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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27. We've slowed down a bit in our 
exposition as we focus on the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. 
Several things that he says at this particular juncture, one 
of which is recorded by Matthew. It is important for us to reflect 
upon the last sayings of a dying man, especially so great a man 
as our Lord Jesus Christ. So this morning we're going to 
take up verses 47 to 50, but I do want to do a bit of review 
of verses 45 and 46. But beginning in verse 32 of 
Matthew chapter 27, I'll begin reading. 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. 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, 
Ali, Ali, 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. Then 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. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the written word of God. We acknowledge that it's given 
by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, 
for correction, for reproof and instruction. We pray that you 
would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work this morning. 
As we hear about the Savior, may we respond with praise and 
worship and adoration. May we indeed express heartfelt 
gratitude for the work of the Savior on our behalf. or certainly 
what he went through in this passage, what he goes through 
in terms of not only the physical suffering, but the loss of the 
father's smile, at least for a time. Certainly all of these 
things were done for us men and for our salvation. We give you 
praise, Most High God, for your great grace. We give you praise 
for your mercy and your kindness to us. And as we look to Scripture 
now, do forgive us for our sins and our transgression and unrighteousness. Help us, God in heaven, to take 
every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. To that 
end, may you fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us to see 
and appreciate what the text says concerning our beloved Christ. And for any who have come here 
this morning that are not believers in Jesus, may today be the day 
of salvation. May He be that one that is altogether 
lovely and chief among 10,000. May it be the case that the daughters 
of Jerusalem, as it were, would say, where is your beloved, that 
we may seek him and find him too? May he be preached here, 
may he be preached throughout this city, in this country, throughout 
the earth, and may a multitude turn from their useless idols 
to the true and living God. We know that sin is an offense, 
sin is transgression, it's a lack of conformity unto your law, 
and all your creatures everywhere are guilty. how we thank you 
for the only Redeemer of your elect, how we thank you for the 
Lord Christ, and how we thank you that in Him there is forgiveness, 
in Him there is mercy and grace. So we pray that today you would 
draw sinners unto you through Christ the Lord, and we pray 
in His most blessed name. Amen. Well, as we have considered 
the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have seen that it's 
not the case that the authors go into a great deal of detail 
describing the physical torture that is involved. In fact, Matthew 
simply says in verse 35a, then they crucified Him. But we have reflected upon what 
is involved in the act of crucifixion, and it certainly was torture. 
It was certainly a severe form of execution. It is, in many 
respects, more described in Psalm 22, which was written by David 
concerning David's greater son. There, David is not recording 
his particular experience. David was never tortured or executed 
in the way described in Psalm 22, but rather he is writing 
as a prophet concerning the Messiah. And he is very detailed and descriptive 
with reference to what would occur under the order of the 
Roman governor at the request of the Jewish people to the Lord 
Jesus Christ as a result of our offenses being laid upon Him 
and God the Father punishing Him in our place. for salvation. Well, as I said, we have noticed 
the crucifixion of Jesus in verses 32 to 38, the mockery of the 
crucified one in verses 39 to 44, last week we considered the 
cry of dereliction in verses 45 and 46, and this morning we'll 
look at the death of Jesus in verses 47 to 50. Just a couple 
of reminders or a bit of review concerning this cry of dereliction. When Jesus says, my God, my God, 
why hast thou forsaken me? This does not mean that there 
was a division among the persons of the Trinity. That cannot be. 
Cannot be the case. The Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit will ever be divided. They are one God, three glorious 
persons, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. There 
can never be a rupture to the Godhead. There can never be that 
sort of a separation amongst the persons of the Godhead. It 
is an impossibility. God is creator. God is of a different 
order of being. There is nothing that the creature 
can do to ever dash God to the ground, to ever tear him apart, 
to ever destroy him, to ever get to the point where there's 
some sort of altercation among the persons of the triune God. 
So this cry of dereliction does not reflect division among the 
persons of the Trinity. Secondly, it does not reflect 
a dissolution of what's called the hypostatic union. Christ 
is an amazing person. Christ is one person in two natures. He is truly man and He is truly 
God. So there is no dissolution of 
His person here at the cross. He forever remains this. He forever remains this one person 
in two natures. As well, what is not taught in 
this text, this, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, is 
the notion that the persons of the Trinity suffer on the cross. The notion that the persons of 
the Trinity suffered on the cross. No, it was Jesus according to 
his humanity. It is not the persons of the 
cross. The early church faced a heresy 
called Patrapaceanism, which taught that the Father himself 
suffered on the cross. You'll hear this at times when 
we pray. I hope we don't do this, but 
sometimes persons pray heretically. I don't mean to offend you, but 
they'll say things like, Father, thank you for dying on the cross. That's not accurate. It's Christ, 
the Lord Jesus, according to His humanity, who died on the 
cross. It was not participatory in all 
three persons of the Godhead. And as well, we need to recognize 
that this text does not teach the abandonment of the Son by 
the Father in an unqualified way. It does not teach the abandonment 
by the Father of the Son in an unqualified way. We'll get to 
what that means in just a moment. But the text does teach, or the 
cry does illustrate, the great lengths the Savior went on our 
behalf. When he says, why hast thou forsaken 
me? He is not seeking information. Christ always knew his purpose, 
doesn't he? Christ always knew what his mission 
was. Christ, according to Luke 9, 
set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. Christ, according 
to Matthew 16, 17, and 20, prophesied, foretold, predicted, or told 
to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, he must suffer 
at the hands of godless men, he must die in one space, he 
says, he must be crucified, and then he must be raised again. 
So he knows what's happening to him. He's not this sort of 
a person that bounces around from event to event in search 
of his own consciousness. He always knows why he came. He always knows the purpose for 
which the Father sent him. He knows why he is suffering. 
So the cry, why hast thou forsaken me, isn't a quest for knowledge. It isn't a quest for information. 
