Services | Jesus Crucified

Bulletin

Hymn # 348 “Living for Jesus”

SCRIPTURE READING – Matthew 4:18 - 22
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
OFFERTORY MUSIC – Pru Hungate



Praise and Worship
“Battle Belong”
“Way Maker”
“Egypt”

Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“Jesus Crucified”

PRAYER TIME / Time of Reflection
“At the Cross (Love Ran Red)”


Sermon Notes
Mark 15:22 – 27 Jesus crucified on a hill called Golgotha. He refused the offer of dulling His pain. His garments were divided and 2 others were also crucified
Mark 15:29 – 32 Many were insulting Him and said he saved others but could not save Himself What if He had come down?
Mark 15:33 – 37 Crucifixion started at 9:00 am, at noon darkness fell and at 3 He breathed His last
Mark 15:40 & 41 Results of His death – the veil in the Temple was torn top to bottom and the Centurion said “Truly this was the Son of God” Women ministered to Him during His life were looking from afar

See Psalm 22 & Isaiah 56

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Scritpures

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Transcript of Service

The way someone dies is not often proof of who they are. But in the case of Jesus, he was crucified. The scriptures tell us how the Messiah would die, be buried, and raised again. Jesus' crucifixion demonstrates a proof that he was and is who he said he was.

Let's take a look at what the scriptures say about his crucifixion. There are several days that we celebrate freedom. Here in our country we celebrate July 4th as a day of freedom and liberty for our country.

Passover was a day that the children of Israel celebrate the deliverance out of slavery and freedom that it has. And for the people of God, Passover, the day that Jesus died on a cross for our sins to deliver us for freedom. So we should celebrate the freedom that he has given us and not go back to being in chains. So today we're going to take a look at that time when Jesus suffered on a cross to redeem many. Now it says that basically that as he was let out by the Romans that he didn't carry his cross forward because Simon of Syrien carried his cross for him. Syrien is a city in northern Africa which is considered Libya presently and he was probably Jewish going to Jerusalem during the Passover time as we're required for all men to do so.

Now it's not unusual to think that Jesus could not bear the cross when you consider all that Jesus had gone through up to this point during the fairing assembly. It said that he sweat drops like blood medical experts say that when that happens that your skin becomes super sensitive to so he's lost perspiration and blood and that then he was scourged which would be the death of many and the loss of blood and flesh at that. If he was beaten and a crown of thorns was placed upon his head again causing the loss of blood so you could see that Jesus from a human standpoint would be weakened by the loss of blood already. And so instead of carrying his cross fully the impressed Simon to do so. Then it says on verse chapter 15 of the gospel of Mark verse 22 will start it says then they brought him to the place Galgotha which is translated place of the skull. And so Mark tells us what Galgotha means it means place of the skull apparently the hill looked like a skull. We get from a Roman Latin kind of Calvary so when you hear on Calvary Calvary means place of the skull it's just a different translation of that. And so they took him to this place where I believe many generations before Abraham offered Isaac and God told Abraham to stop that he knew that he loved his God more than his son.

And that on their way up when Isaac noticed there wasn't a lamb that Abraham said God himself would provide a lamb and I believe this is the fulfillment of that statement so they took Jesus to a place of the skull. And they tried to give him wine mixed with burr but he did not take it now this was a situation of what they were trying to do the mirror would act as a deadening combination like a drug to deaden the pain so that it which I kind of find. God in the sense of the whole purpose to crucify somebody is to give great pain in the execution and yet you're offering some type of drug to deaden the pain probably because of that away the time of execution last longer because you're not experiencing the full pain but Jesus denied taking it and I believe one of the reasons to do tonight well I believe that there are two reasons. Reason number one because he was going to experience the full measure of God's judgment on him so he did not want a pain killer. The other thing is that I think he did not take it because when you take drugs you may make choices that you would not normally take.

So Jesus in his final moments of ministry was going to make sure he did nothing to distract or. And the other thing is that he did not take the pain killer's offer to him the mark makes a very simple statement and they crucified him. And they crucified him that's a statement simply like one earlier he said and they scourged him.

Two words the crucified. He could have gone into great length of the crucifixion now perhaps the explanation is the people that mark is writing to slowly understand what crucifixion is all about so it doesn't need to go into the detail. But I think the mark knew that many centuries later we would all read the gospel of mark. And you and I haven't witnessed a crucifixion.

How they would place his hands and nail them to a cross then take his feet and nail them to a cross. And then raise up that cross and place it into the whole that's across would stand and I'm sure that that created great pain. Then during the crucifixion you died of two different causes dehydration and a fixation because what they would do is they would nail you and your feet would be so that in essence as you were on the cross. You would push up so that you could breathe. But then your muscles would spasm entire and you would sink down and you couldn't breathe because the diaphragm was compressed and so you were in that state until you got enough strength and then you raise yourself up. And it would take hours and days to cause a person to finally die, die of that process. And so the loss of water and in whatever so that you are hydrated and the fact that you assume tired and could not breathe and die of the fixation.

