The following message was given at Grace Community Church in Mendon, Nevada. So, before the holidays, Christmas and New Year's hit us, we'd been doing a study on the atonement. We will get back to 1 Corinthians 14, probably right around the start of February. And we've been going through and looking at texts that deal with the atonement. And we looked at a number of views on the atonement. And just by way of quiz, I'll just leave it open-ended. I'm not going to call on volunteers. By the way, if you call on somebody, they're not a volunteer. So as we've looked at the atonement, I've argued that there is one perspective on the atonement that really is at the heart of what Jesus does for us on Calvary. Jesus does a number of things for us. It's multi-layered, multi-faceted. But there is a heart to the work of Christ on the cross. And does anybody remember what we call that view? Chris. Penal substitution, absolutely. So penal, that is paying a penalty. Substitution, paying it in our place, right? When you think about it, there are, A number of things that are true and in a sense by way of implication are true about the atonement. But the heart of it is that what Jesus is doing, he's doing in our stead, on our behalf. He's paying the penalty for our sin. By his sacrifice, he is appeasing the wrath of God. and paying the full penalty so that when he says it is finished, what that means is that there is absolutely nothing that you can do to contribute to your salvation. Jesus Christ has paid it all, right? So we sing another great hymn, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. And so, after looking at different views, then we started digging into different texts, and we looked at four Old Testament texts. Exodus chapter 12, and what was that about? Exodus 12. What's that? Passover, yeah. How does Passover actually teach us about substitutionary atonement? What's that? Yeah, so the 10th plague, which is the death of the firstborn, by the way, Israel is, as I showed from other texts, Israel's not automatically exempt from that. This is the pinnacle of the judgment of God. And all the other plagues, of course, God made a distinction between Israel and the Egyptians, so the Israelites didn't get lice, or they still had light and darkness and so forth. But this 10th plague, they have to do something in order to be exempt from the judgment of God, and that is in the place of the firstborn. So that's substitution. in the place of the firstborn, they sacrifice a lamb, which is perfect, spotless, and then they apply the blood to the doorposts, and when the angel of death went through the land of Egypt that night, he passed over, that is, those who had the blood of the lamb, in a sense, covering their home, they were exempt from the judgment of God. That is picture of penal substitution, all right? Then we looked at Leviticus 16. So if you were a little shaky on Exodus 12, I'm wondering how you're going to do on Leviticus 16. Day of Atonement, thank you, Margo. Day of Atonement. And of course, Day of Atonement is another and actually quite vivid picture of substitutionary atonement, right? Because here you have the high priest and what is he going to do? He's gonna enter into the Holy of Holies. It's the only day of the whole Jewish year that the Holy of Holies is entered into And of course, what does the high priest have to do before he can enter into the Holy of Holies? He has to make atonement for himself, sacrifice for himself. And so then he goes in and he's got the blood of the sacrifice and he's going to apply it to the mercy seat, which is the top of the Ark of the Covenant. And then they have two goats. and you have one goat that is sacrificed, and that's the blood that's taken, and then you have what's known as the scapegoat, and the high priest lays his hands on the head of the goat and confesses the sins of Israel, and the picture, remember, the picture, Romans 3, 21 to 26, remember, God passed over sins previously committed, so they weren't really being, in a sense, substantially forgiven, especially by virtue of the blood of bulls and goats, but the picture was transferred to the goat, the goat then is sent away, so you have the sacrifice of atonement that covers the mercy seat, which is a picture of propitiation, then you have the scapegoat that is sent out into the wilderness, which is a picture of expiation. So the wrath of God is appeased as the sins of the people are covered and removed, all right? So very powerful picture of substitutionary atonement. Then we looked at Psalm 51. So everybody knows Psalm 51, right? If you've been a Christian for three minutes, you should probably know Psalm 51. I remember when I was a brand new Christian, my mom gave me a bookmark and it had a list of Bible passages and for different situations, when you're afraid, when you're anxious, that kind of thing. And that's where I first learned about Psalm 51, when you have sinned. And Psalm 51 is a great penitential psalm, right? It's that psalm where David is confessing and seeking the forgiveness of God after his horrific sins against Ultimately God, against you and you only, I've sinned and done what's evil in your sight, but it is the sin with Bathsheba and then ultimately even Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba's husband. And so what was the point of bringing in Psalm 51 into a discussion on the atonement in the Old Testament? It's actually two things. Okay, all right, all right, that's something like that. So in Psalm 51, David