It is an expression of his agony. It is an expression of his grief. It is an expression of the great 
suffering that he is undergoing on our behalf in this particular 
situation. He takes the cry of Psalm 22 
and he makes it his own. Remember that in Psalm 22, David's 
writing about Jesus. He's writing about Messiah. He's 
writing about a king that will come from his own line that will 
occupy an eternal throne and reign over God's kingdom for 
all eternity. Well, in that Psalm, in verses 
one to 10, the psalmist prays for God's intervention based 
on God's past proven faithfulness. And then in verses 11 to 21, 
the psalmist prays that the father will indeed intervene based on 
the nature of his sufferings and his calamity. As I said, 
he describes it in great detail. And then the latter part of the 
psalm is taken up with praise to the father for his having 
heard and answered the cry of Christ, and we see that follow 
in Matthew 28. It's not the case the Father 
abandons Him. The Father, for a moment, for 
a time, does turn the smile of His face from the Son, but it's 
as He is suffering in our place for our benefit. So we find, 
as well, that the Lord directs this particular question to the 
Father. Notice He doesn't say, why have 
they forsaken Me? Why have these wretches put me 
up here? Christ knew the doctrine of total 
depravity, didn't he? Christ understood what scripture 
teach concerning the sinfulness of man. Note that question is 
never voiced by the Savior. Why have they done this to me? 
Wouldn't that be what we'd ask? But I'm innocent. I haven't done 
anything wrong. Why would they cry out, crucify 
him, crucify him? Why would the Roman governor 
sign my death warrant? Why would these Jewish leaders 
deliver me up in such a wretched sort of a way? I mean, ever since 
Sabbath wars back in Matthew chapter 12, they've been plotting 
how they may destroy me. See, we would ask that question, 
why are these bad things happening to such a wonderful specimen 
of a human being like me? Christ doesn't do that. Why have 
you forsaken me? What's the implication? I know 
why they have forsaken me. I understand why wretched man, 
sinful man, all we like sheep have gone astray sort of man 
would forsake the one who is altogether lovely and chief among 
10,000. That never enters the mind of the Savior when he's 
on the cross at Calvary. It's not, why have they forsaken 
me, but rather, why have you forsaken me? They are described 
as bulls, as lions, as dogs, and lion's mouth, and the horns 
of the wild oxen. That's how David describes us 
in Psalm 22. We express beastly character. And remember, we can't just blame 
the religious leaders. We can't just blame the Roman 
governor. We can't just blame all the people 
of Israel who cried out, may his blood be on us and our children. 
Paul tells us in Romans 4.25, he was delivered up because of 
our offenses. It was our sin that sent the 
Savior to the tree. It was our sin that provoked 
this particular cry. It was our sin that brought this 
qualified abandonment or desertion of the Father turning His face 
for a time from the Son of God. The Lord expresses His agony 
at the temporary loss of the smile of the Father. Matthew 
Henry said, Christ was made sin for us, a curse for us. And therefore, though God loved 
Him as a son, He frowned upon Him as a surety. I like the way 
Matthew Henry phrases that. You know what a surety is? A 
surety is somebody who stands for another. This is all about 
Christ as a priest. What's Christ doing on the cross? 
He's a priest. The Bible teaches us that Christ 
is a prophet, a priest, and a king. As a prophet, he tells people 
what the will of God is, what the demands or commands of God 
is, and he demands that we follow God. As a prophet, he speaks 
on behalf of God to people. A king, we all know what a king 
does. A king rules, he reigns, he exercises authority and power 
and sovereignty. As well, he defends his subjects, 
he protects his subjects, he comforts and stabilizes his subjects. These offices of Christ are a 
beautiful thing, but it's Christ as a priest on the cross. And 
the intriguing thing about Christ as a priest on the cross, He's 
not only the one who is offering, but He is the one being offered. And it's Christ here functioning 
in that manner. It is Christ here functioning 
as our surety that leads Matthew to Henry to say, the father's 
smile is always upon the son with reference to his sonship. 
But as he is our surety, as he is standing in our place, as 
our sin is heaped upon him, he frowns upon him as our surety. Isn't that the reality of 2 Corinthians 
5.21? God made him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us. So on that moment, or at that 
moment on the cross, the Lord Christ is bearing the punishment, 
the wrath, and the fury of God that is due for us. See, Paul 
not only says he was delivered up because of our offenses, he 
was raised up for our justification. It's a beautifully completed 
transaction. John Gill says, with reference 
to this cry, Why hast thou forsaken me? But he was now without a 
sense of the gracious presence of God, and was filled, as the 
surety of his people, with a sense of divine wrath, which their 
iniquities he now bore. So that's what's going on here. Not a division among the persons 
of the Trinity, a dissolution of the hypostatic union, some 
sort of a patripationistic heresy, but it's the Son of God, according 
to His humanity, bearing our shame, bearing our suffering, 
taking in Himself the penalty due for our sin. Now before we 
move on to see how they've added insult to injury because they 
continue to mock the Savior, let's just reflect upon what's 
happened thus far at the cross. He was stripped, wasn't he? saw 
that quote I mentioned one time Spurgeon was preaching on Hebrews 
chapter 12. The shameful sufferer, the editor 
says he couldn't finish the sermon, he was let out, he broke down 
crying before the congregation as he considered the suffering 
of the Son of God on behalf of sinners. And at one place in 
that particular sermon he mentions how our artists When they paint 
Jesus, which I highly tell you don't do that, the second commandment 
prohibits such a thing, but artists typically have depicted Jesus 
and they always do him with clothes on. He was stripped naked, brethren. That's what the text indicates. 
