August 12, 2025 • 27 mins
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Death cast its shadow at high noon as darkness fell over Jerusalem. Jesus, hanging on the cross, cried out with words that still echo through history: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" These weren't just words of despair—they were a reference to Psalm 22, a prophetic psalm that described with uncanny precision the very scene unfolding that day: mockers surrounding him, soldiers gambling for his clothing, and the piercing of his hands and feet (written centuries before crucifixion was invented).
The darkness covering the land wasn't just atmospheric—it marked the cosmic significance of what was happening. The Light of the World was taking on the darkness of humanity's sin. What appeared to onlookers as defeat was actually the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan, meticulously orchestrated across millennia. Consider this remarkable connection: Abraham nearly sacrificed his "only son whom he loved" on Mount Moriah—the exact same location where Jesus would later die. This wasn't coincidence but divine choreography spanning thousands of years.
Jesus's final declaration—"It is finished"—wasn't a cry of defeat but of victory. Tetelestai in Greek was an accounting term meaning "paid in full." The debt of human sin had been completely satisfied. Nothing we could ever do could make up for our sins, but Jesus paid the price completely. This is what makes the gospel truly good news: salvation isn't earned through religious performance but received as a gift from God who loved us enough to sacrifice everything. Have you considered what it means that God planned your redemption before the foundation of the world? This Easter, don't just remember a historical event—receive the gift that was purchased at such tremendous cost.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Mark 15, 33.
We're taking some time toconsider the cross, which is
right in front of us here in theGospel of Mark, and you can't
go wrong for sure, and you can'tgo wrong for sure.
But I've shared, and want toshare, a certain intimidation
teaching this passage, becauseit's the center of our faith.
(00:33):
The cross is the center ofhistory, it's the center of our
faith, it's the center ofeverything what Jesus did for us
.
But I realize, every time Istart to think about what I'm
going to say, that words can'tdo it justice.
Right, it's way more than this.
But it's like going to anational park and somebody says,
well, how was it?
Well, it was good.
(00:53):
I mean you, just, it's so hugeand so amazing that words don't
do it justice.
It's like the eclipse that wehad here.
You remember that Just a coupleyears ago we had that eclipse
and I had no idea what it wouldbe like.
But I think my wife has a videoof all of us during that
(01:14):
eclipse and you know what wordsdid we use to explain it?
Oh my, what in the world?
You know it was completenonsense, right, but you saw
that happen and the sky getsdark and this hole in the sky
and it's a whoa, and you feellike you know, how in the world
(01:35):
can I explain that?
How in the world can I explainand describe the cross, how can
I do it justice?
And I feel like, no matter whatI say, it's not going to be
enough.
But what do we do?
We expose our hearts to it, wespend time considering it.
We can't get enough of it andso I acknowledge, going into
this, that nothing I say isgoing to be enough to really put
(02:00):
it in perspective, but we wantto just spend time in it.
So verse 33 is where we're atNow.
When the sixth hour had come,there was darkness over the
whole land until the ninth hour,and at the ninth hour Jesus
cried out with a loud voicesaying Eloi, eloi, lama
(02:22):
sabachthani, which is translatedmy God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?
So here it's in verse 33, itbegins at the sixth hour, that's
roughly noon, high noon for usin the Roman accounting of
things.
And notice, from the sixth hour, from 12 noon to the ninth hour
(02:48):
, 3 pm, there was darkness overthe land.
So, to set the scene, it'spretty amazing, obviously, to
say the least.
Potentially, some have saidthat this is a lunar eclipse
that actually happened on thatday.
(03:10):
Astronomy even tells us that.
But it's really not enough tojustify darkness, and that in
the middle of the day.
Why did it get dark?
Hebrew scriptures describe theday of the Lord as a day of
darkness.
You can read Amos, chapter 8,verse 9, and Joel probably even
(03:34):
better Joel, chapter 2, verses 1and 2, that the day of the Lord
is this day of dread and thisday of darkness, in a sense, yes
, the day of the.
Perhaps that's the tie-in,perhaps it's a physical way to
demonstrate the spiritual truthat that moment that the light of
(03:56):
the world, jesus, was becomingsin for us, darkness in a sense
for us.
I don't know, perhaps it was toaccentuate the mood around this
time.
Jesus what we read here usedsome of his last energy to shout
(04:16):
out my God, my God, why haveyou forsaken me?
And add to that just thisdarkness covering the land at
that time.
Certainly it was a way to geteveryone's attention right.
It was kind of the minor key inthe soundtrack to get everybody
(04:37):
to realize something heavy wasgoing on, was going on and we
talked about just a couple ofseconds ago that eclipse in the
middle of the day that perhapsyou experienced as well, and you
could not have prepared me, asit all at once got dark as night
.
The crickets and the nightsounds started coming out and
(05:02):
realized that that was it on awhole different level.
