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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew chapter 27. I'll begin reading in verse 32. Now as they came out, they found 
a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his 
cross. And when they had come to a place 
called Golgotha, that is to say, place of a skull, they gave him 
sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when he had tasted 
it, he would not drink. Then they crucified him and divided 
his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was 
spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among 
them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Sitting down, they 
kept watch over him there, and they put up over his head the 
accusation written against him, this is Jesus, the king of the 
Jews. Then two robbers were crucified 
with him, one on the right and another on the left. And those 
who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, 
You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save 
yourself. If you are the Son of God, come 
down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests also 
mocking with the scribes and elders said, he saved others 
himself he cannot save. He is the king of Israel, let 
him now come down from the cross and we will believe him. He trusted 
in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said, 
I am the son of God. Even the robbers who were crucified 
with him reviled him with the same thing. Now from the sixth 
hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land. 
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, 
Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is my God, my God, why have 
you forsaken me? Some of those who stood there 
when they heard that said, this man is calling for Elijah. Immediately 
one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and 
put it on a reed and offered it to him to drink. The rest 
said, let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to save him. 
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his 
spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple 
was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the 
rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and many bodies 
of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming 
out of the graves after his resurrection, they went into the holy city 
and appeared to many. So when the centurion and those 
with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things 
that had happened, they feared greatly saying, truly, this was 
the Son of God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word. God, if 
it wasn't written for us, if it wasn't revealed thus, we would 
never believe that God the Son came into this world, that he 
took on our humanity with all the essential properties and 
the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin. We never 
believed that he lived a perfect life of obedience to the Father, 
and he died in the stead of those who believe, and that he was 
raised the third day. How we praise you for this narrative, 
how we praise you for the truthfulness of it, and how we praise you 
that all those who believe in him will have everlasting life. 
We pray that today would be the day of salvation, Lord God. We 
pray that you would move the hearts of those who are dead 
in their trespasses and sins to see Christ upon the cross, 
to see the great love wherewith he loved us, to see what he went 
through on behalf of all those whom the Father had given him, 
to see him satisfying divine justice in the place of sinners. 
God, we pray that you would open eyes and hearts to these things 
and that you would cause sinners to believe the gospel. And for 
believers, may we love Christ all the more. May we see him 
as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. May we see him 
as that one who is most blessed, most glorious, most wonderful. And may we be drawn out in worship 
and praise and adoration to him who loved us and who gave himself 
for us. Forgive us now for our sins and 
our ungodliness. Wash us in the blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and fill us all with the Holy Spirit, that we 
may understand your word, and may it indeed affect us for good. May you conform us more and more 
unto the image of your beloved Son, and we pray in his most 
blessed name, amen. Well, last week I pointed out 
or started off with a quote from the book of Hebrews. The apostle 
there says, looking unto Jesus, this is instruction for the believer, 
for the people of God, after he has just discussed the several 
examples of faith in Hebrews 11, he then points us to Christ. 
He says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our 
faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, 
despising the shame. Now there was no shortage of 
shame associated with the cross. We remember that Christ is mocked 
after the trial before the Sanhedrin. We remember that Christ is mocked 
by the soldiers after the trial before Pontius Pilate. We remember 
that there they engage in a mock enthronement scene. They put 
a reed in his hand, they put a crown of thorns on his head. 
They hail Him, they mock Him, they engage in that sort of a 
thing. And then the Savior is crucified according to verse 
35. So He is enthroned, not upon 
a throne, but upon a cross. And here, while He's on the cross, 
just about everybody gives him more shame, or they mock him, 
or they deride him, or they speak evil of him. There are three 
groups that we want to consider this morning in verses 39 to 
44. We'll note the blasphemy of the 
passers-by in verses 39 and 40, the mockery of the religious 
leaders in verses 41 to 43, And then finally, the reproach of 
the robbers in verse 44. It's truly shameful conduct that 
these persons engaged in, just on a human level. I mean, I think 
it's the case that when a man is sentenced to die, and he's 
ultimately going to go into the gas chamber, he's going to be 
hung, or he's going to be shot to death, or he's going to even 
get lethal injection, It is not typical for persons to mock them. It is not typical for persons 
to deride them or to insult them on a purely human level. Humanity, in all of its sinfulness 
and wickedness, typically doesn't act like this. These persons 
are demonstrating exceeding wickedness at the cross of our Lord. It 
is the centurion and the soldiers who actually see things properly, 
according to verse 54. Truly, this is the Son of God. And that's the particular claim 
throughout this mockery that is challenged. that He is, in 
fact, the Son of God. So let's look at the mockery 
of the crucified one. First of all, the blasphemy of 
the passers-by. Note verse 39, and those who 
passed by. Again, this was not done in secret. It was not done in private. It 
was not done in a backroom sort of a thing. It was most likely 
on a thoroughfare. It was most likely in a heavily 
traversed area, and the reason for this is because of its deterrent 
effect. Remember the charge is written 
in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. They want to publicize this to 
the empire. They want to declare this all 
around. They want to tell people that if you claim to challenge 
Pilate's authority or Caesar's authority, then you too will 
be crucified. You will be treated as an insurrectionist, 
as a revolutionary, and you will be crucified to death. So it's 
