Thank you, Cheryl, and thanks for the selection of hymns this morning. I could not have chosen them better to go with the subject that we're going to give our attention to. As we begin our worship to God through the study of his word, we turn our attention this morning to the death of Christ. And while you turn in your Bibles together with me to Matthew chapter 27, I can think of no better way to introduce this morning's message than to simply tell you most directly that what we have in front of us in Matthew 27 verses 45 to 66 really is two testimonies to the death of Jesus Christ. Two great testimonies. two eternal and significant testimonies to the death of Jesus Christ. First, we have the divine testimonies, the testimonies from God Himself that attest to the significance of the death of Jesus Christ. And then we have the testimony from those who were there as eyewitnesses that attest to the veracity or to the truthfulness or the certainty of the death, burial, and ultimately pre-certify even the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The passage that sits in front of us is the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ itself. There are many passages that you can go to in the scriptures that encapsulate the gospel message. Isaiah 53 is one of them. Psalm 22, as we just talked about this morning in our earlier reading, is one of them. Romans is a marvelous articulation of the gospel. In Matthew chapter 27 and verses 45 to 66, we have the record of the death of Christ. And Matthew has constructed this account in such a way as to give us the testimony as God as to what took place there at the cross in Christ's death and the testimony of the eyewitnesses with regard to the certainty of what happened, not just with the death, but with his burial and ultimately pre-certifying his resurrection. If you'll take your Bibles now and look with me at Matthew chapter 27, we start in verse 45 and we begin to look at the divine testimonies, the divine witness with regard to the significance of the death of Christ. There are four ways that God attests to the significance of Jesus Christ in the events related directly to the death. of Christ on the cross that are recorded for us by Matthew here in this text. And this is verses 45 to 53. First, in verse 45, it is the darkness that attests to the significance of the death of Christ. The darkness attests to the significance of Jesus Christ. You'll notice Matthew says now from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. Now, I'm not going to go back through all the events that led up to this moment, but the sixth hour is noon. And if you remember, we left off last week with the events beginning at 9 a.m., which is the third hour. What we have here is the culmination of the betrayal and the trial and the crucifixion narrative that Matthew is unfolding for us. You remember on the night in which Jesus was betrayed? The soldiers came and arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. They took him before the high priest and then ultimately before the Sanhedrin. And they found him guilty of blasphemy because he claimed to be the son of God. He claimed to be God incarnate, equal with God. Well, they considered that a statement worthy of death because it was blasphemy. And frankly, if Jesus isn't the son of God, they're correct. It is blasphemous to say you're equal with God. unless you actually are. They then take him before Pilate. The reason they take him before Pilate is because the religious leaders in Jerusalem, the Jews, do not have the authority to execute anyone. But when they take him before Pilate, they change the charge. And the reason they change the charge is because Pilate will have no interest in executing someone just because he violates some religious principle of the Jews. just because he claims to be equal with the God of Israel is not going to be worthy of death or worthy of condemnation or frankly, any criminal punishment in Rome's eyes. So Pilate won't take action. So they change the charge and they accuse him of sedition or treason or insurrection or looking to start a rebellion. Well, that is a crime worthy of capital punishment in Rome's eyes. In fact, Barabbas and two of his compatriots are already under lock and key awaiting crucifixion at this time for just that kind of a crime. The trial proceeds and we went through it in detail and you see that pilot finds Jesus to be innocent of all charges. And yet through the circumstances that we looked at in detail, Pilate is essentially forced to condemn him, even though he continues to attest to Jesus's innocence. And so he orders him to be crucified. And the charges that Rome files against Jesus are also true. That is, that he is the king of Israel, that he is the Messiah. So Jesus is crucified for being exactly who he is. The only thing they can find him guilty of is being the son of God and being the Christ, the king of Israel. And as he hangs there on the cross last week, we went through all the details of crucifixion. We went through where it happened and and the afflictions associated with it. We even took a look at the mockery, etc. And all of that began in the third hour, which is essentially 9 a.m. So, around about 9 a.m., Jesus is led to Golgotha, the place of the skull, which in Latin is Calvaria, which is why we call it Golgotha, Aramaic for the place of the skull, Calvary, Latin for the place of the skull, or the place of the skull, English for the place of the skull, which is, by the way, the translation of the Greek crania, which is where we get the word cranium from, which means the place of the skull. Why did they call it the place of the skull? It's either because that was a place of execution or more likely because it was a quarry and they dug it out. It was a place that it was shaped like a skull. In fact, I've seen some of the models in Israel now, and there's a nice pathway that leads up to it. And that mount, which the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is now built on, which is why it doesn't look anything like a skull anymore. Now it looks like a church. because that's what it is. That's where they crucified him. By the way, the burial place, the tomb, is in the same general area. It would have been along one of the edges of that dug-out quarry. We'll talk about that at the end of the text this morning. And that would have been when the quarry no longer was producing stone, etc., which they used to construct the temple or the temple mount area. Then they just turned it into basically a graveyard. So that's where they crucified him and they hung him up between two thieves. And we're told here in verse 45, having looked at everything we looked at last week, that from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. That is a three hour window. Even if you don't math, you can get that right from the sixth hour to the ninth hour is three hours. Good job, class. So it's a three hour window that there's darkness over the land. Now, during the time from the third hour to the sixth hour, from 9 a.m. to noon, that's where all of the things both that we talked about last week and that we didn't even talk about last week that the other gospels write about. That's