Darkness at high noon, andimagine what that was like.
It was traditionally thoughtthat at the death of a great
person that something like thiscould happen.
So put all that together andthe scene is set for what's
(05:25):
going on.
The sky turns black and Jesusproclaims my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Now notice verse 35.
As we carry on here, some ofthose who stood by when they
heard that said look, he'scalling for, calling for Elijah.
Then someone ran and filled asponge full of sour wine and put
(05:48):
it on a reed and offered it tohim to drink, saying let him
alone, let's see if Elijah willcome and take him down.
So they had the nerve to mockJesus at this point.
As he cries this, they hear himsay Eloi, eloi lama sabachthani
.
As he cries this, they hear himsay Eloi, eloi lama sabachthani
.
Eloi, it's a lot like Eli, andEli was sort of a shortened name
(06:11):
of Elijah.
Now, why is that significant?
Well, in Malachi 4.5, the lastpart of the Hebrew Old Testament
, the last bit of scripture thatthey had from God.
Malachi 4, verse 5, says thisBehold, I will send you Elijah,
(06:34):
the prophet, before the comingof the great and dreadful day of
the Lord, and he will turn thehearts of the fathers to the
children and the hearts of thechildren to their fathers, lest
I come and strike the earth witha curse.
So it was the expectationbefore the day of the Lord that
Elijah would come At thePassover feast.
(06:56):
They actually set a place atthe table for Elijah for when he
did come.
So it was a certain expectationthat Elijah would come.
But why does Jesus say it?
That's what they say mocking.
Maybe Elijah will come and savehim there.
But why does Jesus say it?
(07:16):
It would seem that Jesus istaking one more opportunity to
have a Bible study right thereon the cross.
He's quoting a scripturereference from the book of
Psalms, psalm 22.
Let's turn there, hold yourplace here.
Let's turn to Psalm 22 andrealize this as we turn that
(07:40):
this was a real common way tointroduce a scripture, to just
start saying it.
In fact so common that that'show the books of the Bible in
the Hebrew Bible are actuallylisted.
We call it the book of Genesis.
Right, we're in Psalm 22,.
But the book of Genesis?
We call it Genesis.
They actually call it Bereshit.
(08:03):
What does that mean?
It means in the beginning?
So when the Hebrews would saywe need to turn to the book of
Genesis, or I want you to thinkabout the book of Genesis, they
would say Bereshit, becausethat's the first words of the
book of Genesis.
The book of Exodus is calledShemot, which means names,
(08:27):
because the first words of thebook of Exodus is these are the
names.
So that's how they wouldreference the scripture.
They would just start sayingwell, jesus here takes his final
bit of energy and he shouts outmy God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?
Well, that's the first line ofPsalm 22.
(08:49):
So Psalm 22, written by David,is an amazing psalm.
You can read the whole thing,but I want you, as we read this,
as we read just a part of thisPsalm 22, I want you to picture
everything that's going on asJesus says my God, my God, why
(09:09):
have you forsaken me?
Notice, he says this, thosewords my God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helpingme In the words of my groaning.
(09:35):
My God, I cry in the daytimebut you do not hear.
And in the book of Exodus,right, you delivered them and
were delivered.
They trusted in you and werenot ashamed.
Some good references there tothe deliverance in the book of
Exodus right, you delivered them, verse 6,.
But I am a worm and no man, areproach of men and despised by
(09:56):
the people.
All those who see me ridiculeme.
They shoot out the lip, theyshake the head, saying he
trusted in the Lord.
Let him rescue him, let himdeliver him, since he delights
in him.
But you are he who took me outof the womb.
You made me trust while on mymother's breast.
(10:17):
Let's skip down to verse 12.
But many bulls have surroundedme.
Strong bulls of passion haveencircled me.
They gape at me with theirmouths like a raging and roaring
lion.
I am poured out like water andall my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
(10:37):
It's melted within me.
My strength is dried up like apot shirt.
My tongue clings to my jaws.
You've brought me to the dustof death.
So Jesus starts in Psalm 139.
(10:59):
Look and stare me.
They divide my garments amongthem and for my clothing they
cast lots.
So Jesus starts us off on thisstudy of Psalm 22.
He references it and the peoplewould have definitely started
thinking about that.
It was a good passage forPassover season as it's
(11:21):
referenced there.
But notice some of the thingsthat are said here.
In verse 8, right Verse 8, theyshake the head and say he
trusted in the Lord.
Let him rescue him Almost anexact quote of the religious
leaders in Matthew 27, 43.
(11:42):
They said this, religiousleaders in Matthew 27, 43.
They said this.
Verse 16, notice he says thedogs have surrounded me.
Notice they pierced.
End of verse 16, they piercedmy hands and my feet.
Picture their very distinctdescription of crucifixion
before it was ever even inventedVerse 17, crucifixion before it
(12:07):
was ever even invented Verse 17, we saw there they divide my
garments among them and for myclothing they cast lots.