says that, what does God really want in Psalm 51 from him and from all who sin? Okay, so a broken and contrite heart, oh God, you will not despise, right? And so there's a point where David basically says, you know, if you wanted sacrifices and offerings, I could do that, but it's a broken and contrite spirit that you will not despise. And so the idea is that what God wants from us is actually internally wants a repentant heart. He wants a heart that mourns over our sin and actually goes to him, pleading with him to blot out our transgressions, forgive us, cover our iniquities and so forth. But does that mean then that David didn't have to bring a sacrifice? Not at all. In fact, David does bring a sacrifice, and he is confident that God has forgiven him and that that sacrifice is, in a sense, a demonstration of the forgiveness of his sins. The thing about Psalm 51 is basically it's teaching us something that we see in the Old Testament all the time, which is just going through the motions and following the ritual doesn't do anything for you except make God angry. What is behind the symbolism of the ritual needs to be a broken and contrite heart, right? A genuinely repentant person is the one for whom atonement is made, all right? And then we did like in 10 minutes, criminal of us, Isaiah 53, the fourth servant song, and we ended there with our Old Testament texts for one very simple reason, and that is all of the language, all of the imagery, all of the pictures of atonement up to Isaiah 53 are basically pictures where the sacrifices are the blood of bulls and goats. You get to Isaiah 53, what's the sacrifice? Yeah, the suffering servant. Jesus Christ, and in fact, it's Christ himself, and this is, so in a sense, every time somebody brought a lamb to the priest as a burnt offering or a sin offering, anytime anybody brought a blood atonement, it was a picture that there was coming one who would actually be both offerer and offering, right? priest, and sacrifice. And so Isaiah 53 actually brings us, brings into perspective the fact that it is the servant of the Lord himself who renders himself as a guilt offering, right? And he does it in a substitutionary way. He bears our griefs. He carries our sins. He's crushed for our iniquities. All of that is language of substitution, all right? And so that's what we've looked at in the Old Testament. Now tonight what we're gonna do is look at the atonement in, we're gonna stick in the gospel of Mark as we get to the New Testament. And so turn over to Mark chapter 10. Every once in a while, you'll run into somebody, I've had this discussion probably maybe four or five times over the years, where somebody will say something like this. Jesus never ever said anything about him dying for our sins. Anybody ever heard such a complaint, such an objection? What's that? On the History Channel. Okay, yeah, so by the way, The History Channel typically doesn't have good theology, all right? Nor does the Discovery Channel, right? So when my dad was visiting, it was over Christmas, and of course, Christmas and Easter, they always have all of these shows about Jesus, and I said, Hey dad, look on the History Channel, there's a show about Jesus the Messiah, you wanna watch it? He goes, no, I'd probably just get angry and break your TV. All right, so here's our Lord Jesus, and I'd like you to take a look, starting at verse 32. While they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them, they were amazed and those who followed were fearful and again he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him saying behold we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered or handed over to the chief priests and the scribes and they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him and scourge him and kill him, and three days later he will rise again. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus saying, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. This always amazes me. I don't care how many times I read it. Here's Jesus just says, I'm gonna go up to Jerusalem and be scourged and spat upon and crucified. And they're like, hey, we want you to do something for us. Just absolutely the audacity, but it's us. And he said to them, you dummies, what are you doing? I'm talking about my crucifixion. No, it's not what he said. He said to them, what do you want me to do for you? You know what that reflects? The tenderness of the Lord Jesus and his patience with dumb disciples. They said to him, just a small request. Grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left in glory. Oh, I thought you were gonna ask for something big. But Jesus said to them, you do not know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They said to him, we're able. And Jesus said to them, that's what you think, no? The cup that I drink, you'll drink, and the baptism with which, you'll be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized, but to sit on my right and on my left, that's not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. Calling them to himself, Jesus said to them, you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them, but it is not this way among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many. Now, just a few quick observations. First of all, this is the third prediction Jesus gives to his disciples regarding his impending death and resurrection. So this is not new information. This is the third time that he has told them. And I'd like you to just pay real close