Jesus Dying On The Cross | Frank Brancato

It's wonderful to be here with all of you today.

Appreciate the presence of all that have come to be with us.

We have a wonderful crowd for which we're thankful.

And as always, I'm honored to be your speaker.

We're continuing where we left off last time in John chapter

John 19 · chapter mention

19, and we're now down to verse 23 and 24.

Last time we talked on the subject, I simply called the

King on a cross, and now we're going to talk about the events

while Jesus died in the last several hours of his life as

Jesus hung there for our sins. Before this happened.

You remember in our last lesson where we ended up, Pilate had

just put the inscription over the head of Jesus in the three

languages of the ancient world, in Hebrew and Greek and in

Latin, the words this is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the

Jews. Everybody could have understood

and everybody would have understood those words.

But when many of the Jews, the Bible says passed by, they

looked up and they said to Pilate, don't say he's the king

of the Jews. Say he said he was the king of

the Jews. And then Pilate said, and this

is where we left off last time. What I have written, I have

written. And now in this great narrative

of the greatest story ever told, we come to verse 23 in John 19.

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his

garments, and made four parts, and each soldier apart, and also

the tunic. Now the tunic was without seem

woven from top in one piece. They said therefore among

themselves, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it.

Who shall it be? And the Scriptures might be

fulfilled, which says they divided my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

First of all, have you ever stopped to consider the

significance of the clothing? And why does it matter?

Why would the soldiers be concerned about the clothing of

Jesus? Is it just a passage that

fulfills prophecy that we read in the Old Testament about

casting lots for his garments? It was actually quite common.

This is some history here. The victim that was to be

crucified was stripped of his clothing before crucifixion.

It was a custom of the soldiers performing the execution should

have the victims arraignment as extra pay in addition to their

wages as soldiers. According to the present verse,

there were four soldiers corresponding to the four parts

of the body to be nailed, 2 hands and two feet, so 1 soldier

for each one of those acts. This would call for four

divisions to be made of the garments so each soldier could

have a share, but the coat was woven in one piece in such a way

that it could not be divided without ruining it.

All right, that is history. What was the significance,

though, about a garment or about an outer cloak that was woven

without seeing? We go to the Old Testament, we

see some Old Testament significance, and then we see,

and I love this, we see in the death of Jesus and in this event

we see the New Testament fulfillment of that and why

that's significant for all of us today.

Notice first of all the Old Testament significance.

First of all, the Levitical high priest was commanded to wear a

seamless robe or tunic of fine linen on the Day of Atonement as

described in Exodus chapter 28 and verse 39.

Exodus 28 · chapter mention

That passage says you shall skillfully weave the tunic of

fine linen, Fred. You shall make the turban of

fine linen and you shall make the sash of of woven work.

In Leviticus chapter 21 and verse 4, it says this was done

Leviticus 21 · chapter mention

in order to not be defiled. So we go back to the Old

Testament. We go back to the old law of

Moses. And the high priest once a year

on the Day of Atonement, would take the blood sacrifice of

animals for the people through the veil, the Holy of Holies,

and he would be wearing the garment of his priesthood.

That was an outer garment that was woven without seeing.

All right. What did that signify or what's

the big deal about that? The seamlessness likely

symbolized the unity and holiness of the high priest role

and his connection to God. Get that part about the

connection to God and His connection to God.

Thirdly, as we sum up, then the seamless tunic was a key part of

the high priest attire, signifying his authority and the

sanctity of his office, and also a symbol of total purity.

Don't you see the point? Jesus is our great High Priest,

Jesus on this great day of atonement, and it's the last one

that ever had to be. Not just once a year, not with

the blood of animals, once a year for the atonement of their

sins, rolling their sins for just another year until the high

priest had to do it next year. The Bible says Jesus was

stricken once and for all on this great final day of

atonement where He took the blood, His blood before the

presence of God and offered it for the sins of all mankind.

What was he wearing when He did that?