a heavily populated area, and we see that these who pass by, 
they blaspheme him, wagging their heads. Now a lot of translations 
change the word here. I think the New King James is 
absolutely, positively, 100% correct. But you'll read, for 
instance, and this isn't incorrect, but I think it misses what Matthew 
is doing. The ESV tells us they derided 
him. The NIV says they hurled insults 
at him. And the NASB says they hurled 
abuse at him. Again, all of that is true, but 
you need to appreciate what Matthew is saying. All of this, or all 
of this mockery in many respects, connects us to the trial before 
the Sanhedrin. It connects us to that particularly 
Jewish trial, and what we find in terms of that connection. The mockeries here build up or 
build upon that Sanhedrin trial. Notice that Christ is accused 
of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin, and now the one is blasphemed. Matthew wants us to appreciate 
this. You see, we'll notice at the 
end of the message today that what these persons say in mockery 
and in derision and with insult and with blasphemy, what they 
say is actually true. What they say is actually the 
real deal. He does save others. He is the 
king of Israel. He is the temple builder, and 
he is, in fact, the son of God. Now, they speak better than they 
know, just like Pilate before them and Caiaphas the high priest 
in John chapter 11. But brethren, they are mocking, 
they are blaspheming the Son of God Himself. Notice, they 
blaspheme Him and they're wagging their heads. Now all of this 
has behind the scenes Psalm 22. Matthew has taken pains throughout 
the Gospel of Matthew to show us that Jesus is that Isaiah 
53 suffering servant. He is that man of sorrows, that 
one acquainted with grief, that one upon whom the chastisement 
for our peace was laid, that one who was broken and bruised, 
that one in whom we have salvation. He is Isaiah's suffering servant 
in Isaiah 53, but he's also the one who David wrote about in 
Psalm 22. That Psalm 22 is not about David. It's about David's 
greater son. And in Psalm 22, very specifically 
at verse 7, it says, all those who see me ridicule me, they 
shoot out the lip, they shake the head. Now this shaking of 
the head is probably to be seen as some sort of disdain or it 
is reproach. I think there are two other passages 
in the Old Testament that connect us with this meaning. Lamentations 
2.15 and then Psalm 109 verse 25. It's derision. It's scorn. It is to mistreat. It is to look 
down. It is to look with an insulted 
sort of a way upon somebody. They wag their heads at me. And 
that is precisely what is going on in this particular passage. 
Now let's look specifically at their blasphemies. They mock 
him as the temple builder. Notice, they said, you who destroy 
the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. You've got 
to appreciate the way they're thinking here. Now either they 
had learned that this was one of the pieces of evidence presented 
at the Sanhedrin trial from Matthew chapter 26, 61, or it was common 
knowledge. Remember in John chapter 2, the 
Lord Jesus said, destroy this temple and in three days I will 
raise it up. And the religious leader says, 
well, it took us 46 years to build this temple. You're going 
to raise it up in three days? But John tells us he was talking 
about the temple of his body. He's talking about his own person. He's talking about the fact that 
he is what the temple stood for. He realizes and fulfills all 
that was behind the temple. So they knew this, and now they 
say to him on the cross, you who destroyed the temple and 
built it in three days, save yourself. You get the mocking, 
right? It's like this, kids. If somebody were to say to you, 
I have the ability to go down to Home Depot and buy a truckload 
of supplies and build a house, you might suggest to them that 
they would be able to help you build a Lego house. You might 
say, dad, if you can build that house in the field over there 
after having gone to Home Depot, certainly you can help me build 
a house with my Legos. If you can do the greater, you 
can certainly do the lesser. If you can destroy this temple 
and you can rebuild it, then you can save yourself. These 
Roman soldiers who are guarding you are nothing for somebody 
who possesses such power and authority. These Roman mob, or 
this Roman mob that has put you on this cross, if you're able 
to destroy temples and build them up, then you're able to 
come down off of that cross. That's the way they blaspheme 
him. That's the way they are mocking Him. That's the way they're 
bringing this to Him. One man says that power over 
the temple was a messianic prerogative. Now the one alleged to have claimed 
that power is pinned to a cross. He's pinned to a cross and they're 
mocking him with this particular situation. Notice they go on 
to highlight in their minds the illegitimacy of his sonship. Notice in verse 40, it says, 
if you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Now, they're 
gonna say this and the religious leaders are gonna say this, if 
you are the son of God. Who has said this before them? 
If you're thinking the devil, you're right. Matthew chapter four, isn't this 
what the devil says to the Lord Jesus in the temptation? If you 
are the son of God, then turn these stones into bread. If you 
are the son of God, then perform for my satisfaction. If you are 
the son of God, then display that royalty, display that power, 
display that majesty. The devil, the passersby, and 
the religious leaders did not know the scriptures. It's intriguing 
because the scriptures are so clear, Psalm 22. In fact, the 
religious leaders take Psalm 22 upon their mouths when they 
mock Christ. I wonder at some point in their 
lives, did they ever look back on that day and reflect and say, 
we actually did precisely what Psalm 22 said we'd do in the 
presence of this one. They're challenging the Savior 
on the cross. If you are the Son of God, come 
down from the cross. John Gill says, as Satan before 
them, they put an if upon the Sonship of Christ. Notice, if 
you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. If He is 
the Son of God, or rather, since He is the Son of God, He must 
stay on the cross. There's such irony in this section. What they say is true. The conclusions 
and the implications and the inferences they make are absolutely 
wrong. It's just the opposite. If you 
are the Son of God, then come down from the cross. He's on 
the cross because He's the Son of God. He's on the cross because 
He's taking our punishment. He's on the cross to fulfill 
all that the Father has given Him. He's on the cross to demonstrate 
that He is, in fact, the Son of God. And brethren, again, 
I think this sort of parallels the devil's temptation. You see this throughout the gospel 
records. You see it with the devil. You see it even with Peter, 
who's rebuked by Christ as associated with the devil. Anybody who tries 
to sidetrack Jesus from the mission. Anyone who tries to keep him 
from doing what the Father has called him to do is wrong. So 
when the devil does it, in Matthew chapter 4, Christ reproves him. 
When Christ announces that he must go to Jerusalem and die, 
Peter says, no, it's not going to happen that way. And Jesus 
rebukes him and says, get behind me, Satan, a man he just pronounced 
blessed for having confessed the sonship of Jesus Christ. 
