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Well, you could turn with me 
in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27, working our way through the 
passion narrative in Matthew's gospel for our Lord's Supper 
services. We find ourselves in verses 39 
to 44 this evening, but I'll begin reading in verse 27. So 
Matthew chapter 27 at verse 27. Then the soldiers of the governor 
took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole garrison 
around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on 
Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His 
head and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee 
before Him and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! Then 
they spat on Him and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 
And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put 
His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 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 what the scribes and elders said, he saved others 
himself he cannot save. If 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 6th hour until the 9th hour, there was darkness over all the 
land. And about the 9th hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice 
saying, "'Eli, Eli, Lama Sabat Thani,' 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. And many women who followed Jesus 
from Galilee, ministering to him, were looking on from afar, 
among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and 
Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, we come to 
a very very holy ground in terms of the passion of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. And we pray now for the Spirit to guide us, guide our 
thoughts, our meditation, cause us to reflect upon the great 
love of our Lord Jesus Christ. First to the Father in terms 
of obedience with reference to the covenant of redemption, and 
then with reference to us in the covenant of grace. What blessed 
recipients we are of all of the redemptive benefit, brought out 
by our blessed Savior. Give us grace to freshly appreciate 
these things. May we worship and glorify Father, 
Son, and Spirit. And again, forgive us for all 
sin and everything that darkens our understanding. And we ask 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we look at this 
particular section in Matthew 27, we have the crucifixion of 
Jesus. It's given in verses 32 to 54. We have the crucifixion proper, 
which we looked at last time in verses 32 to 38. And then 
this afternoon, we're gonna look at the mockery of Jesus while 
he is on the cross. That's in verses 39 to 44. And then ultimately you have 
the death of Jesus in verses 45 to 56. I think last time I 
reminded us of Hebrews 12 too, where the apostle 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. 
Well, as we survey the crucifixion of our Lord, there was no shortage 
of shame with reference to the Savior. He was mocked after the 
trial before the Sanhedrin in chapter 26, 67 and 68. He went or underwent a mock enthronement 
by the soldiers as we saw a couple of times ago in chapter 27 at 
verses 27 to 31. And then he is enthroned, not 
on a throne, but rather he's enthroned upon a cross. Now, 
with reference to the background to the mockery in verses 39 to 
44, it is the trial before the Sanhedrin. Essentially, what 
we have is the Sanhedrin accused him of blasphemy in chapter 26 
at verse 65. Well, here he is blasphemed. As well before the Sanhedrin, 
witnesses testified about his destruction of the temple, and 
here the passers-by repeat that same thing. Also, he is questioned 
concerning his identity as the son of God before the Sanhedrin 
in chapter 26 at verse 63, and here he is taunted for that in 
verses 40 and 43. So essentially the Sanhedrin, 
that council, that religious and political council of Israel, 
was engaged in not only a mock trial, but here they're engaged 
in mockery of the one that they falsely condemned to death at 
the hands of Pontius Pilate. So looking at the mockery of 
the crucified one in verses 39 to 44, there are three groups. In the first place, the blasphemy 
of the passers-by in verses 39 to 40, the basic rabble, the 
hoi polloi, the people that are standing around watching this 
situation. Secondly, you have the mockery 
of the religious leaders in verses 41 and 43, and then the reproach 
of the robbers in verse 44. So with reference to these several 
parties, they had animus toward the Son of God, and while he's 
in deep distress, not only in terms of the physical suffering, 
but in terms of the judicial punishment inflicted by the Father 
upon the Son, he is receiving the insult and the blasphemy 
and the mockery of man. Again, may our hearts be drawn 
out in fresh appreciation to what the Son of God went through 
on behalf of saving us from our sins. It wasn't a walk in the 
park. It wasn't a simple task. As the 
apostle says, who for the joy that was set before him endured 
the cross, despising the shame. So let's look first at the blasphemy 
of the passers-by in verses 39 and 40. Essentially, as I said, 
the parties were people that were just in the vicinity. Remember 
back at verse 37, it says, they put up over his head the accusation 
written against him. This is Jesus, king of the Jews. In a parallel passage, we learn 
that it was written in Latin, Hebrew, and Greek. In other words, 
they didn't do this in some esoteric place. They didn't leave the 
beaten path to do this under the cover of darkness. It was 
open. It was publicized. It was an 
open setting for maximum deterrent effect. In other words, they 
would crucify him publicly so that anybody who might contend 
for the kingship of Israel would see what their fate would be. 
