Good Friday Matthew 27:45–56

We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe.

! Yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.

This is probably the most well-known quote by the late pastor Timothy Keller.

He loved to say this.

He always found ways to intertwine it into his books.

He always found ways to intertwine it into his sermons.

If you're familiar with his work, with his sermons, you've definitely heard this quote before.

We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe.

Yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.

How does this quote even make sense?

Can these things coexist? Can they come together?

Can they come together?

See, in our culture, we are told that someone is only useful to us until they are not.

If they start to cause us problems or we begin to not like them anymore, we are to offload them.

So we can find someone better or something better.

And obviously, we need to protect ourselves and others from abuse.

But that's another conversation.

See, the mindset that I'm talking about here, that I'm describing,

is that we only need to surround ourselves with people who please us.

We can never live by Timothy Keller's quote.

We can never do it.

But the thing is, as we reflected on this text, God is not like our culture.

God is not like us.

He does not think like us.

With this, God is able to live by this quote.

He can do it.

See, today is Good Friday.

As Daniel said, Palm Sunday has happened.

The triumphant entry has happened.

Jesus has talked with his disciples in the upper room discourse.

The betrayal of Jesus has happened.

Jesus has been abandoned by his friends.

He's been flogged.

There's been a fake trial.

And now, we come to him crucified on the cross.

How does this quote, we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe,

yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope make any sense?

How does it make any sense?

Well, the passage we're going to look at this morning shows us exactly how this makes sense.

So, if you have your Bible, turn with me to Matthew chapter 27, verses 45 to 56.

Matthew 27:45–56

If you do not have a Bible, there's some at the back.

Feel free to get up at any time and to grab one.

So, we're going to look at this.

And we're going to look at it in three ways.

And we're going to look at it in point one, forsaken Jesus.

Point two, the triumphant Jesus.

And point three, first witnesses.

So, point one, look with me at verses 45 to 50.

Now, from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying,

Eli, Eli, let me step back to me.

That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And some of the bystanders hearing it said, this man is calling Elijah.

And one of them at once ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine

and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.

But the others said, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

So, a couple of things to clarify here.

In verse 45, it says the sixth hour.

That's 12 p.m., lunchtime.

And the ninth hour is 3 p.m.

The bystanders, when they hear Jesus say, Eli, Eli, most likely misheard him.

And they heard Elijah.

It would have been easy to mishear Jesus in this moment because you've got to think about it.

He's being crucified with two other people.

And they're screaming and they're riling, they're mocking him.

And then there's all the commotion around Jesus.

It would be hard to hear.

It would be like if we are standing on one side of the room and on the other someone is saying something

and there's commotion everywhere.

It would be hard to hear that person properly.

And lastly, it says sour wine.

Sour wine is a cheap drink that soldiers drank and then lower income people drank.

It actually hydrated you but at the same time got you a bit drunk.

So let's focus now in on verses 45 and 46.

Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.

And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying,

Eli, Eli, let me sabathone.

That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

See, up to this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is called God, Father.

And now, he calls him, my God.

What is going on?

See, our current sermon series that we're going through, we're going through the book of Romans.

And in the book of Romans, Paul, the apostle who's the writer of it, builds a case.

That no matter who you are, you have fallen short of the glory of God.

As he says in Romans chapter 3, verse 23.

Romans 3:23

See, if you are an unbeliever, one who does not follow God,

whether you live a life of sensual indulgence or are the best member of society,

you have fallen short of the glory of God.

If you are a follower of one of the major religions of this world,

and follow it to a T, you do everything it says,

you have fallen short of the glory of God.

If you are here and you call yourself a Christian,

and live a super pious life, and trust in all your own works,

you have fallen short of the glory of God.

See, not a single person is right before God.

All deserve God's righteous wrath,

as it's said in the Gospel of John that we read about.

God is perfectly holy.

And anything that is not perfectly holy,

God has to forsake.

If he didn't, he would not be perfectly holy.

Oftentimes, when we think of sin,

or we hear people talk about sin,

we think that it's just, oh, are we just breaking rules?

It's just these rules that have been put in place.