It was a terrible way to die and the Romans intended it to be and they intended it to be very public because they said. This criminal this person we deemed worthy to die you should not do what they did and we're making an example of him so that you stay on the right side of the Romans. And so there would be this great pain that was associated with it but Mark just goes and they crucified him.

And they invited his garments among themselves casting lots for them to decide what each man should take. And again, these were Roman soldiers. They were not experts in the Jewish law or the what we would call the Old Testament. They were fulfilling scripture because in the scripture and I'll and I'll make reference later where you can find this. Says that that's what would happen. And so it's not like they were saying okay, well we got to fulfill this Jewish scripture because it as a matter of fact they didn't even believe that Jesus was the Messiah. So they would certainly not do these things to justify.

And again, it would show if Jesus were human only he had no authority to do these things to make sure they happened. And yet the scripture seen what would happen told us so that when we saw what happened we would know it's the Messiah. And so as a part of the Old Testament scripture about who the Messiah would be they fulfilled that. And it says it was the third hour when they crucified him. Now the third hour in Jewish reckoning would be about 9 a.m. If you read the gospel of John there's some discussion about different hours and stuff.

I think what clearly is rather than an inconsistency. Mark is using the Jewish reckoning of time and John will use the Roman reckoning of time. So at 9 a.m. they start to crucify Jesus which means from the time he was arrested in the evening in Gaseminin. All the various hearings and trials that took place all took place between that arrest in 9 a.m.

So at 9 a.m. they started to crucify him. And the inscription of the charge against him read the King of the Jews. So pilot because he had heard their arguments of whatever and the reason they wanted Jesus crucified they said was because he claimed to be king that that would somehow implicate pilots weakness if he didn't eradicate Jesus being the king of the Jews. So he put the inscription on and they ultimately and the other scriptures will see that they didn't like that and piloted I wrote what I wrote. Leave me alone.

So whether he's being facetious or whatever but the statement is accurate. He is the king of the Jews and the king of kings and the Lord of wards and the other gospel tell us not only did they he they write it. But they wrote it in three different languages so that everybody passing by would know what the charge was. So if you didn't understand Latin and you understood Greek then you could re Greek or if you knew a remake or whatever so they put it so there would be an international inscription of who the charge was that he was the king of the Jews. And they crucified two robbers with him one on his right and one on his left. Now again generally speaking thief robbers didn't qualify for capital punishment. There was other punishment so possibly these two people who not only were robbers there were probably insurrectionists similar to the rabbis who pilot tried to free. But the crowd chose the rabbi's son of the father rather than the son of God.

And so there's these two robbers who are placed now. I'm going to move and I'm not going to you'll notice there's a bracket. On this verse. This bracket says that there are certain.

Earlier manuscripts that doesn't have this verse in them. This verse basically some say well it was added later by some scribes or something to give the indication to fulfill scripture. It's true. It did fulfill scripture. I have a tendency not to teach on brackets because I'm not smart enough to know whether it was part of the original language or not. So I don't necessarily get my doctrines when we see brackets. But the statement is correct.

But what I want you to know is so many times people and I say this every time we come across a bracket. People will say you cannot rely on the scriptures because they've been translated and they've been this and they've been that and who knows whether it's correct. We know what we don't know.

That's why the bracket. Some translation some of the manuscripts have this and some don't. So we're willing to tell you we're not sure. So to be this bracket doesn't cause me concern. It gives me great confidence that we know what we know and we don't know what we don't know. But it is an accurate statement.

And those passing by were hurling abuses at him. Waging their heads and saying, you are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Save yourself and come down from the cross. It is amazing how cruel people can be. I mean to pain and suffering and the shame that any person, whether they were justly condemned or not. To hurl abuses at someone suffering in that way. And talks about man's inhumanity to man.

But again, this is man's inhumanity to God. They are hurling abuses at Jesus while he is at the same time dying for them. For their sin. And saying he saved others. And I'm safe himself. Come down.

Thank God they he didn't answer that request. Because if he had any could have. You and I would be lost in the song that we sang about Egypt. Be here well of it. Because we would still be in our sins. Lost and bound for hell. But because he loved you and me and because he loved the father.

And because he was obedient to the father, he did not come down though he could have. Because that's why he was sent. Maybe sometimes when we ask God for things. Maybe we should say but nevertheless not my will but your will be done. Because maybe God knows what's best for us. Even when we think we know what's best for us. And so they hurl these abuses at him.

And it goes in the same way that chief priest also along with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying he saved others. And he cannot save himself. Well the answer is he's hanging on a cross so he can save others. Not to save himself. So again they are. Kind of proving the point. And he goes let this Christ. The king of the jisrael.

