Since He was Mocked and Forsaken for Us!

[0:01] Please take your Bibles and please turn to Matthew chapter 27. If you're visiting with us and you need a Bible, there's a Bible in the chair in front of you, a black Bible.

[0:15] Go towards the back of that. They read a number of what's called the New Testament and find page 25, I believe, 25, where you'll find Matthew chapter 27.

[0:27] A weighty passage that's so vital for us. We're gonna study from Matthew chapter 27, starting in verse 27 to verse 56.

[0:43] 27 to 56 this morning. 27 to 56 of Matthew chapter 27. Let me read and then we'll jump in.

[0:57] Then the soldiers of the governor, taking Jesus into the praetorium, gathered the whole cohort around him and stripping him, they put a scarlet robe on him and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, a reed in his hand, right hand.

[1:22] And kneeling down before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And spitting on him, they took the reed and beat him on the head.

[1:35] And having mocked him, they took his robe off and put his garments on him and led him away unto crucifixion. And going out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon whom they forced to bear his cross.

[1:46] And coming to a place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull, they gave him to drink wine mixed with gall and tasting it, he did not want to drink.

[2:00] And having crucified him, they divided up his garments among themselves, casting lots. And sitting down, they watched over him there. And they put up above his head the charge against him, written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

[2:18] 38, verse 38, Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those passing by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, You, to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself.

[2:35] If you're the Son of God, come down from the cross. In the same way, also the chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, mocking him, said, He saved others.

[2:47] He cannot save himself. He's the King of Israel. Let him now come down from the cross and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let him deliver now. If he takes pleasure in him, for he said, I am the Son of God.

[3:01] And the robbers, also being crucified with him, insulted him. Now from the six hour, darkness fell upon the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.

[3:18] That is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of those who were standing there hearing it, said, this one calls Elijah. Immediately one of them running, taking a sponge, filling it with sour wine and put it on a reed, gave him a drink.

[3:32] The rest said, let's see if Elijah comes to save him. Verse 50, and Jesus crying out again with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth shook and the rocks were split and the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.

[3:57] And the centurion and those with him keeping guard over Jesus, seeing the earthquake and the things that came, became very frightened and said, truly this was a son of a God.

[4:13] And many women were there looking from afar who would follow Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him among whom was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, excuse me, Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

[4:37] A Canadian couple trapped in Ecuador's COVID-19 shutdown feels forsaken. This is from March chapter, March date was March 20th of this year.

[4:54] The article says, stranded in Ecuador with her boyfriend after the country imposed sweeping measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, Tracy Heyman appealed for help on Facebook to try to push the Canadian government to get her and boyfriend, Jesse Lukes, if you know who I'm saying, I'm saying that right, home to Canada.

[5:15] In all seriousness, do you have contacts in the Canadian government? Heyman asked. Anyone that can help Canadians have been abandoned by their country, we just want to come home.

[5:27] End quote. The couple has been dealing with canceled flights, closed airports, curfews, travel restrictions, and jammed phone lines as a result of Ecuador's state of emergency.

[5:40] Heyman wrote in an email, quote, we have been abandoned by our country and there are no provisions being made to get us back. Now this was dated March 20th and I searched everywhere to find out if they ever got back and they couldn't find it.

[5:58] So if you find it, let me know. I'm curious to see if they actually got back and when. That's March 20th. Can you imagine they didn't get back until now? It's horrible to feel forsaken, abandoned, forgotten, separated.

[6:23] Throw in that mix, not just forsaken, but then you're mocked and jeered. That's what Jesus faced.

[6:36] And we've been seeing this sub-theme in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew's Gospel is all about bow down and worship Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel, the judge of the world.

[6:49] Bow down and worship Jesus since He was mocked and forsaken for us. Our response to Jesus to worship Him, our response to Jesus to bow down, our response to Jesus to believe a reason is because He was mocked for us.

[7:15] He was forsaken for us. Jesus was mocked and forsaken for us so that the Father would honor, love, care, and always be with us, never to forsake us.

[7:33] He was abandoned so that we would be eternally loved and given grace. You need to take that today, Christian.

[7:49] You must hold that today, follower of Jesus. I will remind you by way of my words and you will get a taste of it in the Lord's Supper.

[8:08] The reason why Jesus was mocked and forsaken is that you never would be when you trust Christ, He loves you.

[8:26] He takes you as His own. So come. Come find true mercy and grace.

[8:42] Come where you should have been forsaken. Where you should have been mocked and yet you wouldn't be mocked because you rightly deserve that mockering. You rightly deserve that jeering.

