Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
Thanks for coming out today and just commemorating Christ in this way as we
realize this is such a heavy day. The Lord always, the Spirit always just weighs on me during this day.
And I can't make much sense of it, you know, because we know the outcome.
I was reminded this morning how, you know, Jesus, when He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead,
it was the first time that He was recorded to cry, you know, and yet He knew the outcome,
yet He was still brought to tears because of the heaviness of the situation, the grief.
And as we just remember what the Lord has done for us today, and He paid it all.
Like we were singing, like, this was it, you know. And so we're going to be taking a look
in Matthew chapter 27 and reading this account.
And today's going to be a little different for a Good Friday. We're going to
have communion together later on, which is not highly unusual. I think we usually do.
But also, today we're staying longer till 3 p.m., whoever can or wants to.
There was a few requests made of those who wanted to stay behind and just pray for a while. So
to commemorate this three hours of darkness before Christ gave up His Spirit,
it's interesting because the Lord was already telling me, you know, it would be great to have
a three-hour time together, whoever can be here. And then suddenly someone asked,
is it okay if we stay and pray till 3 p.m.? And I said, well, there's the answer to that, you know.
So if you can or want to stay for a while afterwards, you know, again, there's no pressure.
And we're just going to pray together and, you know, possibly even open up prayers yourself if
you want to rise up and pray. But it's just a great memorial right now to just remember. In fact,
one of those songs said, is it good to remember? It is. You know, it really is. I mean, we know
Sunday's coming. Praise the Lord. You know, we sang a song last Sunday about that.
That, you know, Good Friday is good because Sunday's coming. You know, it didn't end on
Good Friday. But as we just remember this time and thank the Lord really for
just giving it all, giving Himself completely for each and every one of us. Amen. So let's take a
look at Matthew 27. And, you know, it's interesting as you read through the Gospels, as you know,
there's different accounts. And the account of Christ crucifixion is no different. It's,
you know, each Gospel has its own little accents. And we're going to touch on that after this,
some of the key words that the Lord had said on the cross that are missed in Matthew, but
thank God they're captured in the other Gospels. And we're going to look at those seven statements
of Christ on the cross after we're finished reading through this section. So we're going to pray.
And if you want to put your finger there on Matthew 27, verse 32.
Yeah, Father God, just
we just can't thank You enough, Lord. Our whole debt was paid, Lord.
The heavyweight of sin, Lord God, You paid on the cross. You became that perfect
sacrifice on the cross. And so, Lord, as we silence whatever that sound is out there,
in Jesus' name, Lord, we ask You that we could really focus fully on You today and
really just let Your Spirit communicate with us, Lord God. And may Your death on the cross
resonate in our hearts, Lord God,
because this was no small thing that You did. And so, we thank You in Jesus' name, amen.
So, Matthew 27, verse 32. Now, as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name.
Him, they compelled to bear his cross, Christ's cross. And when they had come to a place called
Golgotha, that is to say, place of a skull, they gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.
But when he had tasted it, he would not drink it. And you know, I just want to take, this is
the only real stop we're going to have right here. But you know, this gall would have been
like a novocaine, a painkiller. And they're offering him something to take the edge off
of what he's going through. You know, already he had been beat. Already he had a crown embedded
into his scalp. And these weren't small thorns. These were deep things that got hammered into
his scalp. You know, so he was in great, great pain. And they offered him something that would
take that edge off, you know. And the Lord wanted to feel every aspect of it. Think about that.
He didn't want this to be an easy thing. You know, your sins, He wanted to feel them in every
aspect. So he didn't take anything that would alleviate this. I love what Peter says.