Our great high priest, He was wearing the garment of his

priesthood, a symbol of his connection to God and a symbol

of total purity, New Testament fulfillment.

OK, so the soldiers, they didn't tear the garment, but instead

they cast lots for it. Why?

Psalm 22 and 18 fulfills Old Testament prophecy.

They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they

cast lots. Now last time we showed when

Jesus was dying and he was pretty busy, don't you think He

was bearing the sins of the world?

It would be a time when Jesus would do so without the presence

of God. The face of God was turned and

all we know for sure about that statement, although there's much

speculation about God can't look on sand.

All that. All I know for sure is it was

something Jesus had to do alone. It was something that Jesus had

to do without the aid of his Father.

And so whether it's literal or symbolic, the face of God was

turned. Don't you think the Lord was

pretty busy? I think he was pretty busy

bearing the sins of the world and doing it all alone.

And like that song we just sung, I'm so thankful and so grateful,

as I paraphrase, that he didn't call down the angels to put a

stop to the whole mess. And he could have done it.

I'm grateful that he did not do that.

And yet, as Chris, Chris taught recently about those thieves

that hung on the side of Jesus, one on each side, Jesus still,

as we talked about last time, took the time to take into his

arms a dying thief and care for a dying thief, somebody he did

not even know. You know what happens next.

He cares for somebody he did know and love, and that was his

mother. I wanted to research this a

little bit so I didn't talk out of school.

It's something that I have always thought, and so I wanted

to find out some research scientifically that was done,

whatever that means. We live in a Google age.

I googled it, but I want to make sure that I wasn't just talking

out of school. So I'm going to say something

here and I'm going to clarify my statement.

So afterwards nobody has to question me and say I love all

my kids the same. Yeah, yeah, I know you do.

I love my kids all equally too. Mothers love their children,

boys and girls, the same. But the study that I actually

looked at is there's a higher level of protection between a

mother and a son than there is necessarily say she loved more

than a mother and a daughter. There's a level of perfection

protection, a higher level of protection.

Same is true with a father and a daughter.

There's a level of protection that is higher.

These are studies that were done.

See what I got to thinking about.

I got to thinking about when I played football as a

quarterback. Now, I was a little quarterback.

I was 5 foot nine, 170 lbs. I was a little quarterback.

So when I took hits, I really took hits from big guys.

When I went used to go to these quarterback receiver camps,

coaches would say, you know what, when a quarterback goes

back to pass, all the eyes in the stadium are on the

quarterback. Well, he has the ball and the

rush is coming in. He's about to get blasted,

right? And everybody's staring at the

quarterback while he's got the ball until it leaves his hand,

and every eye in the stadium turns to the receiver or where

the ball is going. Except two eyes.

Yeah, that's mama's eyes. Make sure they're her little boy

gets up and OK, There's a level of protection that's increased

between a mother and a son, and that's normal.

She feels the blows too. Now with that being said, I want

you to picture Jesus's mother, Mary at the foot of the cross,

who her son had nails driven into his hands and into his

feet. A crown of thorns that was

pressed down, pressed down on his head, the blood running down

his neck and mingling with the blood on his back from the

scourging, the ribbons of his flesh laid bare.

He's in agony and pain. And there was his mother.

She felt the blows too. And the Son, Jesus knew that

because guess what, there else there is.

There's times when us, we as sons get, we're sometimes in our

life, we go through periods of where we're little rotten.

But I'm going to tell you something.

There's one thing that's true, and that is a son will protect

his mother. Absolutely.

And Jesus looks down from the cross and sees his mother.

The level of protection kicks in and the Bible says beginning in

verse 26, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple

whom he loves standing by, he said to his mother, will and

behold your son. Then he said to the disciple,

Behold, your mother. That was John, by the way.

And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

OK, Jesus took care of a dying thief.

He didn't know. Jesus took care while he was

dying for the sins of the world. He took care of one that he

didn't know and love, and that was his mother.

