I've titled our lesson this morning, Truly, This Man Was the Son of God. Our text begins in Mark chapter 15 in verse 39. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, or it says that the Lord cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost, when he saw that, that he so cried and gave up the ghost, he said, truly, this man was the son of God.

Now I've often wondered about this centurion and wondered, was he a believer? Was he saved? Did the Lord reveal Himself to this centurion because of what he saw and what he heard that day? He did for the one thief. He may have done the very same thing for this centurion. I don't know, but I sure hope so. Don't you? I hope so. And he verbally at least said the very same confession as the eunuch. I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And when Philip heard that, he said, stop this chariot. We're going to have baptismal service. I know the eunuch was saved. Maybe this man was. He said, surely this man is the son of God. So I hope he believed.

But what I want this morning is rather than debate whether this man's a believer or not, I want us to consider the things that this man saw and heard so that the Holy Spirit will enable us to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Not just to know the fact that he is the Son of God, but to believe it.

Now, first of all, this centurion saw Jesus of Nazareth suffer like no one had ever suffered before. You know, this centurion was very familiar with death by crucifixion. I mean, this is his job, to crucify people. He's like the executioner or something, you know, in charge of all the soldiers carrying this out. He'd seen many people be crucified. He'd seen them go through this process of dying by crucifixion. And he'd never seen anyone suffer like this man suffered, like Jesus of Nazareth suffered. He saw Isaiah's prophecy fulfilled. Isaiah prophesied, many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more than any other man. This centurion saw that and recognized that this man has been, his visage is marred, his suffering is greater than anyone I've ever seen suffer when they're being crucified.

And I just have to think that he got some idea, some sense of the soul suffering of Christ. That's what made his suffering so much worse than anyone else being crucified. It was his soul suffering. And that's where suffering had to take place. Salvation can only be accomplished by the soul suffering. Christ made his soul an offering for sin. And he saw all that.

But you know, in the preaching of the gospel, you and I see something so much better than seeing Christ suffer physically and understand something about His physical sufferings. If I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, by faith, this is what I see. I see Christ suffering as no one has ever suffered for my sin. He has to suffer more than anyone has ever suffered because he's taking the punishment that I deserve. He took my sin and he's suffering the punishment that I deserve. So of course he had to suffer more than any man ever suffered. I don't even know the half of my sin debt and it looks like a mountain to me, but it's so much greater than I even know. And to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God, That comforts my heart so much because if the Son of God suffered like this for my sin, this is what I know. My sin's gone because He suffered how He suffered.

And then the centurion saw a second thing that was highly unusual. I'm sure he never had seen this before. The Lord never one time defended himself against any charge that was brought against him. Even though he personally never committed any of those sins, he never one time defended himself and said, that's not true. I didn't do that. Not one time ever did he. And he put many men to death, but he had never seen that before. Everybody is still saying right up to the last second, I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I'm innocent. I don't deserve this. He never saw anyone voluntarily lay down on that cross before and stretch out his arms and legs to be crucified. But this man did. And that had to astonish him.

And I know, and you and I know, because we've had the gospel preached to us, we can see this by faith, we know why the Lord did that. Because he'd been made guilty of the sin of his people. Even though he never committed those sins, you and I did. And when they made those accusations against him, he'd been made guilty. And he couldn't say, I'm not guilty of that, because the father had made him guilty of all of those sins. And he willingly took the sins of his people and willingly suffered and died for those sins.

See, I see something so much better by faith than that centurion saw physically. If I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, I see the Son of God voluntarily being my substitute. Voluntarily taking my place. The only word that I could think to describe that is amazing. amazing grace. And that grace can only be found in the Son of God. Nobody else could and nobody else would do that for a sinner like me, but the Son of God did. And he's the only one who could satisfy God's justice when he did it.

And that brings me to the third thing. This centurion heard the Lord say to that dying thief, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. He heard him say that. Now only the Son of God has the power to make such a statement. That today I'm gonna take you to be in paradise with me. He's the only one that has the power to say that. And this is a fulfillment of the Lord's prayer in John 17. His great high priestly prayer where he said, Father, I will, that all those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." And in just a few hours, he told one that the father had given to him, today, you're gonna be with me in paradise and you'll behold my glory.