And then when we look at the particular language in verse 
39, those who passed by blasphemed him. That's a good translation. Some of the other translations 
have derided him. The ESV, the NIV has hurled insults 
at him. The NASB has hurling abuse at 
him. As I said earlier, he is accused 
of blasphemy before the Sanhedrin, but now he is actually the target 
of blasphemy. This word means to speak in a 
disrespectful way that demeans, denigrates, or maligns, but then 
as well in relation to transcendent or associate entities. In other 
words, gods or deities, it means to slander, revile, defame, or 
to speak irreverently, impiously, or disrespectfully of or about 
a particular deity. So these passers-by, armed with 
just a little bit of information, misinformation, have the gall 
to actually mock the Lord of Glory while He is suffering on 
the cross. As well, they wag the head as 
they pass by. And this was a sign of scorn, 
derision, and insult, and also fulfills the 22nd Psalm. Psalm 22, 7. All those who see 
me ridicule me. They shoot out the lip, they 
shake the head. It is very important for us to 
understand that everything that we find in the Passion narrative 
is scripted. In other words, it was, in fact, 
the predetermined plan of God. This was not accidental. This 
was not haphazard. This was not a plan B. The Savior 
willingly undertakes, knowing full well what He is getting 
into, and thus, again, expresses His love for us and for the Father 
in terms of His obedience to the Father with reference to 
that covenant of redemption. Now, notice what these parties 
engage in, in terms of the mockery or the blasphemies. In the first 
place, they highlight the inability of the temple builder. Notice 
in verse 40, and saying, you who destroy the temple and build 
it in three days, save yourself. Go back to chapter 26, where 
Jesus is before the Sanhedrin. Chapter 26 at verse 59. Now the chief priests, the elders, 
and all the councils sought false testimony against Jesus to put 
him to death. I think we probably considered 
that clause when we were there. They sought false testimony? 
Is that the task of the highest political and religious council 
in Israel? To seek out false testimony? 
to utterly disregard the rules of evidence, to disregard due 
process, to disregard an emphasis on the truth. They sought out 
false testimony against Jesus, notice in verse 59, to put him 
to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses 
came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses 
came forward and said, this fellow said, I am able to destroy the 
temple of God and to build it in three days. So these passers-by 
knew enough about the trial before the Sanhedrin to understand that 
Jesus claimed to be the temple builder. Now again, you need 
to understand this in the larger and broader context of redemptive 
history. Zechariah 6, 12, and 13 indicated 
that the Messiah, the King to come, would build the temple. 
And so for Jesus to claim The power to build the temple, he 
does that in John chapter 2. We read that this morning. Destroy 
this temple and in three days I will raise it up. They said 
it's taken 46 years to build this temple. Will you raise it 
up in three days? And then John, the theologian, 
tells us he was talking about the temple of his body. It was 
a reference to the resurrection. But as well, in terms of Zechariah's 
prophecy, he would be the temple builder. So the people had heard 
of the Sanhedrin trial, or they understood that statement from 
John 2.19. And in their minds, think about 
it, the one who had divine prerogative, the one who had the sanction 
from Ani to build the temple, ought to be able to evade a few 
Roman guards. He ought to be able to get out 
of this pretty nasty predicament he finds himself in, and yet 
he's nailed to the cross. So they mock him or blaspheme 
him in light of what they perceive to be the inability of the temple 
builder. But notice they don't stop there. 
They then engage in blasphemy concerning the illegitimacy of 
his sonship. Look at verse 40 toward the end. 