attention to verse 33. Jesus says, behold, we're going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered, will be handed over. Now, that word, which is used twice here, second time in reference to the Jews hand him over to the Romans, that word, sometimes people think that all it means is betrayed. In fact, I don't know if there are any English translations that say betrayed in verse 33. I would say that that's actually incorrect. The idea of handed over has this rich Old Testament connection, and that is This word is used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures, multiple times for God handing over his people to be punished for their sins. He delivers them over, he hands them over, Notice what's interesting in verse 33 in the first use of delivered or handed over, and that is there's no particular subject. It's just a passive statement. The Son of Man will be delivered, will be handed over. We actually have a name for this in biblical interpretation. It's called the divine passive. That is, there's an action which is being stated, no subject is explicitly stated because the subject is implicitly God himself. In other words, Jesus is saying, we're going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man is going to be delivered over by God to be crucified. And we already saw a few weeks ago In answering this question, who killed Jesus, the answer is, ultimately, not Pilate, not Judas, not the Jews, not the Sanhedrin, not the Roman soldiers, ultimately, Isaiah 53.10, it was the father's good pleasure to crush him, putting him to grief. So it was the Father who did this. So when Jesus says the Son of Man's gonna be delivered over, he knows exactly what he's referring to, and that is this is according to the plan of God. Romans 8.32, if God did not spare his own Son, but freely did what? Delivered him up for us all. It was the Father who delivered up the Son. Okay? You get this idea in these passages in the Old Testament of being handed over because of the wrath of God, because of judgment for sin. And then the question then becomes, well, why would Jesus be handed over? And the answer comes when Jesus starts answering James and John. James and John, ask this completely audacious question. So in Matthew's gospel, it's John's mother that comes and asks on their behalf, all right? Lord, when you come into your glory, now what are they absolutely missing at that point? The fact that he just said he was gonna be delivered over to be tortured and crucified. So all they're thinking of is just glory. And Jesus turns around, and as I noted in the reading, he demonstrates this incredible tenderness, incredible patience, with some really, really thick-headed disciples. And that gives us hope, okay? Because Grace Community Church could just as easily be called thick-headed disciple community. Okay, that's what we are. We're thick-headed, we're dull, we're not like overly bright disciples, we're not overly sharp, and here we are, and here's James and John. Hey, let us sit on your right and your left. The two most important positions of power in your kingdom of glory, give those to us. And Jesus says, Well, are you able to, he says two things, drink the cup that I'm going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I will be baptized. Now, is Jesus talking about water baptism there? Not at all. Both references are to The cross, both references are to what he just said in terms of his prediction of going up to Jerusalem. And so the cup is the cup of God's wrath, and the baptism, by the way, what does the word baptizo mean? It means immerse. That's why you should be a Baptist. Doesn't mean sprinkle, it means immerse. And the picture here is not only the cup of God's wrath, but the picture is being immersed, and by the way, this has connections to a number of psalms. The currents of death overwhelmed me, the psalmist could say, right? The torrents of death came over me. As it were, they buried me. And so the very idea of being baptized with the baptism with which you'll be baptized is the idea of being immersed and overwhelmed by death. And so then Jesus turns around because then the disciples say, oh yeah, we can do that. Which again, if their first request was audacious, this reply is audacity to the 10th degree. Yes, we're able. Now, Jesus actually cuts them some slack because they don't fully understand what exactly he's talking about. But he says to them, okay, you're gonna drink the cup and you're gonna be baptized with the baptism that I will be baptized. And what does that mean? Well, it means this, that James and John would in fact suffer. Not for sins, but for the sake of Christ. Jesus' cup and Jesus' baptism is for the sake of sin. James and John's suffering, Acts 12.2, James is beheaded by Herod. Revelation 1.9, John is exiled to the Isle of Patmos for the sake of Christ. So they suffer, for sure, and die, but for Christ. What Christ does, he does for sin. Matthew Henry, and you should read Matthew Henry, right, Dave McCullough? Dave McCullough reads Matthew Henry faithfully and always gets rich insight. Matthew Henry says on this text, he says, we know not what we ask when we ask for the glory of wearing the crown and not for the grace to bear the cross in our way to it. So these disciples had no idea what they were asking. They were thinking about the crown and they weren't thinking about the cross. Oh yeah, we could do the cross. And they had no clue. And so the cup is the cup of God's wrath. We've seen that many times. Here