So that we may see and believe. Now. These guys are liars. Because if he had come down from the cross they would not have believed.

How do I know this? Because after he died and after he was buried and placed into. Tune for three days and he rose from the dead. They tried to pay the guards to tell him that the disciples stole the body. Even when he rose from the dead they would not believe him. But tried to cover it up. So if they would not believe a resurrection. How would they believe a exit from the cross?

They would not. They didn't care what the truth was. They were hard-hearted people. Or religious. And those who were crucified with him were also insulting him.

Now again this is. You're suffering. You're being crucified and you're insulting another person being crucified. That makes no sense at all. Now Mark is very abbreviated in this whole situation. We are later told by another gospel that one of these two thieves repents. And ask Jesus to remember him.

And Jesus says today you will be with me in paradise. I can think a few other greater instances of faith than that. See who repents and seeks salvation. Because if there was a time when you would think well maybe God can't do what God says he can do is when Jesus is hanging on across. And yet he sees who Jesus is and how Jesus is going through this situation. And faith is there. It's amazing. It becomes the faith.

That probably the lowest you would think point in Jesus' ministry. And yet it's the exalted part. And when the six hour came darkness all over the whole land until the ninth hour. The six hour would be under Jewish reckoning noon.

And would happen until three o'clock. That's why for those who celebrate good Friday they have a service at three o'clock. Well darkness fell over the whole land from noon to three. Now this darkness is not a natural cause. How do I know that it's not a natural cause? Because it's happening at Passover. When does Passover happen on a full moon?

Which means there's no eclipse. There is no astrological phenomenon that would cause the earth to go dark. But there's a spiritual one. And it is believed and I agree that this one God refused to look upon sin. And darkness fell. Because now this is sin. It's no longer light.

It's dark. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice. Eloi, Eloi, love us. So box the night.

Which is translated at my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? I'm going to come back to this. Because it's exceptionally important for us to understand this verse.

The next verse says this. And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying behold he's calling for Elijah. You see they misunderstood what Jesus said.

They misunderstood it. Because they heard it as well maybe he's talking about Elijah. So maybe he's calling out for Elijah. That's not what he called out. He called out my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? And I believe he called out that for two reasons. One, because it was true.

Because God had turned his back because it was dark. And he was suffering this alone. But the other reason he's called it out was to tell us while he's suffering this.

Look at the word of God. Look at the scripture. Look at the Old Testament. And what does it say? And my God, by God.

Why have you forsaken me? Is the first line of Psalms chapter 22. In Psalms chapter 22 gives us a picture, a portrait of Jesus' view of the crucifixion. I encourage you after today's message to take a look at Psalms 22. And you will see that Jesus is experiencing what's happening. And he's telling you this is I see dogs wagging their heads.

And they're saying these things. And they're dividing my garments. And he's telling us these things because it is a prophecy of what the Messiah would experience. Which tells me that Jesus is the Messiah because the Old Testament, the Word of God told us if you see these things, that's the Messiah. And Jesus from his point of view from the cross is saying, you may see me. And it may be appearing that Satan is winning. Read the scriptures because in them speak of me. And I'm going to give you a specific reference, Psalm 22.

And look at it and it'll tell you I am the Messiah. But instead of hearing what he said, they either misinterpreted or they chose to misinterpret it. So it is very, very, very important for you and me to read the scriptures, to read the Bible, to read the Word of God, both the Old and the New Testament, especially when life seems unfair.

Especially when it seems that God is defeated and Satan is winning, especially when it seems we don't know what's happening. When we question what God is doing, we need to read the scriptures because then it will give us understanding what God is doing and who God is and that nothing is impossible for him and that he does what he says he will do even though it may seem like a defeat. Jesus is telling us, read the scriptures. My God, my God, why have you forsaken? Also, I encourage you to look at Isaiah chapter 56. Again, we'll tell us about a suffering servant and we'll tell us that when we see these things, we will know that it's the Messiah.

Jesus's death on a cross is proof. He was and is who he said he was and is. His death goes from a shame of the cross to victory. You see there is an antichrist that we are told who will suffer a mortal head wound and recover. That tells us when we see that, that isn't the Christ, that's the antichrist. But the scriptures throughout the Old Testament tell us this is how you'll know that the Messiah is the Messiah. Isaiah and Psalms confirms the Word of God. So someone ran and filled his sponge with sour wine and put it on a read and gave him drinks saying, come let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.

Now the reason that they're doing this is that as I told you, one of the reasons that you die being crucified is dehydration. One of the ways to help with hydrating your body since they didn't have gatorade or all the other drinks at that time was to take this sour wine, almost like a vinegar. It helped hydrate the body. So what they're doing is saying we want to give Jesus more time on the cross.