Now, if I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God by faith, I've heard the Savior say the same thing to me. Not that today, I mean, it could be today, but you know, up to this point in my life, it's never been today. But today, at some day, at His appointed time, I'm gonna be with Him in paradise. And I'm gonna behold His glory, with no dark glass in between. Not by faith, but by sight. Now that is grace and power that only the Son of God has. Nobody else can make such a promise to a sinner like me and you that one day, the day that he's appointed, we're gonna leave this body of sin and we're gonna leave this world of sin and immediately enter paradise with Christ. Immediately. Because of his sacrifice, he's made us fit to enter straight into glory.

Now I would understand if the centurion wondered. Now is that really true? Is that really true that later on today after we break his legs and he dies, is he really gonna go to paradise? Is that really true? He may have wondered about that. But by faith, this is what you and I know. If we believe Christ, this is what we know. I know that's true. I believe it and I know it's true because I believe the one who said it. So it's not because I think I'm worthy, it's because I believe the one that said it. I believe the one that promised it. I believe the one that purchased it with his blood, that at his appointed time, I'm gonna appear with him in glory. That is so great. We'll never get our human minds around the greatness of that. And I suspect even after thousands and thousands and thousands of years in glory, we're still never going to fully be able to wrap our mind around this incomprehensible grace that has brought us from this sinful body to being made just like Christ and being able to worship Him face to face. But that's what we're gonna have because of the one who promised it and the one who purchased it.

Now fourth, here's something else that this centurion saw. I mean, he saw this, he didn't read about it, he was there. He saw at noon, God shut the sun off. At high noon, at the brightest point of the day, God shut the sun off. Now, of all the crucifixions this centurion had taken part in, of all the places that he'd been in the world as a soldier for Rome, he'd never seen anything like that, but the sun go out at noon. And when a person would see that, you would think that even natural understanding would lead us to think something divine is happening here. I mean, who can turn out the sun but God?

I read this this week and let me read it and give it to you. Then I'll explain why I'm doing it. A man named Dionysus who lived in Egypt. He was some sort of historian. He wrote down the histories that was happening so it would be recorded for future generations. He lived in Egypt at the time of the Lord's crucifixion. And the sun went out in Egypt just like it went out in Israel. And this is what this man wrote.

Either the divine being suffers or he suffers with him who suffers.

Please understand, I'm not taking something that some historian wrote to prove that the Bible's true. I believe that there was darkness over the whole earth for three hours because the Bible said so. I don't need a historian. I don't need some scientific discovery to tell me that that's true. I know that that's true. I'll only read you what this man said.

Either the divine being suffers, or he suffers with him who suffers, to show us even that unregenerate man. who I'm assuming had never heard of Jesus Christ. He knew this is divine. Something divine is happening here where the sun has gone out at high noon from noon to three o'clock. He knew this is God's doing.

And in those three hours of darkness, this is not just a physical darkness that we understand something about, but by faith, we understand in those three hours of darkness, God was doing business with God. God turned the sun off. You know, I've heard people say lots of reasons. God turned the sun off because no light should be shining on this horrible, horrible, horrible act of crucifying the son of God. But it's much more than that. God turned the sun off because what's happening now is something man is not supposed to see. This is God doing business with God. This is Christ being like the high priest of old on the day of atonement, going behind the veil into the Holy of Holies all by himself. Nobody could see what he was doing in there, and he was sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat. Nobody could see him, but he did it because this blood was an offering to God, to sprinkle blood upon the mercy seat. Well, in these three hours of darkness, Christ, our great high priest, he didn't take animal blood. He took his own blood into the holiest of all. He took it into the presence of his father and offered it on the altar before his father. And that offering had to be made to God. This is the God that we've sinned against, the God that we've offended.

Don't ever fall for some man telling you that the blood of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ is offered to you. Don't you feel sorry for Jesus suffering like this for you? So now won't you accept him as your personal savior? That sacrifice was not offered to you and me. It was offered to the Father. The Father's the one that's offended. We aren't offended because of our sin. We're sinners. The Father is the one who is offended. And Christ took His own blood into the holiest of all, before His Father, and put His own blood on the altar before the Father. And the Father said, I'm pleased. I've accepted this sacrifice.

And I love to think about that. I can't hear about that once too often, because that's the only hope of salvation that I have. That Christ took his blood for my sin before the Father, and the Father said, I accept it. Now only the Son of God has the pure blood to offer before the Father. Only the Son of God has the power and the right and the ability to go behind the veil to the Father and offer His blood for a sinner like me. If the Son of God took his blood in those three hours of darkness where God was doing business with God as a sacrifice for my sin, I know this beyond a shadow of a doubt, my sin's gone. And as unacceptable as I see myself, the father's accepted me too. It's because of the sacrifice of the son.