[8:55] And you rightly deserve death. God should condemn you and yet Jesus took it on behalf of sinners.

[9:09] Remember last week we talked about those rioters and looters? So come rioter and find mercy. Come looter and find peace.

[9:24] Come racist and Jesus will forgive you. Come sinner. He says come.

[9:39] You'll be forgiven. Come. Come on. We see this unfold for us in these verses with the soldiers mocking Jesus, Simon forced to carry His cross.

[9:53] This arrival at Golgotha, the wine crucified, gambling for His clothes, watching the placard, prisoners, then the mockers, mocked by the bystanders, the religious leaders, the prisoners even next to Him.

[10:11] And His death and then these signs that take place afterwards and then a confession and then these women. We'll look at all that today. But through all this mocking and jeering, through this action of Jesus being forsaken by the Father and His death, we get a glimpse of Jesus' identity and His mission.

[10:46] Which takes us all the way back to chapter 1 of Matthew's gospel to save His people from their sins. He did all this for us so we can have full redemption and total forgiveness.

[11:06] you must hold on to this truth, Christian. And as we go through this passage, my desire is for you to have two aspects upon which I'd like you to focus.

[11:23] And I'm actually going to add a third later on. But at least two aspects to keep in your mind. And if you're writing notes, you can write this down. First aspect to focus is it was you who shamefully mocked Jesus.

[11:39] That was you. That's what you're just saying. Remember? Ashamed I hear my mocking voice. You just sang that. So, one aspect is it was you who shamefully mocked Jesus but second, He was forsaken for you in your place so you can be freed and loved.

[12:00] While you were jeering, He died for you. While you were saying, may He die, yes, He died for you.

[12:13] So those are two aspects I want you to, I want your mind to be focused on this morning. First, that first point that we're going to look at, shamefully mocked and then sorrowfully forsaken.

[12:30] Two main points from our passage today. shamefully mocked verse 27 to 44. In verse 27, the soldiers took Jesus into the praetorium.

[12:44] They gathered the whole cohort. He was a condemned criminal so they didn't treat Him like one. These soldiers were cruel and brutal people. And a cohort was about 600 men.

[12:58] So they joined to be part of the fun by jeering this so-called king. They had a mock enthronement. And fulfilling prophecy, they mocked Jesus by this cruel, vicious parody of His royalty.

[13:15] Notice 28, stripping Him, they put a scarlet robe, gave Him a crown, they gave Him a reed, and kneeling down before Him, they mocked Him saying, Hail, King of the Jews.

[13:29] A king over people ruled by Rome? Really? Some king. And yet, their mockery spoke more truth than what they realized.

[13:48] They unintentionally predicted the future. You realize that? The irony is, and there's so much irony in this passage.

[14:00] One of the ironies here, one day they wouldn't mean what they were saying. All of creation would give homage to the Son, all creatures of our God and King who died for sinners.

[14:16] Oh, well, and not too much later, they'd start reconsidering their statements. At least the centurion did. They spat on Him, verse 30, struck Him on the head.

[14:31] A disrespectful action and a way to honor their king. They would strike Him. Then in verse 31, they took that robe off and put His own garments on Him and led Him away for crucifixion.

[14:47] And as I said earlier, this is us speaking. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers is what we just sang. That was us. That was me. That was you. That should have been me.

[15:01] That should have been you. But the eternal Son took that for us so that the Father would honor, love, respect, and give us grace. grace. Well, Jesus was treated with such disgrace.

[15:17] Verse 32, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon. Criminals carried their own crosses, but he couldn't. Remember, we talked about this last week.

[15:27] He was up all night, beaten up by the religious leaders, standing trial before Pilate, mocked by the soldiers. Anyway, he was also flogged too. So he was spent. So they forced Simon, maybe he was a current disciple, maybe he became one later.

[15:44] Interesting how Simon is the only one who can actually say he really took up the cross of Christ and followed him.

[15:58] Verse 38, they came to a place called Golgotha, and it's hard to determine where this was. But it was a skull-like rock formation. The Latin word for skull is Calvaria, which is where we get the English word, Calvary.

[16:17] Yet it was a spot with many travelers, kind of like 89A, right there, 89A and 260. Lots of people come right through there.

[16:29] That's where the spot was. So they would observe this scene of the crucifixion. Notice verse 34, they gave him to drink wine mixed with gall.

[16:40] He didn't want it. The mixing was, it was actually a sedative, a painkiller. Jesus wanted to keep all his senses. And the gall would make it bitter, another way they would mock their prisoner.

