Luke 23:44-49
The King conquers death with faith
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the Ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
I. Jesus’ death is different from all other
deaths
A. He was blameless
having committed no sin. – He was completely innocent. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 1 Peter 22:22
The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners." (Hebrews 7:26, NASB). The apostle Paul boldly asserts that
He "knew no sin" (2 Corinthians
5:21).
At the announcement of His birth, an angel called Him
"that Holy One who is to be born."
Pilate's wife told her husband: "Have
nothing to do with that just man." Pilate himself said, "I find no fault in Him." The dying
thief acknowledged the innocence of Jesus when he said, "this Man had done nothing wrong."
The centurion, at the foot of the cross, said, "Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23:47). Even the
demons recognized that Jesus was "the
Holy One of God" (4:34).
B. Jesus
alone could call God “Father.” A claim, which cost Him His life! John reminds
us in his gospel, “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth.” John 1:1-2, 14
C. Jesus innocent suffering and death now frees you
from the consequences of your sin. “When
an innocent victim, who had committed no treachery, dies in a traitor’s stead -
the table would crack and death itself would start working backwards.”[2]
Jesus’ death destroys the powers of sin. Jesus’ innocent suffering now frees
you.
II. His death restores humankind back to the
Father
A. The
curtain of the temple was torn in two.
1. This was a curtain between the Holy Place
& the Most Holy Place.
2. Its tearing symbolized Christ’s opening
the way directly to God.
a. The writer to the Hebrews
explains; “Behind the second curtain was
a second section called the Most Holy Place…By this the Holy Spirit indicates
that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first
section is still standing.” Hebrews 9:3, 8
b. “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22
3. The death of Christ now
frees you. For surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows. Yet we
esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was
bruised for our iniquities. Upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole,
and with His stripes we are healed. All, like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
All, like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened
not His mouth: like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, how like a lamb, the
very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And like a sheep that before his shearers is dumb. So He
opened not His mouth.
By oppression and judgment, He was taken away; and for
His generation who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the
living. Stricken for the transgressions of My people.
And they made His grave with the wicked and with a
rich man is His death; although He had done not violence, and there was not
deceit in His mouth. – Isaiah 53:6-9
That is why Lent begins on Ash Wednesday with ashes of
repentance. And with the hope of life out of the ashes on Good Friday.
With the Lord Jesus in His suffering, humiliation,
agony, and bloody sweat; and now at a cross, where He took our sins upon Himself.
That great exchange – God’s mercy and forgiveness
purchase at the cross of His own son! For God so lived the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life. – John 3:16
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Passive Sentences –9%
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