The Crucified Saviour (Matthew 27:45-61)
Good Friday is the day we set aside to remember the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s a strange name in a way. Of course, we believe that great good came about through the death of Jesus. We do believe that, but Good Friday sounds like a happy sort of thing, and the subject matter is quite heavy. As with any holiday we're remembering, we're calling to mind something that happened in the past with great importance for the present. But the remembrance here is a strange and awful event, really, if you think about it.
Strange name, strange event. The betrayal of Jesus by His intimate friends, driven by greed. The envy of religious men, religious leaders, overflowing in cruel hypocrisy. The cold political calculation of Pontius Pilate. The abandonment of Jesus by those He held most dear. Finally, the brutal efficiency of the Roman soldiers who knew how to execute political prisoners. Jesus Christ died forsaken by all the people who could have helped Him. It's a very strange thing to have a holiday about.
A forsaken man being forsaken, forgotten, abandoned. It's not something that we celebrate anywhere else in life. It's the stuff of our darkest dreams, the thing that we fear the most.
Fears of being forgotten, abandoned, forsaken. When I was a teenager, I worked in the summers in a nursing home. I remember very vividly sitting with older people, sharing meals with them. They would talk about the same thing every day, “Why do my children not come visit me? Have they forgotten? When will they come?” They would ask me.
Young, old, even in the middle we fear being abandoned, that someone we care about will forget us, will leave us. Being left all alone is one of our deepest fears. These are things that we'd rather not think about, much less make a holiday about.
You should believe that Jesus' forsakenness in death brings forgiveness and life.
Good Friday. Why is it called good? That's what we're thinking about this evening as we look at Matthew 27:45-61.
The main idea of the passage is this: you should believe that Jesus' forsakenness in death brings forgiveness and life.
Jesus forsakenness in death
We have three hours of that fateful Friday compressed into these several verses. This is noon to 3 p.m and we're told that darkness covered the entire land.
Storm clouds, dust and eclipse — we are not sure what the temporal cause is, but we understand the ominousness of what is happening from Matthew 27:46. Jesus cried out in a loud voice. This is surprising for a man who's been nailed to a cross for six hours, who has been slowly dying of blood loss and asphyxiation to cry out in a loud voice. The impression we get throughout is that Jesus is in full command of His faculties, even His voice.
We're told what He said in Aramaic, the language He would have spoken, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani.” Greek was the written language, so Matthew gives it to us in Greek — “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is a quotation from Psalm 22:1, about the righteous sufferer, a man who has done no wrong and yet is suffering at the hands of wicked men. The whole first half of Psalm 22 is an excruciating read. The Psalmist is praying so he continues to trust that God is there and can hear him. The problem is, God does not seem to be answering his prayer. His circumstances are not improving. His suffering is actually met with mockery and the seeming silence of God. We have here the words of a man who feels like his prayers are bouncing off of the ceiling, but who trusts God anyway.
I wonder if C.S. Lewis was thinking about this text when he wrote his famous words from Screwtape Letters: “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” Some of you might need to make Psalm 22 your home because you're going through a difficult time right now.
There are some bystanders of the crucifixion mentioned in Matthew 27:47. They misunderstand the cry of “Eli”, as crying out for Elijah. They run to get a sponge and they soak it in sour wine. They put it on a reed and put it up to Jesus. Some have understood this as an act of kindness, but I think the background of this act is another Psalm of lament, in Psalm 69:20-21: “Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” If this is right, then the action is simply more of the mocking that Jesus received and another sign of his abandonment.
Then in Matthew 27:50, He cries out again in a loud voice and yields up His spirit. Jesus of Nazareth, who was called the Christ, died. I wonder what you think of what is written here. If you're familiar with the story, it might keep you from what should be an appropriate level of astonishment. Why should this one die? Why would they kill him?
Matthew 1 presented Jesus as a king. He was one who came as the son of David and the son of Abraham. In Matthew 5, He was the great teacher like Moses that went up on a mountain top and sat down, called His disciples to him and said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” He was the one who had compassion on the crowds because He saw them as like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36). Do you remember when He stretched out His hand and He touched the leper (Matt 8:1-4)? No one touches the leper. But Jesus did. In Matthew 10, He invited people who were weary and heavy-laden to come to him and find rest for He is gentle and lowly of heart. And on the night before this one, He looked at His disciples and said, “I no longer call you servants, for a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends” (paraphrase, Jn 15:15).
Why would they abandon this one? Why forsake the friend of sinners? Most significantly, why would this one, who is called the Son of God, be abandoned and forsaken by God?
He died to save His people from their sins and the pouring out of His blood was for the forgiveness of sins.