[16:58] Notice verse 35, crucifying him. Notice how Matthew just kind of bypasses us. I'll talk about that in a moment. They divide up his garments among themselves, casting lots, and sitting down, they kept watch over him there.

[17:12] They gambled until he would get his clothes, and they just watched him die. that part watching him. It's only in Matthew's gospel. I sat down and watched him die, not to mention making certain Jesus was not going to be rescued by any of his disciples.

[17:27] Rome crucified slaves, notorious criminals, and insurrectionists because it was a political statement.

[17:41] Rome rules. If you upset the Pax Romana, which is Latin for the Roman peace, you'll be punished. This is one of the ways they do it.

[17:53] And death, crucifixion, it happened by asphyxia. He would suffocate. That's mentioned loss of blood, dehydration, the shock. It was a harsh, slow, painful, shameful death because you would be crucified naked.

[18:14] Many being crucified went in and out of consciousness because of the unbearable pain and the loss of blood. At one moment, they'd be speaking profanities and curses at the soldiers and then they would just drop out of consciousness and they'd come to and they'd start pleading for their very lives, please get me down.

[18:34] It was a horrendous way to die. But notice Matthew gave us no details of this. None of the gospel writers do. Not just because it was, they just kind of knew about it, but because the focus was more on its significance.

[18:53] because this is the culmination of God's kingdom which is not built by wielding the sword but by repentant disciples kicking up their crosses and following Jesus.

[19:10] You want the solution to the United States of America? Start preaching the gospel because the change will start here and come out.

[19:22] We believe in heart changes and that the gospel God is powerful enough to save sinners and then he'll change how they live. We're called to a life centered around God's kingdom and service because by the cross sins are forgiven and criminals are freed.

[19:38] So the message of the cross liberates sinners from sin and also empowers them towards humble loving service to each other.

[19:51] The cross is the epitome of the kingdom. It's the highlight because Jesus saves his people from their sins by giving his life as a sacrifice for their forgiveness.

[20:03] That's what the New Testament writers the gospel that's the true significance of the gospel of the death of Jesus.

[20:17] Back to our text verse 37 they put up above his head the charge written this is Jesus the king of the Jews. Again irony isn't it?

[20:30] Amazing irony the religious leaders rejected his kingship the people mocked his kingship the Romans mocked his kingship they all jeered. Interesting and yet his crucifixion was the apex of his royal power because it was the only way he could save his people from their sins.

[20:55] So when they're saying how could a king be on a cross no no no you don't understand that's why he's the king because he's on the cross you understand that? Here in verse 38 the robbers were crucified with him another word for robbers the revolutionaries they're probably insurrectionists one on his right one on his left Christ was definitely counted among criminals and then you see this happening in verse 39 to 44 three groups start jeering Jesus actually the word that you have here verse 39 those passing by has numeric standard hurling abuse but the actual word is blasphemy they were blaspheming Jesus why is it blaspheming we'll look at that in a moment but keep that in mind blaspheming Jesus notice how they misquote they misquote

[21:59] Jesus again here in verse 40 saying you say you're going to destroy the temple and rebuild in three days save yourself if you're the son of God come down from the cross she was so powerful this is perverse because they're blaspheming God eternal God eternal son who was hanging and enduring the cross as the obedient son listen we don't dictate to Jesus how we should exercise his sonship we don't dictate to him how he's supposed to exercise his sonship we don't do that that's blasphemy the irony again actually by staying on the cross he was showing his true sonship see he was being an obedient son to the father next group priests

[23:12] Samuel also chief priests scribes elders mocking and they said he saved others he cannot save himself he's the king this is interesting why are they even here very unusual that they are even present for something horrible like this so the fact that they were actually there that shows their utter contempt and vindictiveness of Jesus and then their statement was even more ironic he saved others he cannot save himself exactly that's right buddy you nailed it on the head if he came down from the cross he would not save his people from their sins if he came down from the cross you sinner you would be condemned you'd be in hell right now he stayed to save himself and not bring salvation for God's people he would have failed he's the king of Israel notice the sarcastic scoffing and yet they spoke such great truth come down and we will believe in you yeah right you liar that was foolishness this part in verse 43 is only in Matthew's gospel he trusts in God let him deliver now if he takes pleasure in him notice what they're saying