What's the point? The point is the Old Testament 
shows us a suffering servant. The Old Testament shows us a 
king who comes into Jerusalem on the back of a cult. It shows 
us a king who demonstrates his power through weakness. It shows 
us a king who demonstrates his power through this sort of shame. And so these persons are trying 
to derail, sidetrack him, sideline him. Again, a man says the demonic 
lure has been cast at Jesus again, as now the very opponents who 
had accused Jesus of being in league with Satan themselves 
parrot the demon's proposals. If you are the son of God, come 
down from the cross. What happens if Jesus complies 
with that? We die in our trespasses and 
sins. What happens if Jesus complies 
with that? We suffer the wrath and fury 
of God. The fact is He must stay on the 
cross. And if you're new to the story, 
here's the reason why. Because we deserve it. We deserve 
God's wrath and curse. We deserve judgment. We deserve 
damnation. We deserve hell. You may say 
this morning, well, I don't. I'm a pretty upright specimen 
of a human being. No, you're not. There is none 
righteous, no, not one. There is none who seeks after 
God. There is no fear of God before our eyes. The best that 
we do is still tainted. We do not obey God the way the 
scriptures enjoin us to. It is not perfect, it is not 
entire, it is not exact, and it's certainly not perpetual. 
This whole modern debate about our works being inclusive with 
reference to our acceptance before God, none of our works as believers 
fulfill the definition of obedience to God's law. Anybody in here 
say, you know, my obedience is perfect. My obedience is exact. My obedience is entire. My obedience 
is perpetual. No. And that's from those who 
are saved. If you're an unbeliever, you're 
in bad shape. You may not like to hear that, 
but I'm sorry. My job here isn't to comfort 
you in your sin, it's to challenge you to consider what's happening 
in our text. Why doesn't He come down from 
the cross? Because He's bearing the wrath 
that is due for His people. God made him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God 
in him. Up until this point, what does 
Jesus do? Everything the Father commands 
him. At this point, what does Jesus do? Everything the Father 
commands Him. After this point, what does Jesus 
do? Everything the Father commands Him. Why? Because we do nothing 
the Father commands. The Father commands obedience 
to His law. We reject it, we despise it, 
we forsake it. This morning, we were talking 
about the Sabbath, that fourth commandment, and I pointed out 
to the brethren how there are those within Christianity that 
really object to the doctrine of Sabbath keeping. It's like, 
wow, offensive. What do you mean you have a fourth 
commandment still? What do you mean you can't go to Tim Hortons 
today? What do you mean you're not going to go to work today? 
What do you mean? Isn't that legalism? I said or suggested 
that we ought to frame the discussion in this context. We're debating 
about the nature of receiving a gift. God's handing us a gift in terms 
of a 24-hour period where we get to be in his presence, and 
we don't want it. We reject it. We despise it. We forsake it. We say, he can 
have an hour in the morning, and that's it. Brethren, that's our approach 
to God's law. So Christ obeys perfectly. Christ 
always does what the Father commands. His obedience to the Old Testament, 
or rather to the Ten Commandments, is perfect. It is exact. It is entire. It is perpetual. Why? Because He is our representative. He is our head. He is our surety. He is our mediator. So in that, 
he complies with the law of God. He's delivered up now to the 
cross. Why? To suffer the wrath of God 
that is due for our sins. He is satisfying divine justice 
by his sufferings and death, such that if he listens to these 
passers-by and he comes down off the cross, then the mission 
is compromised. The mission is jeopardized. The 
mission is futile. So by staying on the cross, he 
is demonstrating that he is, in fact, the Son of God. That 
he is, in fact, that Isaiah 53 suffering servant. That he is 
the one, the subject of Psalm 22. That he is the champion of 
Israel who has come to save his people from their sins. And the 
way that he saves them is not simply by teaching them some 
new things. Go out and be kind, go out and be good, go out and 
be jolly. but he is saving them by his 
own life and his death and his resurrection. Paul says in Romans 
4.25, Christ was delivered up. Why? Because of our offenses. Never make any mistake about 
it, brethren. I have not shunned laying blame 
on the parties involved in this passage. Matthew does take aim 
at the religious leaders. Matthew does take aim at the 
Roman Empire. Matthew does take aim at the 
Roman soldiers who mistreated and mocked our Savior. Matthew 
takes aim at all Israel, according to Matthew 27, verse 25. But we're here too. He was delivered up, why? Because 
of the offenses of the Jewish Sanhedrin? He was delivered up 
because of the Roman magistrates' offenses. He was delivered up 
because of those wretched, accursed Jews in the first century who 
asked for God's wrath to be upon them. No, he was delivered up 
because of our offenses. The hour there are those justified 
by faith. The hour there are those who 
have been saved by grace. It's our sin that put the Savior 
on the cross. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses. That's why He doesn't come down 
from the cross. It's because He must pay the 
debt. It's because He must satisfy 
divine justice. It's because he must undergo 
this, because God must punish sin. And here's the deal. He 
either punishes it in the Savior, or he's going to punish it in 
you. Those are the two alternatives. I know we like to talk today 
about many options for many things. We go to the grocery store, you 
know, there's a whole aisle full of cereal. I mean, come on, can 
you make that kind, that much cereal? Or coffee types? We like variety and we like it 
that way in our religious life, too. Thank you very much. Some 
like to take a bit of this and a bit of that and put it all 
together and shake it and say, well, this is my view. There's 
only two places. Either God's wrath is spent upon 
the Savior or God's wrath is spent upon you. This is why we 
call men, women, boys and girls to believe on Jesus. Because 
belief or faith is that hand that receives the gift given 
by God. Faith is that instrument which 
brings us into saving union with our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, 
if you believe for a moment that I could just hear a message, 
say by a Joel Osteen, and go out and work on having my best 
life ever, and just clean up my things, and tidy up my ways, 
and stop selling crack, and stop visiting prostitutes, and everything 
will be okay, and then I can sort of worm my way into heaven, 
you invalidate the very cross itself. Paul the Apostle deals 
with this in Galatians 2.21. He says, I don't set aside or 
I don't nullify the grace of God. For if righteousness comes 
through the law, then Christ died in vain. See this morning, 
if you decide I'm gonna go out and be better, you're simply 
saying that there was no need for Jesus. If I can work my way 
to heaven, then why this scene? If we can work our way into God's 
good favor, then why Matthew 27? Why did he send his son? Why was he delivered up this 
way? Why did it please Yahweh to bruise him or to crush him? 