when all that happens. Matthew doesn't point out that when Jesus is first crucified and hung up on the cross that he said, Father, what? Forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing. That happened in that opening hour. Also, when John talks about the Apostle John bringing Jesus' mother Mary up to the foot of the cross, and Jesus says, Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother. And He entrusts the care of Mary to one of His disciples because He's a believer. And all of His brothers at this point do not believe in Him. So He gives the responsibility to care for His mother in His absence to John. That happens. And it happens during those opening hours. Likewise, Luke 23 verses 39 to 43 tells us that it is during that three hour window that one of those two robbers, those two criminals, insurrectionists that are hung up on the cross with Jesus, one of them repents. I remind you that what we saw last week, if you look at verse 44, We're told that in addition to everybody else mocking Jesus and taunting him, the robbers, plural, verse 44, the robbers who had been crucified with him were also insulting him with the same words. But hanging there next to Jesus for three hours. Had a radical impact in one of them. And Luke tells us that at one point he has such a change of heart that he rebukes his fellow robber. and says, don't you fear God even now when you face death? We hang here for what we deserve, the punishment we deserve, but this man is innocent. And the longer he sees Jesus hanging and facing all of this, the more he becomes convinced and convicted. And he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. All of this happens in those opening three hours. Now, I could take you through some other stuff in the parallel accounts, but I think you get it. And I think we're all mentally back to the place of the cross at this point. And we're back to where Jesus hangs there in our place. Now, three hours this goes on. And then the sixth hour rolls around. It's now noon. And what we're told in Matthew 27, verse 45, is that from the sixth hour, darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. Darkness literally means just that. Darkness. You go into a room and you turn off the light and what do you have? Darkness. You go outside and the sun goes down, what do you have? Darkness. You go outside and there's an eclipse and the sun is blocked, what do you have? Darkness. You go outside and the storm clouds roll in. Now, here in Southern California, we don't have to deal with this about a few days a year, right? In Ohio, it's every day you have a game scheduled. and half of the rest of the days. In any case, the storm clouds roll in, the sun is blocked, and what do you have? Darkness. What happened at noon on that day? Darkness. Darkness. Darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. That's three hours of darkness. Now, if you take a look at the commentators, Especially when you look at the parallel text in Luke chapter 23 in verse 45, Luke explains that the sun was obscured. The word he uses in the Greek is the same word we get our English word eclipse from. And so some people have said it was an eclipse and it darkened the sun. And it just so happened that all the planets and the moon aligned and everything. You know the problem with that is? It can't be an eclipse. I'll give you two reasons. One, the Passover happens on the full moon. You can't have an eclipse on a full moon. And secondly, and even more convincing than that, is that an eclipse cannot last for three hours. The moon doesn't stay put that long. In fact, the moon doesn't stay put. So it's just passing in front a three hour period. of darkness from noon until three. The sun was obscured. Some people say, well, it was blocked by clouds. Well, he doesn't say that. It doesn't talk about a storm. It doesn't talk about winds. It doesn't talk about rain. It talks about it became dark, according to the way the Gospels recorded. The only thing we're left with is that this is a divine means by which God miraculously darkened the land. And by the way, it doesn't say Jerusalem. It says darkness fell upon what? All the land. Now, for the record, the word land here could even be translated as earth. And frankly, I am inclined to believe this is in the largest scope that you're expected to consider this. Some of the commentators have suggested, well, having it hit the whole earth seems like. overkill because nobody outside of generally the land of Israel is going to know what's happening. So it's really it's probably just Jerusalem and Judea or maybe the whole of the land of Israel, but but global might be a bit much. Well, what's taking place at the cross has global impacts. In fact, it's the most eternally significant event in all of redemptive history until the second coming. So I have no problem seeing this as as a global darkness that hits the world for three hours. In either case, I mean, you can believe it's more localized if you want, but it's not just over Jerusalem. This isn't a cloud that passed overhead. This isn't just a storm that rolled in over Jerusalem. This is the whole land was dark. Now, when you look at the Bible and see what darkness is typically associated with, darkness is typically associated with either with evil or with judgment. And I would agree with the majority who take it in this case as a reference to judgment, because that's precisely what happens. And that's precisely what Jesus is going to say and affirm himself in the next verses that Matthew records for us. My God, my God, why have you what forsaken me? This is when God turns his back on the sun in order to pull the fullness of his wrath out upon his son on the cross. Darkness is associated with cataclysmic judgment type events like the Day of the Lord. When God comes to judge the world, the sun goes black, the moon turns to blood, the stars fall out of the sky, darkness comes. Why? Because judgment is at hand. The darkness is a testimony from God, not just with regard to the. To the wickedness of the rejection and the crucifixion of the innocent, sinless Son of God that's taking place. Darkness is a sign from God that judgment is taking place and He is going to pour out the fullness of His wrath for sin on His Son. This is the first testimony from God that what is happening at the cross is eternally significant. This is of eternal, absolute significance. This is God telling us that he is fulfilling his promise to provide the Lamb of God. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53. You don't need to turn there. I just want you to listen as I read Isaiah 53 verses 4 to 6, which details 700 years in advance what's going to happen in the person and work of the suffering servant when he goes to the cross. Isaiah says, surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. We considered that he was getting his comeuppance. We figured, you know, what's happening here is he claimed to be equal with God. And now it's being proven that he's not. This is God turning him over to the consequences of what he deserves. That's what we thought. But it was our griefs he was bearing, our sorrows that he carried. Verse 5. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him. By his stripe, we are healed. By the death blow that hits him, we, we are cured. We are saved. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall upon him. When this darkness hits the land, whether it's somewhat localized or whether it's universal or something in between. God darkens the sky because this is the most significant moment in redemptive history. This is the sinless son of God. Bearing the wrath of God for our sins. The first divine witness to the significance of the death of Jesus Christ is the darkness. The second one is the declaration. The declaration, verse 46, about the ninth hour. So let's do the math class. If the sixth hour is noon, the ninth hour is three. So at about three in the afternoon, which just as a footnote, you remember when we were looking at Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples? Do you remember the hour of the day that the lambs began to be sacrificed? The ninth hour, 3 p.m. It's now the ninth hour, 3 p.m. And just as they're beginning to sacrifice the lambs for the Passover, The Lamb of God is sacrificed for us. It is the ninth hour and Jesus cries out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. And Matthew translates it for us into Greek. We have it in English. It literally translates to my God, my God, why have you forsaken me or why have you abandoned me? The reason you have it here, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, is because that's the Aramaic. It's also very close, by the way, almost identical to the Hebrew. Aramaic and Hebrew are very similar languages. It's like Spanish and Portuguese. A lot of the same structure. In some cases, a lot of the same words. And that's what you have right here. Jesus cries out or shouts with a loud voice. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Do you remember our scripture reading for this morning? You remember it? Psalm 22. How does it begin? Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, when you look at the next verse in verse 47, it says some of those who were standing there when they heard it, they began saying this man is calling for Elijah. Immediately, one of them ran, taking a sponge. He filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave him a drink. But the rest of them said, let's see whether Elijah will come save him. You can see the kind of the mocking tone when they say, well, let's just see if Elijah will come and save him. Well, the question would be, well, how would you get Elijah out of this? Well, if you had been paying attention in your Hebrew class, you would know. Eli is the short form of Elijah. And if you look at it, E-L-I-J-A-H, you can even see the break. When you look at what that name literally means, E-L-L is short for Elohim. Most of you know Elohim is just the Hebrew word for God, right? The Hebrew and Aramaic word for God is Elohim. The short form of it is El. Eli is the phenomenal suffix that just says, my God. And Yah is the short form for Yahweh, which we normally translate Lord. It's the covenant name for God. So the name Elijah, or Elijah in the way we say it in English, actually Spanish has it closer, Elias. That's closer to what the Hebrew name actually is. What it literally means is, my God is Yahweh. That's the name Elijah. That's a pretty cool name then, isn't it? My God is the Lord is the way we were translated in today's English. So when he says and guess what? Do you think you call your son Elijah all the time? I mean, if your name is Jonathan, what are your parents typically wind up calling you, John? If if you're if your name is James, what are your parents typically start calling you, Jim? Because you always shorten it. If your name's Elijah, what do you think your parents start calling you, Ellie? Eli, Eli, as opposed to Elia. See, that's all it is. That's the short form for Elijah, but it literally means Eli, my God. So contextually, why would they start thinking he's making a reference to Elijah? Answer. What does the Old Testament say about Elijah and the Messiah? Elijah comes first. And what is his role? Remember when we studied John the Baptist, the beginning of the gospel? I know it's just a few weeks ago, right? When we started going through Matthew's gospel, we got into the ministry of John the Baptist. And what did we see? What's the role of John the Baptist? What's the role of the forerunner of the Messiah? What's Elijah who is to come? What is his role? He's going to turn the hearts of the people and prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. So when they say he's calling for Elijah, they're saying, oh, here he is. He's claimed to be the Messiah. Everybody thinks he's the Messiah. And now he's going, Elijah, why did you abandon me? He's calling for Elijah to come and turn all the hearts of the people so that they let him down and recognize him. This is a taunt. This is a mock. That's why they close off there at the end of verse forty nine. The rest of them say, let us see whether Elijah will come save him. Let's see if Elijah does come. See the still mocking and taunting attitude of the people that are there. But listen, Jesus isn't calling for Elijah. Jesus is stating the fact of what is happening. God, the father, has turned his back on the son for the first and only time in all of eternity. And if you're reading this and remember, Matthew's gospel is written to Jews and to people who have a good understanding. They're biblically literate with regard to what the Old Testament says. So you should readily be identifying this with what we just read this morning in Psalm 22. You should be thinking, you know, that sounds an awful lot like Psalm 22, though. And when you think through all the rest of Psalm 22, let me just remind you of some of what we read. Psalm 22 and verse one, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Verse two, oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer and by night, but I have no rest. Verse 6, I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All who see me sneer at me. They separate with the lip. They wag the head, saying, you commit yourself to the Lord and let Him deliver him. Let Him rescue him because He delights in him. We've already seen that same statement quoted by Matthew in last week's text. David writes upwards of nine centuries in advance of this event. Any details with great prophetic precision, exactly what plays out. Verse 13, they open wide their mouth at me like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue cleaves to my jaws. You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me. A band of evildoers has encompassed me. They've pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look. They stare at me. They divide my garments among themselves. And for my clothing, they cast lots. What's it sound like? That's all right out of Psalm 22. That's all what's happening right here is Jesus hangs on the cross. When Jesus Christ and by the way, we went through all the details of the cross last week, right? Do you remember the details of the nails in the hands as well as being tied to the cross and then your feet nailed either to the sides or to most most likely at this time frame, it was probably there was a little that little wedge platform. so that you could kind of push against the nails and raise yourself up and get a breath. And ultimately, what did people die from? After days of hanging, they typically died from suffocation, from fatigue and exhaustion, starvation, dehydration. Finally, you can't hold yourself up anymore to get a breath and you simply suffocate and die. It is a slow and miserable and painful and particularly excruciating way to die. And that's why they used it. And that's why they made such a public spectacle out of it. It wasn't punitive. It was meant to discourage others. So when Jesus cries out in a loud voice, what does that tell you? Physically, he is not at the point of exhaustion yet. Physically, he is not near expiration. Physically, he is able still to cry out with a loud voice so that all can hear. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Now, if you'll notice in the middle in verse 48. It says immediately one of them ran and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed. I believe it's John, if I remember correctly, that tells us that that reed was a hyssop branch, which was used in the context of the sacrificial system to sprinkle the blood. That's not insignificant, but since that's in John's gospel, we'll save it for that discussion. But he puts a sponge on the end of it. That reed would have been anywhere from 18 to 36 inches long, which gives you an idea of about how high up Jesus was hanging on the cross. So his feet may have been about chest or head height, no higher than that. A lot of times we think of him as hanging way up, you know, where the cross is put on the big churches. OK, he's not way up there. And so the sponge is dipped in sour wine, sour wine for the record here is just the poor man's most common beverage. The lower classes drank this all the time. You didn't drink just plain water because you didn't have the bottled water from Kirk. OK, their water was like our water over here in the fireside. You drink it, you get a kidney stone, you know? Yeah, it's at least our water, if not worse. Anyways, you drink it, you get sick. That's why they added wine into it, because you put a little bit of an alcohol, a light alcohol content in it, and what's the alcohol do? It kills the germs and you don't get sick. That's, by the way, exactly why the Apostle Paul says, Timothy, take a little wine for your stomach. You're sick, so you've separated yourself completely from wine of any kind in order to be above reproach, and you're getting sick. Timothy, you need to give up that practice and put a little wine in so that you're healthy and able to minister. This sour wine is a super watered down. It's the cheapest stuff. And it's what the poor people drank in mass because it was just the cheap stuff. It was just drinking basically purified drinking water with a little bit of wine added. And the rich people had a lot more wine in it. So it tasted better. All right. They just give him a little something to drink. Now, John purposefully in John 19, he purposefully tells us that this, too, was to fulfill Psalm 69. I believe it's verse 21. Yeah. John 19, verse 30 points out that this is a fulfillment of Psalm 69, 21. Matthew doesn't go to the extent of pointing that out. Why? He expects his audience to be thinking Old Testament as he's walking through this. He doesn't make a big deal of it. But I'll tell you what is very clear. What he makes absolutely clear is that Jesus decrees this is a time when the Father has turned His back upon Him. This is 2 Corinthians 5.21. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. This is the first time in all of eternity that the Father is not in perfect fellowship and perfect communion and in a perfect relationship with His Son. You know why? Not because He did anything wrong, but because He made Him to be sin for us. And He turned His back on Him. This is the part of the cross that Jesus most certainly is chiefly concerned with and says, Father, if possible, let this cup pass from Me. The horrors of the cross is one thing. Separation from the Father is another. Understand, eternal condemnation isn't just about being cast into the lake of fire and paying forever for your sins. It is never, never having a relationship with the God who made you in His image. That's what the offer of the Gospel is all about. Would you like a personal relationship with Almighty God? That's the point of the cross. Jesus came and died in our place so that we could have a right relationship with our heavenly father instead of being separated him from him eternally. That's why it's good news, despite the fact that what we deserve is eternal punishment. What we're offered is an eternal personal family relationship. That's why In John 3, 16, it says, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but might have everlasting life. And in John 17, the definition of everlasting life is given to us. John 17, 1 to 5, Jesus says, this is eternal life, not just living forever, but that they may know you, the one and only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. And Jesus, in order to facilitate us being reconciled eternally, relationally to God, because we're sinners, it required him dying in our place. And in order to die in our place, God had to treat him as sin. And we come now to the hour of Jesus's death and he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And this is not that he doesn't know why this is meant to direct our attention. Also, when Jesus says it, I don't believe Jesus doesn't know why Jesus just is expressing this anguish. And this anxiety, because it's exactly what's happening right now, and he says it in such a way that's supposed to direct our attention back to Psalm 22 and show us this is what God said was going to happen from the beginning. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And while those who were standing there, when they heard it, they began saying, he's calling for Elijah. One of them, I believe, was moved with sympathy, and he ran and he took a sponge, he filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave him a drink. John 19 tells us that he said, I thirst, and that one person was moved. But the rest of them continued to mock. Let's see whether Elijah will come and save him. That brings us to the third divine testimony with regard to the significance of the death of Christ. And that's not just the darkness in the declaration, but third, the death of Jesus. Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. This is the third. This is the ninth hour. This is 3 p.m. This is the very time frame when the sacrificial lambs, when the Passover lambs are being sacrificed, starting here at 3 p.m. And it's at this point, in accordance with the divine plan and the perfect working of redemptive history, that the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, laid down His life for us. Notice what it says. Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, which shows us what? It's not that he was exhausted. It's not that he ran out of strength. It's not that he simply expired. That he rather made a clear declaration. And then, notice even in your English Bible, it is translated in such a way that make it perfectly clear what took place. He yielded up his spirit. It doesn't say he died. It doesn't say he expired. It doesn't say he was executed or murdered. You know what it says? He gave up his spirit. He released his spirit. Who is it that, according to Scripture, is credited with taking action in facilitating Jesus's death? The Roman soldiers? Natural forces? His enemies? No. Jesus. Jesus yielded up. Jesus released. By the way, just so we're clear, the word for released here is the same word that in other contexts is used to describe forgiveness. When when you forgive somebody, you release them from that offense and from all consequences of it and all rights to hold it against them. That's what he did with his spirit. He released his spirit. I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to John chapter 10. Look at John 10 and I want you to see this. John 10. Long before he gets to the cross, starting in verse 11. Jesus made it very clear what was going to be what was going to happen when he got to the cross. He says in John 10 and verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Skip down to verse 14. I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for whom? For the sheep. Skip down to verse 17. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down of my own initiative. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This is the commandment I have received from my Father." When Jesus gets to the cross, and when He shouts out with a loud voice, He then yields up His Spirit. He willingly gave His life. He expired at that moment. because He gave Himself up for us. He died to pay for our sins as an exercise of the volition of His own will. That's what the Bible says very clearly. If you were to look at John 19, verses 28 to 30, you will see that Jesus said, I thirst. In fact, you don't need to turn there. Let me just read you. I think it's worth pointing out the account in the parallel here. In John chapter 19, starting in verse 28, we're told that after this, that is, after all the events of the cross, Jesus, knowing that all the things had already been accomplished to fulfill the scripture, he then said, I am thirsty and a jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth. Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, tell us that it is finished. It is accomplished. And then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. If you look again at the parallel in Luke chapter 23 in verse 45, you'll see that Jesus also closed it off with these words. Father, into your hands I what? Commit my spirit. Jesus entrusted him who judges justly and gave himself up for us. You want the testimony of the declaration of Jesus Christ is from the cross that God separate himself from the sun so that the sun could pay for our sins. And then in the death itself, he willingly gave his life for us. Some people think God isn't fair because of the evil that happens and because of things like doctrines, like election and whatever else, I got news for you. You're right, God isn't fair, he's gracious. He's infinitely gracious and loving and kind and merciful and has offered salvation to all who will come to Him. Jesus says, Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He offers full forgiveness for all of your sins, past, present and future, if you will come to Him. If you will recognize Him for who He is and commit yourself to Him as your Lord and Savior. Yes, there is an expectation, an obligation for obedience from that point forward that is part of the offer of forgiveness and the call of salvation. Jesus demonstrated that God's love is perfect. God demonstrated his love for us and that while we were yet what? Sinners, Christ died for us. He wasn't killed for us. He died for us. He willingly gave Himself up. Now, we get into the last set of divine testimonies, which are literally earth-shattering. I direct your attention now, starting in verse 51, to the demonstrations that God has that coincide with the death of Christ that demonstrate its significance. We've seen the darkness, we've seen the declaration, we've seen the death. Now look at the demonstrations that follow. When Jesus dies, when he yields up his spirit, verse 51 tells us, and behold, underline the word behold, It's a it's an infrequently used word in the in the New Testament. It's a it's a rare word in the Greek because it is used in a sense to put an exclamation point on a statement. We use punctuation to convey, hey, check this out. You know, the bang or the exclamation point you put at the end of the sentence, which means you're yelling it or you're you're you're stressing it or saying it loud. Well, they don't really use punctuation in ancient Greek context. So they have words that convey that mood or that importance or that sense of, hey, check this out. And that's the word, behold, check this out, pay attention to this. The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now, I know most of you know this, but the veil of the temple is that huge curtain that hangs in the temple that separates the holy place from the holy of holies. Remember the temple, 150 feet tall on the temple grounds, it's the size of 26 football fields, and the sacrifices and the offerings take place right out in front, and there's that huge door, and you go through the huge door there, and there's the table of showbread, and the places where the prayers and the incense, that's where Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, goes in and he sees the angel, etc. That's all the holy place. There's a huge curtain that separates the holy place that the priest goes in multiple times a day, to burn the incense that represent the prayers and etc. But there's the Holy of Holies, which is the room behind it, where the Ark of the Covenant was. It represented the presence of God. There's a huge curtain. That was the way in the tabernacle. That's the way it is in the temple. A huge curtain that separates us from God. That's what that curtain represented. Nobody can see God and live. Nobody can get direct access to God because God is holy and is too holy to look upon sin with favor. That curtain represented the fact that we could get close to God, but not to God. Why? Because of our sin. And when the high priest went in once a year on the Day of Atonement, they put bells on the bottom of his robe and tied a rope to his ankle because there was always the concern if he didn't do everything exactly right, God would strike him dead and they'd have to pull him out because nobody else would be allowed to go in and get him. Remember what happened to Aaron's two sons? When they offered strange fire, they were going to go in and worship God, maybe walked into the Holy of Holies there in the tabernacle. We're not told exactly what happened, but they walk up and God has fire come out and consumes both of them. And they are dead on the spot. So people took it seriously about walking in to the Holy of Holies. And there was a major curtain. How many of you ladies have ever picked out curtains, paid for curtains or hung curtains or actually made or sewn or how many ever done that? It's a pretty big chore, isn't it? Look at that. Yes, yes, I've done that. And I hope never to have to do it again. Can I get