If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Now, when 
they say this, if you are the Son of God, it's the same formulation 
that the devil uses in Matthew chapter 4. In Matthew chapter 
4 at verse 3 and at verse 6, the devil tempts Jesus in the 
same way, if you are the Son of God. Gil says, as Satan before 
them, they put an if upon the Sonship of Christ. Now this command, 
this present command, again it's mockery, it's blasphemy, but 
it is a command. If you are the Son of God, come 
down from the cross. That, like what the devil did, 
was an attempt to derail or to disengage Christ from going forward 
with the plan to save His people from their sin. That's what these 
fools don't understand. In the blasphemy, and in the 
mockery, and in the reproach, the very thing they level against 
Jesus, what appears to them to be his inability to save himself, 
is actually his obedience to the Father in order to save us 
from our sins. If he capitulates and he comes 
down from the cross. Just like if he capitulates in 
the wilderness in Matthew 4 and follows what the devil suggests, 
then he derails the messianic mission that the Lord God Most 
High had given to him. And that's the irony of the situation. His unwillingness to save himself, 
in their minds, proved that he was, in fact, a deceiver. But 
his unwillingness to save himself to the faithful among us is great 
cause for rejoicing, and great cause for celebration, and great 
cause for praise. Because we know the prophet Isaiah 
said, it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He put him to grief. Why 
does he do that? Because he punishes Christ in 
our stead, so that he can take the righteousness of Christ and 
impute it to us, which we receive by faith alone. So Christ's blessedness 
is seen in the fact that he doesn't capitulate, that he doesn't kowtow, 
that he doesn't listen to the rabble. Spurgeon says 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. If he does this, then 
he will abandon the mission that the Father had given to him. 
So in their blasphemy, and then in the mockery of the religious 
leaders, what they taunt him with, what they challenge him 
unto, is precisely the means by which he fulfills the will 
of the Father and he grants redemption to the likes of you and I. Now 
notice, secondly, the mockery of the religious leaders in verses 
41 to 43, the parties. Go back to 16 and verse 21. Jesus prophesied this, Jesus 
predicted this, Jesus knew this, and he told his disciples as 
much. Matthew 16, 21, from that time Jesus began to show to his 
disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things 
from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and 
be raised the third day. That's the messianic agenda. 
That's what he taught to his disciples. But it's not just 
that he taught that to his disciples. The emphasis, for instance, in 
Isaiah, and as well in Zechariah, showed the nature of the king 
that would come in fulfillment of God's particular plan. So 
going back to this mockery, it is those parties, the same men 
who made up the Sanhedrin, the leaders who had plotted his destruction, 
now gather before the cross to continue their mockery of him. 
Again, brethren, let it sink in. This isn't just something 
that happens, you know, in the space of a few minutes. This 
was a long and prolonged instance of shame. And while indeed Christ 
despised the shame, he nevertheless went through it. We see a little 
shame in our lives, and we want to fix it immediately. We think 
that somebody's unhappy with us, and we get all upset. Christ 
is hung on that cross, bearing the wrath and fury of God Almighty, 
and he hears the passers-by, and now he hears the Sanhedrin, 
and they mock him. And again, remember that this 
is the highest religious and political council in all of Israel. Matthew Poole makes this observation. 
He says, nothing is more inhuman than to mock such as are in the 
most extreme and utmost misery. That's just part of human nature, 
isn't it? We say it this way, don't add 
insult to injury. Don't heap up things on a person 
that is suffering. And a person may be suffering 
for good cause, a person perhaps that's executed in a proper sense, 
or perhaps somebody that is going through something that they have 
brought upon them through justice. But it's still wrong to heap 
upon them abuse. It's still wrong to come to one 
of our fellows in the degradation of suffering and to heap upon 
them even more. So Poole says, 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. But for the chief priests and 
elders, not the hot-headed young men amongst them, the magistrates 
and rulers of the Jews, to be guilty of such a barbarous behavior 
is amazing. That these dignified leaders 
in Israel, first of all, seek out false testimony in order 
to put him to death. ultimately find false testimony 
upon which to put him to death, and then go and frame the charges 
in such a way that Pilate is pushed into a corner and he must 
respond with the death penalty. They orchestrated all this. This 
was a cunning plot on behalf of these wretches, and now at 
the foot of the cross, they continue to hurl abuse upon the Son of 
God. I think Poole is absolutely right. 
Nothing is more inhuman. We ought to respect the confines 
of of humanity when it comes to such things. I think I've 
shared before in Deuteronomy 25, the giving out of corporal 
punishment to a criminal offender in Israel was to be carried out 
with dignity, with respect for the man as an image bearer of 
the living and true God. All that's gone out the door. 