Why, if we can somehow attain heaven on our own? If you think 
for a moment that you can clean up your act and make yourself 
more presentable to God, you know nothing of the Christian 
gospel. You know nothing of the Bible's 
truth. The way of salvation is by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That's it. This savior went to this length 
in order to save his people from their sins. This is how the gospel 
of Matthew is introduced. After a lengthy genealogy, establishing 
his credentials, we see the birth narrative. And the angel instructs 
Joseph that you are to call his name Jesus. Why? Because it's in the top 10 baby 
name books in Israel in the first century? No. Names meant something 
then. You shall call his name Jesus. What's Jesus mean? It means Yahweh 
is salvation. What an appropriate name for 
the Lord Christ. You shall call his name Jesus. 
Why? For he will save his people from 
their sins. That's the rationale behind this 
horrible scene. That's the explanation for why 
Christ does what he does. Imagine that. You can build the 
house after having gone to Home Depot. And your kid comes and 
says, can you build me a Lego house? And you don't do it. You 
know you can. You know you've got this. But 
you're trying to teach a principle or demonstrate something or satisfy 
a particular... Of course Christ could come down 
from the cross. Of course Christ could have at 
His disposal 12 legions of angels to right the wrongs He's undergoing. But He is determined to drink 
the cup, not that man has doled out, but that the Father has 
given Him. That cup of God's wrath that 
He has purposed to swallow every drop of. That's why He doesn't 
come down from the cross. Spurgeon said it this way, it 
was because he was the son of God that he did not come down 
from the cross, but hung there until he had completed the sacrifice 
for his people's sin. Christ's cross is the Jacob's 
ladder by which we mount up to heaven. Amen, brethren. That is good news. And our dear 
brother John Gill, But His sonship was not to be declared by His 
coming down from the cross, which He could have easily effected. 
Right? You know that, right? He doesn't, 
oh, I just can't do it. It's not something that's in 
my purview. It's not something that's in my ability. He's Jesus, 
the Son of God. He goes on, well let me get back, 
his sonship was not to be declared by his coming down from the cross, 
which he could have easily effected, but by a much greater instance 
of power, even by his resurrection from the dead. And no other but 
that sign was to be given to that wicked and perverse generation. So we see the blasphemy of the 
passers-by. Notice secondly the mockery of 
the religious leaders in verses 41 to 43. This is shameful. They already got what they wanted, 
didn't they? They've already secured his crucifixion. He is 
on the cross. This is an instance of spiking 
the ball. This is adding insult to injury. This is unconscionable behavior 
by anyone, particularly an ecclesiastical, and to a degree, civil leader 
in Israel. I mean, brethren, if Matthew 
has not shrunk back from declaring the guilt of persons involved, 
he isn't stopping now. Matthew Poole makes this observation, 
nothing is more inhuman than to mock such as are in the most 
extreme and utmost misery. And it is what we seldom hear 
from the worst of men, right? Typically, if they execute somebody 
in the United States, there's a party of persons that witness. 
There are people there that were involved in the crime. Do you 
know what they're not doing? They're not mocking the guy. 
They're not mocking the person that's about to die. At some 
basic level in our DNA, we know that that's just not cool. He's 
about to be sent into eternity. He's about to go to the other 
side. Yes, he may have engaged in some 
gross crimes. Yes, he may have engaged in some 
gross misconduct, some sins, and whatever. But we typically 
don't mock a guy on his way out. He says, but for the chief priests 
and elders, I like what Poole goes on to say, not the hot-headed 
young men amongst them. I mean, you expect it from hot-headed 
young men even. I mean, you don't expect it from 
anybody because it's absolutely despicable behavior. But if it 
was going to come from a man, you'd expect it to be a hot-headed 
young man rather than an elder, a religious leader in the covenant 
community of Israel. He goes on. But for the chief 
priests and elders, the magistrates and rulers of the Jews, to be 
guilty of such a barbarous behavior is amazing. I agree with that. Now note their mockery. It's 
a bit more sophisticated. It sort of builds on what the 
pastors by set forth, but theirs is a bit more sophisticated in 
terms of what they're doing. In the first place, they highlight 
his inability as a savior. Notice in verse 41, likewise 
the chief priests also mocking with the scribes and elders said, 
he saved others himself he cannot save. Are they denying the miracles 
that he did in chapters 8 and 9? It would certainly seem such. 
Because it's all in the sense of mockery. It's all in a sense 
of upbraiding. It's all in a sense of insulting 
him. He saved others. He can't save 
himself. You see how their argument follows 
through, right? If you're able to save others, 
certainly you can, you know, work a little magic now and get 
yourself out of this precarious position. The declaration that 
they engage in ups the ante with reference to what the last group 
said. Notice, they said, if you are 
the Son of God, come down from the cross. There's a bit of a 
hypothetical mess involved here. But notice, He saved others. Himself, He cannot save. It's 
not even recognized as a possible option with them. They assert 
unequivocally that there's no way Christ can save himself. 