an amen? Now, just to put things into perspective, if you've done some real work with curtains, you know what we're talking about. Well, no, you don't. Because this curtain was 60 feet tall, 30 feet across, 60 feet 60 feet tall, okay? I'm almost 6 feet tall. Almost. Listen, from galactic proportions, I'm essentially 6 feet tall. 60 feet tall then is more than 10 of me. One on top of another, on top of another, on top of another. More like 12, but we won't go there. Okay, so 60 feet tall. 30 feet across. And get this, depending on which historian you read, it says it's a hand's breadth of thickness. So that's this wide across. So that's about a three inches thick, which is probably about what it was in order for it to be strong enough material to hold all the weight of a 60 foot curtain. Some say it's just the thickness of your palm. In that case, it's only an inch thick. But history tells us it took 300 men to hang it. That's how heavy it was. Now, how many of you ladies are going to volunteer to work on the new church curtain that's going to represent the curtain that separates the whole? Probably not so much, right? Darlene's ready to leave the church. OK, that's a big curtain. And it was one massive curtain. And it was meant to make it impossible to see through. When we think of a veil, we think of a wedding veil, right? The clear white thing that you can see her face through as she comes in. I still remember Kath when she walked in. I could see her clear as day through that veil as I stood there waiting on her. This is not that kind of a veil. This veil was several inches thick, 60 feet high, 30 feet across. This is a major deal. This is a heavy thing. Nobody is going to just rip it. Does that make sense? This is like trying to rip a phone book that's 60 feet tall and 30 feet across. I want you to notice when Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Do you know what God just said with this? Now, I've read some accounts that said Well, the next verse says there was an earthquake, so it was probably a tile that fell off the roof and and ripped it. Dear friends and neighbors. Do you know what the Bible says? It doesn't say anything about the roof. It doesn't say anything about a tile doesn't say anything about anything other than from top to bottom. When Jesus died, the veil was ripped. A three or four inch thick. Curtain. was ripped from top to bottom for 60 feet right down the middle. Why? What did the veil represent prior to this moment? That there was a separation between God's people and him, which is sin. When Jesus yielded up his spirit, that veil got ripped from top to bottom. And it would have been right while the sacrifices were going on right out front. Right while the Passover, the first of the Passover lambs are being are being sacrificed and the Lamb of God got sacrificed and immediately the veil is ripped top to bottom. What's God saying? The way is open now. What my son just did for you made it possible for you to have access, direct access to me, all of you. All you got to do is come through him. That is the coolest thing in this whole narrative from my perspective. God at this moment said all those Old Testament sacrifices that were covering sin until a sacrifice could be provided was provided right there and then when Jesus died. The way is open. You don't have to be a priest to come to me or to get close to me. You don't have to be a male to get into the court of the men. You don't have to be a Jew to get this close to me. It's wide open to everybody now because the once for all sacrifice for sins has been paid. Somebody says, why, why do you get so upset about the Catholic communion or rather re-sacrifice of Christ, etc.? Because it's wrong. It makes a mockery of the cross of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died, God made it clear what was happening. Darkness covered the land as a testimony to judgment. Jesus acknowledged that the Father was separating Himself from Him. Jesus laid His life down for us, and the Father at that moment rips the veil in the temple from top to bottom, saying, what my Son has done has made it possible for you to come directly to Me. The sacrifice for sins has been paid. That's why Jesus said at the end, it is accomplished. Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit. God demonstrated his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's what this text is telling you. Notice the middle of verse 51 says, And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The earthquake happened. Why? Because God shook all of creation because of the significance of what's happening. Romans chapter 8 tells us that all creation groans awaiting for the adoption of sons. Genesis chapter 3 tells us that God's response to Adam's sin was to subjugate the earth to futility. He cursed the earth. There's an impact to the earth when Christ makes possible our way of access to be open to God. The veil is rent. The earth is shaken. And here's the most amazing one. The dead are raised. Look at verse 52. I'll bet this comes as a surprise to some of you. I bet many of you have just read past this in your Bible reading, maybe many times. The tombs were opened. You should put a period instead of a common there, because in the Greek punctuation isn't there. And I think it's it's clearer when you see the the latter Description here when it says after his resurrection the tombs were open. They were broken open at the earthquake period Many bodies of the Saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection And they entered the holy city and appeared to many You know what happened on resurrection Sunday Jesus rose from the grave Do you know what else God did? He had some saints raised from the dead as well, and they went right into the holy city and began to attest to the resurrection. Now, I can't tell you how many how many commentators I said or I read that said, well, this didn't literally happen. OK. If it didn't literally happen, then what about the cross? Did that literally happen? What about the resurrection on the next page? Did that literally happen? What about creation in six literal days? God speaking, did that literally happen? Listen, you either accept it all or you might as well throw it all out. What does the Bible say? It says the tombs were opened. Many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, and they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Listen, it wasn't just Jesus who appeared to the disciples. There were some of the saints that were raised that also went into the holy city. What's the holy city? Jerusalem. And they appeared to many. Notice it doesn't say they appeared to all. That's what convinces me. Now, some people have said. Well, this must have been they must have been raised like Lazarus was raised when Jesus died. They got brought back to physical life like Lazarus got brought back to physical life. But they then again died. It doesn't say that they were brought back to life. It says they were raised and they appeared to many, not to everybody. And it also makes it very local. Do you know what this event is? This is a mini demonstration of the rapture. This is this is a plurality of witnesses. Most likely, they are