All four gospels reference thisfact that the soldiers gambled
for Jesus' clothing.
It was cruel right to gamblefor someone's clothes while they
died in front of you.
But it's what happened, it'swhat they did.
And think about it.
(12:30):
As Jesus says this and thepeople think Psalm 22, he's
referencing Psalm 22.
And they would think theypierced my hands and my feet.
They cast lots for my clothing.
And there's the Roman soldiers,you know, throwing lots down on
the ground for his clothes.
It was prophetic.
They didn't maybe realize it atthat point, but God knew it was
(12:54):
not an accident.
That's what we get from this.
It wasn't an accident.
This was all the plan of God.
In fact, jesus was like a lambcrucified before the foundation
of the world.
So when did God decide this wasgoing to happen?
Before the world was evencreated?
Isaiah 53,.
It was the Father's goodpleasure to wound him.
(13:16):
And we look at this and we gothis was the plan of God for us.
No accident, but because Godloved us and was gracious, he
did this.
The prophetic word shows usagain that the words that we
read here are not just man'sideas.
It's something that only Godcan do to tell the future before
it happens.
So specifically as this, I wantto turn to one more prophecy I
(13:45):
believe is being fulfilled inthis book of Mark.
Let's turn to Genesis, chapter22.
So many places you could go toconsider God prophesying what
would happen before it happened,but I think Genesis 22 is the
(14:07):
most colorful Genesis 22, youmight remember from your Sunday
school days it's Abrahamoffering Isaac as a sacrifice.
It's a rough passage,definitely rough for Sunday
school crowd of kids.
But you remember there inGenesis 22, verse 1,.
(14:33):
Now it came to pass after thesethings that God tested Abraham
and said to him Abraham, and hesaid, here I am, verse 2, and
God said take now your son, youronly son, whom you love, and go
to the land of Moriah and offerhim there as a burnt offering
(14:54):
on one of the mountains which Ishall tell you.
So here the command goes out byGod Abraham, take your son,
your only son whom you love,right Now.
You know the story.
Isaac was not Abraham's onlyson, ishmael was also his
physical son.
But God here only acknowledgesIsaac meant to be Abraham, your
(15:29):
son, your only son whom you love.
I want you to offer him as asacrifice.
And God says on a very specificplace.
So verse three.
So Abraham rose early in themorning saddled his donkey, took
two young men with him andIsaac, his son.
He split the wood for the burntoffering and rose and went to
the place which God had told him.
So they go out.
And on verse four then, on thethird day.
(15:52):
That would be worth underliningand highlighting.
What does it mean?
Well, I don't know, but itseems very significant.
The third day, abraham liftedhis eyes and saw the place afar
off.
And Abraham said to his youngmen stay here with the donkey,
the lad and I will go yonder andworship and we will come back
(16:15):
to you.
So Abraham took the wood of theburnt offering and laid it on
Isaac, his son.
He took the fire in his handand a knife and the two of them
went together Notice verse 7,.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham, hisfather, and said my father.
He said here I am, my son.
He said look, the fire, thewood.
(16:37):
Where's the land for the burntoffering?
Verse 8, isaac is concerned bythe way.
Verse 8, abraham said my son,god will provide for himself the
lamb for a burnt offering.
So the two of them wenttogether.
Then they came to the placewhich God had told him.
(16:59):
Abraham built an altar thereand placed the wood in order and
bound Isaac, his son, and laidhim on the altar, upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched out hishand and took the knife to slay
his son.
So Abraham's being obedient, andso is Isaac.
(17:19):
Really, I mean, as things godown, I think Isaac's getting
the idea here.
Dad's lost it.
What in the world's going on?
He's tying me up.
He's putting me on the altar.
He's got a knife in his hand.
What's going on Now?
It's also important to realizethat, contrary to all the
pictures we see, isaac probablywasn't a child at this point.
(17:43):
It really didn't matter to himbecause Abraham's like over a
hundred.
By this point, isaac probably agrown man.
So when Abraham begins to tiehim up, you've got to realize
this is willful, this is byIsaac's own free will.
He could have said hey, wait asecond, pops, what are you doing
(18:05):
?
We're not doing this, we're notgoing here.
So Isaac trusts his father atthis point.
And notice, as all this isgoing down, we'll read it again.
Verse 10, abraham stretched outhis hand, took the knife to slay
his son, but the angel of theLord called to him from heaven
(18:27):
and said Abraham, abraham.
He said here I am.
And he said do not lay yourhand on the lad or do anything
to him, for now I know that youfear God, since you have not
withhold your son, your only son, from me.
Then Abraham lifted his eyesand looked, and there behind him
(18:47):
was a ram caught in the thicketby its horns.
So Abraham went and took theram and offered it as a burnt
offering instead of his son.