They see Christ as their enemy. They see Christ as their target 
of abuse. They see Christ as that one who 
is not altogether lovely in their mindset, but he's altogether 
detestable, and they are acting consistently with that. Now, 
in terms of the specifics of their mockery, it's threefold. 
Notice first the inability of Christ as a savior. Look at verse 
41. himself he cannot save. Now in Matthew chapter 8 and 
chapter 9 we have several accounts where Jesus went out and saved 
people. Not necessarily spiritually, 
though that was included, but he saved people in terms of miracle. Remember in Matthew 5 to 7 he 
taught as one having authority, not like the scribes. Well, in 
Matthew chapter 8 and 9, he acted as one who had authority. And 
he went out and he healed people. He saved people. He engaged in 
mighty miracles and wondrous signs and deeds. And yet here 
they're mocking him. They say, oh, he saved others, 
but he can't save himself." Now notice, they up the ante. If 
you go back to the passersby, they say, 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. That's a challenge. 
They present a challenge to the Son of God. That's not what the 
chief priests and the scribes and the religious leaders do. 
They make the declaration that He can't save Himself. Notice, 
He saved others Himself He cannot save. Davies and Allison say 
the leader's words go even further than those of the passers-by. 
The latter challenge Jesus to save Himself. The authorities 
are sure that He cannot. Again, brethren, the irony of 
the situation is that if he saves himself from that cross, he doesn't 
save us from our sins. It was a failure to appreciate 
on their part, not just the declarations and predictions of Jesus, but 
it was the prophetic testimony. Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, the suffering 
servant. How would the King of Israel? 
enter into Jerusalem. He wouldn't come in a tank. He 
wouldn't come strapped with armament. He would come on the back of 
a donkey. And so they missed reading the 
prophets very clearly. But as well, in terms of the 
mission of the Son of God, turn back to Matthew 1. They had no 
consciousness whatsoever of the purpose for which Jesus came. 
Matthew 1. Verse 18, now the birth of Jesus 
Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed 
to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the 
Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and 
not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her 
away secretly. But while he thought about these 
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream 
saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you 
Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the 
Holy Spirit. Now notice, and she will bring 
forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save 
his people from their sins. So they mock Jesus and say, oh, 
he saved others, but he can't save himself. The mission was 
not for him to save himself. The mission was declared. it 
was to save us from our sins. Look over in Matthew 20 at verse 
28. All of these purpose clauses 
or purpose statements concerning the coming of the Son of Man 
in that first coming. Matthew chapter 20, verse 28. 
just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve 
and to give his life a ransom for many." Again, you might say, 
well, these religious leaders didn't hear him. The disciples 
heard him, they understood, but even they really didn't understand. 
They were kind of fumbling along in fog much of the time of the 
ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. But again, the prophetic testimony, 
the prophetic witness, the sacrificial system, the reality, as we've 
seen, that Israel must come to God. A sinful Israel must come 
to a holy God through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. All 
of those were typological with reference to the Lamb of God, 
who would take away the sin of the world, and He would do that 
by the sacrifice of Himself. Same emphasis in chapter 26. 
Chapter 26, specifically at verse 28. We'll read this in a few 
minutes later. For this is my blood of the new 
covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sin. So 
when it comes to this mockery, he saved others himself he cannot 
save. In order for him to save us, 
he must stay on the cross. Calvin says, 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 that he 
cannot accomplish, and so they accuse him of weakness whenever 
he does not comply with their wicked desire. Now that could 
definitely be extrapolated in a whole host of ways. Think about 
it. It's too customary with all wicked men to estimate the power 
of God by present appearances. We might suggest that that happens 
with the people of God as well. Judging God's power based on 
present circumstances. Judging God's power based on 
the certain situation that we find ourselves in. But you see, 
we walk by faith and not by sight. So these men in their mockery 
say he saved others, himself he cannot save. The second aspect 
of their mockery is to highlight the illegitimacy of his kingship. Notice in verse 42, he is, or 
if he is the king of Israel, let him now come down from the 
cross and we will believe him. He, again, this is a mocking 
declaration. He is the King of Israel. Some 
of the translations have if, others do not have if. It doesn't 
fundamentally change the message, but there are three statements 
that they make. They say, He saved others, He 
is the King of Israel, and He trusted in God. And again, they 
do it in a mocking sense. They are taking what Christ claimed 
in His earthly ministry and what the disciples predicated of Him, 
and they use it as fodder at the base of the cross to mock 
the Son of God and to present these challenges to Him. So they 
mock Him in terms of the Declaration. And then notice this demand for 
a sign. If He is the King of Israel, 
let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in 
Him. We will look to Him if He does 
what we say. This is not the way of faith. 