And then this centurion, he heard the cries of the Lord. Verse 37, our text says, Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. Now we know what he cried from the other accounts of our Lord's crucifixion. The first thing he cried is, it is finished. It is finished. Now I have to tell you that there is a part of me that would like to have been there and heard the Savior cry, it is finished. I mean, that is the moment of moments in human history. This is why Christ came. The angel said, At his birth, at his conception, 33 and a half, 34 years before that, you call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. That's what he's come to do. That is why he came. And in his dying agony, he cried, it's finished. I did it. I finished the salvation of all of my people.

I have to tell you, there's a part of me that would have liked to have heard that. But you know, if I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, by faith now, I've heard something better. I've heard something better than the Savior crying that audibly. By faith, I've heard him say, it's finished. for your sin. I finished your salvation. Your salvation. It's accomplished. Salvation's accomplished. There is nothing left for you to do to finish it. There's nothing left for you to do to complete it and make it effectual for you. The Savior cried, it's finished. And this is something I'm gonna get into in the message here in a little bit. This salvation is already finished. It's finished before you and me ever came on the scene. It's finished. It's finished. And all that's left for us to do, by God's grace, is to believe him. It's finished.

And the other thing he cried is this. Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit. And at that moment, as soon as he said that, he died. His body died, he gave up the ghost, and he died. Everybody else they crucified finally had to be killed. They had to break their legs. So when someone was crucified, their body would just stretch out and stretch out. They didn't have any room for their lungs to take in any air. And through their feet, they would nail to that cross, they'd lift up. Get a breath and then sink back down. And they finally had to break their legs. So they suffocate and die. We got to get this over with, you know, it's time for us. And somebody could have hanged there for days like that. And they finally sent a jury and said, me and my soldiers, we got to go home, you know, and they break their legs. So they die.

This man willed his own death. He willed his own birth. And he willed his own death. And the Savior could say in confidence, Father, I'm committing my soul into your hand, like I'm committing it to you. Because he knew his sacrifice was accepted. He knew his sacrifice had done what he came to do and put away all of the sin of all of his people.

And here's a hint at how confident he was. Remember earlier, we looked at this a week or two ago, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Up until that point, he'd always called his father, my father. Here he says, my God, because God was judging him. God was pouring out the wrath of God against the sin of his people upon our sacrifice. But now the sacrifice is over. It's complete. The sacrifice has been accepted, and he says, Father. No more is he separated from his Father. No more is God judging him. He says, My Father. My Father.

Now the reason that Christ died, the reason he gave up the ghost, is the debts paid. If there was even one penny left to pay, he couldn't die. But the debt has been fully paid. God is satisfied. He's satisfied that his justice is satisfied for all of our sin. All of the sin of the elect against him is paid. There's nothing left to do. So he's satisfied the law's last demand. There's got to be death for sin. And he gave up the ghost and died so his people will never die.

Now, the only one who has the power to do that is the son of God. That's who I believe. And it gives me such comfort of heart and soul and mind that he gave up the ghost because my sin was put away under his precious blood. And the father had accepted it.

Then the next thing, and this happened, and I'm sure that the centurion didn't see it, he may have heard about it later, but the veil in the temple, when Christ gave up the ghost, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Now I've done a lot of reading about that veil, and they say it's as thick as a man's hand, and it was all, these threads all woven together, And it hung loosely between the holy place and the holy of holies. And this is what they say. If a man was riding a horse and he could come into the holy place, he had a sword. And he chopped at the top of that veil, it wouldn't have torn. It would have given a little bit, but it wouldn't have torn. He couldn't cut it. It was so thick, certainly no man could tear it. I mean, you think how thick that thing was.

But when Christ gave up the ghost, God tore that thing from the top to the bottom, just tore it completely in two. And here's what God's telling us, when that veil is torn, that the way to God is now wide open, as long as you come to God in Christ. Up to that point, if you and I, if we were Israelites, and we lived in Jerusalem at that time, and we had tried to creep behind that veil and see the mercy seat, God would have killed us. You can't come. Only the high priest could come, and he could only come one day a year, on the day of atonement, at the day that God appointed, and he better come with blood. He better come with the blood of the sacrifice to sprinkle on the mercy seat.