again is the Old Testament concept behind what Jesus is saying. You have the fierce, furious wrath of God poured out in judgment on the nations and on his wayward people. That's the cup of wrath. And so then again, the question is, well, why would Jesus drink the cup of wrath? So understand we have two questions in play. Why would Jesus be delivered over by the Father, i.e. to judgment? And then why would Jesus drink the cup of divine wrath, which is divine judgment? Jesus then takes this as an opportunity to teach his disciples. And of course, he teaches them in terms of servant leadership. So the greatest have to be the least and the servant of all. And so Jesus is teaching his disciples this, and obviously some great lessons there. And notice, it is sort of interesting to me that here you have this profound teaching on the cross and what Jesus is about to do, and right in the midst of it, he takes time with his disciples to teach them that they need to be servants. Now, that leads Jesus to making one of the most profound statements in the Gospels, in the synoptics, Matthew, Mark, Luke, about what his death means. Verse 45, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. So there's the connection of what he just talked to them about, and to give his life a ransom for many. So, just notice a few things here. First of all, the Son of Man didn't come into this world to be served. Well, don't you serve Jesus? How many of you serve Jesus? And some of you are like, okay, this sounds like a trick question. Of course you serve Jesus. There's a way to serve Jesus. and there is a way not to serve Jesus. Jesus didn't come to be served. So what that means is the gospel is not a help wanted sign. Jesus is not looking desperately for people to help him accomplish his purposes in the world. We could all just, all the oxygen could be sucked out of this room and we could all die right here and the work of God and the kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ would continue to advance because Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and he rules and he reigns and he doesn't need you. Actually he does, he does not need you. He does not need me. God's servants are always dispensable. Moses, my servant, is dead. Next. So, son of man didn't come to be served. I'm not sitting there contributing to Jesus somehow by working for him. I'm not one of his slaves on the plantation contributing to the profit of the master. I serve him in a totally different way. So the Son of Man didn't come to be served, vitally important, but to serve. Jesus comes, so you wanna take your evangelical theology and turn it on its head? Guess what? Jesus came into this world not for you to serve him, but for him to serve you. You say, that sounds terrible. It's your salvation. It's your salvation. Do you really think that it is, you that carries him, or is he that carries you? So you're the needy one, I'm the needy one, not him. So the Son of Man hasn't come to be served, but to serve. Son of Man is the ultimate servant, he's the suffering servant. By the way, that language, came to serve, is directly connected back to Isaiah 53. The Son of Man came to serve. And how did he come to serve? Give His life as a ransom for many. Jesus served His people by giving His life as a ransom. You can't do that for yourself. You need to be served in that way, where the Son of Man lays down His life for you. serving your ultimate good. He's not serving you like a butler. He serves you as the Lord of all. Now, that little word that Jesus uses here, ransom, is a word, it's only used twice, by the way, here and then in the parallel passage Matthew 20 verse 28, all right? There are other related words, cognate words to this word, but this word is unique. And so it has the background, the connotation of war. What happened in the ancient world when you had war? You had prisoners of war. What did they do with prisoners of war in the ancient world? What's that? Slaves. That was it. There was no Geneva Convention or anything like that. If you were defeated and you weren't killed, of course this doesn't apply if you're killed, you became a slave. Now, as a prisoner of war who's become a slave, that was typically a death sentence in and of itself. because a life of slavery was a life of incredible hardship. So there's different kinds of slavery in the Roman Empire. There was what we would call a form of indentured servitude. So let's say somebody loses everything. Let's say they're a doctor and they lose everything and they risk going to debtor's prison. There's a good idea. Take people that owe money and put them in prison until they pay it back. And so debtor's prison was no joke. And so what you could do is you could sell yourself as a slave. So there are famous doctors and senators and lawyers who were actually slaves in the Roman Empire. But POW slavery was different. These typically were not your domestic servants. These were the ones that you could work to death with impunity. And so the very idea of prisoner of war, slave, that was a death sentence, and the only way you could be free from that death sentence is if a ransom price was paid for you. And so the fancy word is that the ransom was the price for the manumission of a slave. That is to purchase the absolute freedom of a slave. Sometimes slaves would look to other patrons who could pay that price of redemption, that ransom price. And so that sum of money used to buy a slave to set them free was called a ransom. And there