This is not the way to proceed. This is not the way that grace 
demands, or grace, rather, calls us to follow. We don't demand 
of Christ that He perform, and then we will believe. It is a 
challenge to him based on their own faulty understanding of the 
mission of the Messiah, and it underscores once again the wretchedness 
of unbelief. Because when Jesus goes into 
the grave, he will arise again after three days. Do these men 
then believe? Do these men then bow down? Do 
these men then say, oh, we were wrong during the course of his 
earthly ministry. We were wrong at the base of 
the cross. We should have never uttered those mock, those mockeries. No, they never say that. They 
are simply engaged in mockery of the son of God in his greatest 
time of distress. And if you go back, Jesus spoke 
to this as well in Matthew 12, Matthew chapter 12. He indicts 
the nation, he indicts the religious leadership. In Matthew 12 at 
verse 38, then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered saying, 
teacher, we want to see a sign from you. Remember Paul deals 
with this in 1 Corinthians 1. The Jews seek after a sign, the 
Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ and Him crucified. Same sort of thing here. He answered 
and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after 
a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the 
prophet Jonah, which, interestingly, on the cross begins to find fulfillment. It is this typology of Jonah 
going into the whale, which many believe he was dead in the belly 
of the whale, and that he was resurrected by God most high. 
And so that was a great and glorious type of what would happen to 
the Lord Jesus. He would be crucified, he'd go 
into the belly of the earth, and he'd be raised again from 
the dead. 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 men of 
Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn 
it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and indeed 
a greater than Jonah is here. Jesus knew what kind of people 
he was dealing with. Jesus understood that all too 
well before the Sanhedrin and now on the cross he is the object, 
the target of their continued mockery in terms of who he was 
and this lie and we will believe in him. It is absolute deception 
on their part and fits the bill in terms of their inhumanity 
relative to the suffering of the Son of God. And then the 
third thing they mock him with is the impossibility of his sonship. It's the same sort of thing that 
the passers-by dealt with. Notice what they say. 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. So they're saying, it's 
impossible that he's the son of God. Again, brethren, they're 
so foolish. They don't understand that in 
this moment, they are fulfilling the 22nd Psalm. Listen to Psalm 
22 at verse eight. He trusted in the Lord, let him 
rescue him. Let him deliver him since he 
delights in him. These men are in the process 
of fulfilling David's Psalm many hundreds of years prior to the 
actual crucifixion of our Lord. They were fools that had read 
Psalm 22 on many occasions, but never for a moment had they reflected 
upon the reality that they were fulfilling it in being the ones 
that were antagonizing the object in Psalm 22. That's the deal 
with foolish men. They don't see things clearly. 