But now we go to Matthew's account in this narrative in

Matthew 27 and 45. Notice please.

Now from the 6th hour until the 9th hour, there was darkness

over all the land. Notice Jesus was crucified.

The Bible says the third hour of the day, or 9:00 AM.

Three hours later, beginning at noon all the way to 3:00 PM,

before Jesus gave up the Spirit and before Jesus died, OK, there

was darkness over all the land. And I've heard people try to

explain this and say there was an eclipse.

No, there wasn't. This was not an eclipse during

the time of day when there should have been the greatest

amount of sunlight and the brightest of all, noon to three,

there was darkness over all the land.

You know, concerning this idea that it couldn't be an eclipse.

This happened at the time of the Passover.

The Passover falls in the middle of the month.

The month always begins with a new moon.

In fact, Mr. Mcgarvey and brought us said that the moon

would have been full. So at this particular time the

moon would have been full. It could not have been an

eclipse. I like what one man said though.

For three hours, from noon to three O clock, the heavens wept.

I love that. For three hours, when Jesus was

on the cross in support of Jesus, the heavens wept and

there was darkness over all the land.

Then what happens at the 9th hour or 3:00 and about the 9th

hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, la

Master Bakhtani. That is to say, my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me? These are very familiar

messianic words that come from the Old Testament.

They come from Psalm 22. They're spoken, Please get this

in Aramaic. Why is that significant?

It was the common language of the day, meaning if anyone

overheard the words of Jesus when he spoke those Aramaic

words, they should have known exactly what he meant and what

he said. Even though later some say, oh,

he's calling for Elijah, he should have known exactly what

he meant. This is referring to, by the

way, to Psalm 22 and verse one. Please get this.

The Psalm that Jesus quotes from is more than a cry.

It's not just a cry of a forsaken son.

Let's notice the Old Testament passage and the context.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my

groaning, This is more than a cry of a desperate forsaken son

in careful look at the context of the passage.

And here I go again. You know me about context.

We go to the context of this Psalm, 22nd Psalm.

And while it does obviously reflect A passionate expression

of grief, that's true. Though it does express anguish,

that's true. It is also an affirmation of

trust and an anticipated deliverance.

Why Psalm 22, beginning in verse 20.

Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of of the

wild oxen. You have answered me.

I will declare Your name to my brethren in the midst of the

assembly. I will praise you.

So in other words, from a prophetic perspective, the

Lord's Prayer here. And by the way, if you want to

know what the Lord's Prayer is, it's got to be a prayer.

Jesus prayed, not an example that he gave for other people to

do so. And so this is one of the Lord's

Prayer, just like in John 17, that was the Lord's Prayer when

he actually prayed, this was a prayer too.

And his prayer is not one of hopelessness.

Please get that. It's a request for mercy and a

request for deliverance. In other words, Jesus is

basically saying this, having bore the sins of the world,

having hung on the cross for six hours, having shed his blood,

having gone through the shame of the cross, having gone through

the pain of the cross, having gone through everything he went

through, having fulfilled every single prophecy.

The Lord in these words is saying, can it be done now?

Is it not time for your deliverance?

Is it not time for it to be over?

Have I not suffered long enough? And do you know, as soon as the

Lord said that, as soon as he said that, it's almost like

metaphorically, the God's face turns back and took Jesus's

spirit into his hands and lovingly cradled him in his

death. But some of them just said

always calling for Elijah. You know, I kind of thought

about this other passage. Remember when the Bible says

that God spoke in the Gospels from heaven and some said it

thundered? In other words, they didn't get

it. I think that's really the

picture of a lot of people sometimes.

Well, the word of God can be totally clear on a matter and

yet in their mind it just thundered.

It was very clear in Aramaic the words of Jesus, and yet some

misunderstood or misinterpreted and said he's calling for Elijah

in verse 48 as we drop down in Matthew 27.

Then immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it

with sour wine and put it on a Reed and offered it for him to

drink. OK, why did they do that?