are other words that are related. Typically, we translate them in terms of redeem or redemption, all right? But notice here in 1045, and to give his life a ransom, what's the next word? For, for. Do you know what the word for is? No, no, it's, it is a preposition, all right? It's not your typical word for for. It is the little Greek term on tea in the place of. There are actually two wonderful Greek prepositions. This is why you should love prepositions, your salvation hangs on them. One is hupere, in the place of, that is for, on behalf of. So that's used, for instance, Romans 5.8. God demonstrates his own love for us in this, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died hupere haemon, for us. Here, on T, is different, but it has even a stronger force. gave his life a ransom in the place of the many. That is substitutionary atonement. That is the redemption price that has been paid. And so Jesus, in a sense, in verse 45, answers why he's going to be handed over as an act of judgment and why he's going to drink the cup. Why? Because he's going to be a ransom for many. And so Jesus in his humility and in his service is paying the ransom price. And so he pays a ransom which he doesn't owe in the place of those who do. You know, what we call that, well, we call that substitution, but we also call that grace. He pays a ransom price that he doesn't owe for people who do. It's you and I are the ones with the debt. You and I are the ones that need the ransom paid. You and I are the ones that are in bondage. Jesus didn't have any ransom price to pay for himself. He pays it in our place for us. And so the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 is judged and through an act of redemption pays a ransom price in the place of the many. The many, by the way, goes right back to Isaiah 53. Those for whom he dies. So, for those that say, Jesus never said that he died for us, that's nonsense. He says right here that he gave his life, a ransom for many. Another text in Mark, and this will be a little quicker. Mark 14. Verse 22. While they were eating, he took some bread, And after a blessing, he broke it and gave it to them and said, take this, this is my body. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank from it. And he said to them, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for, oh, look at that, same word, by the way, as in 1045. Truly I say to you, I will never drink again of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. After singing the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So I want you to think for a moment, here's Jesus, what are they celebrating in that upper room? They're at Passover, right? They're celebrating the Passover. Jesus had actually sent his disciples into Jerusalem to do what? To make preparations for their celebration of the Passover. And so, and I've noted this before, but it always amazes me to think of the fact that historians actually think that during the feast, especially Passover, Jerusalem, which typically had maybe about 100,000 people, which was a big city, during the feast actually were probably pressing near a million with all of those who had come from all the surrounding areas to observe the feast, right? So here they are just crammed into Jerusalem. So that night as all of these Jewish people are scattered throughout Jerusalem doing what? They're celebrating the Passover. And they're celebrating it the same way that their fathers had celebrated it. who celebrated it the same way as their fathers had celebrated it, and on and on. In that upper room, something happens that only happens there. In all of these celebrations, there's only one location where one rabbi actually changes the words. He takes bread. So there's a major shift that's about to happen before your very eyeballs. So this unleavened bread was always associated with Israel's deliverance, right? This is what God instructs his people to do. They're to make unleavened bread, and this was part of the way in which they did what? They memorialized the Passover. They took unleavened bread and then they took a roasted lamb, and so, Here, Jesus takes that bread, which everybody else was doing, but he does something radically different, and he takes it, and he breaks it, and he says words that nobody else ever had said. What are the words? I was gonna say magic words, but that'd be bad. This is my body. This is my body. absolutely stunning. He breaks the bread and then says, this is my body. Now, do you think any of the disciples had a clue what he was talking about? They're probably thinking, he got the words wrong. Is this his first Passover? What he's saying, As he breaks that bread and says, this is my body, as he's saying that this bread symbolizes my body, which is about to be broken and given in sacrifice. What was the symbolism of Passover? What was redemption? Passover was the Old Testament act of redemption. Jesus now takes the symbolism of the Passover, which is the redemption of the Exodus, and in a sense, what he does is he fulfills what it was about the whole time. So the typology of the Passover is ultimate redemption in Christ. And so the symbolism of the bread, think about this, you talk about shift in redemptive history, never again, for followers of Jesus, would the bread point back to deliverance from Egypt. It would now forever point us back to Calvary. Shift. Major shift. Then Jesus takes the cup. He takes the cup and he gives thanks. And there's a very good possibility, as New Testament