They didn't leave a loincloth in place. Who for the joy set 
before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, Paul says 
in Hebrews chapter 12. He was stripped so that we could 
be clothed. Isn't that beautiful? That's 
what's happening. There's an exchange going on. Our sins heaped 
upon the Savior. He is stripped so that we might 
be clothed with His righteousness and that garment that does avail 
with God. He is mocked on the cross. Isn't that terrible? I shared 
when we were going through that previous mockery, because we're 
going to look at more mockery in just a moment, that previous 
mockery, as far as I know, when a man is sentenced to death, 
I realize they don't do that in Canada since the 60s when 
they changed that law, but in the United States, they still 
execute criminal offenders. The Bible teaches capital punishment. I realize that's an affront to 
many. I think the Pope just said that 
the Bible doesn't teach or the Catholic Church prohibits death 
penalty. That's not consistent with Augustine. 
It's not consistent with Aquinas. It's certainly not consistent 
with Moses and with Paul, which is even more important. The Bible 
teaches capital punishment, but humanity typically respects the 
fact that when a man is about to be executed, we don't mock 
them. Right? And the guy could be a real wretch 
of a human being. But if he's marching off to be 
hung, or he's going to be shot, or he's going to go to the gas 
chamber or the electric chair, they don't mock him. It might 
be an expression of grief over his heinousness. If we're a family 
member of one of the victims, we might be tempted to say something. 
But the kind of mockery that they engaged in, he was mocked 
so that ultimately we are spoken well of by God the Father. It 
really is an amazing exchange that transpires here at the cross. He is punished. Again, it's not 
the physical torture that causes the Son of God to cry out. It's 
not that punishment of sense wherein He's had thorns placed 
into His head, wherein He has been spat on, wherein He has 
been nailed to the cross. wherein he has been engaged in 
a form of suffering that wasn't even utilized, this form of execution 
wasn't even utilized for citizens in the Roman Empire. Citizens 
of Rome could not be executed by crucifixion without permission 
from the Caesar. That's how bad it was. That's 
how horrible it was. We won't even use this on our 
citizenry unless we get approval from above. So he suffered physically, 
but it's the suffering in terms of a punishment of sense wherein 
that smile of God is deprived for a moment, wherein that favor 
of God is deprived for a moment. It is that punishment of sense 
that cause, or rather punishment of loss, that provokes this cry, 
why hast thou forsaken me? And he undergoes this so that 
will never be. There's never gonna be a time 
in the life of God's people where God is not with us and for us. Now, it may seem at times when 
we're going through trials and sorrows, we have those Psalm 
42, 43 moments. Why art thou disquieted, O my 
soul? Hope thou in God. There are those 
seasons and those times, our confession speaks of it, when 
we continue in a pattern of sin, remaining sin, we engage in those 
things that grieve the Holy Spirit, turn the smile of the Father 
away from us, but we will never be abandoned, we will never be 
forsaken, we will never stop being loved by God Most High, 
we will never stop being smiled on by God Most High, because 
the Son went through this on our behalf. And then consider, 
we'll see this in more detail in a moment, Jesus died. Why 
does Jesus die so that we could have everlasting life? You see, 
there's an exchange going on. There is the doctrine of substitution. There's the doctrine of God taking 
our sin and heaping it upon the Savior and punishing Him in our 
stead, and then taking the righteousness that He accomplished and putting 
it on us. Martin Luther uses this terminology 
concerning what he calls the joyous exchange. Probably gonna 
be offensive to some, but if it is, you can take it up with 
Martin. He says, the rich, noble, pious, 
bridegroom Christ takes this poor, despised, wicked little 
whore in marriage, redeems her of all evil, and adorns her with 
all his goods. And he does that based on what 
we're reading here in Matthew 27. He does this based on the 
doctrine of substitution. He does this based on the fact 
that God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. It really 
ought to bother all of us when persons think that Christianity 
is for those who try a little harder, those who do a little 
better, those who add a little bit of law to their lives and 
seek a bit of moral reformation. No one's ever going to get into 
heaven based on their own act. based on their own deeds, based 
on their own efforts. Have you ever met somebody and 
they say, oh, you're a Christian. Well, you must be a really good 
human. Do you ever want to just say, 
that's the exact opposite of why I'm a Christian. The exact 
opposite. Are we Christians because we're 
good? Think about it. You can go like this. We're not 
Christians because we're good. We're Christians in the first 
place because God is good. We're Christians because Christ 
was good. He always fulfilled the law of 
the Father. He always did what was commanded 
of Him. You want to see what righteousness 
looks like? Robin says, look at the 33 years 
of Christ's life on earth. That's righteousness. Everything 
you and I do, even if it's for 33 seconds, is tainted with sin 
and depravity. We're not believers because we're 
good, we're believers because Christ is good, because Christ 
fulfills all righteousness, because Christ bears punishment on the 
cross, Christ is raised the third day, and because God gives us 
the grace of faith so that we can look to Christ in faith, 
that's why we're Christians. The suggestion that somehow Christians 
are going to make it to heaven because they're a bit better 
than anyone else is absolute rubbish. If you think that as 
a believer, shame on you. Shame on you for thinking for 
a moment that your position in heaven is secured based in part 
on you. Paul says, I do not set apart 
the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. If it was the case that we could 
somehow earn our way to heaven, then Matthew 27 is just a terrible 
passage of Holy Scripture. It's an unfortunate reality that 
the father would send the son to engage in this particular 
work, the son would willingly undertake if for somehow we could 
manage on our own. It's not the way it is. Christ 
went through this for us. Christ died for us. Isn't the consistent testimony 
or interpretation of the New Testament with reference to this 
event that reality? Christ died for us. Christ is 
our Passover. He gave himself for me, Paul 
says in Galatians 2.20. The sin here is not Christ's, 
the sin here is ours. It was our sin that sent Him 
to the cross and the Father punishes Him accordingly. So before we 
move from this point, if you're not a believer this morning, 
you're not a Christian, you've heard about Christianity, perhaps 
you've visited this church, you've heard what we call the gospel. 
