And He Died!

Luke 23:44-46

“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, “‘Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit:”’ and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Now a centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, Certainly, this was a righteous man.)”

It had been a tumultuous couple of days. The mood shifted from one of festive celebration of sharing a last meal around the table to one of utter shock and disbelief as an execution Roman style was underway. None in their wildest imagination ever thought they would experience the moment when they would crucify Jesus.

It seemed antithetical that the giver of life would die, contradictory that the resurrection and the life would die, totally unfathomable that the way, the truth and the life, would die, completely incomprehensible that he who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, would die, and yet, HE died!

Crucified, executed, death by cross, a criminal’s death, hanging between two thieves. He saved others, but seemingly he couldn’t save himself. But the truth is his death was not a happenstance, not an unfortunate thing that happened, but his death was the means and methods of doing for us what we could not do for ourself. By living he loved us, but dying he saved us. He saved us.

While hanging on the cross of Calvary, there came a point where verse 44 says, “a darkness” came upon the earth and remained there for three hours. It was early in the day, 12 noon to be exact when the sun is supposed to be nearing it’s highest peak. But instead, a darkness came, a darkness fell, a darkness shrouded, covered the earth like as if what was about to happen to Jesus was so horrific until not even the human eye could behold it. It wasn’t an eclipse, they don’t last that long; it wasn’t a volcano because there are no volcanos in Israel, it was a divine act that seemingly stated to the onlookers that what was getting ready to happen was non or your business, but was God’s business.

For three hours it was a darkness that fell on the earth. I suggest that when that darkness cloaked the earth, that was the time when God pour on Jesus the iniquity of us all. That was the time when he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. That was the time when Jesus truly bore our sorrows and our griefs. It was at this time that Jesus drank the bitter cup of salvation. He had to take the cup, he had to drink the cup, that cup that he prayed about in the Garden of Gethsemane was now at the cusp of his lips and he drank the cup. In that cup was every sin you could imagine, every trespass, iniquity, lie, abuse, curse, addiction, theft, murder, transgression, all the sins of the world. He drank that cup. And when he did, there was a rupturing, a separation, a holly withdrawal, a forced forsakenness, that that was the time when a Holy God could no longer look at his only begotten Son, because that Son that he sent was no longer the perfect fullness of the Godhead in bodily form, but instead, he was the embodiment of sin and shame.

Not only was there a darkness that covered the earth, but something happened miles away in the Temple during the hour of the priestly sacrifices. It was almost the ninth hour, three o’clock our time, and veil in the Temple was torn in half from top to bottom. James Montgomery Boice, “Jesus on Trial,” says, “The significance of this action that it is directly connected to the atoning work of Christ on the cross.” At Calvary, Jesus was fixing everything that was broken between a righteous God and an unrighteous humanity.

Before Calvary, the Priests would get one opportunity to atone for the sins of the nation of Israel, they would get an opportunity once a year to go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of a spotless animal on the Ark of the Covenant, which had in it some Manna, Aarons Rod that budded, and the Law of Moses on tablets that had been broken by the sins of humanity. And even if the Chief Priest successfully atoned for the sins of the nation in a year, they had to continue offering sacrifices for sin, because the blood of animals could not take away our sins.

But when Jesus hung, bled and died, his blood was pure enough, powerful enough, precious enough to not only cover our sins, but to take our sins far away. So when he shed his blood, his blood met the requirements of every Old Testament sacrificial system, and cancelled forever the need to slay bulls and goats. So when his blood was shed, God was so satisfied with his blood sacrifice, that God-Gods-self ripped the veil in two from top to bottom, signaling that there is no longer a need for you and I to employ a priest to go to God on our behalf. Because of His blood, we need an audience with God can come boldly before the throne of God and instead of getting the judgment we deserve, we get the mercy we stand we need!

There’s no more need for any other sacrifice for our sin. Our real sins were paid for by a real death. God accepted the sacrifice of his Son Jesus, and no further payment is needed. The wages of sin was death, and the death penalty was paid in full. And the good news is, this sacrifice was so sufficient until Jesus only had to die one time. The writer of Hebrews says, he died once and for all. Since he died one time, and there’s no need for a do over, it means our salvation is safe and secure! Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, but he washed me white as snow.

After the darkness cloaked the face of the earth, after the veil in the temple was torn in half from top to bottom, there was one more matter at hand to be dealt with. He dealt with the issue of sin, by becoming sin for us, and then he dealt with the issue of atonement by shedding his blood for our sin, but now he has to deal with the issue of final committal. His last words were not words of anguish, words of abandonment, words of suffering, but rather, his last words were a prayer, but not just any old prayer, but a prayer of commendation, “Father into thine hands I commit my spirit.”

Here he quotes the thirty-first Psalm, a Psalm of David, Messianic in nature, but a Psalm that talks about refuge. And a we all know that a refuge is a hiding place, a safe place, a place where you can find shelter in the midst of a storm. This Psalm makes it clear that God is that refuge, that rock and that fortress. And whenever your enemies secretly plot and scheme for your demise, God is such a refuge that you can entrust your spirit into God’s hand. At the of the day, it’s good to know that you can depend on God.

But this is his final statement, it’s like the final benediction, the committal at the funeral. Can I just do a little isegesis here? I had a funeral yesterday and at the end of the service, comes the committal. Every pastor knows that whether you at the cemetery or in the church, whether its a burial or cremation, no matter what, the service is not over until there is a committal. The committal is the final commendation, the final entrustment, its the last word over the departed.

There was just one problem, couldn’t find nobody qualified to pronounce the committal! Who could commit the bread of life,

the living water,

bright and morning star,

the rose of Sharon,

Lamb of God Slain before foundations of the world,

the one who was, who Is, and is to come,

Who....and since they couldn’t find nobody to pronounce the committal, Jesus said, “I’ll commit myself! Father!

He died, the righteous for the unrighteous,

the perfect for the imperfect,

the pure for the impure,

the sinless for the sinful,

the saint for the sinner,

whole for the broken,

the clean for the dirty,

the hope for the hopeless,

the light for the darkness,

the shepherd for the sheep,

the seeker of the lost,

the bread for the hungry,

the water for the thirsty,

the resurrection for the dead,

the healer for the sick,

the deliverer for the captives,

the liberator for the oppressed,

Died for me, died for you,

Wasn’t forced to die, but willing to die,

No man takes my life, I lay it down,

And if I’ve got the power to lay it down,

I’ve got the power to pick it back up again,

He could have called 10,000 angels

He could have come down from the cross just to save himself, but...

He decided to die just to save me.