He says, therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, rest your hope fully upon the
grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And in another place,
he says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring
lion seeking whom he may devour. You know, Christ had to be on point during this time. You know,
he was fully man and fully God. And he needed to say the things that were meant to be said
and not say anything else, not do anything else. So the last thing he would want to be
is intoxicated by anything. And so I know I can learn a lot from him through this. If I'm going
through a trial to try to numb that with something that will make me respond to pain
in an unrighteous way, the Lord said, no, I'm going to feel this and I'm going to demonstrate
what it is to go through all of this sober minded and alert. Are you glad of that?
So let's continue in verse 35. And then they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots
that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among them.
And for my clothing, they cast lots. And that was quoted in Psalm 22 by David
in a prophecy, sitting down, they kept watch over him there and they put up over his head
the accusation written against him. Jesus, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
And verse 38, and then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right
and one on the left, again, fulfilling prophecy that he was tortured among the transgressors.
So he was found among those who were sinners and those who passed by blasphemed him,
wagging their heads and saying, you who destroy the temple and build it up in three days,
save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priest also
mocking with the scribes and elders said he saved others himself. He cannot save. If he is the
King of Israel, let him come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted in God,
let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of God. And verse 44,
and when the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing, thank God
that Luke captures one of those criminals who actually repented and cried out to the Lord
for forgiveness. We're going to see that soon. And verse 45, now from the sixth hour until the
ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land and about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with
a loud voice. By the way, this crucifixion began at six in the morning. And so when it says the
sixth hour, it was 12 noon. That's why we met here today at 12 noon. And that's why we're
talking about staying till 3 p.m. because it was a three hour period of time that it was
darkness on the earth. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying,
that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Again, a prophecy of David in Psalm 22.
And some of those who stood there when they heard that said, this man is calling for Elijah.
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed
and offered it to him to drink. The rest said, let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come
to save him. Isn't that interesting? And here Jesus was saving Elijah. Elijah, of course,
was somewhere in Sheol waiting for his redemption and Christ was about to save him.
And then behold the veil of the temple, I'm sorry, verse 50. And Jesus cried out again with
a loud voice and he yielded up his spirit. And then behold, the veil of the temple was torn
into from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the graves were open.
And many bodies, let's stop there, the graves were open. This next part of this verse happens
after his resurrection. And many bodies of the saints who have fallen asleep were raised and
coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
So when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things
that had happened, they feared greatly saying, truly, this was the Son of God. And many women
who followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him were there looking on from afar,
among whom Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of Zebedee's sons.
Amen. I'm going to stop there. And so we see this picture of how Matthew captures many of these
things. But I think it's always prudent on Good Friday to remember the seven statements recorded
of what Christ said on the cross. Because I think they're all significant. In fact,
I think it would be a good idea when we go into prayer, whoever can stay,
that we can even look at these seven statements and meditate on those and perhaps pray into these
things. And the things he said was, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
And the mocking, looking upon the people who had just scorched him, who hammered that crown
into his head, who hammered those nails into his wrists or hands, into his feet or
lower legs, hammered these things. He's looking at them and he's saying, Father, forgive them.
Could you imagine? I mean, just in the midst of that pain, he could forgive.
And you know, it's awesome, you know, the story of
Stephen when he was stoned to death and in Acts chapter seven, the Lord gave him that word to
say about those who were killing him with stones. He said, Father, forgive them.
You know, I know I can learn more of what Christ did on the cross in forgiveness. In fact,
that's the first ministry he gave the disciples. When he rose from the dead,
he breathed on them, received the Holy Spirit. And he said, forgive each other's sins.
Those you forgive, you are released from those you hold on to. In a sense, when we hold on to
unforgiveness, we are ensnared by our own unforgiveness. And so Jesus said, forgive them.