people from that generation. Some have suggested, well, this must be the Old Testament saints. What can't be the Old Testament saints? Because David is going to say 40 days from now that excuse me, Peter, Peter is going to say 40 days from now at Pentecost, that David is still in his tomb. Well, what's that tell you? David isn't one of them. David isn't one of them. So it isn't all the Old Testament saints. And it doesn't make sense that David would be excluded when he's clearly indicated of having a special place in glory and in the kingdom, etc. So who are these people? And why is it just a reference to the immediate location there of the Holy City? I'm convinced that what God has done here is He has raised Grandma and Grandpa. He has raised Uncle Joe and Aunt Martha. He has raised some of the people that were believers in Jesus that had died during his life in ministry and them being raised. Now they go in and they appear to their family and they appear to other believers and confirm the resurrection. Why is it localized? Because it is a local testimony to further confirm the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now if you want to see it as higher as as as big famous Old Testament saints go ahead. I just I just can't go there. It's localized to Jerusalem. And what makes most sense to me is it's people that those people that were there saying, we want Barabbas. Those people that were there and watched Jesus die. Those people that were there and heard Jesus teach. Those people that were there and saw Jesus's miracles. Those people that were there and said, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Those people got further proof of the resurrection, not just through Jesus himself, but through those he raised from the dead. And what does that prove? When Jesus died, it made the way open, not just for him, but for those who are his. Now, that's the divine testimony to the death of Christ, and it and it clearly points to the significance of it. Very quickly now, let me direct your attention to verses 54 to 66, and I want you to see the testimony of the or the human testimony to the death of Christ and the witnesses that Matthew trots out for us confirm three things. They confirm the death of Christ, they confirm the burial of Christ, and they ultimately confirm or pre-certify the resurrection of Christ. Notice starting in verse 54, Now the centurion and those who were with him, keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they became very frightened and they said, Truly this was the Son of God. Now, the other Gospels just talk about the centurion, but notice Matthew includes the soldiers. Can you imagine being there at a crucifixion? How many times do you think these guys have gone through the process of crucifying? Most scholars say there were upwards of 30,000 people that were crucified in and around Jerusalem during the life of Jesus. That's a lot of executions, wouldn't you agree? So crucifixion was not new, and these guys, this would have been part of their job. I doubt they enjoyed it. And they go through the process and through all of those crucifixions, do you think they ever saw a crucifixion like what they saw in Jesus? Do you think they ever experienced as they hung somebody up on the cross and as he's dying, the sun, it goes dark for three hours. And at the end, the person cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me into your hands? I commit my spirit. And then he just dies. And then the earth shakes when he died. I mean, you think they've ever experienced darkness and an earthquake time together with the death of somebody? And knowing that the claim was he's the Son of God. Hearing the mocking, he kept saying he's the Son of God, let God save him. And here God shakes the world when he dies. It says they became very frightened. Yes, they did. And they acknowledged that this is what's so fascinating. The Jews rejected and condemned him because he claimed to be the son of God, right? When he dies, what are the Gentiles immediately do? They recognize him as the son of God. What's more, and I won't take time to turn there. Matthew 1539 tells us that when the centurion saw the way Jesus died, that's what led him to acknowledge the deity of Christ. And in Luke 23, it goes on to tell us that he affirmed Jesus' innocence. And I'll go ahead just for the sake of clarity here. In Luke 23, verse 47, it says, When the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, Certainly this man was innocent. That's the verse that convinces me that maybe the centurion even got saved because he was praising God. Maybe the impact of watching all of this and participating all this resulted in that man's salvation. Regardless, it definitely resulted in him attesting to the identity of Jesus who just died. Look at verse 55, many women who were looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to him and among them was Mary Magdalene or Mary Magdala, Mary of Magdala. It's one of the Galilean cities along the Sea of Galilee. It's kind of south and west of Capernaum. And we saw that this past summer when we were there. It's a nice little place along the sea. That's where she was from. That's why she's called Mary Magdalene. Mary, the mother of James and Joseph. It's the other Gospels who tell us that the James here is James the Less, which would have been one of the disciples. So that's not Mary the mother of Jesus This is Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the other is the mother of the sons of Zebedee Which the other Gospels tell us quite clearly is Salome which is a sister of Mary the mother of Jesus So these three women are there. Why do you think Matthew points them out by name? Matthew writes 15 years removed from these events and if you want an eyewitness account go talk to those three women because they watched a Jesus die. And they heard the testimony of the of the soldiers. They can confirm his death. They watched Jesus die for us. Now, you can go to the other gospels and see further confirmation. For example, in John 19, we're told that when the next events recorded here, starting in verse 57 in our text happened, Joseph comes and asks for the body and Pilate asks for confirmation that Jesus is dead. So the other Gospels likewise reveal a confirmation of Jesus's death. But Matthew just points out to it here, the centurion and those who were guarding him when they saw all these things that were happening, including Jesus dying. They were frightened and acknowledged Jesus as the son of God. And there were a plurality of witnesses, these women who had been with Jesus all this time, who were also eyewitnesses of the fact of Jesus's death. So the Bible is clear, Matthew is clear in confirming the death of Christ. And what does that prove? You can't say that he swooned and you can't say that he faked it. He died. Notice, they also confirm his burial. Verse 57, when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea. His name was Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. When you look at the other Gospels, you can see that they affirm that he was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin and he was one of those who dissented, one who would not agree to finding