Well, Christ has already taken His blood, not the blood of animals, He's taken His blood to the Father and offered it on the mercy seat. And the Father has eternally accepted His people and He tore that thing. I love this. He didn't tear a hole in the corner so a small sinner could crawl through. He didn't tear it horizontally across. So a short sinner could get under it. But Jonathan, you couldn't. You're taller than me. You couldn't get under there. Sorry. But he didn't do that. He tore it from top to bottom. So I don't care how tall, how fat, how skinny, how short. It's wide open for any sinner to come to God as long as they come through Christ.

And let me show you that in Hebrews chapter 10. That torn veil is a picture of the flesh of Christ being torn and sacrificed for the sin of his people. As long as you come through that torn flesh of Christ, through Christ crucified, the way to God is wide open for you. Hebrews 10 verse 18. Now, where remission of these is, there's no more offering for sin. We don't need another offering for sin. Christ has already put away all the sin of his people. So, since there's no more offering for sin, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

You know, that high priest, the high priest of old, and I think of especially Aaron doing it for the very first time, And God said, seeds should come not, or I'll kill you. Except for one day a year. Aaron entered into that holy place. I'm just sure of this, because there's a man just like you and me. He had that blood and that base in his hands. And he went in full of fear and trembling. I better do everything just right, just exactly like God said, or he's going to put me to death. He entered in with fear and trembling, but because of the sacrifice of Christ, the writer says you and I have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, through that torn veil, that is to say, his flesh.

That veil is given to us as a picture of the flesh of Christ. And because Christ has been crucified, his body has been torn and racked, and his soul has been made an offering for sin, we have boldness. Confidence to come into the holiest of all, into the very presence of God Almighty. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, because of the Son of God. No one else could give us that kind of confidence, could they? Except the Son of God, crucified for us.

And then, based on the other accounts of this, when Christ gave up the ghost, it said the rocks were rent. I mean, big boulders, rocks. The earth shook and rocks were just torn in two. I mean, that had to be an awe-inspiring sight. I mean, you just think of that. I mean, again, this is something that's divine. Only God could do this. And this man saw that, saw that happen. Because Christ died, the creation shook. The whole creation just, I don't know, can you say rebelled or in shock or whatever? The Son of God had just died. And the creation shook so much, boulders just tore in two. And again, if you're honest, you have to say, yeah, I kind of like see that.

But if I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God, you know, by faith, I've seen something far better and far more meaningful to me. If I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God, I felt the miracle of God breaking my stony heart and giving me a heart of flesh.

I grew up hearing the gospel all my life. And to my shame, how many times, every time, I suppose, until the Lord was pleased to reveal himself to me, my heart was completely unaffected by hearing the gospel preached. In my head, I thought it was true. Makes sense to me. I think that's true. I can argue with you about all kinds of different false religions. In my head, I knew this was true. My heart was completely unaffected. And one day, my heart was broken. And you know when? Hearing the preaching of Christ crucified. Hearing the preaching of how he suffered and died to put away my sin. And every time the Lord really enables me to hear that, still today, my heart breaks every time. I mean, this morning in my study, going over my notes, I mean, my heart just broke again and just the glory of this. Oh, He broke my heart and gave me a heart of flesh. Only the Son of God could do that.

You know, I heard, I say they're great preachers, men I admire so much, men that seem to have such power in the pulpit, such command of the scriptures to preach Christ, and they could never do that for me. But the Son of God did.

And here's the last thing. When Christ gave up the ghost and died, the other accounts of scripture tell us that the dead arose. And the saints walked into Jerusalem and appeared to many. The dead arose when Christ died. Now again, this is divine, isn't it? Only God could do that. And you'd think, I mean, that would be something else to see, wouldn't it? To see someone that you watched die and be buried, and then suddenly they're brought back to life again.

But if I believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, I've seen something far better, far better, far more precious to me. I've experienced the miracle of the Holy Spirit giving this dead sinner life. Now, I can't tell you the exact moment that that happened, but I do know this. There was a time I was dead. And now I'm alive. Now God's given me life to see Christ, to believe Him, to love Him, to desire Him. And I don't know the exact moment that it happened, but I do know this, only the Son of God could do that for a dead sinner like me.

Now that's some of the things that that centurion saw. And I hope that the Lord will let us hear these things. And he'll give us faith to believe Christ. Not just know the facts, but to believe Christ. I pray the Lord will make it so.

All right, Lord bless you.