The gospel simply means good news. The good news here isn't 
that we're good people. The good news is that God is 
a good God. The good news is that Christ lived, Christ died, 
Christ was raised, such that everyone who believes in Him 
will have everlasting life. That's the good news. How do 
I obtain that good news, you might ask? And I hope you do. 
It's always the prayer of a preacher on the Lord's Day morning is 
that the Spirit of God would come and take the Word of God 
and convict hearts and show them, A, their own sinfulness. Perhaps 
we shouldn't hasten on. Perhaps we should remind you 
of your own sinfulness. Say, well, I'm a pretty good 
guy or girl. No, you're not. I do my best. No, you don't. I'm not like other men. Yes, 
you are. Every objection, every opposition, 
every voiced concern about the Bible's doctrine of sin reveals 
even more about your sinfulness. The way of hope is to accept 
God's indictment. Isn't this one of the grand principles 
in those 12-step programs? You got to admit you got a problem. 
You know, the drunkard never stops drinking and the crack 
addict never stops smoking until someone comes along and says, 
you've got problems. And it's really unfortunate when 
the man is reeking of booze and he's falling down, he's like, 
well, I don't have a problem. Yeah, yeah, you do. You're laying 
in a pool of your own vomit. Well, that's you this morning 
if somehow you think you're not a sinner. I'm not that bad. I try. Who's this guy think he 
is? The Bible is clear. All have 
sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The Bible is clear. We're not supposed to commit 
idolatry. We do that. We worship other 
gods. You say, well, I'm not in the 
Old Testament. I don't bow to calves like Jeroboam the son 
of Nebat. I don't bow to the Asherah Pole 
like those Israelites of old. You bow to yourself. You bow 
to your comfort, you bow to your ease. We're told not to blaspheme 
the name of the Lord. You say, well, I don't ever use 
Jesus' name or God's name as a curse. Well, your sinful actions 
is a means of blasphemy. It's intriguing. When David goes 
and he commits adultery and murder and the prophet Nathan rebukes 
him, Nathan says, by this you have given cause to the enemies 
of Yahweh to blaspheme his name. I mean, we don't even need to 
get into the Sabbath. Who of you want to say, yeah, 
I keep the Sabbath. Sun up to sun down, baby, I'm right on 
it. Holy thoughts, pious maneuvers, 
good deeds, got it. But the fifth commandment, you 
see, this isn't just for you adults. There's a specific word 
from God for children, and it's this. Honor your father and your 
mother. Esteem them. Respect them. See them as heavy. Not in terms 
of their mass or body weight, but something that is heavy. 
That's the word glory. It's God is heavy. He's glorious. He is to be revered. He is not 
lightweighted. He is not something easily dismissed. Well, God institutes your parents 
as that heavy, glory-deserving object in your home. Insubordination 
is wicked. Oh, that's just them being them. No, that's just them acting out 
the Adamic nature. Deal with it. Parents, don't 
wink at sin. You're going to teach your kids 
that it really doesn't matter. When with gospel preaching, it 
really does matter because if they don't see their need, they're 
never going to see the need for Christ. The sixth commandment. You say, well, I don't kill people. 
I've never murdered anyone. I don't have a body buried under 
my house. Jesus says, if you hate your brother in your heart, 
hate him without cause, call them names. Something that's 
not just externally committed, but internally as well. Seventh 
commandment. You say, well, I've never engaged 
in adultery, never actually acted in that manner. What's Jesus 
say? If you look upon a woman and lust after her in your heart, 
you're guilty of the commandment, or breaking the commandment. 
And it's not just men doing it with women, it's women doing 
it with men. It's men with men, women with women. I mean, any 
sort of, you know, the 63 gender variations that California now 
recognizes, plug them in. You can break the 7th commandment. 
The 8th commandment, you're not supposed to steal. 9th commandment, 
you're not supposed to lie. 10th commandment, you're not 
supposed to covet. Just imagine if you make it through 1 to 9. 
Yeah, I've done all these things. Look at the rich young ruler. 
The rich young ruler comes to the Lord Jesus and says, good 
teacher, help me, I inherit eternal life. What does Jesus do? He 
does what I do, or what I'm doing right now. He points him to the 
law. You keep the commandments, you're gonna go to heaven. That 
rich young ruler actually had the audacity to say, all these 
I have kept from my youth, what one thing do I lack? A person's 
mess up at this point in the teaching. They think that somehow 
Jesus is teaching an alternate way to heaven. Well, go sell 
your stuff, give it to the poor and follow me, and you'll enter 
into heaven. That's not what Jesus is doing. 
Jesus takes the 10th commandment, which was this young man's stumbling 
block, and he presses his conscience with it. Go sell everything you 
have, give it to the poor and follow me. Isn't that the law 
coming to bear upon this young man? He goes away sorrowful. Why? Because he had many possessions. 
You see, that law should show you, if you're thinking at least 
this much honestly, that you're a sinner who stands in need of 
the Savior. And it's what the Savior does 
at the cross that matters. Certainly His life in terms of 
obedience to the Father, certainly His resurrection in terms of 
the consummation of all His redemptive work, this cross is central, 
it's pivotal. The way of salvation is not by, 
I want you to go home and try harder. I want you to go home 
and do better. I want you to go home and be 
moral. Now, you need to look to Christ. 
Whether you're young or you're old, you need to look. You need 
to believe what the gospel message is. Our confession is beautiful. It talks about saving faith, 
and it says that saving faith is wherein a particular person 
believes everything that the Bible is true. But the special 
acts of saving faith is those things, or believing those things, 
written about the Lord Jesus Christ. The principal acts of 
saving faith are those things recorded concerning his life, 
his death, and his resurrection. I certainly want you to believe 
all that the Bible says this morning. Most of all, I want 
you to believe what it says about Jesus, that this statement, this, 
why hast thou forsaken me, was the means by which Christ was 
saving sinners. Now, you need to look to that. 