Jesus guilty of either blasphemy or turning him over to the Romans. But it also tells us that he was a disciple in secret. Well, up until this point. And now he comes forward and he asks Pilate for Jesus' body. He went to Pilate and he asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate ordered it to be given to him. Mark 15, verses 44 and 45 indicate that this is when Pilate asked for certification that Jesus was indeed dead because it seemed too soon By the way, you can also look at the other gospels and see that Jesus died. When Jesus died early, the centurion is stunned by the way it happens in the earthquake and everything else. And by the way, then the darkness lifted. Isn't that interesting? Jesus dies and then the darkness lifts. Jesus dies, there's an earthquake, the darkness lifts, the veil is rent. Joseph took the body. He wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. He laid it in his own new tomb, which is less than 100 yards away. Or in the current Church of the Holy Sepulchre, all you do is go down a bunch of stairs and all the way to the back, bottom part, and there it is. And yes, that was probably it, or one like it. And Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean linen cloth, because this is what you did. When somebody died, by the end of the day, you would wrap them in a shroud, just a sheet of cloth. uh... and typically there were oils and spices in order to keep the smell down wrapped him up and you took him into the two men to would have two rooms the outer room is where the ossuaries were and the inner room that's the little boxes with grandpa's bones and uncle joe's bones and everybody else uh... and then in the back room there are shelves or uh... uh... michael little flat uh... shelf. I can't think of the word. Anyways, and then you would just lay the body in its shroud with all the spices, set it there, and you come back a year later, you would open up the tomb, you would open up the shroud, take all the stuff in there, dump it into that stone box, the ossuary, carry it out, and set it with everybody else. That's why they said when someone was gathered to their fathers. You put them in the tomb till the body decays, you take the dust and the bones, you put them in a box, you gather it all together, and you set it along with all the rest of the patriarchs of that family. In Jesus' case, it's a brand new tomb that Joseph had made for himself. And he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and he went away. Matthew points out in verse 61 very clearly Mary Magdalene was there and the other Mary sitting opposite the grave. Why would Matthew point that out? They say this wasn't just, by the way, John 19 says Nicodemus was part of it, but this wasn't just two Pharisees. This wasn't just two members of the Sanhedrin that took the body. There were disciples. The two Marys were there watching too. So you have a plurality of witnesses that Jesus actually went into that tomb and that tomb actually was closed. He actually did die. He actually was buried. Matthew is clear with this, and he is naming the witnesses for you if you want to follow up on it. And again, remember, when Matthew writes, it's not like John who's writing 60 plus years later. This is 15 years after the fact. Which may be why he picks these particular ones to name, because they're still available. In verse 62, notice it says, on the next day The day after the preparation, which, as a footnote, tells us this happened on Friday. Why? Because the day of preparation is Friday. I've been in Israel. I've watched. The day of preparation is Friday. And by 6 p.m., by sundown Friday, guess what happens? The Sabbath starts. And now it's Holy Day. From 6 p.m. Friday till 6 p.m. Saturday. And 6 p.m. Saturday is when all the partying starts, at least today. in those days six p.m. Friday's when everything's done and and it's Friday's called the day of preparation because Saturday is the Sabbath you're not doing anything so they put him in the grave by six p.m. Friday and the next day the day after the preparation the chief priest the Pharisees gathered together with pilot and they say the pilot sir we remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said after three days I'm going to rise again I just a footnote here isn't amazing that the disciples on the day of the resurrection are not looking for a resurrection. And they are the hardest to convince of a resurrection. Do you know who's worried about a resurrection? His enemies. Now, why are they worried? Because if they were doing this, they would have staged it. So they're looking to take actions to prevent the disciples from staging a resurrection. He says, therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal him away and say to the people, he's risen from the dead and the last deception will be even worse than the first. And I love the tone that pilot gives here in the end of our passage, he says, pilot says to them, you have a guard. You got the temple guard, you go make it as secure as you know how you forced me to condemn an innocent man. I'm done. You want to put a guard? Go ahead. And so they went and they made the grave secure along with the guard and they set a seal on the stone. The seal would have been a rope with wax on it. So as they pressed it down, you could not be tampered with without leaving evidence behind. Do you know what this does? This pre-certifies that when the resurrection happens, it's a real resurrection. This is Jesus' own enemies, essentially by their actions of sealing the tomb, proving the resurrection. when it takes place. It couldn't have been the disciples breaking in. They go in and they make it secure, which means they made sure everything is still there and we're sealing it. Incidentally, when we get to Matthew 28 the next time, it's these very guards who are the chief and first eyewitnesses to seeing who opens the tomb. When you take a look at these testimonies to the death of Jesus Christ, what is very clear What is the point of this whole passage in the conclusion of Matthew 27 in this gospel? The testimony from God is That Jesus died and paid for our sins and that death was an acceptable substitute for our sins. And so the way to him is open period to anyone who will come to him our sins are forgiven because Christ died for us and the testimony of of the eyewitnesses affirms, not just who Jesus is and that people began to believe in him, but more directly that Jesus really did die. He really was buried. And when he rises on the third day, the ceiling of the tomb pre-certifies that resurrection is a real resurrection. That's the surety of the gospel that we believe in. That is the truth that I bank my life and my eternity on. Jesus died for me and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And on the basis of that truth, I live for him. Father, thank you for this day and for the greatness of you, our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who came and died for us, though we are yet sinners. For those among us who do not know you, I pray you will open their eyes to the greatness of your person and the majesty of your love that is pictured and demonstrated eternally on the cross. In Jesus name, Amen.