They don't see things rightly. The mockery is probably designed 
to shake his confidence in the Father. Again, like the devil 
in Matthew chapter 4. David experienced this too from 
his contemporaries. Psalm 3, Psalm 71. You may experience 
this in your life too. I don't want to moralize the 
passage and bring us into where it doesn't belong, but this idea 
of trying to shake our confidence in the living and true God. If 
they're able to do this, and Jesus capitulates again, He doesn't 
fulfill the mission to save His people from their sins. He doesn't 
give Himself up as a ransom for many. He doesn't give His blood 
of the new covenant for the remission of sins. So they are trying to 
bring a wedge between him and his father in terms of his faith 
with reference to the father. And in fact, this mockery is 
a challenge of God himself. He trusted in God, let him deliver 
him. They're not only challenging 
Christ, seeking to introduce a breach there, but they're challenging 
the Father. Let Him deliver Him. If this 
relationship obtains the way that Christ says, if He is in 
fact the embodiment of the prophetic testimony, then let the Father 
reach down right now and vindicate His Son. They do not understand 
the messianic mission. They don't understand Isaiah 
53. Brethren, we take it for granted. 
We read Isaiah 53 a lot at the introduction to worship when 
we come for the Lord's Supper. We read Psalm 22 a lot. Praise 
God Almighty, we have eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts 
to receive that that's speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's 
a whole lot of people that missed that. These people that were 
fulfilling it missed that. And they challenged the Father 
in this particular escapade. And the mockery demonstrates 
their utter failure to understand not only the prophets, but the 
Psalms and the words of Christ. Davies and Allison again say 
sonship does not mean leaving the cross, but staying on it. So everything that Jesus is doing 
highlights that he is in fact the divine son of God. Highlights 
that he is in fact the king of Israel. Highlights that he is 
in fact the temple builder. everything they've said that 
he's not, by way of mockery and blasphemy, his conduct on the 
cross confirms and affirms that he is most certainly those things, 
all in accordance with the written word of the living and true God. 
And then notice thirdly, we'll pick up on this in a few moments, 
but just to read, even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled 
him with the same thing. So the further indignity is seen 
in that the ones suffering the same fate mock him. Think about 
that. You're on the cross. You've taken 
the place of Barabbas. Barabbas was the ringleader of 
these two men. When we read that they were robbers 
or that they were criminals, we should also understand that 
the word in the Greek not only means robber or criminal or highwayman, 
but it means revolutionary. It means insurrectionist. It means terrorist. Barabbas 
was the ringleader. These two guys were his cronies, 
his stooges, his toadies. And so now Jesus comes at the 
behest of Pilate, or rather, at the behest of the nation of 
Israel, when Pilate says, who do you want, Barabbas or Jesus? Give us Barabbas. And then Pilate 
says, what do I do with your king? Or what do I do with Jesus, 
the king? They cry out, away with him, 
away with him, crucify him. So Jesus takes the place of Barabbas. Again, not suggesting that Barabbas 
is going to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We don't 
know. Maybe he did repent. Maybe he did believe. But there 
is an emblem. There is a symbol. There is a 
token of what substitutionary atonement looks like. Barabbas 
was scheduled to die and Jesus takes his place. Now again, adding 
insult to injury, you have two men that are on the cross, and 
that justly, and they hurl reproaches at Jesus. They hurl insults at 
Jesus. And again, the fulfillment of 
Scripture. Psalm 22, 6. But I am a worm and no man, a 
reproach of men and despised by the people. I think that you've 
probably heard that there are some in the church today that 
don't like singing that song that speaks of us as being worms. And so they change the word to 
sinner, as if sinner is somehow better than worm. Brethren, worm 
is much better than sinner because worms do what worms do. They 
don't rebel against God, they don't transgress the law of God, 
they certainly don't lack conformity unto it. They wiggle around in 
the dirt, they copulate, they make more worms, and they do 
great things for the soil. So, I mean, the whole idea that, 
well, we can't refer to ourselves as worms, is in a front to how 
the Lord Jesus refers to himself in the prophetic testimony in 
Psalm 22. I am a worm and no man. He is speaking to how he is being 
treated. And then in 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. Remember his disciples, we've 
already seen that in chapter 26. They all forsake him. They all flee from him. Again, 
the symbolism there is that he must go it alone. He's not helped 
along by anyone in the messianic agenda. He's not lifted up and 
supported by Mary. He's not lifted up and supported 
by James or John or Peter. He goes it alone in terms of 
the task that is set beforehand. But nevertheless, remember, Christ 
is true humanity. He has all the essential properties 
and the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin. I mean, 
if it's the case with us as being real men and women, when we're 
being contemned, or we're being insulted, or when we're being 
mocked or reproached, that doesn't feel good. And brethren, typically 
we deserve at least a little bit of it. We deserve at least 
a little bit of it, because we are sinners. And if everybody 
actually knew what we were, the reproach would be a whole lot 
more. But he was wholly harmless and undefiled, and none of this 
was legit. And yet on the cross he bears 
it. He endures or despise the shame, 
he endures the cross for the joy that was set before him. 
So the robbers blaspheme and mock him. So I said we'll revisit 
the robbers in just a few minutes in light of Luke 23, 39 to 43. 
