2 Corinthians 1:1-12
Notes
Transcript
Verses 33-37
Verses 33-37
6th hour - noon
9th hour - 3PM
There was darkness over all the land (Luke says darkness over all the earth) until the ninth hour:
The remarkable darkness all over the earth showed the agony of creation itself in the Creator's suffering.
"Origen (Contra Celsus, ii,33) and Eusebius (Chron.) quote words from Phlegon (a Roman historian) in which he makes mention of an extraordinary solar eclipse as well as of an earthquake about the time of the crucifixion." (Geldenhuys)
Phlegon, Roman historian wrote this: "In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an extraordinary eclipse of the sun: at the sixth hour, the day turned into dark night, so that the stars in heaven were seen; and there was an earthquake." (Cited in Clarke)
This is especially remarkable because Passover was always held during a full moon.
As you may know it is impossible that there be a natural eclipse of the sun during the full moon because solar eclipses can only happen during a new moon because of the way the earth, the moon and the sun must all align just perfectly for a solar eclipse to happen.
In the NKJV Luke tells us that the reason there was darkness was because the sun was darkened, not because it was in the shadows of the moon.
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
The whole earth was darkened - That doesn’t take place when there is an eclipse, when there is an eclipse, only parts of the earth or the land are darkened at a time while other parts see just a partial view of the eclipse. Again this was during the full moon of the Passover Feast which means that there could neither be a solar nor lunar eclipse happening.
This darkness, lasted 3 hours.
Can you imagine what an eerie feeling that must have been? Can you imagine the fear and for some the reverence for God that that fell upon their hearts as they knew full well that an innocent Man, who clearly declared Himself to be the Son of God and thus equal in divinity with God was so brutally mistreated and crucified?!
It’s a glimpse ahead at the coming of Christ in judgement that we see in Revelation when the sun refuses to shine.
Darkness as you may know in the OT speaks of judgment.
John 19:30 tells us what He said when He cried with a loud voice:
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
it is finished, which is one word in the ancient Greek language, the word tetelestai.
This ancient word tetelestai means, "Paid in Full." This is the cry of a winner, because Jesus paid in full the debt of sin we owed, and had finished the eternal purpose of the cross. (Guzik)
“It is finished.” This Greek phrase denotes such power that if Jesus’ hands hadn’t been nailed down, it would have been uttered with a clenched fist raised in the air. It was the phrase an artist would use when he put the last stroke on his paper; a writer when he put the last period in his book. It was the statement a businessman would make when a transaction was final; the pronouncement given concerning a lamb that passed inspection. (Courson)
"He gave up his life because He willed it, when He willed it, and as He willed it." (Augustine)
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
This explains the darkness over the earth. This was the darkness of judgment over the world as Jesus drinks to the dregs the cup of judgment for my sin upon the cross.
It is interesting to note that in this one instance in the synoptic Gospels we see Christ refer to God not as His Father as He always does, but instead as “My God My God” why have You forsaken Me.
The darkness was upon the earth because as Jesus hung in our place taking the sin and judgment of the world upon Himself willingly.
As Jesus had our sin upon Himself our sin brought with it what sin also brings with it and that being the necessity of the one and only time in all of eternity that a separation from the Trinity (the triunity of God) as He now is separated from the Father and the Holy Spirit with the sin of the world upon Him for our forgiveness and salvation.
This moment was what caused Jesus to sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane as He prayed in Surender to His Father’s will.
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
If Jesus would have died from the scourging, or from the beatings, or from the walk to Golgotha, or from any other means than the cross, it would have all been lacking. This moment on this cross was exactly why He came, and it was to drink the cup of the judgement of God, as God forsook His only begotten Son in the most agonizing moment in all of history and really all of eternity so that even the sun was darkened as creation itself seemed to acknowledge what men would not, and all of that so that you and I would have our sin paid for, as the wrath of God was satisfied and forgiveness was extended through the propitiatory death of our dear Savior, Christ Jesus. The result of all of this as you know is that not only can our sin be forgiven and literally blotted out, but that we can enter into our rightful and proper relationship with God that was stolen away when sin entered the world through the rebellion of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
We were under the curse of the law for our sin against a holy, righteous, and just God, but Christ became a curse for us according to Galatians 3…
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
As He became a curse for me He cried out My God My God why have you forsaken Me? And yet we know exactly why that separation occurred for us, because as Habakuk says…
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
Jesus died for all who would receive Him
2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Propitiation = the place where wrath is satisfied -
It’s the idea of what took place under the old covenant law when a person would bring their sacrifice to the alter and lay (really press their hands) upon the animal to transfer their sin upon the innocent animal so that the animal could shed it’s blood to satisfy the wrath of God.
