That was so good. Such a blessing. Let's go to Matthew chapter 27
this morning. Matthew chapter 27. And I choose for my reading Matthew
chapter 27 verses 50 through 54. Matthew 27, 50, Jesus, when He
had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil of the temple
was rent in twain. And God did it. The indication
of that is it ripped from top to bottom. The earth did. quake the rocks rent. Graves were opened and many bodies
of the saints which slept arose and they came out of the graves
after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared
unto many. Now when the centurion and they
that were with him, watching Jesus, they saw the earthquake,
those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying,
truly, this was the Son of God. that is a bold confession of
faith. And it was made by this rough
heart captain of a band of a hundred
men, a man who had witnessed many executions. He had been
the main one overseeing a number of crucifixions. He pretty much
was numb to this sort of thing. There's no way to know how many
hundreds of people he had executed in the name of the Roman government. This man, the centurion, and
those soldiers that were with him earlier, they had rent our
lord's clothes. They had robed him with a purple
robe. They shoved a reed in his right
hand. They put a crown of thorns on
his head. And then they took that reed
out of his right hand and beat him over the head. They bowed the knee and mocked
reverence and respect and said, they said, Hail King of the Jews. And then they took that purple
robe off of him and put his own robe back on him. and then they
led him away to be crucified. Once they got there, in some
sort of act of compassion, at least a little bit of compassion,
one of them offered him some sour wine, but it was laced with
myrrh or gall, which was used to kind of deaden at least some
of the pain of crucifixion. Our Lord Jesus took a taste of
it and he said, no, I don't want that. Nothing will lessen his
sufferings in the stead of his people. So then they laid his body down
on the cross and proceeded to drive nails through each of his
hands to affix him to the cross and then nail through both of
his feet. And then they took that cross,
the same man and his associates, they took that cross and dropped
it in a hole. And the scripture says all of
his bones were then out of joint. and they watched him. This man, this centurion, he
is there to make sure that the massive multitude that has gathered,
that they don't get out of hand, become some kind of angry mob,
maybe endeavor to take Jesus of Nazareth off the cross. Most
people there didn't care about the two thieves. They were there
to see the one on the middle cross, Jesus of Nazareth. The Scripture says in the book
of Mark that this centurion, he watched Jesus. He actually
turned his back on those who were in back of him, that is
the onlookers, the gazers, the curious ones, And he watched
the Lord Jesus. He fastened his eyes on this
man on the middle cross. And I have no doubt that the
man on the middle cross fastened his eyes on him too. And then everything got dark. Maybe somebody lit torches, I
don't know. But I'm sure this centurion,
he kept his post. He is the highest ranking officer
there. He represents the interest of
Rome, Caesar, and, of course, of Pontius Pilate. He stayed
there. And then he heard unusual things
spoken from the cross, even before the darkness came. He heard Jesus of Nazareth saying,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Little
did he know the Savior was praying for him. This man who made this bold confession, he said, truly, this is the Son
of God. He had no idea that the one hanging
there into whose face he had been looking until the darkness
swept over everything, but this one he was looking at when Jesus'
lips moved, and he said, Father, forgive them. Why, the Savior,
you see, He's praying for all of His people. And this is one
of them, I believe, this centurion. You see, our Lord, He's not only
praying for sinners, He's dying for sinners. This is the only
way that God can be a just God and a Savior was for Jesus Christ
to die upon the cross of Calvary and endure the wrath of God that
all of the sins of His people deserved. Those sins that had
been made to meet on Him. Those iniquities that had been
laid on Him. those transgressions of which
he is now officially legally charged by God himself. And yet, as our Lord hangs there
with all of the mockery he had endured, you think about it,
even this centurion beforehand, he had spit in the master's face. He had treated him miserably. And yet now something is going
on in this man's heart. He is moved by what he hears.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And then
he heard an unusual conversation between, and it was very brief,
between one of the thieves. and Jesus of Nazareth. The thief
said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. I
believe you're going to have a kingdom. I believe you're coming
back. I know you're dying. You're dying like me, but you're
coming back. And you're going to have a kingdom.