Then Abraham now follow thisverse 14, and Abraham called the
name of the place the Lord willprovide.
As it is said to this day, inthe mount of the Lord, it shall
(19:08):
be provided.
So you know the story right.
As Abraham's got the knife up,he's ready to follow through
with this.
God stops him.
The angel of the Lord calls outand says Abraham, don't do it.
Now I know, and God always knew.
Was it for God or was it forAbraham?
Probably more for Abraham, butdefinitely to give us a picture
(19:31):
as we look at this a fathertaking his only son, whom he
loved, offering him as asacrifice.
The son, willful obedience tothe father, lays down his life.
Now, that's amazing, right.
Why did God have him do it?
Was it just to test Abraham?
(19:51):
I'm not so sure about that,because God always knew, right.
But was it to give us a pictureof this?
I think so, and not only that.
Realize there at the beginningthat God we read in verse 2, is
sending Abraham to a veryspecific mountain, a very
(20:12):
specific place.
He travels three days to getthere.
It's not just anywhere, it's avery specific place.
It's on the mount in the landof Moriah.
Where is that?
Well, years later, centurieslater, the Jebusites would live
in this area and the Jebusiteswould be taken over by David.
(20:33):
David would take over this cityand he would call it his
capital, jerusalem.
David would live there and alsohave some experience there.
There came a certain time whereDavid, for whatever reason, says
I'm going to take a census.
Joab, go out and count thepeople.
Joab, who usually didn't dolike really noble things, says
(20:55):
why do you need to do that?
He says I'll just do it, numberthe people.
And God's displeased with that.
And so a plague goes throughthe land as judgment for this
census.
And as this plague is goingthrough the land, it stops at a
very specific place, a threshingfloor there in the city of
(21:17):
Jerusalem.
The plague stops and David saysI need to offer a sacrifice at
this place.
He goes and offers to buy theproperty, the threshing floor
there, and the guy says no, yougo ahead and have it.
He says, no, I got to buy it.
He buys it, a plot of land.
(21:38):
He offers sacrifices there.
So what right?
Well, it's on that plot of landthat the temple is later built
by Solomon.
The temple is built right there, over the threshing floor.
It's on that same mountain, inthe area of Moriah that, just
outside the city.
We find ourselves now in thebook of Mark, as Jesus is on the
(22:03):
cross, he's looking over thelandscape.
Realize it's the exact samelandscape that Abraham was
looking at when he had his knifein the air and was ready to
kill his son.
Right, this picture of a fatheroffering his only beloved son
as a sacrifice is in the exactsame spot where Jesus would lay
(22:27):
down his life for us.
We go, wow, why?
Because God knew.
God knew this is what heintended to do was become a
sacrifice for us, to pay theprice for us.
What crazy love is that thatJesus would lay down his life
(22:50):
for us?
What crazy love is that thatJesus would lay down his life
for us?
And so we go back to Mark,chapter 15.
We'll finish off our time here.
Notice verse 37,.
(23:16):
After the mockery, jesus criedout with a loud voice and
breathed his last.
Now Mark doesn't tell us whathe cried out, but we read in
other places that Jesus' finalwords were.
Final words were, it isfinished.
With a loud voice the very lastbreath that he had.
He said it is finished.
And we go what finished?
Like it's done.
End of the story.
(23:38):
The word there, the phrase it isfinished is an accounting term.
That's exciting, right, it's anaccounting term.
That means paid in full.
When you paid a debt off, likethey do even today.
Right, you pay off your house,they put a big stamp on it and
they go paid in full.
And you're like, yeah, and eventhe people at the bank go
congratulations, you did it, youknow.
But it means to take somethingthat's owed and pay it in full.
(24:03):
No debt remains.
And Jesus yells out at the veryend, last breath.
He says it's finished, there'snothing else to pay, the debt
has been totally paid.
And we look at that and we go.
At that moment, jesus' race wasfinished.
(24:23):
Right, he did everything theFather sent him to do.
He paid the debt for us.
What a wonderful truth to gointo the week that Jesus, the
actual Son of God, god in flesh,came to die for us, willingly
(24:44):
lay down his life to be thepayment for sin that we couldn't
do.
Nothing we can do can make upfor the things we've done wrong,
not even a little bit.
But Jesus paid the price forour sin and he offers it to us
as a gift.
That's the crazy part.
Romans 6.23,.
We got to know it by now.
(25:05):
The wages of sin is death, butthe gift of God is eternal life.
And God just offers us thisgift of salvation.
We turn to him and we receiveit as a gift.
Man, I want to put so much morein there Like and then you got
to do this and be a member hereand so many years later you can
be forgiven.
(25:26):
But that's not the way it goes.
With a gift.
God just says look, here it is,do you want it?
And he offers us this amazinggift by what Jesus has done for
us.
Let's pray.