Verses 38-41
Verses 38-41
Wuest the Greek Scholar says...
“The distinctive word for “temple” here is not hieron (ἱερον) which refers to the temple with all its buildings and porches, but naos (ναος), referring to the inner sanctuary, consisting of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The veil or curtain which separated these two rooms from one another, is referred to here. It was torn in two by the unseen hand of God, to show that the way into the earthly Holy of Holies was no more. The Sufferer who had just died on the Cross, had fulfilled all of the Levitical sacrifices and had abrogated them.” (Kenneth S. Wuest)
Jesus now takes a drink (His tongue clung to His jaws) so that He could loosen His tongue to cry out one last important message which Luke and John give us in more detail…
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
it is finished, which is one word in the ancient Greek language, the word tetelestai which meant paid in full!
"This is the cry of a winner, because Jesus paid in full the debt of sin we owed, and had finished the eternal purpose of the cross." (Guzik)
Luke says the final cry was…
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
The veil according to Josephus was 55 cubits high (80 feet), it was woven as thick as a man’s hand, or really the span of a man’s hand.
Now all of this takes place at 3 PM which is the time of the evening sacrifice. As the once for all Sacrifice is made on our behalf, the veil that spoke of a separation between God and man was now torn in 2 from top to bottom as God made a way for us to be reunited with Him through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son Jesus our propitiation.
We know from the book of Acts that many priests came to faith in Jesus after the resurrection, and you have to wonder how many were on duty this day as the Passover Lamb was being sacrificed and suddenly the earth quaked and the thick heavy veil was torn in 2 right in front of their eyes. Can you imagine the sound of that?!
The Talmud records an earthquake that took place in Jerusalem right at this same time. That is important to note because the Talmud is a strictly Jewish book and the authors would certainly not want to back up any event that would prove Jesus to be the Messiah.
Can you imagine the realization that some of those preists must have had that their position was now obsolete?
Here, God was now inviting all who would come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ without the need for the priest to be the mediator, the go between anymore.
God clearly showing in this moment that He can and will meet with any He choses intimately without any other sacrifice needed. Everything was completely and forever changed!
Hallelujah!
No more religion standing between man and God, now an intimate relationship that draws us closer with Him.
"“It is not a slight rent through which we may see a little; but it is rent from the top to the bottom. There is an entrance made for the greatest sinners. If there had only been a small hole cut through it, the lesser offenders might have crept through; but what an act of abounding mercy is this, that the veil is rent in the midst, and rent from top to bottom, so that the chief of sinners may find ample passage!” (Spurgeon)"
There were also women looking on from a distance -
“The words “looking on” are theōreō (θεωρεω) “to view attentively and with interest and for a purpose, carefully observing details.” (Kenneth S. Wuest)
Verses 42-47
Verses 42-47
Remember that verse 25 tells us they crucified Jesus at the 3rd hour (9:00am).
So Jesus hung on the cross for about 6 hours. This is why Pilate was surprised that He was already dead. The shortest time for crucifixion was recorded at 32 hours, while the longest was about 2 weeks. That is why they broke the other prisoners legs, because of the Passover.
Again John gives us a bit more details…
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on 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.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.
36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
Zechariah prophesied about this...
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
Medical experts tell us that the outpouring of blood and water indicates that Jesus died literally of a ruptured heart, a broken heart. Blood and water are also the fluids of birth—for just as a bride was birthed from the side of the first Adam, so the church was birthed through the blood and water from the side of the last Adam. (Courson)
Both Exodus 12:46 & Numbers 9:12 which talk about the ordinance of the Passover lamb say that not one of it's bones shall be broken.
Do you know where blood is produced in the human body?
In short - the bones
Not 1 bone was broken because the sacrifice had to be sufficient for all forever.
No broken bones = no loss or lack of blood
No lack of grace for us
The scene is set perfectly for what we will see next week…
Altar Call
Altar Call