You're going to be the Lord. Remember me. If you'll just remember
me when you come into your kingdom, I know everything will be just
fine. And that centurion, he listened. And he hung on every word. As
Jesus of Nazareth, as much as he could, looked toward this
believing thief. And he said, Today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. And then he saw a woman who was
weeping. She kind of stood out from the
rest. Maybe the centurion asked, who
is this woman? And someone said, that's his
mother. And he listened as Jesus of Nazareth
said, woman, behold thy son. There was John, one of his disciples. And he said, son, behold thy
mother. and it swept over him. Oh, how
tender this man is. He doesn't talk like a brutal
man. He doesn't talk like a malefactor. He doesn't conduct himself like
a felon. He's showing such unusual kindness. Father, forgive them. Today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Woman, behold thy son." He's
taking care of his mother. Although he doesn't call her
mother. Perhaps he found that odd. But you see, our Lord Jesus is
not speaking as being her son, the son of her womb. He's speaking
as her Lord. as her Savior, as her Redeemer. And our Lord Jesus was to her,
her elder brother, one of his children, one of his
family. Then suddenly the sun refused
to shine. It's noon. This had never happened
in a crucifixion before. Oh, how unusual this is. And
all of a sudden, it's just pitch blackness everywhere. And like
I say, perhaps some people lit torches. We don't know. But then he listened as that
Jesus of Nazareth He cried out, and oh, what agony was in this cry. What could this mean? My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Do you know the reason he
was forsaken? He was forsaken because he was
legally guilty of all of the sins of all of those people God
gave Him in the covenant of grace. He's the guilty one. All of our sins were charged
to Him. The Scripture says God made Him
to be Sin for us. That one who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And God forsook
him because God's holy. God turned His back on His Son.
Luther is quoted as saying, having studied this portion of Scripture,
he walked out, his secretary heard him say this, God forsaking
God, I can't understand that. There is no mortal that can understand
that. This is God dealing with our
Savior. This is God thrusting into His
very soul the sword of justice. This is God taking the rod of
the law and beating His soul. He is suffering for the sins
of His people. You understand? That's the only
way we could be saved. There was no other way. This
is the only way. If there was another way, then
you would charge God foolishly with killing His Son. This is
the only way. I really appreciate the writings
of Arthur Pink. But you see, men who write books are very capable of even writing
a little error now and then. And he basically said God could
have saved sinners any way He wanted to. But this was the way
He chose. Oh, Brother Pink, how wrong you
were. This is the way. Throughout the
Old Testament, substitution and satisfaction by suffering and
death, that's always been the rule. And in the Old Testament, those
were merely pictures of redemption. This is the real thing now. This is the Lamb of God dying. This is the Son of God. The Son of God is laying down
His life. And then the centurion hears him cry, a very
brief cry. His mouth is dry and swollen. He's a bloody mess. I'm sure
his tongue is swollen. Certainly his back had been beaten. He's a horrible mess. And he hears him say, I thirst. But it doesn't just thirst for
water. As the deer panteth after the
water broke, so panteth my soul, O God, after thee. He thirsted
for the very presence of the Father. Never, in all eternity,
go back before the world was ever made. Forever, he was in
union with the Father. They were always together. They
were one. He said in John 10, I and my
Father are one. But now, there's separation. And it's due to Him taking our
place. Dying or death. And then, all of a sudden, the sun starts
shining again. It's light. And when most men would be very
weak, I'm sure the centurion knows or he knew that Jesus of
Nazareth had been without sleep for well over 24 hours. The previous day was spent teaching. That evening, the Passover supper. Taking the Passover meal, instituting
the Lord's Supper. Staying up into the wee hours
of the morning, teaching His disciples. And then praying John
17. And then leaving and going into
a garden, and there he prayed three times about letting the
cup pass from him, if it was the will of the Father. I'll
be talking about that this evening. And then he was arrested. A band
of soldiers, multitudes came after him with torches and swords
and spears and so forth. A bunch of them coming after
one man. He's arrested. He's taken to
a religious tribunal. And they put him through the
wringer and then he goes before Pilate. Pilate sends him over
to Herod. Herod sends him back to Pilate. Pilate says, I found no fault
in this man, but go ahead and crucify him anyhow. He's been whipped and beaten.