And I believe with these two criminals, right? One on either side of Christ,
when that one criminal heard this and was just watching the demeanor of Jesus Christ on the
cross, after all of that torture with loving eyes, looking upon the very people who did all this,
when he heard that, I believe the Spirit of God just grabbed him and shook him. And he realized,
no, no, no, this man doesn't belong here, remember? And he said to the other criminal,
he yelled over at him and started rebuking him for mocking Jesus, even though we just read,
he was also doing it moments earlier. And yet he was, he repented. And he said,
remember me when your kingdom comes. And Jesus said, truly, I say today,
truly, I say to you that today you will be with me in paradise. I think that there is the most
profound promise to mankind, because this guy had no time to fix his life up. He had no time
to go back and ask for forgiveness to everyone who he had offended, to try to repay whatever reason
he was hanging on a cross, to say sorry to whoever he may have murdered, to any of that.
It was too late for all of that. All he could do in the throes of death is receive Jesus Christ.
And I just want to say, if you're ever with anyone and they're in the throes of death,
preach the gospel, whether they're in a coma, whether they're alert, whether they respond,
preach the gospel to receive Jesus Christ. Because in the inner hearing of their heart and mind,
they can hear, and they can receive, and they can be saved. It's never too late. Isn't that amazing?
It's never too late. That was the next thing he said. And then as he was still aware of his
mother there, and this was probably when they were still fairly close up, he saw his mother there.
And he said, woman, behold your son, meaning John, the disciple John, not John the Baptist,
the disciple John. Because John was the only recorded male disciple who was standing there
at the foot of the cross. The others had ran away. And then he said to John, behold your mother.
You know, in those last moments of life, he cared for those who cared for him,
and he cared for those who didn't care for him, who killed him. But he made sure that his mother
was cared for. And in the gospel, John, it says from that moment on, that disciple,
meaning himself, took Mary into his home. And so John became the caregiver to Mary.
And then the next thing, and this is when it becomes darkness. This is where we just read,
darkness came upon the earth in that sixth hour, 12 noon.
And Jesus cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And that again is recorded
by David in the Psalm 22, 22, 1 actually. And I could not imagine, imagine being David
and he's saying things. And he felt forsaken at that time from God. And David had a lot of
reasons to feel that way. I thought I'm going to be king. I'm running, I'm running, hiding in caves,
hiding for my life from this crazy man, Saul, trying to kill me. And I did nothing wrong.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Little did he know he was speaking prophecy
that would come 1800 years later, no, not that long, I'm sorry, about,
yeah, about 1600 years later about Jesus Christ being hanging on the cross. He was speaking,
not for himself only, but for the future Messiah. He was crying out in this way. But you know,
you know, we could debate this, but I do not believe Jesus actually thought he was forsaken.
But he had to feel just like we feel forsaken. He had to feel that because it was dark, right?
And remember Jesus Christ, you know, his face shines down upon us, you know, when that
darkness came, you ever remember, you ever notice how things seem awful scary in the
throes of nighttime. They really do. You're just like, wow, this is everything's worse.
Jesus knew he said to his disciples, you're all going to scatter, but I'm not alone.
Because my father is with me. He knew his father was there, but he needed to sense that forsakeness
on behalf of us when we feel that way. But you know, it's interesting. We don't have the verse,
but David goes on in the same Psalm 22 that says, you will never turn your face away from those who
are oppressed and persecuted. So even David realized, I just said that in verse one,
but I realized it's not true in verse 24 because he never forsakes. In fact, the word says,
I will never leave you nor forsake you. But Jesus had to feel the separation from his father
on behalf of us. And then the next thing he said, I thirst. You know, he craved anything to drink.
You know, crucifixion, the dehydration, they say the tongue just swells up because all the fluids
have left the body almost. And he can probably, the fact he could still speak is a miracle.
