I invite you to turn tonight to Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15, we'll be looking at verses 33 through 39, a short section here, which is Mark's brief account of, as Mark does, of the death of Christ, and so we'll be looking at verses 33 through 39. Beginning at verse 33, let's hear the word of the Lord. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sebastianai, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of the bystanders hearing it said, behold, he's calling Elijah. And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. Saying, wait, let's see whether Elijah will come to take him down. And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood facing him saw that, in this way he breathed his last. He said, truly, this man was the Son of God. And there we'll end tonight on the reading of God's Word. Well, I'm sure at times you have been confused about your own lives and the difficulty and the presence, the ongoing presence of sin in your lives and the confusion that sin brings because you would expect to, I'm sure, be making more progress than you feel like you have made in the Christian life, and you have wanted to make much more progress, but your sin has been greatly confusing. And there has been that lingering question, maybe, of all the things that we've done in life, of all the times of rebellion, of all the course of life, the sins that we've committed against the Lord, is it possible in all the things that I've done that have been so great in my rebellion against him that maybe he will not forgive me? That maybe I'm not one of God's children? That maybe I have had too much hypocrisy? And that maybe God will reject me in the end? I want to deal a little bit with that spirit and circle back to that kind of thought process at the end, but I want to keep that in front of us, just how great is the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, just what indeed what was accomplished, and to think about these things, about the greatness of our sin and misery and the inexpressible gift, as the apostles say, that God has given us and his son. There's one phrase tonight that I think is the main point of everything that Mark is doing here for us. And you know, I know in adult Sunday school you've been going through Mark and you see how fast Mark moves immediately, immediately, immediately. Well, Mark moves quickly too through these details, but he does grab certain things. And when he does, you want to make sure you pay attention to it. There are certain things that he's really focusing on, and the crucial point of this particular text tonight is what is said in verse 39. As soon as he breathed his last, notice this, this Roman centurion said, truly, This man was the Son of God. That's not a little confession that's made there. That's something Mark found absolutely remarkable, that this would be declared from a Roman centurion at the place of the cross right when Jesus died. So that's what I want to say is the sort of climax. And I might even suggest that it's the climax of Mark's gospel, especially the resurrection, of course. But in terms of the confession of what Mark is trying to do and to show us, this really is one of those climax moments of the entire gospel. The first sentence to the gospel of Mark, remember, begins with, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark is taken by who has come down to us. Who has been given to us? This is no regular son. this is God's son. This is God's son. And the passage tonight is really centering and showing us this. Who did this and what then it means for what it actually accomplished? If this is God's son, what does that mean for us? That's sort of the big thing that Mark is, I think, pulling out here. And he is thinking a lot about response to the death. And Joseph of Arimathea that follows this, we're not getting into that tonight, is another one who would be a great response to this, that there's no more shame in following this son of God. So, what was the charge against Jesus? Well, the whole day here has been an awful day. You remember he enters the Garden of Gethsemane. He began this terrible, intense period of suffering called the Passion. He had faced slanderous trials. Liars had come up against him. Everything from the Psalms that are described are being fulfilled. But he had faced awful things this day. The verdict against him that Mark makes clear, at least from the Roman standpoint, is he's a seditious rebel to the crown and is guilty of high treason. The Jews loved that, the Jews used that, he was trying to cause Rome problems and Caesar problems. And he was a rebel and a traitor and a rebel rouser and somebody who was causing great problems in the kingdom. And the Romans hated this. But this is not what ultimately the Jews were excited to get him over. Their great charge, their great effort here all came down to one thing. It's because they thought he was a blasphemer. He was a blasphemer because he made himself God's son. That's why. He's guilty of blasphemy. That's an important point because Mark has focused on this charge. And what if it indeed were true? what are the implications of this? They have delivered him over for envy as a blasphemous son of Israel. So this is a great charge that has been made against him. And I think Mark is pressing us a little bit to ask the question for any of his Jewish readers who are looking at this, who really is the unfaithful son? Who really is the unfaithful son? In Israel, an unfaithful son was stoned and then he was sent off to receive the accursed death of the cross. But this was God's faithful son who they had charged with blasphemy. Now Mark gives us detail and none of it is without meaning in the sort of quick way that he does things. You'll Notice in verse 33 that it says, Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. What had just happened? Well, some people tried to explain this sort of naturally, that an eclipse happened, something like that. And of course, how might that have happened? The sun stopped giving its light during this period on the cross for a time. God had turned out the lights for a moment. Notice that from the sixth hour when it had come, darkness had come over the whole land until the ninth hour. Listen, if you're standing there, what would you think just happened? What if you got up this morning and you had a busy Friday plan and you're going to go out and you're going to go do what you want to do and the sun did not give any light today? What would you do? I mean, it's a really chilling thought, isn't it? If the sun didn't give any light today and you were in thick darkness all day, what might you do? Well, you might