Again, in all of this, they're speaking truth because if Jesus 
dies, then he doesn't save us. But brethren, it's mockery. It 
is reproach. The leader's words go even further 
than those of the passersby. The passersby challenge Jesus 
to save himself. The authorities are sure that 
he cannot save himself. He saved others himself he cannot 
save. Now brethren, this again is an 
instance where over and over and over and over again in the 
book of Matthew we have seen the religious leaders' ignorance 
of their own scriptures. What kind of Savior does Isaiah 
present to us? A glorious one, an enthroned 
one, a powerful one, but before he gets to that throne there's 
cross, isn't there? What kind of savior does Zechariah, 
or king rather, does Zechariah present to us? The same sort. 
It's an intriguing thing that persons can have the Bible and 
not understand it. There's a great lesson for all 
of us in this particular section. Well, any section dealing with 
the ignorance, the religious ignorance of the religious leaders. 
Are you understanding what you're reading? Are you getting it? Are you like that Ethiopian eunuch 
who says to Philip, how can I unless somebody explains it to me? That's 
a good response. If you don't understand somebody, 
ask your folks. Ask your elders. Ask some brother 
or sister in the church. It looked like they might have 
a clue. They're not sitting in a corner doing that sort of thing. Maybe they should be somebody 
you ask. These guys had scripture. They were the masters of the 
scripture. And yet when it comes to Isaiah's 
portrayal of who the king would be, they utterly reject it. When 
it comes to the Psalter's depiction of who the king would be, they 
utterly reject it. They're utterly basing their 
lives upon appearances. He doesn't look like a king. 
Here there's a great juxtaposition between them and the thief on 
the cross, isn't there? They look at Jesus' appearance 
here and they judge by appearance and they say, well, he can't 
be a king because kings don't go to crosses. So therefore, 
let's mock him and let's hold him in derision. Now, I think 
the robber starts off the day blaspheming, but the great change 
occurs. He looks beyond all of the appearances, 
because there's nothing endearing upon, you know, in terms of physical 
appearance on the cross that would lead the thief to belief 
in Christ. Right? What's Jesus look like 
now when he's on the cross? I know we have this idolized 
or idealized figure, halo, you know, nice soft stare, perfectly 
manicured beard. That's why all depictions of 
Jesus are terrible. We always make them the way we 
want him to be. In other words, it's basing life 
on appearances. The blessed reality of the dying 
thief is that he looked past the gore and he believed in the 
Savior. These guys look at the gore and 
they say he can't be the Savior. Matthew is not a fool. He is 
presenting to us these things so that we'll ponder it, we'll 
take heed. How many of you look at Christ 
and say, well, that's a religion I want nothing to do with. It's 
for losers. It's for weaklings. Isn't that 
the blessed reality of our message? Ted Turner, the owner of one 
of the networks several years ago, made that mockery of Christians. 
He says, Christianity is for losers. I wear that badge proudly. Who did Jesus come for? Losers, 
destitute, dead, unable, totally depraved, violators of God's 
holy law. Isn't this his point, Matthew 
9? I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. You might look at that and say, 
I don't wanna be a part of Christianity, it's for those weird people. 
Yeah, we're weird, man, I gotta tell you. That's absolutely positively 
100% true. Don't let weird people keep you 
from Jesus. Don't let weird people keep you 
from Jesus. Don't let this weirdo keep you 
from Jesus. This Jesus is the Son of God. 
This is why this Jesus doesn't come down from the cross. It 
is to save his people from their sins. Calvin says, it is too 
customary with all wicked men to estimate the power of God 
by present appearances. So here's the juxtaposition. 
These religious leaders look at the gore and they say, there's 
no way. There is no way he's the son of God. The dying thief, 
however, looks beyond the gore, looks beyond the broken, looks 
beyond the bruised and the battered. He looks beyond by faith. You 
see, when you walk by appearances or you walk by sight, you are 
always going to be led astray. Is that the point? Paul says 
we walk by faith, not by sight. Calvin again, it is too customary 
with all wicked men to estimate the power of God by present appearances, 
so that whatever he does not accomplish, they think he cannot 
accomplish. That fits us too, I think. Well, we prayed and he didn't 
do it, so that must mean he can't do it. He can do it, He's just 
not. Why is that unacceptable to the 
most of us? Well, if He doesn't do what I 
say, then He must not be true. When did God take orders from 
us? When did this get published throughout 
the universe that, you know, now man is the determiner of 
what God ought to do? Calvin says, So that whatever 
he does not accomplish, they think that he cannot accomplish, 
and so they accuse him of weakness whenever he does not comply with 
their wicked desire. So they highlight, or they accuse, 
or they mock rather, for his inability as a savior. He saved 
others, himself he cannot save. Now note, secondly, they mock 
his illegitimacy of kingship. Middle of verse 42, and I take 
the reading here where there's no F. I think the religious leaders 
make three declarative statements. I don't think what they're doing 
in verse 42 is saying, well, if he is the king of Israel, 
if he is what he claims to be, let him come down from the cross 
and we will believe him. No, they're mocking. It's not 
an, if he is, then he'll this, and then we'll believe. No, it's 
a, he is the King of Israel. This is chump change for him. 
