Please turn with me in Matthew's Gospel to chapter 27 to the story of the crucifixion of our Lord, the familiar story, and yet one that we can hardly return to enough. We'll take up the reading of the crucifixion at verse 33 and read down through verse 56. Let us hear God's own word. And they came to a place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. And they offered him wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. So also the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him, saying, He saved others. He cannot save himself. He is the king of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, I am the son of God. And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way. Now, from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, Lema, Sabachthani. That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of the bystanders hearing it said, this man is calling Elijah. And the one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place they were filled with awe and said truly this was the Son of God. There were also many women there looking on from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the son of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. So far, the reading of God's word. As Christians, when we come to the story of the crucifixion, we know we come to the very center of history. We come to the very heart of the meaning of human existence and divine purpose. And in some ways that was captured, wasn't it, by that old spiritual that began with the question, were you there when they crucified my Lord? It's not just an intellectual question, is it? It's a question that is meant to go to the hearts of people considering it. Have you really thought about what went on at the cross when they crucified my Lord? Have you really thought of what it would be like to be there, to contemplate it, to begin to understand it? And that's why the chorus goes, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? And, of course, there were people there, quite literally. Numbers of people. Various groups of people who were there. There were the soldiers, weren't there? The soldiers who were doing their duty with complete indifference as to how it affected anyone. They took him out. They stripped him. They crucified him. They gambled for his clothes. They watched over him that no one would rescue him. And they didn't care at all. There were others who were there, weren't there? There were chief priests and leaders of the people who mocked him, who derided him, who hurled all the scorn they could muster on him, charge after charge to insult him. Yes, there were there people who were indifferent, but there were also people who were filled with hatred and rejection. And then there were people there who loved him and believed in him. The women who had followed him through his public ministry, provided for him, ministered to him, served him, and stand there to see this horrible event, but still believe him. That's a pretty good cross-section of reactions, isn't it, to our Savior right down to this day. Just as at the literal foot of the cross, so to anyone who considers the cross today, that comes close to capturing a lot of the reactions, doesn't it? Indifference? No interest whatsoever. Hateful rejection? Belief. But I'd like to suggest tonight that there's a third group, a fourth group. It strikes me at least there's a fourth group here at the foot of the cross that, in my experience at least, have been somewhat ignored. That makes me think this is a somewhat new sermon. Now, some of you doubtless have heard sermons on this text. I'd never heard a sermon on this text. It's the folks we find described in verses 47, 48, and 49. And some of the bystanders, that translation captures it pretty well. They weren't there to work the way the soldiers were. They weren't there to make sure it gets done the way the leaders of the people were, out of their hatred. They weren't there because they loved him. They were just standing around. You know, that used to attract people, public executions in the old days. No televisions, no movie theaters. Nothing like a good execution. There were people that reacted that way. Crowds would gather for execution. That seems to characterize, to some extent, these people, bystanders. Just standing around. And yet I'm intrigued that Matthew places them where he does in this text. He places them right between the great cry of Jesus, what we call the cry of dereliction, the cry of being abandoned, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And the death of Jesus. He places these people between two loud cries that Jesus makes. The questioning cry, and then what other gospel writers tell us is the assured cry, it is finished. And in between this, we have this reference to these bystanders. Why? What are they meant to teach us? You know, if you left, I'm not recommending this, but if you left verses 47 through 49 out of your Bible, you wouldn't miss them. Unless you've heard this story so often that you would. But why are they there? You know, God doesn't put anything in his word that doesn't have a purpose, doesn't have a significance, doesn't have a meaning. What does God want to teach us here? And some of the bystanders, hearing his cry, said, this man is calling Elijah. And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, but the others said, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. Kind of curious, isn't it? What's going on there? Well, I think we can get inside the minds of these bystanders and help us, in fact, understand more about the death of Christ if we ask three questions as we go along. What did Jesus say? What did Jesus need? And what did Jesus do? We want to see what the bystanders thought about what he said, what he