#193 Lu. 23:44-46  THE DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS

Introduction:

	In our text today, Luke speaks of several unusual events that
transpired in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus.  He
especially calls our attention to the death of Jesus as He hangs
on the cross.  He points out some of the details pertaining to
His death.

I.  Some of the unusual things that happened

    One of the unusual events that Luke calls to our attention is
the darkness which came upon the land.  Luke said that darkness
came on the land from the sixth to the ninth hour.  V.  44-45a,
"And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour.  And the sun was darkened..."
	The Jews divided the daylight period into twelve hours.  As
you know, the actual daylight period would fluctuate according to
the season of the year.  Some days there would be more than
twelve hours of daylight and some days there would be less than
twelve.  But for their own convenience, they always started the
count at what we would call "six o'clock in the morning." That
would be the first hour of the daylight period.  Six hours later
would be what we call "twelve o'clock noon." Thus the sixth hour
of the daylight period was at noon.  It was high noon.
     This was when the darkness came upon the land.  The darkness
came upon the land at high noon.  This is the time that the sun
would normally shine at its brightest.  So right at the time when
the day would normally be at its brightest, darkness comes over
all the land.
	The darkness which came at the sixth hour lasted through the
ninth hour.  This was about three o'clock in the afternoon.  It
came at twelve noon and lasted until about 3:00 o'clock in the
afternoon.  Thus this very unusual darkness lasted for three
hours.
	This was something that the people could hardly ignore.  It
was something that everybody would notice.  It was a sign that
something ominous was taking place.  God wanted the people of the
whole land to know that something big was taking place.  The man
who was being crucified on the center cross is the very Son of
God.  The Son of God is dieing for sinful men -- for liars,
thieves, adulterers, murderers, etc.
	God had Luke to record this in the Bible so that even today
when we read this text we will know that something big was taking
place.  The very Son of God was being crucified.
	Now let me say that this was not an eclipse.  Jesus was
crucified on the Jewish Passover Day and the Jews always held the
Passover on the full moon.  The full moon is the time when the
sun and the moon are on opposite sides of the earth.  An eclipse
takes place when the moon comes between the sun and the earth.
So this could not have been an eclipse.  This was a special act
of God designed to cause the world to take another look at what
was taking place and let the world know that something ominous
was taking place.
	Luke mentions another unusual event that took place in
conjunction with the crucifixion.  He mentions the veil of the
temple being torn.  (V. 45), "...and the veil of the temple was
rent in the midst."  The veil of the temple was the curtain that
hung in the temple between The Holy Place and The Most Holy
Place.
	The Most Holy Place represented the very throne-room of God
in heaven.  Once each year the high priest would go into the Most
Holy Place and sprinkle the blood of the Atonement at the Mercy
Seat of God, which represented the throne of God.  No common man
could enter that Most Holy Place.  No common priest could enter
that place.  Only the high priest could enter that Most Holy
Place and he could do that only once per year.
	But Luke says that at the death of Jesus that veil was rent
in the midst.  Matthew says that it was rent "from top to the
bottom"  The Most Holy Place was now opened up symbolizing the
fact that heaven is now open to any who wish to enter.
	It is worthy of note that Luke does not say that the veil was
rent from the bottom to the top.  Rather it was rent from the top
to the bottom.  This may seem to be splitting hairs, but in the
study of the Bible some of the smallest details can be very
important.  If the Scripture had said that the veil was rent from
the bottom to the top, it might appear that men tore it apart.
But since it was torn from the top to the bottom, it is obvious
that God is the one who tore it.  Matthew says that a great
earthquake came and that God used that earthquake to rend the
veil.
	God was using this means to tell the people of Israel and the
people of the world, that the sacrifice which can take away sin
has now been made.  The blood of the Old Testament animal
sacrifices could not take away the sins of men.  They were never
intended to atone for the sins of men.  All they were ever
intended to do was to picture the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, which can take away sin.   So when the Son of God was
crucified and His blood was shed, God rent the veil of the temple
from the top to the bottom.  This was His way of telling the
people of all time that there was no further need for animal
sacrifices.  The blood of the Son of God has now been shed.  This
is the only blood that can take away sin.
    God used the darkness of the land to get the attention of the
people and He used the rending of the veil of the temple to drive
home the point that Jesus Christ, His Son, has shed His blood so
that mankind can be saved.  Anybody who will come by faith in the
shed blood of Christ can come.  Any man, woman, boy or girl who
wants to do so can now come before the very throne of God in
prayer and receive the forgiveness of sin.  Anyone who will
repent of sin and trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior can be
saved.
	There were other very unusual things which took place in
connection with the crucifixion of Jesus which Luke does not
mention at all.  I have already called your attention to the
earthquake which Luke did not mention.  Luke likewise says
nothing about the rocks of the earth being rent.  Not only was
the veil of the temple rent, but Matthew says that the rocks of
the earth were rent.  Neither did Luke say anything about many of
the graves around Jerusalem being opened and many of the saints
of God being temporarily raised from the graves.
	