It's mockery, brethren. It's not a genuine presentation 
of truth to the Savior that, you know, if you come down now, 
then we will believe in you. It's also a bit of a frontry 
upon the Savior as if their unbelief is somehow his fault. You know, if you were to just 
shimmy down that cross right now, we could all be good friends. Sounds like people today. If 
he just did this, then I'll come. If he just satisfies this requirement, 
if he just fixes my car, if he just gets me out of this precarious 
position, if he'll just dazzle me with some of that divine magic, 
then I'll believe in him. That's what they're saying. He 
is the King of Israel. Let him now come down from the 
cross and we will believe in him. This is mockery. And as well, it is a demand for 
a sign. Go back in two places, Matthew 
12, Matthew 16, two other places where they demand a sign. If 
he comes down from the cross, then we'll believe in him. He 
jumps through our hoop, then we'll believe in Him. Our hoop, 
then we'll believe in Him. He satisfies our requirements, 
then we'll believe in Him. Notice in Matthew 12, 38, that 
some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we 
want to see a sign from you. But He answered and said to them, 
an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign 
will be given to it, guess what, except the sign of the prophet 
Jonah. You know what's happening on the cross, on the marking 
him? They're getting their sign, the one that was in fact promised 
to them in Matthew 12. What's the sign of the prophet 
Jonah? Verse 40, for as Jonah was three days and three nights 
in the belly of the great fish, so will the son of man be three 
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The sign of the prophet Jonah 
is being fleshed out right before their eyes while they're crying 
out for a different sign. Well, if he comes down from the 
cross, then we'll believe in him. Did they not remember what 
he said in Matthew 12? Did they not process this information? Did they not think through this? 
No, they didn't. They couldn't have. It's a frustrating 
thing in this particular passage when you look at humanity, when 
you look at human nature. You say, well, they should have 
known better. This was their job. I mean, persons 
that are this ignorant of scripture would be akin to a nurse who 
couldn't find your vein. At the hospital, you gotta go 
in and get some blood taken out and she can't find it. I guess 
that happens from time to time, but she can't find anybody's 
vein. She's just not good at that. Then maybe she should go 
work somewhere else. A religious leader this inept, 
with reference to the Old Testament scriptures, argues they should 
have gone and worked somewhere else. They are experiencing the 
sign of the prophet Jonah right before their eyes, and they have 
the unmitigated gall to say, he is the king of Israel, let 
him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. Now, 
that's a lie. Again, the argument's simple. A miracle worker who cannot come 
down from the cross is not somebody that is worth us believing in. 
But brethren, this is a lie. Because he does something far 
more amazing than come down from the cross, he comes out of the 
tomb. And in Matthew 28, 11 to 15, 
they don't believe. They don't come. They don't look. They don't live. Be careful of 
imposing standards upon God to meet before you'll believe in 
him. I've shared before, I'll share 
it again, Dr. Greg Bonson debating Dr. Gordon Stein in the mid-80s at 
UC Irvine. The very end, in the Q&A, somebody 
asked the atheist, what would it take for you, Dr. Stein, to 
renounce your atheism and believe in God? And Dr. Stein funnily 
said, in a humorous sort of way, well, if the deity put in a personal 
appearance. Yuck, yuck. We have these meetings 
where we get together as atheists. If God showed up, then I would 
believe. Or if this pulpit, they didn't 
have a pulpit, probably what's called a lectern or table, whatever 
it was. He said, if it were to rise up 
in the air, and it was obvious, there were no motors, there were 
no ropes, there were no levers, there were nothing in place that 
made that rise. Those are the two things that 
would lead me or induce me, or one of those two things would 
induce me to believe that there is a God. Bonson's answer was 
perfect. No, it wouldn't. There's no shortage 
of evidence of God. There is no shortage whatsoever 
of the evidence of God. You need to be born again. That's the problem. As a sinner, 
you suppress truth and unrighteousness. When God presents the evidence, 
which He does every day in the created order, you take that 
evidence and you bury it. If you saw those things, you 
would just retreat to your office and write a paper to try and 
rationalize it away or spin it with a naturalistic explanation. 
It's the same with these guys. You come down from the cross, 
and then we'll believe in you. He comes out of the tomb, and 
they don't believe in him. Here's the thing. Let's bring 
it home. Well, if God does this, then 
I'll believe in him. If God does this, then we're 
in no position to barter with God. We're in a position to go 
to the table and to sit down with God. You know, you get that 
way that they tell numbers, and they gotta write it down, and 
they slide it across, and the other person looks at it, and 
they, okay, well, that's too high, or that's too low, so they 
slide. We're not there. We have no place, no prerogative, 
no right whatsoever to say to God, if, if, if, then I'll believe. You just need to stop, you need 
to repent, and you need to come. You need to look, live, believe, 
whatever the Bible says concerning our appropriation of Christ. 
You gotta stop playing games with God. Well, when I get older 
and I'm past my teenage years and the turbulence that that 
brings, then I'll believe. Why would we argue that way? 
As I said, with reference to the Sabbath, what are we discussing 
when it comes to salvation? What are we discussing when it 
comes to salvation? It's a gift from God. May I suggest 
that you take it Don't ask for, well, I want it to be bigger, 
I want it to be wrapped nicer, I want it to come in a more opportune, 
take the package home. Don't make deals, don't barter, 
don't bargain. If he this, or let him now come 
down, and we will believe in him. And then finally, they mock 
his sonship. his sonship. Notice verse 43, 
he trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him for 
he said, I am the son of God. Oh, brethren, I know we often 
look at Matthew four as the temptation of Christ and well, we should, 
but remember Jesus didn't stop living according to his humanity 
on the cross. David laments his own situation 
in Psalms 3 and 71, where in times of distress and turmoil 
and trial and difficulty, his enemies came along and essentially 
said, where is your God? That's what they do right here. He trusted in God. Let him deliver 
him now if he will have him. For he said, I am the son of 
God. This is Psalm 22. This is precisely Psalm 22 8. He trusted in the Lord. Let him 
rescue him. Let him deliver him since he 
delights in him. The righteous sufferer is mocked. The righteous sufferer is mocked 
in this way. He claims to be God's son. He claims to be a truster in 
God. He claims to have this great 
affinity with God and this relationship with God. These things being 
true, where is God to deliver him now? Again, temptation proper, 
Matthew 4. Christ is hanging there. according 
to his humanity. How'd you like to hear that? 