Well, first of all, I didn't know this till I studied it this

week. But I didn't know that it was

very common when a criminal was hanging on the cross, for

example, because for the purpose of this, when a person would be

on the cross, they would be on the cross for so long, sometimes

hours, sometimes days, they would suffer extreme and

excruciating thirst. So it was very common for

someone to come with sour wine or vinegar and give them that to

drink as an act of kindness and even an act of mercy.

That Barnes said it this way. Wine vinegar is the preferred

drink of common soldiers because it quenches the first better

than water. I didn't know that.

So hey, learned a little something.

Didn't know that. But in the case of Jesus, it

wasn't for mercy and it was not because they felt sorry for him.

It was because of mockery, according to Luke's account.

They did it in mockery. They took a custom that was done

in kindness and they used it in mockery.

It's kind of like when Judas betrayed Jesus.

He took a common way of connecting to someone by way of

love, and that is giving them a kiss, and he used that in

mockery and in and in treachery and as a traitor.

Luke's account says this. The soldiers also mocked him

coming and offering him sour wine and saying if you are the

king of the Jews, save yourself. So it was done to Jesus in

mockery. Now, when you look at John's

gospel, it says they put it on a Reed.

They put a sponge on a Reed, they dipped it and they put it

to his mouth. Now maybe you're thinking, wait

a minute, didn't I read somewhere where it says they put

it to his mouth and he would not drink it?

Here the implication is in this passage, at the end of his

crucifixion, he did drink it. He did take it.

What are we talking about? We're talking about also earlier

on in this very narrative in Matthew chapter 27 and 34.

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

Notice they gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink, but

when he had tasted it, he would not drink.

That's earlier on in the narrative, so at the beginning

of the crucifixion. They gave him a drink that was

mingled with a mind altering sedative called gall, and he

would not drink it. Do you see the whole thing

there? Jesus took it all.

Jesus bore it all with no help, with no gall, with no sedative,

with nothing to ease his mind or ear, ease his physical pain.

He took it all. But then later on over here,

there was a benign drink, you might call it, you might talk,

talk about a drink here with nothing in it but just a sour

wine. And he did drink it.

Why was that? I think he drank it.

Luke 23, by the way, if you've ever been, I mean, so parched

and so thirsty and your throat is so dry.

I know about that from from radiation and what it did in my

throat, man, I know what that's like.

That's why I got to have water nearby.

OK, I know what that's like. It it gets to the point where

it's impossible to speak. And if Jesus hanging on the

cross was parched to that point, he needed something in order to

say what in Luke's account. Father, into your hands I

commend my spirit. Or to yell out it is finished,

not only between him and God, but for everybody there to hear

it. It is finished.

Some translations say it is accomplished, letting everybody

know that what he did was God's accomplished plan and not just

their hatred in crucifying Him. So what did He do?

He took the vinegar to sour wine and that's why, by the way, to

fulfill one final prophecy. Jesus knew all those prophecies

were already fulfilled. He knew there was 1.

So he said I thirst. And when He did that, they

brought the sour wine. You know why He did that?

He was totally in control and He knew that was one more prophecy

that had to be fulfilled and then that was it.

Then we go to Matthew 27 again and we drop down to verse 50 and

Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and he yielded up

his spirit. Here's the implication that

Jesus in his final voluntary act, turns his spirit over to

God. Do you know it's always phrased,

He yielded up his spirit. I think the King James says he

gave up the ghost. He yielded up His Spirit.

You know, this fits what the Bible talks about concerning

that John 10 and 18, Jesus said no one takes it from me, but I

lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and

I have power to take it again. This command I have received

from my Father. Now I got to make a clarifying

point here. It's unclear as to whether John

John 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 and verse 18, Jesus is talking about the entire

Passion event going to the cross.

Like for example, when they came to take him in the Garden of

Gethsemane and they bound him, He didn't go dragging, kicking

and screaming. He led.