You need to believe that. You need to go to Him. Physically, 
you can't somehow ascend into heaven and go to the right hand 
of the Father where Christ is now located. You need to come 
in faith. Jesus says, all that the Father 
gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will 
certainly not cast out. How do we come? We believe what 
the Bible says. You say, you're making that up. 
No, in Acts chapter 16. There's an instance where a man 
is going to kill himself because he's come to an end of himself, 
and he knows that if he gets caught with what he's done, he's 
going to be killed by the Roman government. Paul and Silas say, 
don't do that. And he says, sirs, what must 
I do to be saved? Well, try a little harder, be 
a little more moralistic, stop taking pens from your work. No, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. That's 
the hope. That's the blessed message. That's 
everything. Christ lived, Christ died, Christ 
was raised. Whoever believes in Him will 
have everlasting life. It's an amazing thing. How many 
people nod at John 3.16? It's an amazing thing how most 
everybody in the world knows John 3.16. And yet do we ponder 
the implications of John 3.16? God so loved the world. You know 
what the emphasis is in that passage? It's not the bigness 
of the world. God so loved the world, it's 
so big, that's what we ought to be impressed about. No, God 
so loved the world made up with sinners. It's not the physical 
dimensions of the population mass that causes the Word of 
God to say, God so loved the world. It's the ethical state 
of it. The fact that God would love 
this world? The fact that God would set His heart and affections 
and love upon sinners like us? But he did, he loved it so much 
that he gave his only begotten son. This is what we're seeing. This is the giving of the only 
begotten son. This is the Romans 8.32, he who 
did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. 
That's what we're witnessing here at the foot of the cross. 
So he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the 
promise of Holy Scripture. That's the promise of the Word 
of God. You bring that to the Father, He's not going to say, 
no. You ever do that? You get a coupon from the paper 
and you go to the store and you buy the product, you find the 
product, you bring it up, oh, we're not going to honor that coupon. 
I can't tell you how many times I think this has happened to 
me at Price Mart. I double-checked. The label says, 
this much for that item. Unless it pertains to that item, 
but as I've looked, it usually pertains to that. Special, deal, 
whatever, get to the front. No, no, it's not that. You must 
have read it wrong, of course. I really struggle with 8.99. 
It's a tough one for me. Sometimes sinners think God won't 
honor his promises. I remember a particular sinner 
one time Steve and I met. We're passing out chalks and 
this old man said, oh, I'm such a sinner, God will never have 
me. You're such a sinner that only God will take you. That's 
the good news. This concept that I'm so sinful, 
I can't go to Jesus is devilish logic. God's logic is you're 
so sinful, you must go to Jesus. There's persons who take this 
coupon to God or not take it because they don't think he's 
gonna honor it. I don't want you, I won't take you, I won't 
receive you. All that the Father gives me 
will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly 
not cast out. It cannot be the case that Christ 
is ever in the business of casting out a sinner who comes to Him. You see, there's no place for 
you to hide this morning. There's no refuge. There's no, 
well, I'm not going to believe because. No. You must believe, 
because Christ said, why hast thou forsaken me? Now notice 
the mockery of the bystanders, adding insult to injury. Verse 
47, some of those who stood there when they heard that said, this 
man is calling for Elijah. Now the language could suggest 
as much, Eli, Eli, Elia. the whole idea of Elijah and 
the cry of Jesus sounding similar to one another. But what follows 
in the next two verses indicate that there might have been a 
deliberate misunderstanding on their part, a deliberate misunderstanding. I think it kind of goes this 
way. Remember that Elijah was that wonderful prophet of Israel, 
just shows up. First Kings, chapter 17. The 
nation is under the oppressive rule of Ahab. Ahab was married 
to a woman by the name of Jezebel. Now, neither of these people 
were people of the year type characters. I mean, they were 
just terrible. Just as bad as you could get. 17-1, Elijah the Tishbite just 
shows up. Elijah was born and so-and-so 
and he was raised by these parents and he did this when he was 18 
and now he's become a prophet. He just shows up on the scene. 
God's response to wicked Ahab is godly Elijah. Elijah fulfills 
his career. And he's ultimately taken to 
heaven by a whirlwind. Some suggest that it was a chariot. 
It wasn't a chariot. He went by whirlwind. The famous 
painting of Elijah in the chariot going to heaven is simply fantasy. He went up by a whirlwind. The 
prophet Malachi told us, told Israel, that Elijah would serve 
an end times purpose, eschatological for the theologically minded 
here. So Elijah would be this eschatological figure. He would 
be a forerunner of Messiah. The same thing we heard of in 
the scripture reading. Well, popular belief among the 
Jews had arisen that Elijah was sort of a patron saint who would 
bring delivery to suffering people. I was brought up Roman Catholic. 
I think it was St. Jude, the patron saint of lost 
causes. And they have a list of different 
saints and their different functions. Well, that was sort of the popular 
belief that had attached itself to Elijah. If persons in distress 
cried out to Elijah, then Elijah might come and deliver them. Again, based on the understanding, 
according to Malachi 4, this Elijah will come back. Elijah 
will be present. Elijah will be in concert with 
the Messiah. in one form or another. So they 
have this particular statement. Verse 47, some of those who stood 
there when they heard that said, this man is calling for Elijah. Now we'll get back to that when 
we get to verse 49. But let's look at this offer 
of sour wine. this offer of sour wine. Now, 
if we were to compare the gospel narrative in John's gospel, we 
would see that the fifth saying of the Savior happens here. And 
the fifth saying of the Savior is, I thirst. And John tells 
us in John 19 that this is done so that the Scriptures would 
be fulfilled. After this, John 19, 28, Jesus 
knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture 
might be fulfilled. So he says, I thirst from the 
cross. Here specifically we read, 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. If John is 
connecting the significance of Jesus saying, I thirst, and the 
significance of then putting the sour wine on the sponge and 
putting it to the mouth of the Savior, what scripture perhaps 
is behind the scenes? Now when John says that, the 
Scripture must be fulfilled or accomplished, I take it to be 
the whole crucifixion. But as we've seen in our study 
in this particular section, every step of the way it's fulfilling 
Scripture. Every step of the way it is Jesus 
doing what was foretold. Well, there are two texts in 
particular that probably lay behind his statement, I thirst. Psalm 22, 15, my strength is 
dried up like a pot shirt and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought me to the dust 
of death. A thirsty statement, isn't it? 