God can't do it justice.
Here we are and we've justconsidered what you've done for
(25:49):
us and my words don't goanywhere.
But, god, what an amazing truththat you would love us so much.
You would send your only sonand you loved to be a sacrifice
for our sin and you wouldprovide it for us in that very
place.
(26:10):
God, it was no accident.
You knew it's what you wantedto do before you created
anything and you really are thatgood.
God.
Thank you for that gift andjust pray that you would do a
work in our hearts this week,god.
That it would always be infront of us what you've done for
(26:31):
us, god, that we live in lightof that, that we'd look unto you
, the author and finisher of ourfaith, for the joy that was set
before him.
Endured the cross.
God power our lives with thattruth, even today.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
Mark 15, 33.
We're taking some time toconsider the cross, which is
right in front of us here in theGospel of Mark, and you can't
go wrong for sure, and you can'tgo wrong for sure.
But I've shared, and want toshare, a certain intimidation
teaching this passage, becauseit's the center of our faith.
(00:33):
The cross is the center ofhistory, it's the center of our
faith, it's the center ofeverything what Jesus did for us
.
But I realize, every time Istart to think about what I'm
going to say, that words can'tdo it justice.
Right, it's way more than this.
But it's like going to anational park and somebody says,
well, how was it?
Well, it was good.
(00:53):
I mean you, just, it's so hugeand so amazing that words don't
do it justice.
It's like the eclipse that wehad here.
You remember that Just a coupleyears ago we had that eclipse
and I had no idea what it wouldbe like.
But I think my wife has a videoof all of us during that
(01:14):
eclipse and you know what wordsdid we use to explain it?
Oh my, what in the world?
You know it was completenonsense, right, but you saw
that happen and the sky getsdark and this hole in the sky
and it's a whoa, and you feellike you know, how in the world
(01:35):
can I explain that?
How in the world can I explainand describe the cross, how can
I do it justice?
And I feel like, no matter whatI say, it's not going to be
enough.
But what do we do?
We expose our hearts to it, wespend time considering it.
We can't get enough of it andso I acknowledge, going into
this, that nothing I say isgoing to be enough to really put
(02:00):
it in perspective, but we wantto just spend time in it.
So verse 33 is where we're atNow.
When the sixth hour had come,there was darkness over the
whole land until the ninth hour,and at the ninth hour Jesus
cried out with a loud voicesaying Eloi, eloi, lama
(02:22):
sabachthani, which is translatedmy God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?
So here it's in verse 33, itbegins at the sixth hour, that's
roughly noon, high noon for usin the Roman accounting of
things.
And notice, from the sixth hour, from 12 noon to the ninth hour
(02:48):
, 3 pm, there was darkness overthe land.
So, to set the scene, it'spretty amazing, obviously, to
say the least.
Potentially, some have saidthat this is a lunar eclipse
that actually happened on thatday.
(03:10):
Astronomy even tells us that.
But it's really not enough tojustify darkness, and that in
the middle of the day.
Why did it get dark?
Hebrew scriptures describe theday of the Lord as a day of
darkness.
You can read Amos, chapter 8,verse 9, and Joel probably even
(03:34):
better Joel, chapter 2, verses 1and 2, that the day of the Lord
is this day of dread and thisday of darkness, in a sense, yes
, the day of the.
Perhaps that's the tie-in,perhaps it's a physical way to
demonstrate the spiritual truthat that moment that the light of
(03:56):
the world, jesus, was becomingsin for us, darkness in a sense
for us.
I don't know, perhaps it was toaccentuate the mood around this
time.
Jesus what we read here usedsome of his last energy to shout
(04:16):
out my God, my God, why haveyou forsaken me?
And add to that just thisdarkness covering the land at
that time.
Certainly it was a way to geteveryone's attention right.
It was kind of the minor key inthe soundtrack to get everybody
(04:37):
to realize something heavy wasgoing on, was going on and we
talked about just a couple ofseconds ago that eclipse in the
middle of the day that perhapsyou experienced as well, and you
could not have prepared me, asit all at once got dark as night
.
The crickets and the nightsounds started coming out and
(05:02):
realized that that was it on awhole different level.
Darkness at high noon, andimagine what that was like.
It was traditionally thoughtthat at the death of a great
person that something like thiscould happen.
So put all that together andthe scene is set for what's
(05:25):
going on.
The sky turns black and Jesusproclaims my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?
Now notice verse 35.
As we carry on here, some ofthose who stood by when they
heard that said look, he'scalling for, calling for Elijah.
Then someone ran and filled asponge full of sour wine and put
(05:48):
it on a reed and offered it tohim to drink, saying let him
alone, let's see if Elijah willcome and take him down.
So they had the nerve to mockJesus at this point.
As he cries this, they hear himsay Eloi, eloi lama sabachthani
.
As he cries this, they hear himsay Eloi, eloi lama sabachthani
.