needed, and what he was doing. And the first thing we notice is that they did not hear Jesus correctly. We're told in the scriptures that he cried out in a loud voice, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But that is not what they heard. Now, the scripture doesn't tell us why they didn't hear correctly. Maybe they weren't paying attention. Has that ever happened to you? Something was said perfectly clearly, but you weren't paying attention. Parents have occasionally had that problem with children. Or perhaps Jesus, in his agony, did not articulate perfectly clearly. But I think the point Matthew is making is, they missed the point. They didn't hear what Jesus was saying. It's not just that some people didn't listen at all, the way the soldiers did, or that they'd heard him and hated him, the way the priests did, or that they'd heard him and believed him, the way the women did. But it's a testimony that there are some people, bystanders, who hears something, but don't get it. They don't process it. They don't understand it. They don't take it in. And because he'd said, Eli, Eli, they said, maybe he's calling for Elijah. Elijah's name meant Jehovah is my God. And they heard the first part of that name. And they show themselves then to be people who have some acquaintance with the Jews and their scriptures. Presumably they are Jews. They knew something about Elijah. They knew the name Elijah. They apparently knew something about what the scriptures had said about Elijah. They seemed to know that there was a popular expectation that Elijah might be coming soon. You remember at the very end of Malachi's prophecy, the last prophecy in the Old Testament, the last certain prophetic word that Israel had heard until John the Baptist came? At the very end of that prophecy, what do we read? Malachi wrote, For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall and you shall tread down the wicked for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And so Israel had remembered that. And Israel had asked the question, when is Elijah coming? To this day, I'm told, in pious Jewish homes at Passover, there's an empty seat left for Elijah that he may come. And so we maybe aren't surprised that these bystanders knew enough about Jewish history, Jewish expectation, that they were asking themselves, is he calling for Elijah, and will Elijah come? You know, in Matthew's Gospel, there had been several references to Elijah. Back in Matthew 11, we're told that Jesus taught the people, if they would believe it, that John the Baptist was the Elijah to come. then later in the gospel when Jesus says who do men say that I am one of the answers given by the disciples was some people say you're Elijah you see there was this expectation of Elijah and then on the Mount of Transfiguration what happened Elijah literally came Elijah had figuratively come in John the Baptist and on the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew's gospel Elijah literally comes with Moses and when Elijah, the spirit of Elijah came in John the Baptist we know it's to prepare the people by calling them to repentance for the great day of the Lord and on the Mount of Transfiguration we know that Elijah came to comfort the Savior as he faced his death and so what are we to make of these people as they think well he must be calling for Elijah is this a good thing? well it's a good thing that they knew the scriptures had prophesied the coming of Elijah. But again, you see, they're missing the point. Jesus had said, Elijah has already come in John the Baptist. They hadn't heard Jesus when he said that. And now he hasn't heard them when he quotes Psalm 22 in his sense of abandonment by God. They know some scripture, but they're not getting it. They're not getting the message. They're not getting the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. They'd heard lots already that day. They'd heard the mockery of the priests. This is the one who will destroy the temple and in three days build it up? That was mockery. But it was also the truth, wasn't it? He was precisely the one whose temple would be destroyed and in three days raised again. The mockers said that this is the king of Israel. And that was exactly the truth, wasn't it? He was the king of Israel. The mockers had said he claims to be the son of God. And that was exactly the truth, wasn't it? As the father had borne witness on the Mount of Transfiguration, this is my beloved son. Listen to him. They'd heard lots of words, these bystanders. And they'd heard a lot of truthful words. But they hadn't gotten the point. They'd seen a lot there. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? They were there. They'd seen the crucifixion. They'd seen the gambling for the clothes. They'd seen the sign put on the cross. This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. They'd seen the darkness. Cover the earth. And they hadn't learned a thing. What could you call these people? You could call them religious junkies. Always studying, never coming to a knowledge of the truth. Knowing certain things. Gathering for religious experiences. But missing Jesus. I fear that the churches of the world are full of people who are there for religious experiences to feel good or to feel bad, to feel different, to feel something. But in the end of the day, it's not our feelings that are critical. It's the truth as it is in Jesus Christ that is critical. And these people had come thinking they might see a great show. They came thinking, maybe we're even going to see a better show. Maybe Elijah will show up. Wouldn't that be something to tell a friend? They stood at the center of history, at the foot of the cross, and they missed the point that the Son of God was dying to save sinners. Now, what