And in Psalm 69 verse 21, they also gave me gall for my food, 
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Now, I think 
that was the first instance when they offered him drink prior 
to that. I think it fits well here as 
well. Now, some suggest that what's 
happening in terms of this offer of drink is an offer of mercy. It's an offer of mercy. Now, 
we read sour wine and everything in us recoils a little bit. We 
can't even conceive of having to drink of such a thing. But 
a famous dictionary defines the sour wine here. Sour wine or 
wine vinegar, it relieved thirst more effectively than water. 
One of the commentators said that if you could actually get 
to the point where you could drink it, I mean, you know, vinegar 
is not the most pleasant thing, though some people drink a shot 
of apple cider vinegar, it's got good health benefits, and, 
you know, I guess if you could knock back apple cider vinegar, 
you could knock back this particular wine vinegar. But this was a 
common drink for poor people. Soldiers would have had it on 
hand. That's why it's available at the cross. So it's a sour 
wine, wine vinegar, it received thirst more effectively than 
water and being cheaper than regular wine, it was a favorite 
beverage of the lower ranks of society and of those in moderate 
circumstances. Now, as I said, some suggest 
that this is an act of mercy. I tend to disagree with that 
because I don't think they've exhibited any mercy whatsoever 
up until this particular point. The only mercy that comes is 
in 54, when the centurion and his soldiers confess that truly 
this was the Son of God. Everything up to 54 is mockery. It is abuse. It is adding insult 
to injury. And perhaps they offer him this 
legitimate drink. If we define it the way BDAG 
defines it, it is a legitimate drink that soldiers and poor 
people would have used to quench their thirst. So what would motivate 
them, according to this passage, to do this? To prolong his agony. To give him a fighting chance. 
I mentioned that on the cross itself, there was a little piece 
of wood at the feet. That wasn't to relieve the sufferer, 
it was to prolong the suffering. The victim, the executee on the 
cross would push off on that little piece of wood and be able 
to gasp some air, would be able to collect some oxygen. If that 
little piece of wood wasn't there, they would die a whole lot quicker. 
If Jesus doesn't get a little bit of wine, a little bit of 
sour wine, a little bit of this vinegar to satiate his thirst, 
he's gonna die before they're done with him. I think it's an 
act of mockery, and that brings us to consider the specific mockery 
of verse 49. You see, verse 47, when they 
heard that, said, this man is calling for Elijah. Remember, 
Elijah is reputed to be one who comes to help those in need. Now note verse 49, the rest said, 
let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come 
to save him. Go back for just a moment to 
verse 43. The religious leader said, he trusted in God. Let 
him deliver him now if he will have him. For he said, I am the 
son of God. It's the same thing as verse 
49. Let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come 
to save him. They're not legit. They're not 
real. It's mockery. The Father hasn't 
helped him. Elijah's not gonna help him. 
It's another form of them insulting the Son of God. It's another 
means by which they mock Him, and another means by which you 
and I as believers in Christ ought to see the great love wherewith 
He loved us. I mean, brethren, we get upset 
if people do anything to us that isn't completely approved by 
us. Somebody raises their eyebrow at us and I can't believe it. 
Or somebody didn't say hi to me at church today. We're tempted 
to pray imprecatory Psalms over them for afternoon lunch. Oh 
Lord, God Almighty, please bring them to see how they have contend 
my kindness and they deserve all that you have for them. And 
then we have the gall to punctuate it in Jesus name. Aren't we like that? You might 
be saying, he's revealing a lot more about himself today than 
he is about us. In general, don't we get easily 
offended? Don't we get easily upset? Look at what Christ is going 
through for you. Look at what Christ undergoes 
for sinners. If you ever doubt the Savior's 
love, Matthew 27 is a great place to go. If you ever doubt the 
Savior's love, Matthew 27 is the place to take your doubting 
soul and fill your heart with the knowledge of who Jesus is. 
But you know, it is intriguing because in their mockery here, 
they show their ignorance. And in many respects, it's ironic. 
Every step of the way, what persons confess or say or state in a 
derisive sense against the Lord Jesus ultimately is true. Isn't it? I mean, right down 
to the inscription on the charge by Pilate himself, this is Jesus, 
the King of the Jews. Pilate didn't mean that. Pilate 
wasn't his advocate. What Pilate does, however, is 
confess the truth about Jesus. When they mock him and they say 
things like, he saved others, himself he cannot save. There's 
a reason why that is a blessed truth. Of course he saved others. 
He's not saving himself precisely so that he can save others. Well, 
what's going on here? Let us see if Elijah will come 
to save him. Elijah had come, both the prophetic 
Elijah and the historical Elijah. The prophetic in John the Baptist. What does John the Baptist do 
with reference to Jesus? He testifies concerning him, 
telling persons that he is the Messiah. Elijah, the historical 
one, testifies the very same thing on the Mount of Transfiguration. You see this? Even what they 
say here in terms of mockery has been fulfilled. Davies and 
Allison say the deliberate Question mark. Misinterpretation is ironic, 
because while the people wait to see if Elijah will come, the 
reader knows that John the Baptist in the role of Elijah has already 
ministered to Jesus and confessed him Messiah, and also that Elijah 
himself has borne testimony to Jesus. on the Mount of Transfiguration 
in chapter 17. Well, let's look finally at the 
death of Jesus at verse 15. Jesus cried out again with a 
loud voice and yielded up his spirit. The verb used here is 
a bit different, and I think it is because of Psalm 22. Psalm 
22, this particular verb is used on three occasions. And I think 
what Matthew is doing is paralleling this death or this cry of our 
Lord in verse 50 to what we find written in Psalm 22. But as well, 
look at the verb for a moment. Jesus cried out again. And then 
it's punctuated with this, with a loud voice. Does that strike 
you as odd at all? Men, you can relate to what I'm 
about to say. You get a call and you're laying on the couch 
and you can hardly ask your wife for crackers. You're feeble and 
you're weak and you can't voice the great need that is yours. 