He was led, He went willingly. So whether or not Jesus is

talking about that in the entire process or if he's talking about

the very last breath that he takes is unclear.

What we do know for sure is this, Jesus is letting everybody

know I'm in control, My Father's in control.

I'm no man's victim and the enemies that are before me.

God is just using the enemies, the wrath of men to praise Him

and carry out His will. And that's really the point.

That's all we really know for sure.

OK, Now going to John's account for the cause of death, in 2011,

I wrote a sermon that you've all heard called The Burial of Jesus

Christ, 2011. And the reason that I wrote that

sermon, I remember I stood right here.

It was the first sermon I preached after cancer

treatments. Never forget that.

And I remember that I made the statement that the reason I

wrote that sermon is I was driving down the road and I was

listening to the radio and there was a religious program on there

and there's a preacher fielding questions from people that would

call in. And one guy calls in.

He says, what was the actual cause of death of Jesus on the

cross? And the guy spoke up

immediately, the preacher. Oh, it was suffocation and I'm

yelling at the radio. No, it wasn't.

No, it wasn't. And we know that that's not why.

And the reason that that preacher said that is because

customarily the cause of death to crucifixion was suffocation.

And you all know that You're hanging there like your

diaphragm drops. Go to a pull up bar and hang.

You can't breathe, so when you pull yourself up, you get a

breath. That's what happened.

So people would do that for hours, even days, up and down,

up and down. Finally, they're not able to do

that. They would succumb to that and

they would die of suffocation. They would actually out of their

weakness, they would die, right, but not Jesus.

I'm going to get to the actual cause in a moment, but going

back to John 19, right after the Bible says that Jesus bowed his

head, which was a posture, a roof of pillow in the head.

That's what the word means. He gave up his spirit.

OK, John 19 then in verse 31. Notice therefore, because it was

the preparation day, that the body should not remain in the

cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day.

The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that

they might be taken away. All right.

The day of preparation is the word Parischua, and it means the

day before the Sabbath. That's what it means.

And because it was the day of preparation or the day before

the Sabbath, they don't want them hanging on the cross.

But it wasn't just an ordinary Sabbath.

It was called a high day or a high Sabbath, which is a

Passover Sabbath. The religious leaders don't want

these bodies hanging there in eyesight just outside the city,

looking at the north side of the temple, and all of a sudden here

they are hanging on the cross on this Passover Sabbath.

Why did they say that? They were referring back to the

Old Testament, to the book of Deuteronomy.

In Deuteronomy chapter 21, beginning in verse 22, if a man

Deuteronomy 21 · chapter mention

has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death,

and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight

on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day.

So that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is

giving you as an inheritance. For he who is hanged is a cursed

of God. Now so because of that, the Jews

asked Pilate that their legs might be broken.

They broke the legs to expedite death.

They came to the first thief and they broke his legs.

They went to the second thief and they broke his legs.

But when they came to Jesus, they didn't break His legs.

In fact, in verse 33 it says this.

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs. This fulfilled prophecy.

Psalm 34 and verse 20. He guards all his bones and not

one of them is broken. Verse 34, John 19 But one of the

soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and

water came out. So picture this please.

What they would do is the soldiers would take a large

wooden mallet. I kind of pictured like a wooden

sledgehammer, large wooden mallet, and they would go and

they would break the legs. The word break actually means to

disintegrate. Terrible thing, I know, very

graphic. But they would beat the bones

until they were disintegrated in expediting death.

But then they came to Jesus and they didn't break his legs

because he was already dead. So in their mind there was no

need to expedite death. He was already dead.

But why did they take the spear and thrust the spear in his

side, and from it flowed blood and water?

That was prophecy fulfilled. Now the piercing of the side was

also very common. They would customarily break the

legs, and then they would take a spear and they would thrust it

into the side, and they called that the Deathstroke.

Now somebody might ask, well, if they were going to take the

Deathstroke or the spear and thrust it into the side of the

victim to expedite death, why would they break the legs?