II.  The death of Jesus

    Luke gets right back to the dath of Jesus and tells us about
the moment of death.  V. 46, "And when Jesus had cried with a
loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:
and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."  Matthew tells us
that just before He uttered this cry, He cried out and said, "It
is finished."  Jesus stayed on the cross until His mission there
was finished.  He had come to pay the redemption price for the
souls of men so that every man who would trust Him as Savior
could be saved.  He did not give up the ghost until that mission
was finished.  But once the full redemption price was paid, He
cried out to the Father and committed His Spirit into the hands
of God the Father.  Then He dismissed His Spirit from His body
and died.
	I want you to listen to a verse of Scripture.  Rom. 6:23,
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  Jesus suffered the
consequences of sin on the cross.  He suffered the full penalty
of sin.  He suffered the penalty of sin even though He never
sinned.  The death which suffered was not a consequence of His
own sins because He had never sinned.  The prophet Isaiah said
that God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.  Jesus suffered
because of our sins.  He suffered so that we might be saved from
our sins.  He suffered death so that we might have life --
eternal life.
    He suffered death at a time when darkness was upon the whole
land in order that His light might shine to all of the people of
the world.  He suffered the greatest agony so that lost sinners
could be saved and could experience the greatest joy.  He
suffered as an object of the greatest hatred so that He might
display to the world the greatest love.  He spent those horrible
hours on the cross so that lost sinners would not have to spend
one minute in the fires of hell.  He spent those hours in agony
so that men could be saved and spend eternity in the glory of God.

III.  The choice that man must make

	Listen, people today did not have any choice in whether Jesus
would go to the cross.  The Jewish leaders of that day must bear
their responsibility for His crucifixion because they chose to
demand that Pilate crucify Him.
    Pilate must also bear his responsibility because he chose to
yield to the demand of the Jewish leaders and have Jesus
crucified.  It was his responsibility to set Jesus free because
he knew that Jesus was not guilty.  But Pilate gave in to
pressure by the Jewish leaders and ordered that Jesus be
crucified.  However, it was God the Father who made the deciding
choice.  Before the foundations of the world, God the Father made
the choice that He would send His Son, His only begotten Son, to
the cross to die for lost sinners so that lost sinners could be
saved.
	But now the people of our day have a choice.  Each and every
lost sinner must chose whether or not he will trust Jesus as his
Savior.  That means that as far as your eternal destiny is
concerned, you must make the choice.  You can either turn to
Jesus and trust in Him to save your soul or else you will spend
all eternity suffering in the fires of hell.  God will not make
the choice for you.  I cannot make the choice for you.  Your
mother or dad cannot make the choice for you.  This is a choice
that you and you alone must make.  Another thing I want you to
realize is that the choice that you make this morning may be your
final choice.
	Even the saved have a choice to make.  The saved person has
to make a choice whether or not he will identify himself with
Jesus by joining a New Testament church and being Scripturally
baptized.
	Even after joining a church, each church member must make a
choice.  He must make a choice whether or not he will be faithful
to attend church and whether or not to be faithful to live a
godly life.


Conclusion:

    If you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior come this
morning and trust Him.  Come and trust the Lord Jesus Christ and
get your eternal destiny settled with God.
	If you are saved and you have never followed the Lord in
Scriptural baptism, then come this morning and present yourself
to this church.  Come and join this church.
	If you are saved and you are in need of moving your
membership to this church, then come and let your desire be
known.
	If you are already a member and you have not been faithful to
serve the Lord, then come and renew your commitment to the Lord.