Remember, a change comes over one of the robbers. Remember that he begins the day 
by blaspheming the Lord Jesus and he ends the day by being 
in the presence of the Lord Jesus in paradise. Spurgeon refers 
to this particular man. The conversion of the penitent 
thief was all the more remarkable because he had, but a little 
while before, been amongst the mockers of the Savior. What a 
trophy of divine grace he became. Isn't that beautiful? Think about 
that. And again, contemplate the great 
love of the Savior. I gotta tell you, man, if people 
were mocking me or reproaching me, I certainly wouldn't conduct 
myself like that. I doubt any of us would. We would 
want to vent, we would want to lash out. Think about it, brothers 
and sisters, when your husband or your wife comes to you with 
a bit of constructive criticism, do you openly receive it? Do 
you openly say, oh yeah, faithful of the wounds of a friend, give 
me five more. No, we're not like that. We don't 
like to be talked to any way that is negative because it damages 
our delicate psyche. We get defensive. We say, well, 
what about you? We like to throw it right back 
at them. Christ went through this like 
a lamb before its shearers, and he was silent. He bore the wrath 
and fury of God Almighty. And all the while, here's the 
passersby, the religious leaders, and these robbers continue to 
blaspheme and to mock him. Well, in conclusion, a couple 
of lessons, and then we'll move to the supper. In the first place, 
the unparalleled wickedness of the mockers. Brethren, total 
depravity is a reality. Every single one of us is affected 
by sin. In Adam, all die. Romans chapter 
5. But with reference to the sons 
of Adam, I'm not trying to suggest that there are sort of levels 
or gradations of how bad people are, but some people take that 
total depravity and they really run with it. Look back in the 
history of the world, Mao Zedong. Look back at Joseph Stalin. Look 
back at Adolf Hitler. Look at Pol Pot. Look at the 
various specimens of human history that have really, really ran 
with this whole moniker of total depravity. Well, these men are 
wretched. This was the religious leadership 
in Israel in the first century. It was decadent. Just to give 
you a bit of a heads up, when we return to John's gospel next 
Sunday morning, Jesus cleanses the temple. He does that at the 
end in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the synoptics. It has caused 
some frustration or consternation among Bible commentators. Well, 
how do we navigate? How do we fit it in terms of 
the chronology? Simple. He cleansed the temple 
at the beginning of his ministry and he cleansed the temple at 
the end of his ministry. It was symbolic. Again, the wine, 
the celebratory wine of new covenant blessing had arrived. And why? Because of the decadence and 
the vileness and the wretchedness of first century Israel. These 
men were wicked. Their lack of anything remotely 
appropriate to humanity. Again, brethren, we need to even 
respect image bearers in their suffering and death. Secondly, 
their solidarity with the devil in challenging the Lord, both 
in Matthew 4, verse 3 and 6, attempting to break Christ's 
confidence in the Father and attempting to derail Him from 
the mission. As well, their folly of demanding 
a sign. And look at the way they frame 
it. It's almost as if he's to blame. Well, if he comes down 
from the cross, then we will believe. We had no business putting 
him there. We're not sure how he got there. 
But if he happens to come down, well, then we'll believe in him. They are perverse in their mindset. Matthew Henry said, 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, is not only a gross instance of the deceitfulness 
of our hearts, but the sorry refuge, or subterfuge, rather, 
of an obstinate, destroying infidelity. In other words, they had an abundance 
of data that they should have believed in in terms of the prophets, 
in terms of the Psalter, and in terms of the ministry of the 
Lord Jesus. For them to say, well, if he 
comes down from the cross, well then, then we'll believe. Remember 
another context where Jesus upbraids a man, not like he's an apostate, 
but certainly like a man who should have known better. Thomas 
says, unless I see, unless I touch, I will certainly not believe. 
What does Jesus do? He pronounces a beatitude upon 
those who believe, even though they have not seen. And then 
as well, their contrast with the faithful. Very intriguing. Who's the faithful in terms of 
the foot of the cross? Look down at verse 54. 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. So the centurion 
and his fellow soldiers confessed what John says in the prologue. 
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God. As well, notice the contrast 
with the women. Verse 55, and many women who 
followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, were there 
looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the 
mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. 