A Roman historian wrote this because death by crucifixion

took so long, so many hours, even days.

Excruciating pain. If all they did was took the

spear and thrust it into the side of the victim as a

Deathstroke, it would have been an act of mercy.

And once again, nothing about crucifixion was merciful at all.

So this Roman historian said they would break the legs to

give the person all the pain all at once.

And then came the Deathstroke, piercing the side.

Amazing though. Look at God's handiwork here.

They didn't break Jesus legs because he was already dead, but

they did come with a death stroke.

Even though he was they knew he was already dead.

Why did they do that? John 19 and 37 and again another

scripture says they shall look on him whom they had pierced.

This is a direct quote from Zechariah chapter 12 and verse

Zechariah 12 · chapter mention

10. Now notice, and immediately when

they did that, blood and water came out.

Now let me just notice with you, by the way, that the cause of

death was not suffocation. Psalm 69 and 20, reproach has

broken my heart. That's the cause of death.

Reproach has broken my heart and I am full of heaviness.

I look for someone to take pity, but there was none and for

comforters, but I found none. How do we know that's talking

about Jesus with a broken heart? Because of the very next verse

in verse 21. They also gave me gall for my

food sound premier and for my first they gave me vinegar to

drink. So the cause of death was a

broken heart. Again, back in 2011 when I wrote

that sermon, I gave this little nugget that I read too.

A medical doctor says while it's very rare, but under extreme

intense pressure and trauma, the heart, which is a muscle, could

in fact rupture and therefore spill its blood into the

pericardium with Olympic serum and create the blood that flowed

out of the side of Jesus Christ. Wow, I can't even imagine.

I've had some stuff. I can't even imagine being in

that kind of anguish and agony. Notice what else?

Going back to Matthew's account, what else happened and why is it

significant? Then behold, the veil of the

temple was torn from top to bottom, and the earthquaked and

the rocks were split. You know, the significance of

these events is almost beyond description.

Amazing. As long as the veil of the

temple remains, OK, as long as it remains intact, it symbolizes

A separation between God and man.

I don't know why. You know, when the apostle Paul

said if you're justified by the law, meaning the law of Moses,

the old law of Moses, you are fallen from grace.

If you're guilty of any aspect of the old law of Moses, you're

guilty of the whole law. I don't know why anybody would

want to resurrect an invalid law.

Under the old law of Moses, where the veil existed, it

existed intact, and it also represented A separation from

man. When I say man, I'm talking

about common men, the common priest.

Guess who that is today? That's me and you.

As long as the veil remains intact, man has no direct access

to God. But when Jesus was crucified,

the veil was rent in two. The King, James says, was rent

in twain. It was torn from top to bottom,

not from bottom to top, from top to bottom.

Notice the veil both in the Tabernacle and later on in the

temple, was the barrier between the Holy Place and the Most Holy

Place. Only the High Priest could go

one time a year through that veil to the presence of God with

the blood sacrifice of an imperfect animal.

You see the symbolism here. The perfect High Priest now dies

on the cross. The veil is torn from top to

bottom and now you got the common folk.

You got the common priest, which is a picture of Christians

today. And we have direct access to our

God. Wow.

Because Jesus one time came to bury the sacrifice of his own

blood once and for all when the veil was ripped apart, exposing

the Holy of Holies. The symbolism is clear.

We now have access to God through the precious blood of

Jesus. Hebrews 9, beginning in verse

11. But Christ came as high priest

of good things to come with a greater and more perfect

Tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of His

creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His

own blood. He entered the Most Holy place

once and for all, having obtained eternal redemption for

the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer.

Sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of

the flesh. How much more shall the blood of

Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without

spot to God, cleanse your conscience from good works to

serve the living God. And now get this.

I love this part. Let us therefore come boldly to

the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to

help in time of need. You know, Jewish tradition

suggests that the Temple veil was composed of two exceedingly

heavy draperies. Fowler said it this way.