And as that centurion looked at him and looked down on the
ground, look at the massive volume of blood. We have nurses in here this morning.
We have medical personnel in here this morning. If you saw
as much blood on the ground as this centurion saw, you would
be amazed that this man still had any strength at all. But it's like he's been invigorated. And the centurion watching him
says, he listens as Jesus of Nazareth says with a loud voice,
it is finished. It wasn't weak. It wasn't feeble. It wasn't that he could just
whisper those words. It is finished. Redemption is
finished. I am laying down my life for
the sheep. I'm saving my people. I'm satisfying
divine justice. It's finished. All the typology
of the Old Testament, it's finished. All of the animal sacrifices,
it's finished. All of the prophecies of my sufferings
and death, it's finished. It is finished. And then he watched him, this
centurion, he watched Jesus of Nazareth, because then he said,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And then he just bowed his head,
gave up the ghost. Died of his own will. He's never
seen anything like this before in all of his life. He's never
heard anything like this in all of his life. He's watching Jesus
of Nazareth die. And then the earthquakes. The
earthquakes. And the rocks begin to split
open. And there's a noise and they
look around and graves are opening. The people don't come out until
after our Lord's resurrection because He's the first fruits
of them that sleep. He's going to have to be raised
first. But He sees all of this, He and His men, and suddenly,
they're afraid. Hey, he's watched no doubt hundreds
of men be crucified, but nature never reacted like this. Now it's as though all of creation
is angry. What has happened here? Their
Creator has died and the earth just shakes. Because the one
who just died is shaking it. And the rocks rent, and the graves
are open. And this crusty old soldier makes
this bold confession. He says, truly, this was the
Son of God. I'll give you three things real
quick. An accusation, and a confession, and then salvation. First of
all, an accusation. You see, the accusation against
Jesus of Nazareth was he said he was the Son of God. And this
is a very bold confession because There are many religious people
all around, and they all denied that Jesus of Nazareth was the
Son of God. And yet, with all of these enemies
of Jesus of Nazareth surrounding Him, this man makes a bold, a
bold confession. Their accusation, this is what
they held against Jesus of Nazareth, wasn't it? He said he was the
Son of God. Turn back to Matthew chapter 26. You see, this is
the very issue at hand. And we can talk about the death
of the Lord Jesus. We can talk about the forgiveness
of sins and the declaration of righteousness and justice having
been satisfied. But all of those things are fully
dependent upon, is He the Son of God? What is His identity? I don't have time to read all
of this, but here in Matthew 26, Look at verse 62. The high priest
arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? They hired a couple
of fellows to lie. They hired two witnesses. What
is it which these witnesses against thee? And Jesus held his peace.
And then the high priest answered him and said unto him, I adjure
thee by the living God that thou tell us Watch it. Whether thou be the Christ, the
Son of God, do you still hold on to that claim? And Jesus saith
unto him, thou hast said, or you said it just right. I am the Son of God. And then he says, nevertheless
I send you hereafter shall you see the Son of Man sitting on
the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. He is
at the same time the Son of God and the Son of Man. He's got
to be the Son of God. He's got to be divine. He's got
to be God to answer all the claims of God, all the demands of God. To know what God absolutely required. He's got to be God. He's got
to be God which will give virtue to all that He does. And He's
got to be man. He's got to be the Son of Man.
