Commentary On Calvary, Part 4

If you have your Bible, turn me to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, we are covering every hour on Calvary's cross. We've been three weeks covering the first three hours on the cross.

We will spend today and the next two weeks talking about the final three hours of Calvary's cross. We want to help you understand what took place on Mount Calvary and we help you understand the crucifixion on the cross because the Bible doesn't detail the elements of the crucifixion. So we began by taking to you, taking you to a place called the skull, Mount Calvary and explaining to you the crucifixion on the cross. And then we talked to you about the cursing, the cursing that took place by the crowd as they would mock the Lord Jesus and they would taunt him.

It took place by the spectators, it took place on behalf of the Sanhedrin, it took place on behalf of the soldiers and the stealers. Everybody was involved in the mocking of Jesus. And yet there was the compassion of the Christ, that was point number three.

The compassion of the Christ would be seen in the very first words that he spoke from Calvary's cross, a word of pardon.

We said, Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing. And that compassion from the Christ led to the conversion of a criminal. We talked to you about that last week. Help you understand what took place in that man's life, how he was that one time involved in the ridicule, how he was one time involved in the mocking, in the blasphemy as he would speak against the Christ. But God did a work in his heart and changed his life and he saw the righteousness of Christ. He saw the royalty of Christ.

He saw the resurrection of Christ. He saw exactly what he needed to see and said, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. And of course Jesus said to him, today you will be with me in paradise. And so we have looked at those first three hours and rightly so because everything surrounding what takes place is been ordained by God and helps us understand the plans and purposes of God for his son.

But unfortunately most people don't move beyond the physical suffering of the Messiah. They stay in the shallow end of the pool without ever graduating to the deep end of the pool. Because what happens in the final three hours is absolutely crucial to the atoning work of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners. And we need to understand that. We do understand the love of God. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends. And truly that was the sacrifice of Christ.

But we helped you understand that the physical suffering of Christ was no different than the two men that hung on either side of him. And the thousands of crucifixions that took place before and the thousands that would take place after were all the same. But the one difference being is in what the death of Christ accomplished. That's what is unique and that's what you need to understand. It was not enough for Jesus to die physically. That would not atone for your sins. It had to go beyond that. And that takes you to the deeper end of the pool.

That helps you to swim with the Olympians. It helps you to be able to understand exactly what Calvary is truly all about. That movies cannot portray. That drama presentations cannot portray. But only God's Word can tell us and explain to us the truth that is there. And so we need to understand that Calvary is about the love of God. But more than that, Calvary is about the wrath of God, the righteousness of God, the justice of God. And that's what we need to come to grips with. That's what we need to understand.

We know that Jesus was crucified at 9 a.m. in the morning because Mark chapter 15 tells us that he was crucified at the third hour, which would be 9 a.m.

in the morning. And he would hang there for three hours on the cross. And during those three hours, he would speak three times. He would give us the word of pardon. Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing. Number two was the word of provision that's recorded in John's gospel when he looks to his mother and says, Behold your son.

And looks at John and says, Behold your mother. It's the word of provision. He would provide for his mother that there would be a place for her to live. There would be someone to take care of her. A word of provision. And then there was the word of promise. Today you shall be with me in paradise. Now remember, Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 20 that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

So in those first three words that Jesus speaks, those three times that his lips move, he is still seeking by offering forgiveness to those who repent.

He is still serving because he provides for his mother. And he is still saving because the criminal is converted and transformed into a child of the living God. So he's still doing his ministry. He is still doing what he came to do, to serve, to seek, and to save by those three words that he spoke from Calvary's cross. And then you come to the consummation of Calvary. You pick it up in verse number 44. It says, And it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun being obscured, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.

And Jesus crying out with a loud voice said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last. Now just the cursory reading of that would allow you to think that everything was going as normal. Things got dark. The veil was torn in two. Jesus cried out and Jesus died. But it goes way beyond all of that. And that's where we want to help you understand the consummation of Calvary. Because the consummation centers around the death of Christ. He breathed his last.

But surrounding the darkness of Christ, four things happen. The death of Christ, four things happen. One, there is the darkness in the land. Two, there was the dividing of the veil. Three, there was the destruction from an earthquake. And number four, there was the disinternment of the dead. And hopefully, we'll be able to cover all four of those with you this morning to help you understand the consummation of Calvary. Now, the Bible says that at the sixth hour, darkness fell over the whole land.