The veil was elaborately woven and was 60 feet long and 30 feet

wide. For it to be ripped in two from

top to bottom is nothing short, is nothing shy of an awesome

miracle of God. And I love the symbolism of

exactly what it meant when it did.

In other words, as one man said, in one mighty miraculous act,

God proves that the physical temple is obsolete.

The Old Testament law is abolished, the Ark of the

Covenant, you remember, had been gone for centuries, and the

glory of God no longer dwells between the cherubim in the Holy

of Holies. OK, So what exists on this day

was the Temple, the Holy place, the most Holy place, and its

veil is simply a facade of what it once meant.

But God makes it clear. Physical Israel, with all its

corruption, is an empty room with a torn curtain.

Israel no longer is God's chosen nation.

A new era is dawned, has dawned. One scholar put it this way,

God's Shekinah, which is an English transliteration of a

Hebrew word meaning dwelling or settling, denoting the presence

of God. OK will no longer.

In other words, the presence of God and the glory of God will no

longer exist in a dark room, but will once again be with His

people and in their lives. Just like in the Garden of Eden.

God had His people and He was in their life.

The old Law of Moses was a schoolmaster to bring man to

Christ. God dwelt with, dealt with the

nation of Israel. He dealt with the people and

nation with all of its rules and all the things they had to do

under the law of Moses. Jesus dies on the cross, nails

it, all of the cross. And guess what, when that bill

was rent and twain, it shows that God no longer dwells in a

dark room. He's with his people.

He's in your heart. That's why when Jesus says the

Kingdom, get this please. The Kingdom of God is within

you. Who's you baptized?

Believers, Christians. Followers.

Disciples. Now, the Lord's death occurred

about 3:00 PM. You know who was in the temple

at that time? Temple worshippers.

Who were the temple worshippers? Only the common priest, I don't

know how many were in there, but the Bible says under the old law

of Moses, the priest went into the holy place, which is a

picture of the church. The priest went into the holy

place. Priest did accomplishing the

service of God. They did it in shift work.

I don't know how many were there, but when this great event

happened and the veil was torn into, the priests that were

there were the only ones that could witness that event.

But Can you imagine how the story must have spread?

I mean, for the first time, the common priest is looking into

the Holy of Holies, signifying where the place of God is.

And I just wonder, I just wonder if some of those priests were

some of the ones that were obedient.

In the book of Acts and came to Jesus.

I don't know. Look in Acts 6:00 and 7:00.

Then the word of God spread and the number of disciples

multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great number of priests

were obedient to the faith. Just maybe some of those priests

were some of the ones that were there that day.

Who knows what else happened, Matthew 2752 and 53 and the

graves were open and many bodies of the Saints who had fallen

asleep were raised. Notice, first of all, we have to

get the first sentence here at the time of his death.

When? When the earthquake and the

rocks were split. When did that happen?

At the same time, I'm making a point here.

At the same time, the veil was torn in two from top to bottom.

Same time. When did that happen?

When Jesus died at his death, right?

So over here at his death, the graves were open and many bodies

of the Saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

When at his death. This is where people get a

little confused because of the next sentence and coming out of

the graves after his resurrection.

So people say, well, it happened when he was resurrected from the

dead. It didn't happen when he was

crucified. Not so fast.

Lenski gives a little bit of a explanation to that.

Lenski says this. This phrase modifies only their

appearance in Jerusalem. When?

After the resurrection. OK, the act happened.

They were raised when the earth did quake and the rocks were

ripped. And picture this, it wasn't like

graves of we got today at a cemetery.

They had stones that covered the mouth of those tombs.

They were split and they rose from the dead.

But they were seen in Jerusalem after his resurrection.

So that's the modification there.

So Lenski says, thus making their resurrections occurring on

Friday evening preparation when Jesus was crucified at the time

of his death. OK, what else?

Let's he also said a couple more things.

I'm going to put it up here we go.

Already the death of Jesus brought resurrection to these

Saints. So we're seeing the significance

of it. Hence the account of this

occurrence properly connected with the death of Jesus.