And he said, I thirst. And they raised up to him a sponge filled with sour wine. And there's
so many significant things about this sour wine, because it's really a picture of, you know,
he took what was old and decayed, meaning the law, the things that were
no longer going to be significant because Christ was fulfilling all the law and he was becoming
the new wine. Not the sour, the old wine, but he was presenting a new covenant in new wine. And
so he drank that. And then he said, it is finished. And then he said, father, into your hands,
I commit my spirit. So wonderful, those words. And so as we think about this, these three hours
of darkness, I thought it would be a good idea just to look at a few things regarding this,
regarding that, why was it so important to God to specifically make the earth go dark? And you know,
there was, there was records around the world of this event. Okay, I'm not going to overplay this
because, you know, many things become, you know, sometimes people have a tendency of making things
fit even when they don't. But there were definitely early records of this significant,
some thought it was like an eclipse. Well, how do you see an eclipse in China when you were also
seeing it in Jerusalem, right? It can't happen at the same time. There was reports of this
darkness, but also a great earthquake. So this is, you know, significant, this darkness. But I
think it's, it's so much more than what it just seems like, because I think it's,
he's trying to show us something in this darkness. In 1 John 1.5 John says, this is the message which
we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
So the Lord brings the light. Suddenly he's bringing the darkness. And I think it's a picture
of saying, this is what humanity's destiny is apart from me. And I am taking it all upon myself.
I am taking on all the things that would bring your life darkness and dread and misery. Right
now it's all on me. All the weight of all humanity's sins were coming upon him. It's almost like,
like a black hole you've heard in, in space, these black holes, they just suck everything in
all around them and, and galaxies collapse into this black hole. Jesus Christ was just
taking in all of humanity's sins from before and forever. He was absorbing all of it, even Elijah.
He was taking in Elijah's sins and Moses and Abraham's and all of ours. It was all coming
upon him in that instant of time. So I think it's a picture really of humanity apart from him.
And he was saying, no, I have this. It's all coming upon me. And also you almost sense that it's like
a reset button. You know, when God spoke everything in to existence, remember what he first said?
Let there be light. I love Genesis 1, 1 to 4. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God
was hovering over the face of the waters. And then God said, let there be light. And there was
light. And God saw the light that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness.
In the very beginning, he chose not to expose light into creation until he said, let there be light.
Now he's saying, let there be darkness because I want everyone to know without me, there is
no light. He is the light. He is the only light. We cannot see or even have existence apart from him.
I love this other verse that also resonates about this. John 1, 5 and 9 says,
and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.
That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world,
coming into the world like he is the light of all living life.
Did you ever hear of the zinc spark? So neither did I until a few years ago. But I had heard that
when a sperm meets the egg and conception, thanks for that word Jill,
conception happens in that very instant. There's a spark. Now it's not to the visible eye,
but to highly sophisticated laboratory instruments, they can pick up this spark. It's like a calcium
that ignites as soon as that sperm enters the egg. And in a sense, it's why all life is a gift from
God. And we see this that he is the light. And so Jesus is saying, apart from me, there is no light.
In fact, he even said about himself in John 8, 12, I am the light of the world. Think about that.
I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light
of life. So here he is, the light of the world about to go out in the flesh.
He wanted to garnish this very moment with darkness because he is the only light. Without him,
there is no light. We have no life or light in us. And this is what he's trying to say is that
this is a significant period of time right this moment. And isn't it amazing that as soon as he
said, Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And he left that the lights went back on.
Because that was at that point, 3 p.m. And and there was a light again. And everyone just saw
like, what? Like, how did that just happen? And the earthquakes and the temple veil was torn from
top to bottom. And they're hearing all this, like, there's something going on in this city.
And they were just pierced with recognition that this is a holy moment. There's something
supernatural way beyond my perception that's happening here. And I'm not sure what it was.
They were not sure until he rose from the dead. You know, as we, as we, I wouldn't say celebrate
this day, but in a sense, because we know the outcome. But as we remember this day
of darkness and these three hours of darkness of what the Lord garnished his crucifixion with.
I can't help but remember that there was a time in the history of Israel when the Lord was
bringing the plagues, the ten plagues into Egypt. And you remember what the ninth plague was?