Eloi, it's a lot like Eli, andEli was sort of a shortened name
(06:11):
of Elijah.
Now, why is that significant?
Well, in Malachi 4.5, the lastpart of the Hebrew Old Testament
, the last bit of scripture thatthey had from God.
Malachi 4, verse 5, says thisBehold, I will send you Elijah,
(06:34):
the prophet, before the comingof the great and dreadful day of
the Lord, and he will turn thehearts of the fathers to the
children and the hearts of thechildren to their fathers, lest
I come and strike the earth witha curse.
So it was the expectationbefore the day of the Lord that
Elijah would come At thePassover feast.
(06:56):
They actually set a place atthe table for Elijah for when he
did come.
So it was a certain expectationthat Elijah would come.
But why does Jesus say it?
That's what they say mocking.
Maybe Elijah will come and savehim there.
But why does Jesus say it?
(07:16):
It would seem that Jesus istaking one more opportunity to
have a Bible study right thereon the cross.
He's quoting a scripturereference from the book of
Psalms, psalm 22.
Let's turn there, hold yourplace here.
Let's turn to Psalm 22 andrealize this as we turn that
(07:40):
this was a real common way tointroduce a scripture, to just
start saying it.
In fact so common that that'show the books of the Bible in
the Hebrew Bible are actuallylisted.
We call it the book of Genesis.
Right, we're in Psalm 22,.
But the book of Genesis?
We call it Genesis.
They actually call it Bereshit.
(08:03):
What does that mean?
It means in the beginning?
So when the Hebrews would saywe need to turn to the book of
Genesis, or I want you to thinkabout the book of Genesis, they
would say Bereshit, becausethat's the first words of the
book of Genesis.
The book of Exodus is calledShemot, which means names,
(08:27):
because the first words of thebook of Exodus is these are the
names.
So that's how they wouldreference the scripture.
They would just start sayingwell, jesus here takes his final
bit of energy and he shouts outmy God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?
Well, that's the first line ofPsalm 22.
(08:49):
So Psalm 22, written by David,is an amazing psalm.
You can read the whole thing,but I want you, as we read this,
as we read just a part of thisPsalm 22, I want you to picture
everything that's going on asJesus says my God, my God, why
(09:09):
have you forsaken me?
Notice, he says this, thosewords my God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helpingme In the words of my groaning.
(09:35):
My God, I cry in the daytimebut you do not hear.
And in the book of Exodus,right, you delivered them and
were delivered.
They trusted in you and werenot ashamed.
Some good references there tothe deliverance in the book of
Exodus right, you delivered them, verse 6,.
But I am a worm and no man, areproach of men and despised by
(09:56):
the people.
All those who see me ridiculeme.
They shoot out the lip, theyshake the head, saying he
trusted in the Lord.
Let him rescue him, let himdeliver him, since he delights
in him.
But you are he who took me outof the womb.
You made me trust while on mymother's breast.
(10:17):
Let's skip down to verse 12.
But many bulls have surroundedme.
Strong bulls of passion haveencircled me.
They gape at me with theirmouths like a raging and roaring
lion.
I am poured out like water andall my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
(10:37):
It's melted within me.
My strength is dried up like apot shirt.
My tongue clings to my jaws.
You've brought me to the dustof death.
So Jesus starts in Psalm 139.
(10:59):
Look and stare me.
They divide my garments amongthem and for my clothing they
cast lots.
So Jesus starts us off on thisstudy of Psalm 22.
He references it and the peoplewould have definitely started
thinking about that.
It was a good passage forPassover season as it's
(11:21):
referenced there.
But notice some of the thingsthat are said here.
In verse 8, right Verse 8, theyshake the head and say he
trusted in the Lord.
Let him rescue him Almost anexact quote of the religious
leaders in Matthew 27, 43.
(11:42):
They said this, religiousleaders in Matthew 27, 43.
They said this.
Verse 16, notice he says thedogs have surrounded me.
Notice they pierced.
End of verse 16, they piercedmy hands and my feet.
Picture their very distinctdescription of crucifixion
before it was ever even inventedVerse 17, crucifixion before it
(12:07):
was ever even invented Verse 17, we saw there they divide my
garments among them and for myclothing they cast lots.
All four gospels reference thisfact that the soldiers gambled
for Jesus' clothing.
It was cruel right to gamblefor someone's clothes while they
died in front of you.
But it's what happened, it'swhat they did.
And think about it.
(12:30):
As Jesus says this and thepeople think Psalm 22, he's
referencing Psalm 22.
And they would think theypierced my hands and my feet.
They cast lots for my clothing.
And there's the Roman soldiers,you know, throwing lots down on
the ground for his clothes.
It was prophetic.
They didn't maybe realize it atthat point, but God knew it was
(12:54):
not an accident.
That's what we get from this.