And then finally he said this as what is the significance of it?

The great importance of this resurrection of these bodies

coming out of the grave of the Saints for us is the fact that

the resurrection is not merely a future event.

It is already begun. In the case of these Saints, not

only Jesus is raised from the dead and advanced number of the

Saints have been risen with him. This is an assurance that we

also shall rise. OK, here's the difference.

These people that were resurrected in Jerusalem that

had to die again, OK, when Jesus died, was buried and rose again,

he became the first fruits of them that slept.

When that happened, guess what? Great stuff.

When we die and we're buried in the Bible says it appears once,

once for man to die and then the judgement or the resurrection.

Jesus was the first fruits. He's the first one to die, be

resurrected, never to die again. Guess what's going to happen for

us because of that, children of God, we're going to die, be

raised, never to die again. This was a symbol when that

happened. It was a symbol that we will

have a resurrection finally, and I'm wrapping up now in verse 54,

when the centurion, and when the centurion and those with him who

were regarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that

had happened, they feared greatly saying truly this was

the Son of God. Can you imagine all of the

executions that the centurion must have witnessed in his life

in charge of 100 soldiers? How many he would have seen that

were different than this one? I read that people actually were

screaming to the all the way to the end, uttering profanities

and vile things of hatred and bitterness.

Not this man, not the one on the Middle cross.

The centurion saw it all. He witnessed it all, you see.

Here was the man who begs his father to forgive his

executioners and says, Father, forgive them, for they know not

what they do. Here was the man whom heaven had

blanketed with the dignity of darkness for three hours.

Here was the man who entrusted his mother to his closest

disciple before he died. Here was the man who blesses one

of the thieves hanging by his side and says, today you will be

with me in paradise. Here was the man whose final

words are to commit his spirit to God.

Don't you see the point? Here is the man who is not just

a man, he's the Son of God. And the centurion simply said,

truly, this was the Son of God. Who was this man?

I don't know, but Lenski says tradition says this Gentile

centurion is named Longinus and comes to faith beneath the dead

Savior's cross. Truly, this was the Son of God.

That's it. That's the crucifixion.

Those are the events surrounding the crucifixion and the

significance of them over the last two lessons.

Next, give me two weeks When it's my turn again, we're going

to talk about after he was buried, after he spent three

days in the heart of the earth. He's risen and I'm so thankful

that he's risen because the Bible says if he ain't risen, we

are of all men most miserable because there is no

resurrection. This is it, but there is.

Stay tuned in two weeks. Are you here today and you're

not a Christian? We never preach from the Word of

God without extending an invitation to somebody that

might be subject to the gospel call.

The steps to become a child of God are very simple.

You got to hear the Word of God. Romans 10/17 So faith comes by

hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Upon hearing the word of God, it needs to produce something.

It's got to produce faith. You got to believe with all your

heart. Hebrews 11 and 6.

Without faith it's impossible to please Him, for He comes to God

must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those

who derigently seek Him. Then you got a choice to make.

I got to change. I got to repent of my sins.

Acts 1730. Truly these times of ignorance

got overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

Then you have to be willing to make the greatest confession you

could ever make, the greatest words you will ever utter, and

that is to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

Acts 837 Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart,

you may. And he answered and said, I

believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Upon both steps you're a fit candidate to go down to the

point of salvation, which is to be baptized for the remission of

your sins. Mark 1616.

He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does

not believe will be condemned. Is it necessary?

Does it save us first? Peter 321, the light figure.

We're in the even baptism death also now save us, not the

putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good

conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If you've never taken those steps of obedience, we would

love to assist you in it today. You get the blood of Christ,

your sins are washed away. You become a child of God.

Wow, maybe you've taken those steps, but you've drifted away.

Just make it right, come back, repent of those things, confess

those things. We'll pray with you and for you

and God will forgive and restore.

If you want to be to class, come forward while we stand and while

we.