Now, you need to understand John 19. We've pointed this out to you before. But you need to understand this because in John 19, it says these words, John 19, verse number 14, says, now it was a day of preparation for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, behold, your king. You need to understand that in John 19, Jesus is before Pilate. Jesus is in the Antonio fortress. And when Jesus is with those of Rome, they go on Roman time. And so the sixth hour on Roman time is not the same as the sixth hour on Jewish time.

The sixth hour in Roman time begins with midnight. But with Jewish time, everything begins at 6 a.m. when the sun rises. So when you come to Luke's gospel, and it says it was about the sixth hour. Remember, there were no watches, no clocks. So everything is about the sixth hour, about the third hour.

It's all based off the sunrise around 6 a.m. in the morning. And so the sixth hour would be noon, 12 o'clock, knowing the terrain of the land of Israel, knowing that in the springtime, the brightness of the sun shining at its apex. High noon is when this happens. The Bible tells us these words. It was now about the sixth hour or noon. And darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. Now, you need to understand something. This is black darkness. This is the middle of the day. This is not a few clouds rolling over the sun, causing it become a little grayer or darker than it normally is when the sun shines.

This is complete and absolute darkness. You need to understand that. This is not an eclipse. We know that because Passover always takes place during a full moon. And even at an eclipse, even though it might get a little darker, it does not become pitch black. Some would say, well, this is Satan's involvement. But Satan has no control over the natural world. He has control over some moral darkness and some spiritual darkness only under God's supervision. But he has no control over the natural world.

Only God has that. And this is not a gradual darkness. This is like when you walk into a room and turn off the lights, everything goes black. That's what happened at about the sixth hour. It wasn't that the sun slowly became obscured. It's that the lights went out. It became pitch black. Remember, during the first three hours, the Sanhedrin, the spectators, the soldiers, they were the dominant figures.

They were the ones who were speaking. Jesus even speaks during the first three hours. But during the next three hours, nobody speaks, not even the Son of Man. Nobody speaks. And the reason they don't speak is because they are absolutely terrified. The Jews on that day would not sit there and think, wow, look, this must be an eclipse. They wouldn't say that. They wouldn't say, this must be something that Satan's doing. No. Put yourself in Jewish sandals. What would a Jew say if everything all of a sudden became black?

They would say, God is here. During the next three hours, God shows up. God the Father shows up in a very unique, in a very powerful, supernatural way. This is what makes Calvary a sacred experience. This is what makes Calvary a solemn experience. This is what makes Calvary a supernatural experience. This is what makes Calvary so shocking. This is what makes Calvary so scary for the sinner is because all of a sudden, the lights go out and it's completely black and nobody can move. Nobody goes anywhere.

Nobody can go anywhere because they can't find their way down the hill. There are no streetlights. There are no lamps in the middle of the day. You can't go to your car and turn on the car and let the light shine. There is absolutely no light anywhere. And God in his presence shows up in darkness. You say, wait a minute, I thought God is light. He is. The Lord is my light and my salvation. We know that God is light, but in the Old Testament, God was more dark than he was light. Did you know that?

He showed up in darkness more so than in light. Let me show you. Go back to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15, in which God makes a covenant with Abraham and Abraham has to kill the animals and put them out, lay them down parallel to one another. And God was going to walk through that sacrifice. It says in Genesis chapter 15, verse number 12, these words. Now, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. Why? Because God was going to show up and God was going to make a covenant with Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant.

He was going to seal that covenant and God showed up in darkness and in terror. And then if you go over to the book of Exodus, the book of Exodus, chapter 10, and you realize that in verse 21, then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward the sky. And there were, there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness, which may be felt. So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky. And there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. So one of the plagues upon Egypt was the plague of darkness, darkness.

And that was to represent not only the wrath of God, but the presence of God. If you go to the book of Exodus chapter 19, Exodus chapter 19, verse number 16. So it came about on the third day when it was morning that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. And they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and it's smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked violently. In other words, God show up. And when God showed up, it was characterized by darkness. And every Jew would know of a technical term used in the Old Testament called the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord. And every Jew would know about the coming impending judgment upon the world characterized by the day of the Lord.