[24:51] Jesus says he trusts in God the father then let the father deliver now if the father takes pleasure in his son so if he really was God's son then God would rescue him if God took pleasure in him how could God show he's pleased by his son hanging on a cross by the way notice it says at the end of verse 43 for he said I am the son of God this tells us that Jesus truly claimed to be the son of God and they understood that okay but notice again the irony Jesus staying on the cross actually showed he was pleasing the father no no no you got it mixed up if he came down he wasn't pleasing his father the fact he was staying on the cross it shows that he was pleasing the father the more he stayed the more it was proven the longer he stayed on that cross for your sins

[26:00] Christian the more he proved who he really was who he really is and then the robbers insulting him as well Jesus faced antagonism on all sides all for us and you know what's interesting about this whole blasphemy thing it's interesting how both these evil mockers and the devil Matthew chapter 4 focused on Jesus identity and mission both called on Jesus to rule with no suffering to exploit his sonship you remember that in Matthew chapter 4 if you're the son of God exploit your sonship all of them were actually you know it's interesting when these mockers were jeering you realize all of them were actually evangelizing they were actually proclaiming the gospel gospel

[27:11] I had that happen one time I was at a Roman Catholic funeral it was all in Spanish my mom's sitting I'm sitting there with my mom so my daughter died in Roman Catholic there's no gospel it's all slavery so here I am sitting there and my mom's she's translating for me because it's all in Spanish and she's translating and then she stops and she goes he's preaching the gospel like what he's preaching the gospel he just said she tells me ah interesting they were actually evangelizing what they did and just was really certainly true friends he really is the king who trusted in the father doing his will and his will was him hanging on that cross and because he hung on that cross the father was well pleased well how do you know he was well pleased because Jesus resurrected from the dead and the father showed he was so pleased with his son great vindication scornfully mocked scornfully jeered and then we moved verse 45 to 50 sorrowfully forsaken

[28:40] Jesus was sorrowfully forsaken darkness fell upon the land from the 6th hour to the 9th hour darkness in the Old Testament is connected with judgment an appropriate sign the father had to abandon his son since he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us about the 9th hour verse 46 he cried out with loud voice my God my God why have you forsaken me one writer says the most amazing words in all of scripture end quote Jesus was in utter pain and total anguish that communion with his father was separated he was abandoned he was forsaken and yet notice he still said my God and these first two syllables sounded like

[29:44] Elijah so some of the by-centers they thought he was calling Elijah to save them so one guy oh let's go give him a drink and then the other guy's all annoyed stop it stop it let's see if Elijah will save them whoa here he comes interesting Elijah he was viewed as a miracle worker by the first century he was going to help the oppressed that's why they're all oh they're all excited about it but a question how could Jesus be forsaken by the father when there's one God how does this happen one writer said this quote one of the most impenetrable mysteries of the entire gospel if not the whole Bible Jesus drank the cup of the father's wrath knowing it would lead to a separation from the father in some mysterious way

[30:50] I don't know I can't answer that question for you but he was feeling it and he knew it and it was real forsaken so you can come abandoned so you can be loved he was forsaken and separated from the father becoming a curse by hanging on a tree in all its shame thus the penalty of sin was paid and justification takes place by giving his life and this justification is given to those who repent and trust Christ so repent trust Christ and you will not be forsaken you will give you'll be given grace and mercy and the wages of sin is death so you have here verse 50 and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice yielded up the spirit his death was voluntary he had been predicting this all along he died which is the ultimate separation for us on our behalf and I want you to notice in verses 51 to 56

[32:29] Matthew tells us or gives us immediate results from Jesus death notice first promises are given three of them to be exact access judgment and resurrection what do you mean notice behold the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom the earth shook and the rocks were split and the tombs were open many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many in this you see promises are given first access and by the way most likely the veil here is the veil between the holy place and the most holy place it could have been the other one the other veil but it seemed like it's this one between separating the holy place and the most holy but the thought process here is Jesus from reference to the temple here in the first century Jesus is greater than that temple that temple would be judged and now access to God happens through Jesus

[33:35] Christ because of his death you don't have to go through a priest by the way this is for free that's why the elements are down here that's why they're not up here if they're up here that means I'm standing in the gap I'm the mediator I'm no mediator I'm no priest they're down here with the people that's on purpose we are all priests there's only one who's the mediator there's only one who gives us access to God and that's Jesus and that veil being ripped and two from top to bottom shows now we have access to God that's the first promise given notice the earth shook the rocks were split what is that these are signs foreshadowing the coming judgment of all another promise judgment is coming do not fret about wicked people and how it seems like that they're prospering judgment will come