scholars point out, that this was probably the third cup of the Passover meal, which was called the cup of blessing. And it's very possible that Jesus, in the course of observing this, used the traditional formula of thanksgiving, O Lord our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine. But Jesus doesn't just say the normal words of Passover, he then says what we now call the words of institution. Listen to these words, this is Matthew. Drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Mark, they all drank from it and he said this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. Luke, this cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. So not only has Jesus taken the bread of the Passover and transformed it to symbolize his body, now he's taken the cup and transformed it from the cup of blessing now to symbolize the blood of the new covenant which is poured out for the forgiveness of our sins. And I just want to tell you that as those disciples were sitting there that night and they heard this language. Blood of the covenant was common language. My blood of the covenant was not. Blood of the covenant for the forgiveness of sins was common language. My blood of the covenant was not. Blood of the new covenant was not. And so Jesus uses words here that are absolutely profound. My blood of the covenant, which is poured out, poured out the image of violent death, poured out for many, reflects that Old Testament theme, sacrificial atoning death, poured out the shedding of blood for the ratification of the covenant. By the way, covenants are ratified by blood. When Moses is about to ratify the Mosaic covenant, Exodus 24, eight, what does he do? He actually sprinkles everything with blood. And he says, this is the blood of the covenant. So the covenant that's in view, clearly, ends up being the new covenant. It's interesting, both Luke and Paul use the phrase new covenant, which comes to us from Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. And so, in a sense, what Jesus is saying at the Last Supper is this, that the benefit of this new covenant is that this is a new covenant in my blood, which means my blood's been poured out for you so that your sins can be forgiven. Jeremiah 31, 34, I will forgive their iniquity and their sins I will remember. No more. By the way, you know the writer to the Hebrews capitalizes on that promise of Jeremiah 31, 34 by telling us that the blood of bulls and goats could never, ever take away sin, and in fact, their continual, perpetual sacrifices weren't actually a sign that sins were forgiven, but they were a reminder of sin. There's only one thing that can permanently take away sin, and that is the blood of the Son of God. So in other words, the very promise, I'll forgive your iniquity, your sins I'll remember no more, can only happen once the ultimate sacrifice has been made through Jesus Christ. And so here's the glorious benefit of the new covenant is that your sins are forgiven. Jesus sheds his blood for the forgiveness of your sins. We've been talking a lot recently about justification and imputation of righteousness and all of that. But I want us to think just for a moment, what is it to have your sins forgiven? If you know yourself to be a sinner, then there is nothing more precious than forgiveness. If you don't think you're that bad, You don't have much to be forgiven of, right? But what does Jesus say in Luke 7? He who is forgiven much, loves much, right? When I realize what I am, when I realize the depth of my sin and the depth of my misery and what Jesus has done for me, then all of a sudden, I realize that forgiveness is one of the most precious things a human being can experience. So it is no small thing when the church confesses through the creed, we believe in the forgiveness of sins. Are your sins forgiven? There's only one way that your sins are forgiven. through the blood of Jesus, the blood of the new covenant, the blood that was poured out for many. One last passage. Makes you wanna take the Lord's Supper, doesn't it? Every week. Chapter 15, verse 33. We'll just touch on this briefly. So Jesus has been crucified. Verse 33, when the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lana sabachthani, which is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And so in a sense, it's appropriate that we finish up with these two verses of Jesus' cry of dereliction, or his cry from Golgotha. because it's this one passage that brings together Jesus being handed over by the Father, Jesus giving his life as a ransom, drinking the cup, being baptized with the baptism of judgment, and pouring out his blood for our forgiveness. That's what's happening. And so the text says when the sixth hour has come, that's about noon until the ninth hour, it's about three in the afternoon, so there's darkness. Darkness is the trademark of the day of the Lord. You understand the Old Testament prophets, when they talk about the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord is a day of what? Judgment. Day of the Lord is a day of judgment, it's a day of gloom, it's a day of darkness. And when darkness comes over the land, it is a symbol that the day of the Lord, the day of judgment and wrath has come over the earth. And so, darkness was also the precursor judgment to the death of the firstborn. Exodus chapter 10. What happens right before the firstborn is killed? The plague of darkness. Sinclair Ferguson, this is just wonderful. In the exodus from Egypt, the plague of darkness has