In fact, if you go back in your Bible to the book of Isaiah, yeah, not Isaiah, I'm sorry, Joel chapter 2, Joel chapter 2, verse number 1, blow a trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm on my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. Surely it is near a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. Verse number 10 of chapter 2, before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness.

It says over in the book of Joel, again, the third chapter, verse number 30, and I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

The sun will be turned into darkness. And then over in Amos chapter 5, Amos chapter 5, these words are spoken. Amos chapter 5, it says in verse 20, will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it. Amos 8, verse number 9, and it will come about in that day declares the Lord God that I shall make the sun go down at noon and make the earth dark in broad daylight. In other words, God is doing something for the Jewish people. He's giving them a preview of the day of the Lord on Mount Calvary.

And every Jew would understand the day of the Lord characterized by darkness, by gloom, by no brightness. In fact, the Bible even says these words in the book of Zephaniah. Chapter 1, verse number 14, near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly. Listen, the day of the Lord, in it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. You see, we forget what Isaiah 45, verse number 7 says, that God says, I am the one forming light and I am the one who creates darkness.

Darkness is something that was created. Before Genesis chapter 1, verse number 1, there was nothing. That doesn't mean that nothing is described as darkness. We don't know that. Nothing is simply what? Nothing. Nothing has no color. Darkness happens because God creates darkness, just like he creates light. And on this day, on Calvary, God shows up in full wrath, in full fury. God's presence is now on Mount Calvary and it's felt by everybody that's there. That's why nobody says anything, because nobody can say anything.

They're overwhelmed by what has just taken place in their presence. This is supernatural darkness. This is not like the lights go out in here and you can still see because the sun is outside. No, this is complete and utter darkness. Why? Why? Because, listen, hell comes to Calvary. How is hell characterized? By outer what? Darkness. Now you can begin to understand the darkness on Calvary. The Bible says these words, book of Matthew, 8th chapter, sons of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness.

In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Over in chapter 22 of Matthew, in chapter 22, then the king said to the servants, bind him hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness. In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In Matthew chapter 25, it says these words, verse number 30, and cast out the worth of slave into the outer darkness. In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. In other words, you have to understand what God is doing. The darkness is not a symbol of God's absence as much as it is a symbol of God's presence.

Don't think that hell is minus God. Oh, no. God is as much in hell as he is in heaven because he is the king of hell. He created hell for the devil and his angels. God's punishing presence will always be in hell because he created it that way. If God is not in hell, God cannot be omnipresent everywhere at once, but he is. Therefore, the power of the punishment of hell is the power of God's punishing presence in hell. That's what happens on Calvary on this day. The punishing presence of God comes to Calvary because his son must experience true substitution.

In order for him to die in the place of sinful man, he must experience infinite, eternal wrath. And only an infinite, eternal son can experience that in a three-hour increment. And that's exactly what he did. And that's why it's dark. Remember Jude 13? It's called black darkness. It's one thing to be dark. It's another thing to be black. But black darkness is the kind of darkness where when your hand goes up, you can't even see it in front of your face. It's called black darkness. That's what characterizes hell.

And hell shows up on Calvary on this day because Christ was going to feel and experience the fullness of his sacrifice, the fullness of the substitution, that he would die. The wages of sin is death, right? And this is the death he experiences, not just physical death, but spiritual death. He must drink it all in. This is the cup he anticipated in the garden, the cup of God's wrath. This is what made him sweat great drops of blood because of what he would experience on Calvary's mountain on this day.

That's why our Lord is the one who destroys both body and soul in hell. For three hours, nobody speaks. No more mocking, no more taunting, no more blasphemy. No one says a thing. Jesus never speaks during this time because here is the fulfillment of 1st Peter 2.24. He bore in his body your sins. Here is the fulfillment of 2nd Corinthians 5.21. He who knew no sin became sin for us in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Here is the fulfillment of Galatians 3, verse number 13, that he became a curse for us.