We're going to hydrate him to see if Elijah eventually shows up. So they're not doing this as the kindness that Jesus they're doing it to see that buy him some time so they can see where their Elijah shows up. And if Elijah will come and take him down from the cross. So if he can't do it, maybe Elijah will save him. Again, if Elijah came, then we would all be lost. And Jesus uttered a loud cry. The other gospel tells us what it is. It is finished.

It is complete. He has satisfied all other requirements of God that we might be considered righteous and holy and justified. And he breathed his last. I want you to understand something. Jesus breathed his last.

Intentionally. They did not take Jesus's life. He gave it up for you and me. He could have been on that cross until today. If that was what was required.

But his death for our atonement. His death for our freedom. His death for our righteousness was required. So he breathed his last. And gave up his soul.

And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Which means that humans did not tear it. First off, the veil was a very thick piece of cloth.

It wasn't something that a typical human could tear apart. And even if it could, you don't human would not tear it from the top to the bottom because you couldn't reach it. I don't know this for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me. That some priests were in the holy place putting the table of showbread together and making sure there's oil in the candles and doing all the things and putting the incense on the altar of that. While they're doing this, all of a sudden there's a tear from top to bottom. Signifying and Mark doesn't go into it. The book of Hebrews does signifying because of Jesus's death.

We have access to the holy of holies, to the throne room of God, where God himself dwells. And as Hebrew tells us, not just the temple, but the true tabernacle in heaven, that you and I can go into that holy of holies in heaven and find help and grace in time of need. Because of what Jesus has done. It's no longer once a year. It's now as often as we need it, which unfortunately is open more often than we think we need it. And when the centurion who was standing right in front of him saw the way he breathes last, he said, truly this man was the son of God. This officer, this one in charge of the Roman cohort who had observed his men, I am sure mocking and abusing Jesus and not stopping him. Maybe even joining in having observed Jesus on the cross for those hours came to the conclusion.

The pilot had, in essence, here was an innocent man. He was not just the king of Jews, but the son of God. Now, he's only, as I said before, only partially right. He was the son of God, but he also is the son of God. So he would have better have said, surely, truly this man is the son of God. But you see, he, like even Jesus, is disciples. So this is the end of the story.

The son of God was dead, lifeless. And the story is over, but it's not. And there were some women also looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, the less and Joseph and Solomon. And he wasn't godly. They used to follow him and minister to him. And there were many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. So there was not only those who mock Jesus and despise Jesus, they're also those who ministered and supported.

Now, they were at a distance because I'm sure, like all of us, they were fearful. There was Jesus was someone they loved and Jesus had loved them back and they supported him. I'm sure both in financial matters and in logistics and all that was required for Jesus to be an itinerant rabbi. But they're also there to do what they feel necessary to do to take the body of Jesus and prepare it. So they needed to be there. Now, generally speaking, it can take days for a person to die by crucifixion.

In Jesus' case, we were told when private was informed that Jesus had died. He was a little doubtful because it usually takes longer. And as a matter of fact, to me, it didn't seem that unusual because of what they had put Jesus through the scourging and all the loss of blood for him to whatever. But again, he gave up his life, but he also understood that he gave up his life during Passover when the lambs were being slain because he is our Passover lamb.

So we died on Passover. Now, I find this interesting because God does what God does on God's time table. You would think pilot would have thought, okay, I'm going to crucify him, but I'm going to wait to Monday or Sunday. We'll get through Passover, we'll get through all the other times, and maybe there'll be people who will leave, and so it won't be as much. So we'll do it then, and we'll take the days to happen. But the chief priests wanted it done right away, so they did.

Well, Passover, a holy day, who's there, so what do they do? They broke the legs of the two thieves, so they would die immediately because it was a holy day, and they didn't want them on the cross. Jesus had already given up his spirit, and to verify that, we're told in another gospel that his side was pierced and blood and blood came out at that thing, confirming Jesus was dead. But Jesus, if they just wanted him gone only, they'd waited to have to Passover, but God's timing is God's timing. And so he again demonstrates that Jesus is the Passover lamb. He is the Messiah.

So God is so awesome that even on the day that seems the most likely that Satan has prevailed, he killed the Son of God. It's proof that God is in control. And if God is in control of all this timing and all of these things, then maybe God can handle whatever is affecting you and me. We can trust him. We can trust him in his timing. We can trust him when we think he should come down and he doesn't, or when he delays, or it comes right away. We can trust him because even after the prophecy to Adam and Eve, that there would be a seed of woman who redeems us.

God did it. God did it. So our answer and our prayer should not be my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?

Why do you even pay attention to me? But you do. And you love me. What? I don't know.

It's not because of who I am. You love me because of who you are. And how do I know it because you offered your Son for this peace?

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