It's like how parents make rules for their children.

But that's not the case.

John Stott, who was a famous pastor, famous writer,

famous preacher in the UK,

in his book, The Cross of Christ,

he quotes Emile Brunner, who says this,

Sin is defiance, arrogance,

the desire to be equal of God,

the assertion of human independence over against God,

the constitution of the autonomous reason,

morality and culture.

This is what happened in the garden,

way back in the book of Genesis,

in the Old Testament, in chapter 3,

which caused the fall of humanity.

It was not a simple rule being broken.

It was the desire to defy God's holiness,

to be equal with him.

It was not an event that is often caricatured

as simply eating an apple,

and that's what did us all in.

But someone may push back.

Isn't God a loving God?

Didn't it say in Keller's quote that I'm loved?

See, the God that you are talking about, Matt,

does not sound like a loving God.

To quote John Stott one more time in his book,

he says this,

God is love.

Yet, we have to remember

that his love is holy love.

Love which yearns over sinners,

while at the same time,

refusing to condone their sin.

In a marriage, we make vows.

If you're married, you make vows.

And you make vows with this person

that you're standing in front of,

and these vows are a sign

of your deep love for that person.

And if you are a member of this marriage,

if you completely disregard the vows

or the commitment you make to that person,

it falls apart.

The love is gone.

If the spouse is allowed to run rampant

and plainly disregards the vows

or the commitment,

that is not love,

that is indifference.

See, God is a God of love

because he is perfectly holy.

And he cannot just sit back

and let humanity completely disregard him.

He has to give out his wrath

and forsake humanity.

So this leaves us with the question,

what is going on

when Jesus says on the cross,

my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Why is he even there in the first place?

Isn't he the son of God?

See, as I referred to in Genesis,

when humanity falls in the garden,

God in his justice

curses humanity and sends it out.

That now they would experience death.

And this death is a physical death

and a spiritual death,

a separation from God.

And since then,

humanity has been under his curse,

this curse that he gives.

But God, at the same time,

in his loving kindness,

promises he would provide humanity a way out,

that he would save humanity.

And the rest of the Old Testament

plays this out before us.

In the prophets, it's promised

that God would send a Savior

to save his people.

They prophesy about it.

It's spoken about.

It has been spoken about long ago.

And when this Savior

came into the world

on Christmas,

in the middle of the night,

and now we see this Savior

hanging from a tree,

cursed in the middle of the day,

but there is darkness.

Douglas Webster writes,

at the birth of the Son of God,

there was brightness at midnight.

At the death of the Son of God,

there was darkness at noon.

Those words,

my God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

Tell us something so profound.

They tell us

how much we are loved by God.

God, in his love for the world,

sent his only Son

to take our place,

to experience the death

we so rightly deserved

because of our defiance of him.

This curse,

sorry,

this curse could not be fulfilled

by merely a human

because that would lower

the seriousness of it,

of the sin.

It could only be fulfilled

by someone who is perfectly holy.

And this curse

could not be fulfilled

by just a God

because it was a human sin

and the curse

is on humanity.

God had to come

in the form of man

and in the form of God,

fully God

and fully human.

God had to experience

human physical death

and spiritual death.

Jesus,

who is,

who is God and man,

fully God

and fully man,

becomes utterly forsaken

by God

so we would not have to be.

He experienced

the crushing weight

of sin

of the world

and God forsakes him

because God

cannot look on sin

because he is perfectly holy.

That is why he cries out,

my God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

See,

he could only say,

my God

and not my Father

in this moment

because God

has turned away from him.

God sees the sin

that Jesus now puts on himself

but it's not Jesus' sin.

It is our sin.

It is my sin.

It is your sin.

It is the sin

of the whole world.

And Jesus in this moment

experiences a separation

from God,

the spiritual death.

In moments,

in moments,

in a couple of moments,

he'll experience

the physical death.

See,

in this moment,

before this moment,

he experienced

this deep love

with the Father

that he could commune

with the Father

and then in this moment,

when he stands

before God

in our place,

he can only say,

my God.

He experiences

the utter

separation of God.

See,

it's like a courtroom.