This is where God curses his son. This is where God crushes his son. And this is the significance of Calvary and the darkness that covers the whole land. Some say, well, how far does that go? Does that go around the world? No one knows. I don't know. Maybe it did. I know it's dark in one half of the world at this time, and it's light in another half of the world at this time. But the kind of darkness that happens is not like a nighttime darkness. It was of God's wrath that shows up. So no one can move.

No one moves until the lights come back on. Everybody's afraid to move because every Jew would know that God in the Old Testament was characterized by darkness. And then when darkness enveloped Sinai, when darkness enveloped Egypt, it was a symbol of God's wrath coming down. But God's wrath did not come down on the Sanhedrin. God's wrath did not come down on the soldiers. And God's wrath did not come down on the spectators. And God's wrath did not come down on the stealers. God's wrath came down on his son, on his son for those three hours.

And then Mark tells us, Mark chapter 15, Mark 15, in verse number 33. And when the sixth hour had come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, until the ninth hour. Luke tells us, Luke tells us, and it was now about the sixth hour and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun being obscured. And then at the ninth hour, okay, the lights came on. It was no longer dark. It was no longer dark. And it was here, it was here where Mark tells us that Jesus cried, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which is translated, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Why hast thou abandoned me? You see, you have to understand hell to understand Calvary. You have to, because hell is characterized by utter darkness and blackness. And God turns out the light. He turns out the light because it's a symbol of his wrath. The punishing presence of God symbolized by absolute darkness. That is hell. And at last, for eternity. But you say, well, I thought death was the absence of God. I thought death was separation from the presence of God. Listen, death is separation from the presence of God's comfort, but not from the presence of God's punishment.

Big difference. God's always there. God's never not anywhere. He's always everywhere. And so Christ cries out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why hast thou abandoned me? Because now you see, you'd think that there'd be comfort coming from the father, but there is no comfort. There is no relief because you see that's hell. There is no relief. There is no comfort. There is no remedy. See? So Christ cries out. He gives us that fourth word. It's called a word of pain. It happens as soon as the light comes back on.

And just when you think that God would comfort his son, he doesn't. Because you see his son must experience the fullness of fiery hell. And hell is characterized by the punishing presence of God as symbolized by darkness. And it's characterized by the absence of any comforting from the presence of God. He receives none. None. Simply because he became fully a substitute. He died in your place. He bore his body, your sin in mine. For all eternity, the eternal punishment that was due you fell upon him.

Your sinful state is so bad that an eternal punishment by God would never be enough to cure you from your sinful nature. But an eternal son can become your substitute. And bear in his body the eternal wrath of God for three hours and become the effective substitute for your sin and for mine that we might be set free from the present punishment of God. The presence of his punishment characterized by darkness and the absence of his presence through comfort. That's exactly what he experienced on that day.

See, we need to get into the deeper part of the pool. We need to swim with the big boys. Too many religions emphasize the physical suffering of Jesus. And while you don't want to minimize his physical suffering, you don't want to camp out there. It is the spiritual death of Jesus that atones for your sin. And that's exactly what took place. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Remember, it's that it's that double, it's that repetition of words. It's like when he said to Martha, Martha, Martha.

Or to Simon, Simon, Simon. Or to Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem. He says, my God, my God. It's the only time that Jesus refers to his father in heaven as God. Because it was at that time where God the father turned his back on God the son. And it pleased him to do so, according to Isaiah 53, because that's when he crushed his son. That's when he cursed his son, because his son became sin for you and me. And he died in your place so you'd be set free. The darkness covers the land. And then there is the dividing of the veil.

Luke tells us, he says, these words, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. Okay, so it's the ninth hour, it's three o'clock in the afternoon. Okay, it's been dark for three hours. Everything is pitch black. Nobody can move. Nobody goes anywhere. Nobody has one of those ubiquitous oil lamps that you carry around because it's the middle of the day. And here are the priests preparing for the evening sacrifice, getting ready to sacrifice the lambs. Everything goes black. And then when the sun is allowed to shine again, when the light comes back on, the very next thing that happens is that the veil in the temple is torn in two.

Now there were 13 veils in the temple, but there's only one that matters. And that's the veil that separates the commoner from the holy of holies. Because it was a signify that God was off limits to man. God and a man in a sinful state cannot approach a holy God. And the only person to go into holy holies was the high priest, and only once a year to sprinkle blood in the mercy seat and then turn around and get out of there. And that veil, according to historians, was as thick as the palm of one's hand.

