, No, I wasn't making that claim? You misunderstood? No, he didn't. No, he didn't. He went on to correct them by saying, why are you saying thou blasphemest? Because I said I am the Son of God. If I do not, the works of my Father believe me not. But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him. I and my Father are one, co-equal with God, What else did he claim? He claimed to be co-eternal with God. John 8, 58, before Abraham was, I am. You say, that's bad English. You don't say, before Abraham was, I am. You say, before Abraham was, I was. No, but that's not what Jesus said. He said, before Abraham was, I am. That's a title of deity. I am that I am. That's what God told Moses. This is the great testimony of the Lord. The verb to be, I am. This is who I am. I am co-eternal with the Father before Abraham was. They said, you're not even 50 years old. How can you say you were before Abraham? Well, because he was co-eternal with the Father. He's the eternal son. The eternal son. The Lord Jesus Christ did not become the Son of God at Bethlehem. He became flesh at Bethlehem, but He is eternally the Son. Co-equal, co-eternal with God. Remember, we were just studying John 17, verse five tells us, He prayed, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. He was somewhere before. He came down to earth from heaven, who is God and Lord of all, the Christmas carol says. Not only did he claim to be the Christ of God, co-equal with God, co-eternal with God, but he claimed to be commissioned by God. How often did the Lord talk about being sent? All the time He talked about it. In John chapter 3, from verses 16 to 18, What's the next part? For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He was sent into the world. And we read this continuously in the Gospels. We read much of it in John's Gospel about the Lord being sent. As the eternal Son of God, he was sent by the eternal Father. which is why 1 John chapter 4 and verse 14 says this, and we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The person these soldiers were watching was the Son of God and God the Son. And this is a tremendous mystery, great as the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The hymn writer wrote, "'Tis mystery all, the immortal dies. "'Who can explore his strange design? "'In vain the firstborn seraph tries "'to sound the depth of love divine. "'Tis mercy all, let earth adore. that angel minds inquire no more. Think of who he is that went to the cross. This is the one that we're watching when we think about him. By faith we see him there. Hebrews chapter one, with this I will finish. Verses one to three. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, different ways, different times, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Christ is the creator, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down in the right hand of the majesty on high. The one that they watched there at Calvary was one who was by himself purging away the sins of his people. That's what we celebrate when we come to the Lord's Supper. May we by faith tonight sit down and watch him there. May we think about him and all that he suffered on our behalf that we might have eternal life.