[34:36] God sees it all he will make these wrongs right he will that's a promise but then another promise which is just weird this is only in Matthew's gospel the tombs of the saints were open and they're like appearing it happened at his death the resurrection and their appearances happen after Jesus' resurrection since he's the first fruits this is just so bizarre this is rare it's not it's not in any of the other gospels and then Matthew doesn't give us any details like he doesn't tell us what happened when he was raised did they like die later did they just go to heaven he doesn't care about the details he just kind of tells you this is what happened you're like what happened right but the point is the promise that's given is that you will be raised you have access to God

[35:47] God will judge everything and you'll be resurrected too you see right here promises are given right after the death the death of Jesus this is amazing this promise is given access to God we have access to God judgment will come and we will be resurrected just like Jesus was resurrected so it gives us such great hope doesn't it but then another immediate result here is the mission is recalled what mission verse 54 and the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus they saw the earthquake the things that came became very frightened and said surely this was can be translated the son of God or a son of a God the mission is recalled remember the mission to the

[36:54] Gentiles see these few verses show that it took Gentiles and women to see the true identity of Jesus versus those who should have seen it the Jews let's be more specific the religious leaders it was Gentiles more irony from the text oh now the centurion he's backtracking big time now remember before he's like this confession is vital because brings us immediately as readers of Matthew's gospel back to the theme of mission to the Gentiles in other words I don't think there's any Jewish people here if you are no offense for all you Gentiles you nations you get in you have access now did he understand all he was saying no did he mean like what we mean by it no that's why you can translate a son of a

[38:11] God but still he's open to Jesus true identity and then and then you have the women now you might say oh it's no big deal because that's because you're thinking of this in the 21st century no no no no you have to think of yourself in the first century where in the first century women nothing nothing especially in Jewish culture nothing nothing no but notice what it says here from the text many women were looking from afar who had followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him they had followed and served Jesus since his Galilean ministry so they were with Jesus for the long haul these stand in contrast to Christ's shameful disciples where were they oh I know John was there we'll give you a little bit of kickback there

[39:13] John we understand but faithful loyal women names them off Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Joseph the mother of sons of Zebedee here's another way to show the non chauvinism of Jesus and really of the word of God we see many times Jesus carrying and reaching out to those who are on the outskirts of society the ones most unlikely to believe in Jesus Matthew shows us that constantly throughout his gospel so you see hope you see immediate results and promises giving and it gives you such great joy in the midst of this Jesus was mocked and forsaken for us so that the father would honor love care and always be with us never to forsake us he was abandoned so we would be eternally loved and given grace if there's anything that I don't want you to miss it's this don't miss this mocked and forsaken for you and when you're partaking of the

[40:48] Lord's supper which we'll do in a few moments and I'll give you instructions just hold on when we come to the Lord's supper you can say that you're mocked and forsaken for me so I can be in you I can have access you will judge and I'll be resurrected and who am I I'm just some Gentile and I get in I'm a nobody but you show me love remember the two aspects I told you about I added a third one first it was you who shamefully mocked Jesus second he was forsaken for you in your place so you can be freed and loved but then I I added a third one our call live this grace that's given to us amongst each other as

[41:50] God's people within his church and then we speak this grace to the world our mission is the mission that Jesus had we speak to them this grace and we tell them come come he was mocked jeered and forsaken so you can have forgiveness so come and when we partake of the Lord's supper milk this is for Christians for those that follow love and worship the Lord Jesus if you're not a Christian I implore this is not for you watch us these are tangible ways that we remind ourselves of the gospel and you might be visiting here you might say hey I'm not a member here look it's fine if you come from a church of like faith and practice and we would prefer that you've been baptized by immersion partake of the Lord's supper with us it's for you you don't have to be a member here we don't believe in closed communion and we would also encourage you if you have something against someone there's been something where you've not been able to try mediate with someone

[42:59] I mean you've tried but that's that's one thing but you haven't tried we would encourage you maybe it'd be better for you not to partake first try and make things right with that person and then partake of the Lord's supper but this is going to be for us a tangible physical way if you remind yourself of gospel truth mocked for me forsaken for me let me pray and then I'll let you have some time between you and the Lord okay father we are so thankful and we want to take time to joyfully partake of the Lord's supper together to remind ourselves in this tangible way of the promises that you have given to us thank you thank you Jesus for being mocked for us thank you Jesus for being forsaken and abandoned for us so we would never be mocked but loved so we would never be forsaken but you

[44:06] Jesus you're always with us you father you're always with us take this time if you would examine your heart proclaim the gospel to yourself between you and the Lord let your mind ponder on the truths of the gospel and what we've seen from the text today just a few moments between you and the Lord do that now please do Richard and do