It would span the width of the temple, and it would go 60 feet in the air. It took 300 priests to hang that veil. It was so heavy. But the gospel tells us it was torn from the top to the bottom. Jesus is on the cross. It's pitch black. Nobody speaks. Nobody says a word because nobody can say a word. They are awestruck by the presence of God, symbolized by darkness, knowing that it's the wrath of God. Don't think that the Jewish mind did not understand what was happening at this moment on Calvary.

They knew. And nobody says anything, not even Christ. And when the light comes back on, Christ says, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

At that moment, the veil in the temple is torn in two, because the death of Christ provides what? Access to his Father in heaven. Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father, but through me. Everybody gets to God, but the only way you get to the Father is through the Son. And therefore, you need to understand that the veil symbolizes access. Jesus activates the access into the temple because there was no sacrifice. The blood of bulls and goats could never satisfy the wrath of God, but only his Son.

You can read about it in Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 19 talks about how we can now come boldly into his presence. No one could come into the presence of God before this, because now the new covenant has been ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. And the veil in the temple is torn asunder. Access to God happened. When that happened, when that happened, Judaism was over. It was over at that moment. All the ceremonies, done, because everything that happened before was a shadow. Christ was the substance.

Everything that happened before was a figure. Christ was the fulfillment of the figure. At that moment, Judaism was over. Christ had already prophesied the physical destruction of the temple. It would happen 40 years later. This was the spiritual destruction of the temple. And Christ made access to his Father available to those who come to him on bended knee, crying out for mercy, repenting of their sins, believing exactly who he says he is. And now access is now available. But there's more. And I know you're hungry for a bagel.

But I'm gonna hold you for just a few more minutes. There's more to this. Not only was the darkness that covered the land, and not only was it dividing the veil, but there was a disturbance from an earthquake. A disturbance from an earthquake, Matthew 27. It says, And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split. So now you have darkness that covers the land for three hours. It comes just like that. And then it's over just like that.

The lights come on, the veil of the temple was torn in two, and at the same time, there is an earthquake. Now, how big of earthquake on a Richter scale do you think it would take to split rocks? Think about it. You ever been to Israel? Israel is a rock-infested country. Jerusalem is nothing but rocks all around. And there, the earth would shake, and the rocks would split. Do you know that God causes every earthquake? Did you know that? I know what they say about the San Andreas Fault, all that kind of stuff, how they can predict earthquakes.

You can't predict an earthquake. God causes the earth to shake. How do you know that? The Bible tells us that. Listen to what the Bible says.

Psalm 18, verse number seven, then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaking because God was angry. God was angry. Listen to what it says in Psalm 68, verse number eight, the earth quaked. The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God. Sinai itself quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Name one. Verse number three, the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.

In whirlwind and storm is his way, and clouds are the dust beneath his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry. He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither, the blossoms of Lebanon wither. Mountains quake because of him, and the hills dissolve. Indeed, the earth is upheaved by his presence, the world, and all the inhabitants in it. Who can stand before his indignation? The Lord is the one who causes the earth to quake. Read the book of Revelation. What characterizes the day of the Lord?

Darkness, gloom, and earthquakes. Earthquakes. In fact, when you get to Revelation 16, there's earthquakes so big and so bad that all the mountains flee. That is, there are no more mountains. God takes the earth back to the way it was in Genesis chapter one because he's going to restore his kingdom to Israel. So, God shakes the earth. God shook the earth in Luke chapter 23 on Mount Calvary. He is the one who causes the shake. Now, remember, remember on Monday when he rode into Jerusalem to the praises of the people?

Remember what the Pharisees said to him? Tell your disciples to be quiet. And Jesus said, if I tell them to be quiet, what will cry out? The rocks will cry out. During the three hours of darkness, there are no words spoken by anybody. Where's Peter? Where's John? Where's Mary, his mother? Where's Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus? Where's Lazarus? Nobody speaks. Nobody can speak because they are awestruck by the awesome presence of God. If they do not cry out, the rocks will cry out. And there's an earthquake.