It wasn't an accident.
This was all the plan of God.
In fact, jesus was like a lambcrucified before the foundation
of the world.
So when did God decide this wasgoing to happen?
Before the world was evencreated?
Isaiah 53,.
It was the Father's goodpleasure to wound him.
(13:16):
And we look at this and we gothis was the plan of God for us.
No accident, but because Godloved us and was gracious, he
did this.
The prophetic word shows usagain that the words that we
read here are not just man'sideas.
It's something that only Godcan do to tell the future before
it happens.
So specifically as this, I wantto turn to one more prophecy I
(13:45):
believe is being fulfilled inthis book of Mark.
Let's turn to Genesis, chapter22.
So many places you could go toconsider God prophesying what
would happen before it happened,but I think Genesis 22 is the
(14:07):
most colorful Genesis 22, youmight remember from your Sunday
school days it's Abrahamoffering Isaac as a sacrifice.
It's a rough passage,definitely rough for Sunday
school crowd of kids.
But you remember there inGenesis 22, verse 1,.
(14:33):
Now it came to pass after thesethings that God tested Abraham
and said to him Abraham, and hesaid, here I am, verse 2, and
God said take now your son, youronly son, whom you love, and go
to the land of Moriah and offerhim there as a burnt offering
(14:54):
on one of the mountains which Ishall tell you.
So here the command goes out byGod Abraham, take your son,
your only son whom you love,right Now.
You know the story.
Isaac was not Abraham's onlyson, ishmael was also his
physical son.
But God here only acknowledgesIsaac meant to be Abraham, your
(15:29):
son, your only son whom you love.
I want you to offer him as asacrifice.
And God says on a very specificplace.
So verse three.
So Abraham rose early in themorning saddled his donkey, took
two young men with him andIsaac, his son.
He split the wood for the burntoffering and rose and went to
the place which God had told him.
So they go out.
And on verse four then, on thethird day.
(15:52):
That would be worth underliningand highlighting.
What does it mean?
Well, I don't know, but itseems very significant.
The third day, abraham liftedhis eyes and saw the place afar
off.
And Abraham said to his youngmen stay here with the donkey,
the lad and I will go yonder andworship and we will come back
(16:15):
to you.
So Abraham took the wood of theburnt offering and laid it on
Isaac, his son.
He took the fire in his handand a knife and the two of them
went together Notice verse 7,.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham, hisfather, and said my father.
He said here I am, my son.
He said look, the fire, thewood.
(16:37):
Where's the land for the burntoffering?
Verse 8, isaac is concerned bythe way.
Verse 8, abraham said my son,god will provide for himself the
lamb for a burnt offering.
So the two of them wenttogether.
Then they came to the placewhich God had told him.
(16:59):
Abraham built an altar thereand placed the wood in order and
bound Isaac, his son, and laidhim on the altar, upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched out hishand and took the knife to slay
his son.
So Abraham's being obedient, andso is Isaac.
(17:19):
Really, I mean, as things godown, I think Isaac's getting
the idea here.
Dad's lost it.
What in the world's going on?
He's tying me up.
He's putting me on the altar.
He's got a knife in his hand.
What's going on Now?
It's also important to realizethat, contrary to all the
pictures we see, isaac probablywasn't a child at this point.
(17:43):
It really didn't matter to himbecause Abraham's like over a
hundred.
By this point, isaac probably agrown man.
So when Abraham begins to tiehim up, you've got to realize
this is willful, this is byIsaac's own free will.
He could have said hey, wait asecond, pops, what are you doing
(18:05):
?
We're not doing this, we're notgoing here.
So Isaac trusts his father atthis point.
And notice, as all this isgoing down, we'll read it again.
Verse 10, abraham stretched outhis hand, took the knife to slay
his son, but the angel of theLord called to him from heaven
(18:27):
and said Abraham, abraham.
He said here I am.
And he said do not lay yourhand on the lad or do anything
to him, for now I know that youfear God, since you have not
withhold your son, your only son, from me.
Then Abraham lifted his eyesand looked, and there behind him
(18:47):
was a ram caught in the thicketby its horns.
So Abraham went and took theram and offered it as a burnt
offering instead of his son.
Then Abraham now follow thisverse 14, and Abraham called the
name of the place the Lord willprovide.
As it is said to this day, inthe mount of the Lord, it shall
(19:08):
be provided.
So you know the story right.
As Abraham's got the knife up,he's ready to follow through
with this.
God stops him.
The angel of the Lord calls outand says Abraham, don't do it.
Now I know, and God always knew.
Was it for God or was it forAbraham?
Probably more for Abraham, butdefinitely to give us a picture
(19:31):
as we look at this a fathertaking his only son, whom he
loved, offering him as asacrifice.
The son, willful obedience tothe father, lays down his life.
Now, that's amazing, right.
Why did God have him do it?