The answer is as profound as it is simple. Matthew began his gospel by saying that Jesus came to save His people from their sins. The night before this one, Jesus at the Last Supper had taken a cup of blood red wine and said, this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. He died to save His people from their sins and the pouring out of His blood was for the forgiveness of sins.
But we might ask, why does this require Him to be forsaken by God? What does that even mean? The answer to that is given most clearly by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 3.13, where it says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” On the cross, in taking on Himself the sins of all those who would believe on Him and be saved, He actually became the curse that is on the lawbreaker.
To understand this curse of God, remember God's words in the Garden of Eden, “in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17b). Death for sin and judgment and hell. That's the wages of sin. On the cross, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
That's the meaning of the darkness and the cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The Father has turned His face away and is no longer listening to the Son. The wrath of God, the Father Almighty, is turned against sin as it is borne by His Son.
Before we consider the result of Hs death, I want us to think about what this means when you and I are walking through pain and suffering, when we feel forsaken. There are some religions that say that suffering is an illusion, or that it's merely temporary, that you should take the lemons of life and make lemonade or something like that. But Christianity is the only religion where God Himself enters the suffering.
When I'm forsaken, I have a Saviour who knows what it is like to be forsaken. When you and I are alone, we have a Savior who knows what it's like to be abandoned.
When I was first trying to share the gospel with atheists. I would be asked if Christianity was just for people who need help to make it through life, who need some sort of a crutch to make it through. As a young man, I was eager to show them that Christianity is a robust religion, that it is not just for weak people. It makes sense and it can stand on its own two feet. As I look back now, I think it was foolish of me. I should have embraced the premise of the question. Christianity is absolutely for those who say they cannot make it through any other way, because I've realized as I get older, how precious it is to have a Saviour who knows suffering and can sympathize with mine. When I'm forsaken, I have a Saviour who knows what it is like to be forsaken. When you and I are alone, we have a Savior who knows what it's like to be abandoned. Tim Keller said it this way, “Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God Himself walks with us in the fire.”
We see that here. In his death, Jesus was forsaken by man, but more importantly, Jesus was forsaken by God.
Jesus, forsaken in death, brings forgiveness and life
We move from thinking about Jesus death to thinking about the results of Jesus death (Matt 27:51-53). Much of the meaning of His death is found elsewhere in the gospel. In Matthew 1:21, the angel saying His name will be Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. In Matthew 20:28, He said He came to give His life as a ransom for many. At the last supper, Jesus said Jis blood is poured out for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 26:28).
But in Matthew 27:51-53, there are three events that point to what is death accomplished. First we're told that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. This is the curtain of purple and blue and scarlet yarn with angelic guardians woven into it that separated the Holy Place of the temple from the Most Holy Place (Exo 26:31; 36:35).
It's tearing is a visible picture of what Hebrews 10:19 calls the new and living way that you and I have to the very presence of God. When man was cast out of Eden there were angelic guardians with a flaming sword that were put to block the way back in (Gen 3:24). Now that sin has had a payment, the angel soldiers are no longer needed at their posts. The believer in Jesus now has immediate access to God in prayer and looks forward to an eternity of living in His presence.
The second event here is an earthquake, symbolizing the shaking of the created order. When man fell into sin, it did not just affect him, it also affected the whole natural world, the whole universe. That's why at the restoration of all things, the book of Revelation says there will be a new heavens and a new earth. This sign speaks of the coming downfall of the old and the rebirth of the new in the physical world.
There's a third event — the tombs were opened. It could be that they were split because of the earthquake, but somehow the life-giving nature of Jesus' death infuses into many dead believers, life. They come out of their tomb and we're told that after Jesus' resurrection they came back into Jerusalem and appeared to many people.
So what is the result of Jesus' death? Forgiveness of sins which leads to access to God. The natural world is shaken pointing to its coming renewal and life comes to those who were dead.
So what is the result of Jesus' death? Forgiveness of sins which leads to access to God. The natural world is shaken pointing to its coming renewal and life comes to those who were dead.
This, right here is what makes Good Friday so very good, so very worth coming back to and celebrating a hope beyond the life that you and I are living right now.
Friends, these are things that are far from the view of most modern people, don't you think? Forgiveness of sins. Most people are not even thinking of the God who is there, much less that they owe a debt to Him because of their sin. Judgment is probably far from their view, and who has time to think about an age to come. We're so consumed with the life that we're living right now with the many demands of the present. Our hearts are drawn so deeply to things that are so passing. Our attention becomes so riveted on temporary joys when an eternity of ever increasing joy is spread out before us with glorious splendour. Jesus' death destroys death itself.
So beloved, reorient your gaze. Jesus' forsakenness in death leads to forgiveness and life.