Because God can't suffer. God can't bleed. God can't die. God doesn't have a body. God
is Spirit. He says, one of these days you're
going to see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power coming
in the clouds of glory. And then the high priest, he
pitched a fit. He started ripping his clothes. That's a sign of unusually extreme
sorrow. And he felt pain in his soul
to hear these words. He said, you've spoken blasphemy! and he asked the rest of the
council, what think ye? And they said in verse 66, he's
guilty of death, because he being a man said he's the son of God. And this has been the issue all
along. The identity of Jesus of Nazareth. In John chapter 5, where our
Lord had healed a man who had been lame for 38 years, and He
healed him on the Sabbath day, And the Jews got all upset because
he had performed this miracle. Jesus had performed this miracle
on the Sabbath day. And they took great issue with
that. They didn't rejoice that a lame
man was walking. A man who had been lame 38 years. That poor fellow, they'd seen
him many times, probably stepped over him. Miserable beggar. Now he's walking. The Jews took
issue with Jesus of Nazareth for performing this miracle on
the Sabbath day. And he said to them, my father
worketh hitherto and I work. Then they took up stones to stone
him because he being a man made himself out to be God. This is
always the issue. This is the accusation they had
against him. In John chapter 8, he told them
before Abraham was, I am! I am! And their minds quickly
ran back to that passage in Exodus. when Moses heard this voice from
a bush that burned, but it was not consumed. And the voice said,
go and lead my people to liberty and freedom from Egyptian bondage. Well, who shall I say is sent
me? Tell them I am sent you. I am. I'm the everlasting God, the
eternal Jehovah. And now, Jesus of Nazareth takes
that title for himself. They took up stones to stone
him. John chapter 10, when he said, I and my father are one,
they took up stones to stone him again. And he said, for which
of my good works do you stone me? They said, for a good work
we stone thee not, but you being just a man, you say you're the
son of God. And then we get over to Matthew
19 and verse 7. Here's what Pilate, he took issue
with them. He told them all, he said, I
find no fault with this man. And the Jews answered him, we
have a law. And by our law, he ought to die
because he made himself out to be the Son of God. This has been
the accusation all along. And here comes this centurion,
and he's looking in the face of Jesus of Nazareth, who now
his head has been bowed, his eyes are closed, his soul has
gone to paradise. He said, truly, this was the
Son of God. That was the accusation against
him. Secondly, the confession. Matthew 15, 39 says that this
man stood over against Jesus, that is, looking Him in the face. He observed Him, he studied Him.
The scripture says they feared greatly. Well, might they be afraid? They just killed their God. They killed God. Say, well, you
shouldn't talk like that. The apostle did in Acts chapter
20. Talk about the church of God,
which he purchased with his own blood. That's God's blood. That's the divine one. What a bold confession. And yet,
not the first confession of him being the Son of God. That passage you read to us.
Who do men say that I am? Well, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're
Jeremiah, one of the prophets? Hold on. Hold on. Don't even mention those men's
names when you're getting ready to speak of Christ Jesus. They're
not in the same league. He said, I don't know who you
say I am. And Peter said, thou art the Christ. the son of the
living God. That's what he said. And our
Savior said, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, blessed are
you, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. My Father revealed to you who
I really am. You see me by faith as the son
of God. Gabriel made this confession
to Mary. The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee. The power of the high shall overshadow
thee. Also that holy thing that shall
be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. John the Baptist made this confession
in John chapter 1. He said, Behold the Lamb of God.
And then referring to the Lord Jesus, he later said, I saw and
bear record, this is the Son of God. In John chapter one,
Nathanael confessed him. John 1 49, he said, Rabbi, thou
art the son of God. Later in John chapter six, our
Lord set forth strong doctrine and multitudes bailed out. Multitudes left him and he didn't
beg them to come back. It wasn't anybody left but the
12. He said, were you men going away
too? Peter said, to whom should we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life. We believe and are sure Thou
art the Son of the living God. In Acts 9, Saul of Tarsus, who
had been an enemy to Jesus of Nazareth, despising this declaration
by so many that he's the Son of God. He's on his way to Damascus,
Saul of Tarsus was. He's going to arrest anybody
who believes in this way of grace, this way of salvation by the
death and burial and resurrection of this Jesus of Nazareth. And
the Lord confronted him. Three days later, he's baptized
by Ananias. And if you'll read the Scripture,
there in Acts 9, it says in a straight way in the synagogues, he began
to preach that Jesus is the Son of God. The very truth that he
had denied for so long, so adamant against it, So much so, when
a man who was a preacher, Stephen, was preaching about the Son of
God, he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death.