Was it just to test Abraham?
(19:51):
I'm not so sure about that,because God always knew, right.
But was it to give us a pictureof this?
I think so, and not only that.
Realize there at the beginningthat God we read in verse 2, is
sending Abraham to a veryspecific mountain, a very
(20:12):
specific place.
He travels three days to getthere.
It's not just anywhere, it's avery specific place.
It's on the mount in the landof Moriah.
Where is that?
Well, years later, centurieslater, the Jebusites would live
in this area and the Jebusiteswould be taken over by David.
(20:33):
David would take over this cityand he would call it his
capital, jerusalem.
David would live there and alsohave some experience there.
There came a certain time whereDavid, for whatever reason, says
I'm going to take a census.
Joab, go out and count thepeople.
Joab, who usually didn't dolike really noble things, says
(20:55):
why do you need to do that?
He says I'll just do it, numberthe people.
And God's displeased with that.
And so a plague goes throughthe land as judgment for this
census.
And as this plague is goingthrough the land, it stops at a
very specific place, a threshingfloor there in the city of
(21:17):
Jerusalem.
The plague stops and David saysI need to offer a sacrifice at
this place.
He goes and offers to buy theproperty, the threshing floor
there, and the guy says no, yougo ahead and have it.
He says, no, I got to buy it.
He buys it, a plot of land.
(21:38):
He offers sacrifices there.
So what right?
Well, it's on that plot of landthat the temple is later built
by Solomon.
The temple is built right there, over the threshing floor.
It's on that same mountain, inthe area of Moriah that, just
outside the city.
We find ourselves now in thebook of Mark, as Jesus is on the
(22:03):
cross, he's looking over thelandscape.
Realize it's the exact samelandscape that Abraham was
looking at when he had his knifein the air and was ready to
kill his son.
Right, this picture of a fatheroffering his only beloved son
as a sacrifice is in the exactsame spot where Jesus would lay
(22:27):
down his life for us.
We go, wow, why?
Because God knew.
God knew this is what heintended to do was become a
sacrifice for us, to pay theprice for us.
What crazy love is that thatJesus would lay down his life
(22:50):
for us?
What crazy love is that thatJesus would lay down his life
for us?
And so we go back to Mark,chapter 15.
We'll finish off our time here.
Notice verse 37,.
(23:16):
After the mockery, jesus criedout with a loud voice and
breathed his last.
Now Mark doesn't tell us whathe cried out, but we read in
other places that Jesus' finalwords were.
Final words were, it isfinished.
With a loud voice the very lastbreath that he had.
He said it is finished.
And we go what finished?
Like it's done.
End of the story.
(23:38):
The word there, the phrase it isfinished is an accounting term.
That's exciting, right, it's anaccounting term.
That means paid in full.
When you paid a debt off, likethey do even today.
Right, you pay off your house,they put a big stamp on it and
they go paid in full.
And you're like, yeah, and eventhe people at the bank go
congratulations, you did it, youknow.
But it means to take somethingthat's owed and pay it in full.
(24:03):
No debt remains.
And Jesus yells out at the veryend, last breath.
He says it's finished, there'snothing else to pay, the debt
has been totally paid.
And we look at that and we go.
At that moment, jesus' race wasfinished.
(24:23):
Right, he did everything theFather sent him to do.
He paid the debt for us.
What a wonderful truth to gointo the week that Jesus, the
actual Son of God, god in flesh,came to die for us, willingly
(24:44):
lay down his life to be thepayment for sin that we couldn't
do.
Nothing we can do can make upfor the things we've done wrong,
not even a little bit.
But Jesus paid the price forour sin and he offers it to us
as a gift.
That's the crazy part.
Romans 6.23,.
We got to know it by now.
(25:05):
The wages of sin is death, butthe gift of God is eternal life.
And God just offers us thisgift of salvation.
We turn to him and we receiveit as a gift.
Man, I want to put so much morein there Like and then you got
to do this and be a member hereand so many years later you can
be forgiven.
(25:26):
But that's not the way it goes.
With a gift.
God just says look, here it is,do you want it?
And he offers us this amazinggift by what Jesus has done for
us.
Let's pray.
God can't do it justice.
Here we are and we've justconsidered what you've done for
(25:49):
us and my words don't goanywhere.
But, god, what an amazing truththat you would love us so much.
You would send your only sonand you loved to be a sacrifice
for our sin and you wouldprovide it for us in that very
place.
(26:10):
God, it was no accident.
You knew it's what you wantedto do before you created
anything and you really are thatgood.
God.
Thank you for that gift andjust pray that you would do a
work in our hearts this week,god.
That it would always be infront of us what you've done for
(26:31):
us, god, that we live in lightof that, that we'd look unto you
, the author and finisher of ourfaith, for the joy that was set
before him.
Endured the cross.
God power our lives with thattruth, even today.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
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