repent, right? You might say, I better get on my knees. you might say the end of the world has come no one thought about this at all it's interesting Jesus himself said in chapter 13 that the sign of judgment the sign of God's judgment is the removal of the sun and the light this is what will happen at the very end that that when you know we've entered into eternity is that the sun will no longer give its light the moon will no longer give its light that the time clocks that are put in the sky for us to determine time are taken out of the way it's over at that point this is exactly what the final judgment will be like the sun will not give its light clearly the darkness was an announcement that judgment day had come but israel should have been trembling at this point israel should have been thinking at this point i want you to listen all over their scriptures had they known the scriptures they would have known that this day was prophesied think of amos 8 shall not the land tremble on this account and everyone mourn who dwells in it and all of it rise like the Nile and be tossed about and sink again like the Nile of Egypt and on that day declares the Lord God I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight I will turn your feasts in the morning and all your songs in the lamentation I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head. I will make it like the morning for an only sun. Wow. And the end of it like a bitter day. Well, if history anticipated something like this of those who knew the scriptures. Israel knew this. You know a day is coming where there will be sun turned into darkness. Their own deliverance was also known this way, wasn't it? And I think Mark's picking up on something really important. Their own deliverance was known by a period of darkness. Before what? A judgment of the firstborn son. That story defined them. I mean, we've been through Exodus. We know that. Remember the ninth plague was darkness over the land. So much darkness it could be felt, remember. Remember, stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which can even be felt. So dark it was that no one could move. What followed the plague? The striking down of Pharaoh's firstborn son. And all the sons of Egypt who didn't have blood put over their doorposts. And that night Israel would celebrate what? The Passover. Blood would go on the doorposts and the angel of death would pass over their homes. If there was blood of the lamb, a lamb without spot put on their doorposts, they would be passed over. If not, judgment would fall on their firstborn. What is Israel celebrating right now in Mark? Oh, the Passover. What's just happened in the land? Darkness. Now Jesus hangs on the cross. The charge against him is blasphemy as God's son because he makes himself equal with God. you are the Christ, the son of the blessed, they said that's blasphemy. They say that crucifixion is so awful that you would hear from the cross as these people were being crucified, what you would hear were screams of torment, rage, wild curses, and indescribable despair. It was an awful way to die. Awful way to die. Of all the words that were spoken by Christ on the cross, Mark records just one little sentence. At the end of the ninth hour, this period of darkness, the end of the darkness, Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Mark goes here. It's the God-forsakenness of the Son. You know where that's from, of course. That's from Psalm 22. Jews should have known that. It's the first verse. Jesus is crying out, Psalm 22. He's crying out in fulfillment, Psalm 22. Some of you know Psalm 22. One of the songs that Israel would sing entering into worship. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer. And by night, but I find no rest. Jesus is taking those words on his lips. Because Psalm 22 is about him. From the cross, this word comes out that Jesus, eternal Son has cried out to His Father in distress of soul. And Psalm 22 says, there's no answer. Jesus is living out and fulfilling the Psalm, describing in the heart of His afflictions, in His human nature, God's forsakenness. He loves His Father. He never stopped loving his father. He had been loyal to his father and his father had never stopped loving his son. Everywhere the father proclaimed it, everywhere the father showed it. The Jews, of course, wanted this. They wanted him judged by God. They wanted him condemned by God for taking something to himself that was blasphemous. Divinity. divinity they knew he was crying out psalm 22 in complete mockery some stood there and said doesn't that sound like eli when he says aloi sounds like elijah eloi eloi you know what he he might be calling for elijah maybe let's leave him alone let's see if elijah will come down and help him get down off this cross then. They're mocking. So far, we've seen divine darkness fall on him. We've heard him cry out. As God's beloved son to his father, asking, why have you forsaken me? We know that following this, You know, I don't know what it must have been like if you were serving in the temple, but when he breathes his last, the temple, did you notice that? Curtain is split from top to bottom. When the centurion facing him, you'll see that there, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. You would think now darkness has happened. Everything's gone black, and now this six-inch thick curtain that separates the most holy place is written to by the finger of God. The whole thing just splits. you think you would then duck and repent. We know they tried from Josephus to put the thing back together. Here's the moment Mark's capturing, though. Here's where Mark is. As we reach the end of the ninth hour, we read that he cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last. notice that the centurion when he sees that of all the things that he saw in this time he saw the darkness they would have known about the temple curtain he heard the cries from psalm 22 when he saw this it got him i've been in rooms when um when people die this was no ordinary death there were others on the cross they died i've been in rooms when people die and they give their last breath it's happened right in front of me it's happened multiple times now in the ministry it's awful most of the time it's been peaceful even when they've had terrible terrible sicknesses we of course have no control over this we have no control over how this is going to go we're hoping that it's going to be a peaceful last breath we have everything today we have morphine we have all these things to to lighten this and we're all trying to control how it's going to go. In crucifixions, you died usually a day or so after