did they think Jesus needed? They hadn't heard what he said. What did they think he needed? Well, one of them ran to get a sponge and put some wine on the end of a sponge. This is the second time Jesus has offered wine in this text. He's offered wine just before he's crucified, now he's offered wine just before he's dying. The commentators seem somewhat divided as to the real purpose of this wine. Some of them think that it was something of an act of kindness to try to dull his suffering. Wine as anesthesia. And others think that it was a further mockery and cruelty to give him sour wine would have made him only more thirsty, more suffering. I'm inclined to that point of view because it seems to be a fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 69 verse 21. They gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. It wasn't a kindness, it was a cruelty. But it may have been that these bystanders thought, well, you know, maybe if we give him wine, he'll live a little longer on the cross, and we'll have a little more time to see if Elijah shows up. They're there for the spectacle, after all. You hate it for it to end too soon. We came prepared for a show. We don't want it over too soon. Let's see if Elijah comes. We're curious. What a wonderful thing to see, religious junkies. So did Jesus need Elijah? No, he didn't need Elijah, did he? For him, the prophecy of Elijah had already been fulfilled. Elijah had come and prepared the way. Elijah had come and comforted him on the Mount of Transfiguration. There was no help for him and Elijah. Well, then the bystanders say, he needs saving. Maybe Elijah will come and save him. Is Jesus to be saved? And here again, the bystanders reveal they don't know anything about true religion. They, like much of the world, assume nothing is more important than physical life in this world. And therefore, if he's dying on the cross, the number one thing he must wish for is that he might come down from that cross and live. And they can't imagine that that's not what Jesus is wishing for. That's not what Jesus is hoping for. It's not what Jesus is accomplishing. They don't know anything about his priorities or his goals or his work or the meaning of his life because they don't know what Jesus is there to do. What did Jesus do? For the bystanders, he died. That was all he did. There was a crucifixion. There was some commotion. And then he died. What happened to everybody? Get over it. They no doubt went home. Didn't think much more about it. As far as they were concerned, what had Jesus done? The answer was nothing. But of course we know that Jesus had done everything on the cross. He didn't come down from the cross because he had not come to save himself, but to save others. He didn't come down from the cross. Elijah couldn't do it. The Father wouldn't do it, because it was the Father's purpose that he died there. And although Jesus had the power to do it, he would not do it because he knew he was fulfilling the Father's will and fulfilling the great purpose of all of history. He was the holy place of God being destroyed, so that when he was built again in three days, He would come forward with life for his people. He would come forward with forgiveness for his people. He would have finished all on the cross for the redemption of his people. He saved others. Himself he could not save. And we see that at the foot of the cross, don't we? He saved the women, those disciples, those faithful women who did not abandon him. but stood at a different distance and watched in grief, not with complete understanding, but with commitment to him. He saved the dead in the tombs. The amazing part of this story that Matthew puts there, that the tombs broke open at the earthquake, and in his resurrection, those who had been buried came forth. He saved the saints who were already dead. He saved some of the Roman soldiers. those hardened, indifferent ones who, having seen the darkness, who, having heard what he cried, who, having felt the earthquake, said, truly, this was the Son of God. He saved the women. He saved the saints. He saved some of the Roman soldiers. But the bystanders were not saved. They didn't get it. They didn't understand. They didn't care. They were disappointed. No spectacle that day. No new religious experience to report that day. No curiosity satisfied that day. They were there when they crucified my Lord. But they didn't tremble, tremble, tremble. And so the question comes to us. No one is in church on a Sunday night who is indifferent to Jesus, unless they're little and dragged. And no one is in church Sunday night who hates Jesus. But there are sometimes people in church, even on a Sunday night, who are just kind of religious junkies wondering if there's some kind of experience. And to them, I say with Matthew, truly this, Jesus, was the Son of God. Truly this death is the center of human history. Truly this death is the only hope of salvation. He saved others. Himself he could not save. Be sure that you're trusting in him and believing in him. And the promise is everlasting life, life abundant, life full of forgiveness and power is yours through Jesus Christ, our Savior. May God grant that that be the faith of every one of us here tonight. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we stand amazed again at the love and at the suffering and at the depths of agony of our Savior. And we stand amazed as well, O Lord, that some don't care and some don't get it. O Lord, we pray that your Spirit would be worked in this place and in our world so that more and more people would be drawn to Jesus as he truly is. the one who has come to save sinners and the one who has come to give abundant life. Hear us and bless us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.