You should believe this
Let us read Matthew 27:54-61. It's worth remembering that Matthew and the other gospel writers are called evangelists. They are writing to try to persuade you and I to believe something. All the details they're deciding to include are the ones they think are going to persuade us. What we have here is a list of eyewitnesses to the events in question. We're told details so that in the First Century, the recipients could have gone and checked with these people. Let's consider what these three witnesses have to tell us.
First, the soldiers and the centurion in Matthew 27:54. This would have been a Roman officer in charge of the crucifixion. He would have wanted to maintain order and so would have kept a careful eye on everything that happened. He must have witnessed many crucifixions, but he has never seen anything like this. He's actually described here as the head of a whole group of soldiers who see the earthquake, all that takes place. They're filled with awe and the testimony seems to be a group agreement. “Truly, this was the Son of God” (Matt 27:54b). This is the first Gentile to give a full witness to the identity of Jesus. They got it right.
The second group of eyewitnesses were the women (Matt 27:55-56). Because the twelve apostles were men, we often wrongly conclude that most of the people following Jesus were men. Here we're told that there were many women were looking on from a distance. They had followed Him all the way from Galilee, ministering to Him.
Luke 8:3 says specifically that they were providing for them the apostles and Jesus out of their means, meaning they were supporting Jesus' itinerant ministry financially so that they could eat. Three women are singled out for us. Mary Magdalene or Mary from Magdala was distinguished from another Mary, Mary the mother of James and Joseph. Then there's the unnamed mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. She was the one in Matthew 20 who tried to get her son's prime positions in the kingdom.
John will tell us that Jesus' mother Mary was also at the cross (Jn 19:25-27). It's striking to me that after the twelve have fled, many of the women are the ones who stay bravely on. Many of the best and bravest disciples in the history of the church have been women. Women, you are meant to see the constancy of these sisters who simply will not leave Jesus side and be encouraged in your own perseverance as a disciple.
The final witness is Joseph is Matthew 27:57-60. Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, was also a disciple and he does a very brave thing here. It would be normal, almost expected to round up the key followers of an enemy of the state and execute them together. Yet, Joseph approaches Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus knowing he might be killed for it.
Think on that this week. When you have the opportunity to speak up for Jesus, your costmates or your coworkers, let Joseph's boldness be an example for you.
It's also useful to remember that though Jesus said it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, Joseph shows us that it's not impossible. But it requires the rich man to understand that to much is given, much will be required. He passes with flying colors here. Pilate grants him the request. He wraps the body. He lays it in his newly carved tomb in the rock and rolls a great stone over it.
After all of that, I love Matthew 27:61. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb. I wonder what they were thinking about while they were sitting there looking at that rock. I am not sure what they are thinking about but I just get the impression that you could not drag these women away.
These are eyewitnesses and what I mean is that the gospel that was preached 2000 years ago would have been just as hard to believe then as it is now. Dead men stay dead. Messiahs have come and gone. Theories about Jesus would have proliferated after His resurrection.
Did they just have the wrong tomb? No, we saw where He was laid.
Did He really die? Maybe He was just deeply injured. No, no, no. We wrapped His corpse.
Maybe it was the wrong tomb. No, no, we were there looking at the rock. We know which one it was. Go ask Mary. Go ask the other Mary. Go ask Joe. They'll tell you.
Believe it — that Jesus died on the cross for sin, bringing forgiveness and light.
So what do we do with this? The application of this text, beloved, is that you believe it, that Jesus died on the cross for sin, bringing forgiveness and light. You may be here at the invitation of a friend. Perhaps where you sit, you're not sure what you think. I encourage you to take a copy of the pew Bible home and read the entire gospel of Matthew so that you can get the whole persuasion that the evangelist intends for you to have. Come again on Sunday morning where we will be looking at the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the proof and vindication of the good news that we're preaching. It is accompanied by more witnesses who speak of the fact that death is not the end.
But friend, I want to ask you, how else are you going to be reconciled to your Creator? You know that you have one. And if you think about it, you know that He is good. Because He is good, that sin that you have must have its payment. There is nowhere else to go to find forgiveness of sins other than Jesus Christ. Where will you go when this life is through? If you believe on Jesus Christ today, the gift of eternal life will be yours.
Believe in the death of Jesus for sins. Brothers and sisters of GBC, I wonder whether we have it made things a bit too complicated in our busy lives that we're leading. We fill all the space so full we run all the time. Anxiety and exhaustion often mark us. We are often pulled away from the purity and simplicity of devotion to Christ. This Good Friday, let us come back to the cross and remember the dying love of Jesus Christ. He was forsaken so that you and I never would be. Let's pray together.