You're in a desperate, horrid, terrible condition or situation, 
and persons around you are saying, well, you say you're a believer 
in God, you say that you're a truster in Jesus, where are they to help 
you? Why are you still on the cross? How come no deliverance 
for you? That's the scope of their mocking 
here. It's terrible. These persons 
are horrible. Carson says, assuming that God 
must crown every effort of Messiah with success, they conclude that 
Jesus' hopeless condition is proof enough of the vanity of 
his pretensions. In other words, since He's still 
on the cross, it invalidates or delegitimizes His claim to 
Sonship. Again, it is the fact that He 
remains on the cross that affirms and confirms His Sonship. It 
is the fact that He stays on the cross that underscores the 
reality, that He's the Psalm 22 man, the Isaiah 53 man, the 
prophesied man of the Old Testament, who comes in the fullness of 
the times, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those 
under the law. Every step of the way, Jesus 
demonstrates that. And all the while they, like 
the devil before them, are trying to sidetrack him, they're trying 
to derail him, they're trying to keep him off mission. And 
Christ will not have it. He trusted in God, let him deliver 
him now if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of 
God. This mockery is probably designed 
to shake his confidence in the Father. This mockery is even 
a challenge to God. Again, like the devil. What's 
the devil do when he says to Jesus that he's to throw himself 
off the pinnacle? Because God has charge over you 
and he will send his angels to take care of you. He's challenging 
God. And they're challenging God here. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he 
will have him. You just don't do that and get 
away with it. And then the mockery demonstrates 
their utter failure to understand the prophets, the Psalter, and 
the words of Christ. Calvin finally says, hence it 
follows again that the priests act maliciously when they infer 
that he is not the son of God because he performs the office 
which was enjoined upon him by the fathers. It's a maliciousness 
on their part because Christ is doing what was given him by 
the father to fulfill. And then finally, the reproach 
of the robbers. This just underscores again the 
indignity. I mean, I don't know this, I've 
never been on death row, but I would think it would sort of 
foster some sort of sympathy one toward another. If you know 
your cellmate's getting marched off to the death chamber, I doubt 
you're gonna be mocking him as he's going, because you know 
you're going not too far from now. Indignity upon indignity 
upon indignity is heaped upon the Son of God. Brethren, if 
you ever doubt Christ's love for you, I know we like the Psalter 
and we should go to the Psalms. I know we like those epistles 
and we should go to the epistles. Man, this is a great place to 
go to see the Savior's love for his people. It's a great place 
to take your weary soul when you need a good dose of Jesus' 
love, when you need a good shot in the arm that the Savior is 
for you, take it to Matthew 27, take it to the foot of the cross, 
hear Him, see Him, observe Him with the eye of faith undergoing 
such for you. Even the robbers, see Matthew 
indicates that, even the robbers. Like, who does this? Come on. 
Remember robbers is used in two ways. One, robber, bandit, highwayman, 
brigand, or it's a revolutionary, an insurrectionist, a terrorist. These were bad eggs. Sentenced 
to die, crucified with the Savior, in the miserable boat with Him. 
And yet, even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled 
Him with the same thing. Doesn't detail it for us, doesn't 
tell us all the particulars. It does, however, say with the 
same thing. Again, probably not with the 
sophistication of the religious leaders, but things like His 
claim to be the Son of God, King of Israel, and the one who's 
able to save. They mock him, they revile him, 
they reproach him. Revolutionaries, terrorists. This, I think, reflects Psalm 
22.6. Did you sing 195 with me? Alas, and did my savior bleed 
and did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head 
for such a worm as I? Oh, that's indignified or undignified. I like thinking of myself as 
a worm. We should be so fortunate to be as noble as the worm. They don't sin against God. They 
don't violate the Decalogue. They don't transgress with their 
little worm hands against divine majesty. we should be so blessed 
to be the moral equivalent of a worm. But that's offensive 
to some in our day. We change that language from 
the hymn book because, you know, it just messes with our self-esteem. And if there's anything you don't 
do, especially in North America, it's ever hurt anybody's self-esteem. So we change it. Alas, and did 
my savior bleed and did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred 
head for such a sinner as I? Sinner's a thousand times worse 
than worm. That's where I don't get what 
they get in that trade. If worm is undignified and sinner 
isn't, you don't have any categories from whence to think. Sinner's 
a whole lot worse than worm, but I digress. How is it that 
the Savior can refer to himself as a worm, and that doesn't offend 
us equally? I don't hear of attempts to change 
the language of Psalm 22. Oh, no, Jesus can't refer to 
himself as a worm. That's just not dignified, and 
we must be dignified. What's the Psalter say? But I 
am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. Psalm 69, 20, reproach has broken 
my heart and I am full of heaviness. I looked for someone to take 
pity, but there was none. And for comforters, but I found 
none. To a man at the cross, they all 
mock, even. The robbers, even the terrorists, 
even the revolutionaries reviled him with the same thing. Well, brethren, in conclusion, 
and we won't be long, three things quickly. First, the unparalleled 
wickedness of the mockers. Their lack of anything remotely 
appropriate to human behavior. You know, some commentators moralize 
here and they say things like, well, we shouldn't mock other 
people. We shouldn't. I don't want to 
moralize. I don't want to depart from the 
beaten track. I don't want to take, you know, 
time to develop 10 lessons on why we shouldn't mock others. 
