He is the Only Way
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bibles, we are going to start today with the death of Jesus
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest event that has happened in the history of the world. It is the one event, the one Kairos moment that completely altered the trajectory of the world. It is hard to understand the exact enormity of this situation. It is of course the forgiveness of all our sins. Jesus died for each one of us so that we may have our debt cleared. He died so that each one of us can have a personal relationship with the Father. Your eternal home with the Father is secured by Jesus
This event would lead into the book of Acts and Jesus would build this age upon the church. The majority of western civilization is founded upon Christian values. The ramifications of Jesus walking out of that tomb is world changing. Science was created so that people can learn more about God. Even the original set up of the public education system was to teach people to read and write, this was set up so that people had a foundation to read the Bible. According to the Wycliffe Bible Translators, at least some portion of the Bible has been translated into 3,756 languages. The complete Bible has been translated into 756 languages. That covers 90% of the world’s population. It is estimated that over 5 billion copies have been printed worldwide.
Our very own Declaration of Independence says
“ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights...”
When I say that the cross and the empty tomb is the greatest event in history. I mean quite literally that unless Jesus walks the Earth and does what He does on the cross. Our lives both here on earth and in eternity are not the same. So let’s go back to the scripture
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
As Jesus is on the cross from noon until 3pm it was dark over the entire land. Jesus here quotes Psalm 22:1
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
Everything that Jesus does had already been laid out in the Old Testament. People just needed to open their eyes to the scriptures. The disciples didn’t understand. We still struggling with understanding this today. Sin broke the world. Jesus became the very thing that broke this world. Jesus became sin and paid the penalty that people could not pay. You are righteous because of His acts and His sacrifice. It is a gift that He gives us. I think modern people have a tough time with this because so many people no longer see sin as a bad thing. In the time of Jesus , they wanted a savior from the Roman empire. What they needed was freedom from the slavery of sin. In modern times, we want the love of Jesus but we want to keep our sin. In both instances we miss that we need saving from what actually broke the world.
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
I am not going to go into graphic detail of the crucifixion, however what we need to understand is that unless someone quickened the death of a person, it typically took several days for someone to die on a cross. Jesus does not spend several days on the cross. Even as Jesus is dying people are waiting to see what happens, to see if He truly was the Son of God. To see if Elijah the prophet would come get Him.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
The curtain in the temple is the curtain that separated the inner most sanctum of the temple it was called the holiest of holies. Only the high priest could enter that area and even then there was special circumstances that he could enter that area. Now here is the very important detail, God is a God of details, The curtain is ripped from top to bottom. God ripped that curtain, God is now showing us that access to Him is now for everyone, it is not for only one person. Every single one of us has access to the Father.
Then the earth shook. The death of Jesus was so powerful that even earth the creation of God shook. The rocks split and the tombs were broken open. These tombs were those of the Old Testament faithful. This is found only in Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew’s Gospel was written for Hebrews. Jesus is the first fruits, His resurrection is first and then those from the Old Testament that had followed God are next. It was the fulfilment of the Feast of Firstfruits of Harvests. It is a sign to us that there will be a coming Harvest when all the saints will be raised.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
This is why the fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.
These men were pagans, Romans. They would not have had the Old Testament training to truly understand what was happening. But now they understand because they saw a power much greater than themselves. They were terrified. There is a reason that the Bible says do not fear 365 times. Because there is nothing on earth to fear. Jesus Christ defeated death, there is no reason to fear it. There is no reason to fear man because there is nothing man can do to you that God doesn’t take care of. The devil is defeated. There is no reason to fear. However if you turn your back on God, now that is the time to fear. Wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord. When you have that Biblical worldview, then your fears of earthly things will start to vanish.
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
There is power greater than you in this world and He created all of this. God in the Holy Week and on resurrection Sunday breaks into History. The angel comes down and another earthquake happens. These guards were charged with sealing and guarding the tomb to make sure that no one tampered or attempted to take Jesus. When it says the became like dead men. It means that they fainted. Roman soldiers, the most powerful army on the planet at the time. It means nothing to God. He is the true power of this world.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
Here we have the most important message ever given. Do not be afraid but Jesus is not here. He has risen from the dead. That empty tomb validates everything Jesus said throughout His life. It also validates everything in the Bible itself. Jesus has defeated death, Jesus has done exactly what He said He would do. Jesus is the only way to the Father but Jesus is for everyone.
The empty cross and the empty tomb are God’s “receipts” telling us that the debt has been paid.
Warren W. Wiersbe
In our society of show us the receipts, God has been doing that since the beginning of time. That cross and that empty tomb prove your debt has been paid.
Now I want to make an important point. Our faith is not based upon an empty tomb. Our faith is upon a living Jesus that walked out of that tomb.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
It is the living Jesus that caused people to believed. It wasn’t simply the empty tomb. You can encounter the living Jesus today.
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
The disciples go to Galilee and yet some still doubt. Of course Jesus is going to speak to them in just another verse. but I want to speak on doubt for just a moment. There are plenty of people in this world that doubt. I just have one question for those that doubt. Have you ever asked God why you doubt? Thomas doubted and Jesus appeared to him. We can have theological discussions and I can lay out everything for you. But have you ever gone to a quite place and just asked God? As we saw earlier the curtain has been ripped. It goes for any tough questions. Do you feel like you aren’t ready to speak to someone about Jesus or do you feel like you aren’t worthy of God? Have you asked God if you are worthy? I promise you this, you are worthy, He proved it.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is the final teaching of Jesus before He ascends to be with the Father. I use this verse a lot because it is our charge to follow through on this. This is our mission but Jesus does not leave us. He is with you all the time, we are co-laborers with Jesus.
Immanuel—God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our daily work, in our punishment, in our death, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph and Second Advent splendor.
Charles Spurgeon
We are going to end with Spurgeon. Immanuel God is with us. He is with you in all your tough times. We are with Him in Victory.
We will be here in the front if anyone would like to give their life over to Jesus or any prayer requests.
Let us pray