We're pathetic at times, aren't we men? Women can do this too, 
so don't pat yourselves on the back. When we're low energy, we're 
very quiet and we're very meek and we're very mild and we're 
very soft. Kind of the author underscores 
for us, he cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his 
spirit. You know what this underscores? 
Nobody takes my life from me but I lay it down. Christ is in control to the very 
end. He has been tortured. He is being 
executed. He has been brutalized. He has 
been stripped. He has been mocked. He has been 
spat on. He has felt the nails. He is 
presently probably asphyxiating. He has indeed gone through the 
forsaking, qualified, by the Father. And yet the text is very 
clear. Verse 46, He cried out with a 
loud voice. Verse 50, Jesus cried out again 
with a loud voice. France says, the loud cry which 
precedes Jesus' death and is equally loud shout in verse 46 
indicate that unlike most crucified men, Jesus died in full control 
of his faculties, perhaps even that he died when he himself 
chose. He says as well, the loudness of the cry at the time of death 
indicates that Jesus is not just fading away, but dying while 
in full possession of his senses. It is here that the other two 
sayings of the Savior come to pass. He says, I'm sorry, it 
is finished in John 19.30. That's what we're gonna look 
at tonight. That sixth saying of the Savior 
from the cross, John 19.30, it is finished. We'll look at that 
tonight in terms of the Lord's Supper observance and seek to 
unpack what he meant by it is finished. And then the last statement 
recorded in Luke 23.46, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. 
But he does this with a loud voice. He does this consistent 
with his words in John 10. John 10, 17 and 18. Therefore, 
my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take 
it again. No one takes it from me, but 
I lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command 
I have received from my father. See, even to the end, Christ 
is the champion of Israel. Even to the end, Christ is that 
Messiah who has resolved, who has determined to undergo all 
that the Father has given Him, and He does so. He executes it 
perfectly. He cries with a loud voice. He 
yields up His Spirit. It's not taken from Him. It is 
not invaders who have come. Christ willingly. The language 
of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2.20. He says, I have been crucified 
with Christ. He says, the life that I now 
live in, in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who 
what? Who loved me and who gave himself for me. Brethren, to the very end, Christ 
does what he does for the glory of his father, for the salvation 
of his people. John Gill says, it was not taken 
from him. He laid down his life of himself 
as the Lord of it and gave himself freely to be an offering and 
sacrifice in the room of his people, which is a proof of his 
great love and amazing grace unto them. See, brethren, I think 
it's important for us to read scripture that way. It's important 
to understand what Gil says in that particular instance. He 
says, which is a proof of his great love and amazing grace 
unto them. Go to Matthew 27 and the setting 
of the crucifixion, stand at the foot of the cross and marvel 
at your Savior's love and grace. You know, when you want to encourage 
yourself about the love of your spouse or the love of a child 
or the love of a parent, you think fondly on a particular 
aspect or a particular instance where they exhibited that or 
they expressed that, don't you? I know my dad loves me because 
he came down there and he bailed me out, not out of jail, but 
he bailed me out of that particular difficulty that I was undergoing. 
That really demonstrates his love. You tend to attach yourself, 
you tend to think in terms of those great expressions of love 
and you say, wow, I know that dad or mom or sister or brother 
or friend or whoever loves me because Do you believers ever 
take your soul to Matthew 27? We have devotional literature, 
don't we? Isn't Matthew 27 devotional? 
Isn't this something for the soul? Doesn't this feed the heart? 
Doesn't this encourage you for a Monday morning? Doesn't this 
get you out of the doldrums on a Thursday afternoon? Yeah, I'm 
having a miserable go of it, but my Savior said, why hast 
thou forsaken me? And he yielded up his spirit 
for me. He did this for me. See if that 
doesn't put a little, you know, bounce in your step for the rest 
of Thursday. J.C. Ryle said, there never was 
a last breath drawn of such deep import as this. There never was 
an event on which so much depended. The Roman soldiers and the gaping 
crowd around the cross saw nothing remarkable. Remember that. Another 
man being crucified. This was another man that had 
met his end. The Roman soldiers and the gaping crowd around the 
cross saw nothing remarkable. They only saw a person dying 
as others die, with all the usual agony and suffering which attend 
a crucifixion. But they knew nothing of the 
eternal interests which were involved in the whole transaction. We do. We know the eternal interests 
involved in the whole transaction. We, therefore, must respond with 
praise, adoration, worship, and gratitude. On Wednesday night, 
we considered 2 Kings chapter 13, and there's a specific instance 
in there wherein the people of Israel are being plagued by the 
Syrians. And in verse 4, a wretched king 
by the name of Jehoahaz cries out to Yahweh for deliverance, 
for victory. Do you know what Yahweh does? 
He grants them deliverance. He grants them victory. He blesses 
them. He breaks the back of the oppressor 
at that particular juncture, according to verse 5. You know 
what they do in verse 6? Do they bow to Yahweh? Do they 
enjoy Yahweh? Do they worship Yahweh? Do they 
love Yahweh? No, they turn back to their calves. 