See,

we stand

on trial

before God,

completely guilty.

The case is closed

and we wait

for the gavel

to drop

as the judge

gives his sentence.

But at the last minute,

Jesus takes our place.

He says,

I will stand

in their place

and then we go free

while he continues

to stand there.

See,

some people might ask,

well,

did he actually die?

Did Jesus actually die?

The thing that's

very interesting

is that all historians

who have researched

during this time

of the Romans

can confidently agree

on this.

Jesus died.

See,

the Romans knew

how to kill people.

They crucified

thousands of people.

They knew how to do it

and do it effectively.

Also,

who would put

their faith

and trust

in a guy

who is half dead

and who would

most likely have died

a couple days later

from being flogged

and then being crucified.

There's no way

you can survive it.

It's impossible.

But how does this affect me?

Well,

this brings us

to point two.

Triumphant Jesus.

Look with me

at verses 51 to 54.

And behold,

the curtain

of the temple

was torn in two

from top to bottom

and the earth shook

and the rocks were split.

The tombs

also were opened

and many bodies

of the saints

who had fallen asleep

were raised.

And coming out

of the tombs

after his resurrection

they went into

the holy city

and appeared to many.

When the centurion

and those

who were with him

keeping watch

over Jesus

saw the earthquakes

and what took place

they were filled

with awe

and said,

Truly,

this was

the Son of God.

Three main things

happen in this section.

The curtain

of the temple

is torn in two.

Dead people

are raised

and Romans

confess

that Jesus

is the Son of God.

So the temple

was made up

of two sections.

There was

the main section

where the daily

ceremonial rituals

would happen

for the cleansing

of the people.

And then there

is the other section

which was called

the Holy of Holies

which the curtain

separates

the two rooms.

Separates the people

from God

in a sense.

the high priest

would go in

once a year

only once a year

into this section

the Holy of Holies

to make atonement

with animal blood

for his sins

and the sins

of the people

of Israel.

If anyone

else went in there

they would be

sentenced to death.

The role

of the high priest

was to represent

the people

of Israel.

No one

could have

direct access

to God.

They needed

a representative.

But the problem

with this atonement

is that it would

never suffice.

It had to happen

annually because

of animal blood

could never pay

the price of sin.

So the people

were stuck

in a continual cycle.

So what does it

mean that the curtain

was torn from top

to bottom

when Jesus

breathes his last?

See because humanity

can never rid

themselves of sin

they can never

have access

to God.

God can never

allow that

since he is

perfectly holy.

When Jesus

stood in our place

and went to the

cross as a

sinless sacrifice

he opened the

way for those

who put their

faith and trust

in him as

Lord and Savior

to have access

to God.

See no longer

was there separation

as the curtain

represented.

Notice that it

was torn from

top to bottom

as it says

not from bottom

to the top.

See this represents

that it is God

who tore the

curtain

not man.

If it was man

it would be

from the bottom

up.

But it's God

it's top down.

God opens the

way out of

sheer grace

and of sheer

love.

But you might

be lost

and just

thinking about

well Matt

it says

dead bodies

were raised.

See only

Matthew's gospel

speaks of this

moment that it's

happening.

I don't want to

distract from

what it means

because Jesus

rose from the

dead and

then there would

be nothing wrong

in saying that

this happened

if Jesus

truly rose

from the

dead.

But notice

in verse 23

it says

and coming

out of the

tombs after

his resurrection

they went

into the

holy city

Jerusalem

and appeared

to many.

See this

happens three

days later

after Jesus

rises from

the dead

on Easter

morning.

Because of

Jesus'

finished work

the curse

of death

no longer

has hold

on humanity

when they

trust in

Jesus'

work.

No longer

is humanity

under the

burden of

physical and

spiritual death.

God has

provided a

way out of

his deep

love and

that's through

his son.

The people

being risen

from the

dead in

this moment

signals that

those who

trust in

Christ will

also face

a resurrection.

They will

face eternal

life.

And lastly

in this

section we

see the

Roman soldiers

in verse

54 saying

truly this

is the

son of

God.

See we

shouldn't put

that much

stock in

that they

say this.