exhaustion, sometimes asphyxiation. It's not what happened here. The reason we have the details about the sour wine is to say he was conscious right to the end. So what we have described on the cross is a conscious Savior, conscious Jesus, suffering tremendously, and whatever's going on, it's expressed here in a horrid last moment. Jesus's last breath was something that was, at least in the mind of the centurion after he heard Psalm 22, something that exhibited ultimate submission to his father. It was different. It was an explosive death. An explosive death. It was a groan and it was over. I can't even try to capture it. He had said it's finished. And then this so took the centurion that when he saw in this way that he breathed his last, this is the moment. that after this violent burst of a cry, this violent, sudden, seemed to be violent death, the centurion said, who's ever died like that? Put it together. He was charged with blasphemy. Darkness comes over the whole land. Jesus cries out, Psalm 22, the temple veil rinsed in two from top to bottom. And then in one last moment, he offers himself in full obedience to his father. Why did he do that? So much so that the Roman centurion, when he saw that, he cries out, nothing can hold him back. Truly, this was God's son. it's the moment of the entire gospel really the beginning of the gospel of the son of god from a roman this man who just crucified him not caesar this man says he is god's son well what just happened everything israel celebrated that moment in the passover had just happened before their eyes. They had just took the gift of God's Lamb to them. And they had recklessly abused him and they gave him over as a rebellious son of Israel. And before them played out the whole story of their own exodus. The final plague of darkness, the judgment of the firstborn son over all creation, was sacrificed and given blows in their place that they might leave off fighting against him and repent. and be saved. Isaiah 59 just happened. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. We deserve that. We deserve that. You're the rebellious son. I'm the rebellious son. We deserve to be cut off so that every time we cry out to him and all the sufferings of this life, he would turn his face away from us. But instead, I got the best news tonight to tell you. God gave his son who came in your place. And he came willingly to submit to this great plan, this great covenant of redemption. And he gave himself that day to bear the judgment for you. The darkness they experienced for three hours was the darkness he experienced in his soul in suffering the torments of hell so that you never will have to. Are you hearing me? All those sins you've done, all those careless sins you do in secret, all those sins that you've done that have provoked him, When you know you shouldn't have done them. He took on the awful horror of separation and darkness, suffering unfathomable anguish of body and soul and real abandonment as the sinless Son of God for you. That's why we call this Good Friday. This is the gospel of the Son of God. Do you understand what the gospel is saying to you? Sometimes I struggle to understand everything, maybe like you. A lot of complex things in life. People ask questions. Why does God do this? I don't understand God's ways. Why doesn't he do it better? What about this? Why this? Why this? Why this? And then you come back to this truth every time. And this is the solution. God put his son on the cross for you. When you can't figure anything out, you go there. And he's so wonderful and he's so merciful that he's not giving you what your sins deserve nor requiring you to pay for them eternally. And that's what you're celebrating tonight. And you're called to receive that. To believe that, to be even like the centurion. I believe this is God's son given for me who took my judgment, who took my darkness, who took my sins, and by his death, as Heidelberg says, I'm convinced that he shouldered the curse which lay on me since death by crucifixion was a curse by God, and then he assures me in times of personal crisis and temptation that Christ my Lord, by unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross, but also earlier, has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell. And this was God's son. I close with this thought and come to the table. William Bridge, in his little book, Lifting Up the Downcast, says something I want to end with, and I'll probably raise it again Sunday morning. I come back to that question about our sins that I started with. Oh, says someone, I am a man or a woman with a rebellious heart. when I reflect on my heart and my life, I cannot help but to be discouraged. Were my heart good, my life good, we would have no reason to be discouraged. And then he says this, this discouragement is a sin itself. A gospel sin. He says, my sin against the law is no just cause. Why should I sin against the gospel? I love this. Listen to what he's saying. Why should I sin against the gospel, but though there be never so much evil in the sin of God's people, they have no reason no just cause or scripture reason to be cast down in the face of this sacrifice so he says don't now sin against the gospel what he's saying there is don't think your sins are so great and run your face through the mud in them that Jesus can't forgive them and that his sacrifice is not enough that's not a sin against the law that's a sin against the gospel this is what he desires from us faith believe me i came here to do this for you he says truly this was the son of god who did this if it were a mere man i'd have nothing to offer you today but if this is god's divine son who took on a human nature for us then he's done it all and when he breathed his last and said it was finished it all was finished for you so believe him believe him and come to his table tonight with believing hearts trusting that your sins as the psalm says are cast as far as the east is from the west Repent, believe the gospel, and trust him. He's so good, he gave his son for you. Let's pray to him. Heavenly Father, thank you for encouraging us with Mark tonight and the wonderful truth that this indeed is the Son of God who endured this for us. How wonderful it will be to celebrate the resurrection, receipt of the victory over our sin. Thank you. We bless you. Forgive us for being doubting your wonderful work and let us trust you and trust your promises. And even our own deaths are not a payment. How wonderful it's going to be that we put an end to our sinning and they are an entrance into eternal life. Thank you for encouraging our hearts together tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.