been God's last word to Pharaoh before the angel of death visited the land. Now the exodus was finding its ultimate fulfillment in the exodus which Jesus was accomplishing at Jerusalem. There was a plague of darkness preceding the sacrifice of Christ as the Passover lamb, but this time it was God's own firstborn who was to die. And so the darkness comes because the wrath is about to come. In a sense, the wrath is about to be unfurled. It's about to be unleashed on the Son of God. The day of the Lord was going to find its mark, and the justice of God was going to be satisfied, and the vengeance of God was about to be satiated. And so Jesus cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What is the significance of this cry? By the way, this is from Psalm 22. David originally said these words. And let me just say that the greater son of David said these words in a way that David could have never said. Four quick observations on this cry of abandonment. The sinless son had been abandoned by the father. That's what it means. The son who actually knew perfect fellowship and communion with the father was now rejected and forsaken. There's this really moving passage in John 16, 32, where there's an upper room discourse, Jesus is the knight, he's gonna be betrayed and handed over. And Jesus says, you're all gonna leave me, you're all gonna abandon me. But my father's with me. So think about that. That was the only thing that brought him comfort in the midst of the abandonment of his own disciples. And yet on Calvary, on Golgotha, those three hours, the son of God is abandoned by his father. Linsky says, no man can really know what it means for God to forsake or abandon Jesus during those three awful hours. There's a mystery to it, is there not? Second observation, the sinless son was taking the place of sinners. So when Jesus cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You have to understand that what's happening is Jesus is covered with our sin, he's covered, as it were, with our filth, with our corruption, and he becomes sin. He made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf. And so here is this incredible transaction, so Jesus becomes the curse, and it's in that wretched and vile condition that the father turns away because his holy eyes cannot bear the sight as his holy wrath is incited by what his son has become. You ever think about it that way? The holy wrath of God is incited by what the Son had become. In a real sense, darkness not only descends upon Jesus, but as it were, enters into him. The one who had known nothing but love and light and truth is now doing what? Receiving the penalty, the wages of our sin. The wages of sin is death. The sinless son was drinking the cup which sinners deserved. So that chalice of vengeance, that chalice of anger is what rebels deserve, the white-hot fury of the Almighty God unmixed without mercy. Not one single drop of love, and what does the Son of God do? He drinks it all the way. Not one drop left for us. The sinless son was absorbing the wrath which sinners deserved. In a very real sense, not only did darkness descend upon Golgotha, hell came to Golgotha. It was the hell that we deserved. It was the separation that we deserved. It was the wrath that we deserved. It was the punishment which was ours. You know what the son is doing? He's laying down his life voluntarily. Who would do that? Here's a bigger question, who would do that for us? Who would do that for you? I mean, there's some nice people in this room, but I'm gonna tell you what, you're not that nice. And so we sing that ancient hymn of the Christian church, Mine, mine was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain. Pink says that the cross then is nowhere else. We see the infinite malignity of sin and the justice of God and the punishment thereof. So these three passages actually are in a sense defining moments in the life and death of our Lord Jesus. These three passages end up revealing this strong emphasis from Jesus himself on substitutionary atonement. These three passages in a sense weave together for us the types and the shadows and the prophecies of the Old Testament as they come to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. It is the very life and death of Jesus that is the fulfillment of all of those atoning pictures of the Old Testament. And so, as far as I'm concerned, there's only one thing to say in conclusion. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the death of our Lord Jesus, and we thank you that his life is a ransom for many. We thank you that his blood was poured out, the blood of the covenant was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins, and that he suffered the separation that we all deserve. And so, Father, we pray that you would Wash us and cleanse us once again. That you would forgive us of our sins, they are many. And that you would remind us that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. We pray that we would not treat the death of our Lord Jesus lightly by treating sin lightly. We pray that you would help us to wage a holy warfare against it. because of the incredible cost that it took for us to be free from it. Father, remind us that in Christ we are free and forgiven. In Jesus' name, amen. We hope that you were edified by this message. For additional sermons as well as information on giving to the ministry of Grace Community Church, please visit us online at gracenevada.com. 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