But there's something else here. The book of Haggai, Haggai chapter one, it says, verse six, for thus says the Lord of hosts, once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I'm going to shake them. It's going to be an earthquake. The sea also in the dry land, and I will shake all the nations and they will come to the desire of the nations and he will fill the temple with his glory. In other words, this is a preview of what's going to happen when the desire of all the nations arrives, that he's going to come as a result of all the earthquakes in the book of Revelation.

He will show up. It's a preview of things to come. God in his grace is giving them an opportunity to repent, to realize the severity of the wrath of God. So you had the darkness that covers the land at the death of Christ. You have the division of the veil in the temple. You have the destruction from the earthquake that takes place. And then Matthew records for us the disinterment of the dead. Let's do what Matthew says, Matthew chapter 27. And the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Now think about that. Matthew was the only one who records this. And this is all he says. Folks, dead people are raised. And this is all he says. If I was to ask you how many people in the Old Testament were raised from the dead, you would say three. If I said how many people were raised from the dead during the earthly ministry of Christ, you would say three, making six. Right? Six people. If I would say how many people were raised from the dead in the book of Acts, you would say two. And you'd be right.

The Bible records eight resurrections outside of Jesus' resurrection. Eight. That's it. Enoch and Elijah, they just went to heaven. They didn't experience death. Okay. Eight. Now all of a sudden many tombs were opened and many were raised from the... How many is many? I have no idea. I have no idea. And then it says that many people saw them. How many is that? I have no idea. The Bible doesn't say. So why is it, it just glossed over so quickly? It's because everybody knew. There was nothing for Matthew to say.

Everybody knew about the dead who were raised and the many who saw them. But here's the point. What is it that Jesus' death accomplishes? Access to the presence of his father. Right? The veil torn in two. And life after death symbolized by the resurrection of some of those who had died. Not all, just many. Say, did they have glorified bodies? I don't know. Doesn't say. Well, what happened to them? Did they die again? Or where did they ascend up into glory? Don't know. The Bible doesn't say. I can't tell you what the Bible doesn't say.

I can only tell you what it does say. And what happens here is that Jesus is signifying life after death. And remember, they didn't go into the holy city until the resurrection of Jesus. What do they do for three days? I have no idea. Where do they go? I have no idea. Did they see anybody? Did they have dinner together? What did they do? I have no, I don't know. The Bible doesn't say. Because the Bible wants you to know one thing. There's life after death. And what did Jesus say in John's gospel, the fifth chapter?

In John chapter five, Jesus said these words. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear shall live. For just as the father has life in himself, even so he gave to the son also to have life in himself. And he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is a son of man. Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tomb shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

Jesus said there's going to be a resurrection. Let me prove it to you. Let me prove it to you. And I'll prove it to you in my death. And even that, he said, what? You will not believe even though one be raised from the dead. And they didn't. Because Jesus was raised from the dead. He is the one who raises the dead. And his death accomplished that. At this time, Jesus says, I'm thirsty.

I'm thirsty. And that's because the fires of hell had come to Calvary. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? A word of pain. I'm thirsty, John records, because the fires of hell had come to Calvary. And after he drank, knowing the scripture had been fulfilled, he said with a loud voice, it is finished, which by the way, would be unable for any person who had hung on a cross for six hours to accomplish. Why? Because you're losing your breath. You cannot muster enough to allow to say with a loud voice, something like that.

But Jesus did. Because no one took his life from him. He laid it down on his own initiative. So he gave a word of pain. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I'm thirsty. And he gave him something to drink. And then he said, it is finished. Could not say that till he had died spiritually. And he did. Atonement was accomplished at that moment by the access that we now have to the Holy of Holies. And by the reference of those who'd been raised from the dead, that they have life after death. It's done.

It's finished. And then Luke records that word of peace. Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit. And John's gospel says he bowed his head and gave up the spirit. That is the consummation of Calvary. But we're not done yet because there's so much more to explore. So you come back and be with us. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the word of God. We know, Lord, that there's so much to cover, so little time to do it. And yet, Father, you've allowed us this brief moment this morning to expound on your word.

Our prayer is that there'd be none here that would not see you as their substitute. They would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, bow before you in submission, and accept you as king of their life. We thank you for all that you have done. As we leave this place, may we leave differently than we arrived because we have seen the true and living God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.