Thick darkness, darkness. The word says that could be felt. I don't know how you feel darkness,
but it's so heavy. It's probably just like a heavy dark blanket, but it was dark. It was
pitch black. They couldn't even see each other, the Egyptians, right? But in the land of Goshen,
they had light. The land of Israel, they did not experience this darkness. They had pure light.
And as we think about this, we as light bearers, because Jesus said, you are the light of the
world. I'm the light of the world. Guess what? You're the light of the world too,
right? You carry the light of Christ. You know, when we commemorate this day of darkness
because of what Christ paid for us, we realize this isn't our destiny right here.
This is how we can build gratitude for what he's done so that when we step into
Easter or resurrection day, we can be the light to the world. Just as Israel said,
you know, it's dark. I hear it's pitch black over there in Egypt, but we see one another
perfectly. You know, we can look from afar and remember this place of darkness where each one of
would have been had we not received Jesus Christ. If we did not have the light of Jesus Christ in us,
that is our destiny. Darkness, misery, dread. You know, it's no joke. I mean,
this is really what it is apart from Jesus Christ. You know, Jesus is the light. I love in Revelation
21. It actually talks about how in this holy city, there is no lights. You know,
we have lights here. We have lights out there in the sun. Well, in the time to come,
the illumination is Jesus himself. Isn't that like what? He is our light. He doesn't need
fixtures. He doesn't need a body up in the space to be radiating light and warmth to us.
He is it. Isn't that amazing? You know, he was before all things. He created all things.
All things were made for him and by him, and he holds all things together. He is the word of God.
And so what we're going to do now is we're going to do a song of worship. Is that okay? And
perhaps if you've never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you know,
what a perfect day to do this. What a perfect day to remember, you know, that is my destiny.
Darkness. It's a dark destiny apart from Jesus Christ. You have no bright future. I'm sorry to
say this, and I know it sounds harsh, but Jesus said that wide is the gateway and many go through
it. The majority of humanity will enter through destruction because narrow is the way Jesus
Christ. There's only one way. He said, I am the way. I am the truth and I am the life.
No man comes to the father except through me. He is the door. He is the gate. He is the only way.
Think about that. He's the only light. He's the only life. It's only Jesus Christ.
In fact, in the word, it says it's better to be in the house of mourning
than in a house of celebration because in that place of mourning, we reflect on our lives
and realize, is my life what it can be? Is my life what it should be?
Do I know my destiny? Do I know my future? You can.
But when you're at a funeral, don't you just, I even thought of myself when I was getting
dressed in a black suit. I'm like, this is,
this is my funeral because Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ. I no longer live
for Christ who lives in me. This is, this is my death. I died with Christ and so did you.
When you receive Jesus Christ, you die with him so that you can live and rise again.
What a day to receive Jesus Christ.
Spirit, God, we ask you
to weigh heavy on us right now with, with perhaps darkness that we can feel if we've,
if we've never received the light.
May this be the darkest day of our lives right here, right now.
Lord, show me how desperate and lost I am right now.
I don't want to leave here thinking I'm going to be okay if I've never received the light,
received your life because I'm not.
Father, God, just show me my days, how limited they are.
And Father, God, if this is the opportunity to say yes to you and receive the gift of salvation,
I want to cry out to you now and to say, Lord, give me your life. Today,
I surrender my life to you to receive yours.
In Jesus name, amen. If you've, if you've prayed anything like that or still want to,
you can come up and see me afterwards. But it's something I had to do. And I actually did it
twice. I prayed at once and I didn't believe it. It took a year to finally be fighting with God
and surrender. Then I knew when I was a basket case bawling my eyes out saying, oh,
that's what it feels like when sin leaves the building.
When the heavy weight, the burden of depravity gets lifted away.
That could be you today.
And Lord, we thank you for this precious gift that you've given us, your own self,
that you came to die for us. He who knew no sin became sin on the cross for us
so that we can become the righteousness of God. Thank you, Lord, for that.
Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church as we praise God and discuss His word.
Don't forget to join us for worship live Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.
Be blessed and have a great day!