They turn back to their idols. They turn back to that which 
is not God. God brings them this great deliverance 
and this great victory, and you know what he's met with? Rebellion. Persistent rebellion. I wonder 
if that's not some of us at times. We have benefited greatly from 
what's going on here in Matthew 27. We have been clothed because 
he was stripped naked. We have been given a righteousness 
that avails with God. We live because he died. We will 
not be forsaken because he was forsaken. And yet, in gratitude, 
following after idols, engaging in those things which are offensive 
to God, continuing to indulge in pet sins, continuing to indulge 
in things that God says, don't do that. And in that context, 
he's not saying it, don't do that in order to be saved. No, 
we're saved by grace through faith in Christ. And that gratitude 
that we have for the Father expresses itself in our obedience to the 
Father. It is base in gratitude for the 
people of God to receive the redemptive benefits secured by 
the Son of God and then go a whoring from God. Go back to their old 
sins, go back to their old ways, continue in rebellion against 
the Lord, insubordinate to his authority. Brethren, this gratitude, 
it is not what commends us to God in terms of us being saved, 
it is the legitimate response of those who have been saved. Shame on us if we continue to 
go after the calves of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, when Yahweh 
has stepped in and broken the neck of Syrian oppression. Shame 
on us if we'll continue in porn, continue in murderous thoughts, 
continue in theft, continue in covetousness, continue in idolatry 
or in Sabbath breaking when we're looking at the foot of the Savior 
or from the foot of the cross at the Savior who says, my God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Shame on us. Brethren, gratitude 
is the legitimate response. And I've said it before, and 
I hope I'll say it till I die. The church is drowning in this 
whole approach. Well, we have to have practical 
preaching. And practical preaching means 
five principles on how to be a good man. Five principles on 
how to be a good woman. Five principles on how to be 
a good kid. And if the church doesn't peddle 
that to us on a weekly basis, we'll say it's impractical. You 
know what's practical? Bowing, confessing, worshiping, 
expressing gratitude, and living in light of a crucified and risen 
Savior. That's practical. And I dare 
say, the persons who live in light of that gratitude are gonna 
be faithful men. They're gonna be faithful women. 
They're gonna be faithful kids. Give me five principles on how 
to live as a better husband. Look to the cross. That's the 
one principle. How can I be more faithful as 
a woman to my husband? Look to the cross. Sure, that 
may not help you make a better cake, but it will cause your 
heart to respond right to God. And when God is pleased, he blesses. Again, not Joel Osteen formulaic 
blessing. Brethren, practicality is seen 
in the worship of the God of heaven and earth. Where did we 
get the idea that somehow we just have to have principles 
and lessons? That's practical! Now I remain 
convinced the most practical lesson you'll ever hear from 
this pulpit in terms of practical application is worship your God. 
Behold your God, behold the Son of God on the cross. Look at 
Him there bearing your sin. Look at Him there bearing rather 
the punishment, do your sin. Look at Him there satisfying 
the penalty of your sin. Look at Him there fulfilling 
the law of God. Look at Him there in your place. 
Look at Him there and worship, praise, adore and express gratitude 
to Him. Guilt, grace, gratitude. That's what we need. That's what 
we need. Not like those wretched Israelites 
that go back to Jeroboam's calves when Yahweh of Israel had delivered 
them. Brethren, we ought to be a faithful people expressing 
gratitude to a faithful Savior, and we ought to appreciate the 
glory of the Savior. Before we conclude our message 
this morning, we've got the doctrine of substitutionary atonement 
right here. In my place condemned he stood, 
sealed my pardon with his blood. Full atonement, can it be? All 
those lines from that Philip Bliss hymn that we're gonna sing 
tonight again. Hope that never rises up in you. Doesn't Butler know there's other 
hymns in the hymn book? Why do we always end the Lord's 
Supper with 175? Because it's glorious. Because it's beautiful. because we get to say, hallelujah, 
what a savior, after having communed with the householder who has 
benefited us, his weary pilgrims, with bread and wine to cheer 
us on the way. What better way to end a Lord's 
Supper service than a hallelujah, what a savior. That's the doctrine 
of substitutionary curse bearing. The Lord Christ stood in our 
place. Listen to Flavel on Romans 8.32. When God spared not His own Son, 
this was the design of it. And could you know the thoughts 
of His heart? They would appear to be such as these. I will now 
manifest the fierceness of my heart to Christ and the fullness 
of my love to believers. The pain shall be his that the 
ease and the rest may be theirs. The stripes his and the healing 
balm issuing from them theirs, the condemnation his and the 
justification theirs, the reproach and shame his and the honor and 
glory theirs, the curse his and the blessing theirs, the death 
his and the life theirs, the vinegar and gall his, the sweet 
of it theirs, he shall groan and they shall triumph, he shall 
mourn that they may rejoice, his heart shall be heavy for 
a time that theirs may be light and glad forever, He shall be 
forsaken that they may never be forsaken. Out of the worst 
miseries to him shall spring the sweetest of mercies to them. 
Oh grace, grace beyond conception of the largest mind. That's substitution. That's what we preach. This idea 
that the cross is an example for us, the idea that the cross 
simply teaches us how we ought to lay down our lives for one 
another, certainly we can learn those lessons, but the emphasis 
of the cross is on the sacrifice. The emphasis of the cross is 
on the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The 
emphasis of the cross is that God made him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God 
in Him. Brethren, rejoice in the doctrine 
of substitution. If you're not a believer, come 
to the substitute, believe on Him, and you will have everlasting 
life. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this blessed 
transaction that occurs at Calvary. We thank you for the Son of God 
who loved us and who gave himself for us. We thank you for the 
plan and the purpose and the divine initiative behind this. 
We thank you that you were pleased to send the Son of your love 
to save his people from their sins. And God, our desire is 
that this gospel would be preached, that it would be believed, that 
more and more persons would come to know Christ Jesus as Lord 
and Savior. Go with us now, bring us together 
tonight, refresh our weary souls with the supper, help and encourage 
our hearts, and may it be the case that we respond in gratitude 
to the great grace that you have demonstrated to us and the deliverance 
from the misery we are in because of our own sin and depravity. 
Go with us, we pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen. We'll 
close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.