But now, something has happened to him. The Lord has invaded his heart. In his very first message, Jesus
is the Son of God. Even back in the Old Testament, Nebuchadnezzar threw three men
in a fiery furnace. He was so mad, he said, crank
up that thermostat. Make it as hot as you can make
it. And it was so hot, those that put Shadrach, Meshach in
the bed, and they go in there fully clothed, Those men who
did that, they were burned up. Nebuchadnezzar, I'm done with
them. I don't fool around. Then he looked. He said, did
we put three people in there? Yes, sir. He said, well, I see a fourth
one. I believe that's the son of God.
That's what he said. A heathen king, that's the son
of God. But there's a greater one who
made this confession. That's God the Father. At his baptism, this is my beloved
son. Hear ye him. And on the Mount
of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John, our Lord, took those
three favored disciples up there and He was transfigured before
all of them. And then they looked and Moses
and Elijah were talking with Him. And they're talking about
the redemption that He would accomplish in Jerusalem. You
see, the saints of God are always interested in redemption. The
way our sins are put away. The way justice was satisfied. by the substitutionary sacrifice
of Christ. Simon Peter. Oh Lord, it's wonderful
to be here. Let's just build three tents. One for you, one for Moses, one
for Elijah. Suddenly, a dark cloud came in and covered
all of them. And a voice was heard to say,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. And when that cloud was gone,
Moses and Elijah were gone. And they saw no man save Jesus
only. There's nobody like him. Not
Moses, not Elijah, not Jeremiah, not the Apostle Paul. This is
the Son of God. He's unique. He had to be the Son of God to
save us. And then there's a passage in Hebrews chapter
1 The Father speaks. The Apostle Paul recorded this. To which of the angels said the
Father at any time, thou art my son? But to the Son he saith,
thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Get a hold of this. God called
him God. Don't pay any attention to what
the Jehovah's Witnesses say and the Mormons say and all of these
cults that deny the deity of Jesus Christ. He is the Son of
God. And He conducts Himself as the
Son of God. You see, as far as I'm concerned,
There isn't any difference between those who say He's not the Son
of God and those who say, well, He is the Son of God, but He
doesn't really have all authority and power. You're just as bad
as the others. He's the Son of God with power.
Proven by His resurrection. Romans chapter 1 verse 4 says
that. Oh, this is a bold confession.
And here's the last thing. Salvation. For God so loved the world, that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him
is not condemned, he'll come into everlasting life. Christ came into the world not
to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be
saved. And then he says in verse 18,
he that believeth not is condemned already, and here's the reason,
because he hath not believed in the only begotten Son of God. This is Bible. And I'm going
to give you one passage, one more passage to look at. Quit.
Acts. The book of Acts chapter 8. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. And you know the story. The eunuch
has been to Jerusalem. He's now reading Isaiah 53, going
back to Ethiopia. He didn't benefit anything spiritually. He wasn't benefited spiritually
by his visit to Jerusalem. Now he's going back home. The
Spirit of God says, Philip, I've got a mission for you. Leave
Samaria where there's a great revival going on because I've
got one of my lost sheep out here in the desert and he needs
a preacher. So Philip goes out there and
he finds The Ethiopian gets up in the chair and says, will you
read? He said, I'm reading the prophet Isaiah, but I can't understand
who he's talking about. Is he talking about himself or
some other man? And the scripture says, Philip
began to preach Jesus to him. Look at verse 36. Acts 8, and as they went on their
way, they came to a certain water and the eunuch said, see here
is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said,
if thou believest, with all thine heart thou mayest. And he answered
and said, I believe, now watch this, I believe that Jesus, who
is the Christ, is the Son of God. And Philip said, stop this chariot. Just stop this chariot. And both
of them went down in the water and he baptized him. So I thought
there's a whole lot more to be believed. It starts right here. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's the Son of God. And if you
really believe that in your heart, you'll know His glory. That's
what the Scripture says. But if you don't believe He's
the Son of God, you're not convinced of it, you don't worship Him
as such, You're not one of the Lord's
children. And I'll tell you one other thing about, and I won't
turn to the verse, about this centurion. In the book of Luke,
he says something else. He says, certainly this was a
righteous man. The only righteous man who ever
lived. You know who he is? The Lord,
our righteousness. He's the Son of God. This is
a bold confession. Let's sing a closing song. If you would, get your songbooks
and we'll turn to 231.