And then Joseph of Arimathea in verses 57 to 61. So there is this contrast between 
the passersby, the religious leaders, and at least one of 
the robbers, with reference to the centurion and soldiers, the 
women, and Joseph of Arimathea. Secondly, let us observe the 
unsurpassed glory of the Savior. The unsurpassed glory of the 
Savior. He is everything they mocked 
Him about. He is, in fact, the one spoken 
of in the Old Testament. He is the temple builder. He 
is the King of Israel. He is, in fact, the Son of God. 
As well, the mockery that he saved others, but he cannot save 
himself. While he's engaged as the recipient 
of that bit of mockery, he is actually saving sinners. He's 
saving the man next to him. He's saving you and I. He's engaged 
in the work that the Father had given him. And then with reference 
to the robber, the robber sees the glory of Christ when others 
see the object of blasphemy and mockery. Remember the parallel 
account in Luke's gospel. The robber sees the glory. In 
fact, you can turn there, Luke 23, and on a positive note here, 
Luke chapter 23. At verse 39, then one of the 
criminals who were hanged, blasphemed him saying, if you are the Christ, 
save yourself and us. But the other answering, rebuked 
him saying, do you not even fear God seeing you are under the 
same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we 
receive the reward of our deeds or the due reward of our deeds. 
But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, 
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. That is a 
great expression of faith. The robber sees the glory of 
Christ when everybody else around him sees the target of mockery 
and blasphemy. This led Calvin to say, I know 
not that since the creation of the world, there ever was a more 
remarkable and striking example of faith. And so much the greater 
admiration is due to the grace of the Holy Spirit of which it 
affords so magnificent a display. Brethren, just sort of transport 
yourself back. Don't envision Jesus. That's 
a second commandment violation. But envision the reality that 
Jesus on the cross is not walking on the water. Jesus on the cross 
is not stilling the storm. Jesus on the cross is not multiplying 
the loaves. Jesus on the cross isn't raising 
Lazarus from the dead. That's what his disciples all 
witnessed. Jesus on the cross is bloody. Jesus on the cross is beaten. Jesus on the cross is battered 
and bruised. This led Ryle to make this observation. He only saw our Lord in agony 
and in weakness, in suffering and in pain. He saw him undergoing 
dishonorable punishment, deserted, mocked, despised, 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. Isn't that blessed? Isn't that wonderful? As well, 
the robber sees Jesus as Lord who possesses a kingdom and is 
able to save sinners. We saw that with the Pharisee 
and the publican. Remember the publican couldn't 
even look up into heaven, he beats his breast and he says, 
God be merciful to me the sinner. He not only sees God as merciful, 
but he sees God as one he can cast himself upon for the benefit 
of mercy. This man sees Christ likewise. Lord, Remember me, have mercy 
on me when you come into your kingdom. He's justified by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. The robber is in 
fact a trophy of divine grace and a blessed argument to each 
and every one here that perhaps haven't believed on him to believe 
on him. If in the midst of mockery, blasphemy, 
suffering, and receiving in himself the due penalty for our sin from 
the wrath of a holy God, he nevertheless is saving a sinner next to him, 
there is mercy to be had for us. So let us, by grace, look 
to Him in faith and let us know the joy of being found in Him, 
not having a righteousness of our own which is from the law, 
but that righteousness which is from God that is received 
through faith in Jesus. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you so very much for our Savior. What a wonderful 
Savior, the temple builder, the King of Israel, the Son of God, 
the one who saves to the uttermost, all who draw nigh unto God through 
Him. May you increase our faith in Him. May you increase our 
love and our devotion and our appreciation for such a great 
and glorious Savior, as we consider what He went through on our behalf. 
May it melt our hard hearts. And may it cause us, may it be 
an argument for us to worship and to praise in a manner that 
is consistent with what we find in Holy Scripture. Help us to 
imbibe that guilt and grace and gratitude mindset and to respond 
with worship to our great God who has saved us from our sins. 
And for any and all here who have not believed, may they look 
at this trophy of divine grace. May they look at this robber 
and may they see that there is forgiveness with you that you 
may be feared. And may they see that Jesus is 
a willing savior for needy sinners. And we ask in his most blessed 
name, amen. We can turn back in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 27.