That they

actually confess

that Jesus

is Lord.

Because Romans

believed that

the people

around them

some people

in their

culture were

gods.

If you

just look at

their emperors

that gives

us an

example.

Hence why

the emperors

always demanded

worship.

Because they

viewed themselves

as God.

But Matthew

includes this

because it

represents

something very

profound.

The religious

leaders and

most of the

Jewish people

would have

left by now

because they

have to go

do the

Passover

sacrifice and

prepare for

the Passover.

Which is

interesting because

this happens

right when

Jesus breathes

his last.

You can make

a whole sermon

out of that.

See only the

Romans,

Jesus'

disciples,

any passerby

is present

in this moment.

Up to this

point only the

people of

Israel were

considered God's

people.

But they

had utterly

gone astray.

They had

become lost

in their

pride,

lost in

their self

works,

relying on

following the

law to make

them right

before God

instead of

relying on

God himself.

But here we

see the

Gentiles,

non-believers,

saying this

was the

Son of God.

What Matthew

is doing is

showing that

through Jesus'

death,

no longer

do you need

to be an

ethnic Jew

to be God's

people.

Now it's

open to all

who trust in

Jesus as their

Lord and Savior

with their lives.

And as the

sun began to

set,

when everything

from the

outside appears

that Jesus

had failed,

that he was a

liar,

that he was a

crazy person

who claimed to

be God,

a blasphemer,

but in reality

Jesus was truly

triumphant.

through the

cross,

a way for

sins to be

forgiven has

been provided

out of sheer

love and

grace.

Through the

cross,

a promise

that death

no longer

has the

final say

has been

given.

And through

the cross,

a salvation

has been

offered to

all,

not by a

certain

nationality,

but by being

a follower

of Christ.

And then

lastly,

we come to

our last

point,

first witnesses.

Something that

would have

been unheard of

of for an

ancient biographer

to write was

to include

women as

having an

important role

in a story,

in a biography,

or to give

testimony.

It would have

been considered

worthless in

that time.

But here we

see Matthew

including women.

Look with me

at verses

55 and 56.

There were

also many

women there

looking on

from a distance

who had

followed Jesus

from Galilee,

ministering to

him,

among whom

were Mary

Magdalene,

Mary the

mother of

James,

and Joseph

the mother

of the

sons of

Zebedee.

If you

ever wonder,

this is kind

of like a

Bible geek

moment,

why certain

books,

other books

aren't included

in the Bible.

One, it's

because they

are written

many, many

years later,

but another

reason is

because they

downplay this

very fact that

women were the

first witnesses,

that women were

present.

because in

ancient times,

it was

considered

embarrassing to

have this

point.

With Matthew

including this

in his

gospel, as

the other

gospels also

include, it

shows us that

this biography

is trustworthy.

It shows us

that the

disciples were

willing to

show their

weaknesses and

flaws to

face ridicule

for having the

testimony of

women because

it was fact.

That the

power of the

gospel message

is more

powerful than

any other

human power.

Jesus' death

on the cross

and then his

resurrection

three days

later show

us that we

are more

sinful and

flawed in

ourselves than

we ever

dared believe.

Yet at the

very same

time, we

are more

loved and

accepted in

Jesus Christ

than we

ever dared

hope.

The cross

shows us

the depths

of how much

we are lost,

but it also

shows us how

much we are

loved.

See, if you

are here and

seeking after

God or just

checking out

what the heck

do Christians

do on this

holiday, I

challenge you

to look to

the cross.

Research the

cross.

Read good

books on the

cross, ones

that aren't

influenced by

the culture

but influenced

on seeking

truth.

There's a

reason why

these disciples,

after witnessing

Jesus being

crucified, go

into hiding

and are

terrified.

And then

three days

later, they

have this

unshakable

boldness and

confidence.

It's because

their Lord and

Savior went to

the cross and

three days

later rose

again and

the tomb

was empty.

That is the

power of the

cross.

The cross is

this great

hope that

anyone who

comes to

Jesus as

their Lord

and Savior

will be

saved and

have this

hope of

eternal life.

who