But it is despicable behavior. I mean, somebody's at their lowest 
point, which crucifixion is as low as it got. As low as it got. And these persons are mocking, 
blaspheming, and reproaching him. Their solidarity with the 
devil and challenging the Lord, attempting to divert him from 
the course. If you are the son of God. Their folly of demanding a sign. It's kind of like John 20. Remember 
when the disciples, without Thomas, see the Lord? What do they tell 
Thomas? Thomas, we have seen the Lord. What does Thomas do? Well, unless I see, unless I 
touch, unless I feel, then I will certainly not believe. It's a 
rejection of the Old Testament prophets, a rejection of the 
words of Jesus Christ, and a rejection of the apostolic testimony. Thomas 
asserts that he has the moral authority to lay down the conditions 
for his faith. So do these guys. Thankfully, 
it went better for Thomas because he was indeed a disciple and 
not these guys. Chamblin says it is in fact by 
staying on the cross that Jesus provided the essential basis 
for saving faith. They get it exactly wrong. He 
is the King of Israel. Let him now come down from the 
cross and we will believe him. Do you know why sinners believe 
in him? It's because he stayed on the cross. It's because he 
underwent the wrath and fury of God. It's because he went 
to the uttermost for his people. Matthew Henry says this, and 
I encourage you, if you're not in Christ, you're not a believer, 
you don't confess faith in Christ, listen to what Matthew Henry 
said. But to promise ourselves that we would believe if we had 
such and such means and motives of faith as we prescribe, when 
we do not improve what God has appointed. In other words, we 
have all this body of information. We have the constant refrain 
of Scripture telling us to come to Christ, come to Christ, come 
to Christ. And yet, we then say, well, if 
he does this one other thing, then I'll come to Christ. Matthew 
Henry, if we had such and such means and motives of faith as 
we prescribe, when we do not improve what God has appointed, 
is not only a gross instance of the deceitfulness of our hearts, 
but the sorry refuge or subterfuge, rather, of an obstinate, destroying 
infidelity. Don't make any excuses. Don't 
say next week. Don't say next year. Don't say 
when I'm 99. and their contrast with the faithful. Who comes to bat for Christ in 
this scene? The centurion and his soldiers, 
the women, and Joseph of Arimathea. Israel's leaders who should have 
known the Old Testament scriptures are mocking the king of kings 
and lord of lords. It's the centurion and soldiers. Truly, this is the Son of God. 
It's the women who attend the cross. It's Joseph of Arimathea 
who comes to deal with the body of our Lord Jesus. There's a 
contrast set forth by Matthew. Second, we see the unwitting 
witness of the mockers. The Lord Jesus is the temple 
builder. The Lord Jesus is the Savior of others, the Lord Jesus 
is the King of Israel, and the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. 
And each of those points is underscored by the fact that He remains on 
the cross. They interpret Him on the cross 
as futility. They interpret Him on the cross 
as falsity. They interpret Him on the cross 
as failure. But for us, the people of God, 
this is victory. This is triumph. This is power. This is Christ doing what He 
was purposed to do to save His people from their sins. And then 
finally, the unsurpassed wonder of the Savior. He is the one 
promised of old. He is the one that is able to 
save others. And, you know, you have to appreciate 
the irony here. Now, Matthew doesn't record for 
us the conversion of the robber. Luke does. Luke 23, 39 to 43. 
But we know Luke, don't we? We know Luke 23, 39 to 43, don't 
we? Yes, yeah, we've heard it. I'm 
sure I've preached on it probably a couple of times. I think Pastor 
Porter's preached on, you know, the dying thief. We all are conversant 
with that. So isn't it ironic that they're 
mocking him? He saved others. Mock, mock, 
yuck, yuck, while he's in the very process of saving others. Yes, us! But he furnishes a proof 
of this with this dying thief. He furnishes a proof of his power 
and ability with the conversion of this man. They see the gore 
and they stumble. He looks through the gore and 
sees a lord. Have you ever considered that? 
What that thief says? Lord! Remember me when you come 
into your kingdom. He knows that Jesus is Lord. 
He knows that Jesus possesses a kingdom, and he knows that 
Jesus is entreatable. I don't know if that's a word, 
but it means that Jesus can be entreated. In other words, remember 
me. So while Christ is in the 11th 
hour, while Christ is suffering not only the physical pain, remember 
the mockery here is adding insult to what? Injury. He has had his 
head pinned with thorns. He had previously been scourged. He had been sleep deprived. He had been nailed to this cross, 
so he's hanging there in abject agony and utter pain. Not that 
he was somehow immune to pain. No, he bled. It was gore. It was that. It was all going 
on. And he's being mocked, and yet he has saving dealings with 
this thief. It's just beautiful. It's just 
glorious. I love the way Ryle explains 
the thief. He only saw our Lord in agony and in weakness, in 
suffering and in pain. He saw him undergoing dishonorable 
punishment, deserted, mocked, despised and blasphemed. He saw 
no scepter, no royal crown, no outward dominion, no glory, no 
power, no signs of might. And yet the dying thief believed 
and looked forward to Christ's kingdom. That's the point of 
the narrative. Believe. Believe. See this Savior on the cross. Look past the gore, look past 
the challenges, look past the, well, I don't know, just look 
and live. Believe in Him. Well, let us 
pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
your Word. We thank you for the great lengths our Savior went 
to on our behalf. God, it truly is amazing, and 
truly we give glory and praise and honor to you. We ask that 
you would bless us and encourage our hearts, cause us to reflect 
upon the Passion narrative, cause us to do so, God, not just monthly 
at the supper, not just maybe once a year when it comes to 
certain calendar events, but each and every day. May we live 
in the shadow of the cross. May we see the great love of 
the Savior wherewith he loved us and he gave himself for us 
on our behalf. We bless you and we praise you 
and we thank you for so great a salvation. And we pray you'd 
extend mercy and grace to others and open their eyes to behold 
the glory of the Lamb of God. And we pray in his most blessed 
name, amen. We'll close.