WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.360 Chapter 1, verse 1, Mark has emphasized Jesus as the Son of God above all the other categories 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:13.300 and titles that he has had given to, or not given to him, but declared over him or affirmed 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:15.780 throughout Mark's gospel account. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.359 And this title, the Son of God, refers to two things, really. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:25.640 The kingly rule over all things by God's Messiah, by Jesus. 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:35.740 But also it's a fulfillment of the suffering servant vision that is in Isaiah's prophecy. 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:44.019 The suffering servant appears four times, and it is a picture of this person who will suffer 00:00:44.019 --> 00:00:45.679 vicariously for his people. 00:00:48.019 --> 00:00:55.439 The suffering servant will deliver God's people from their enemies, but also deliver 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:58.140 God's people from the just wrath of God. 00:00:58.780 --> 00:01:04.079 So these two things, the kingship of Jesus, or the kingly rule of Jesus, and the suffering 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.120 servant, they go hand in hand. 00:01:06.859 --> 00:01:13.700 So Mark wants us to know that when Jesus is confessed, the Son of God, or in this case, 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:19.079 when he is confessed to be the Messiah, Mark wants us to know that Jesus is the Son of God, 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:21.159 the suffering servant, who is king. 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:24.859 And not king over a region, but king over all. 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:30.299 And yet the interesting thing about Mark is that time and time again throughout the gospel 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:32.759 account, nobody gets this. 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:40.739 Son of God is declared right from the beginning of chapter one, where Jesus is getting baptized 00:01:40.739 --> 00:01:44.159 and the heavens are torn open and God declares, behold my Son. 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:52.439 Jesus is, he is called the Son of God by demons that he is casting out. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.439 He goes on to the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:01:55.259 --> 00:02:02.719 And again, a cloud that represents God, but God himself, he declares, behold my Son, listen 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:03.259 to him. 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:09.700 And time and again, people don't quite grasp what this Son of God title really is. 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:20.259 The closest we get seems to be Peter in chapter eight of Mark's account, where Peter, he affirms 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:22.140 that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:23.879 He is the Son of God. 00:02:23.939 --> 00:02:30.240 But then when Jesus begins to share about how this, that his destiny is headed for the cross 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.060 and that he'll suffer, what does Peter do? 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:35.860 He says, listen, you're out of your mind. 00:02:35.900 --> 00:02:36.939 You don't know what you're talking about. 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:39.360 And Jesus rebukes Peter for it. 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:46.379 The high priests accuse Jesus of blasphemy for affirming that he is the Son of God. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:50.400 Nobody seems to understand this title. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:58.480 So we have finally reached the climactic moments of Jesus' life before he dies. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:05.919 And only now will we see somebody fully grasp this understanding of who Jesus is as the 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:06.439 Son of God. 00:03:07.699 --> 00:03:09.759 In today's text, Jesus will die. 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:15.780 He will give up his spirit in a great and loud anguishing cry. 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:24.239 And with this death, only until Jesus dies, will we see the fullness of this title, the 00:03:24.239 --> 00:03:25.479 Son of God, come to pass. 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:34.419 And we'll see how specifically this title, the Son of God, in a very wonderful, real, 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:42.139 very relevant way for us today, will address three of the most deepest and significant needs 00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:43.859 that you and I face. 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:50.019 And really, it's the crying heart of our culture and all people the world over. 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:54.460 And to help us understand this, we're going to look at three details found in this passage. 00:03:54.980 --> 00:03:56.640 The first is the darkness. 00:03:57.080 --> 00:03:58.660 We'll see that right off the bat. 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:01.540 A darkness comes over the daytime. 00:04:02.140 --> 00:04:04.320 The second thing we're going to explore is the curtain. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:07.280 It says the curtain was torn from top to bottom. 00:04:07.780 --> 00:04:13.520 And the final bit that we're going to focus on is the centurion right at the end in verse 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:13.939 39. 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:15.819 So we'll jump right into it. 00:04:15.979 --> 00:04:19.079 If you have a Bible, turn with me, follow along with me. 00:04:19.300 --> 00:04:21.779 There's a stack of Bibles at the back at that table. 00:04:22.219 --> 00:04:23.680 Don't worry about interrupting. 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:27.079 Get up and grab one at any time and follow along. 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:30.180 So we'll look just at verse 33 here. 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:36.660 And when the sixth hour had come, that's about 9 a.m., there was darkness over the whole 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:39.139 land until the ninth hour. 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:44.879 And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, my God, my God, why have you forsaken 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:45.120 me? 00:04:46.340 --> 00:04:53.579 It's a rather peculiar detail that the darkness should envelop the noon hour when Jesus died. 00:04:53.579 --> 00:05:00.740 It seems like Mark throws random, random details into the narrative. 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:07.319 And unless we investigate or ask the question, what's going on here, they seem very random. 00:05:08.659 --> 00:05:15.759 But what we are seeing here is Mark constantly, and this is throughout Mark's gospel, he is 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:24.219 constantly alluding to and pointing backwards to parts of the history of Israel, parts of the Old 00:05:24.219 --> 00:05:27.779 Testament that Jesus will fulfill in his death. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:36.319 So, you know, I was doing research and studying for this this week, and a lot of commentators 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.699 are bending over backwards trying to explain this darkness at noon. 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:45.879 Maybe it was an eclipse, maybe there's clouds that covered the sun. 00:05:47.159 --> 00:05:52.339 They're trying to explain this in a sense from a very rationalistic point of view, and I appreciate 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:52.800 that. 00:05:53.339 --> 00:06:01.560 But Mark here isn't so concerned with explaining kind of why this happened or how it happened, 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:06.740 whether it be by eclipse or cloud cover or whatever it may be. 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:11.800 Mark is concerned with connecting Jesus to the fulfillment of the Old Testament. 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:17.160 And in this darkness over the land in the daytime, something that should not have happened 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:23.660 or happened very rarely, whatever it may be, Mark is pointing back to two key texts in 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:24.199 the Old Testament. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.639 The first one is from Amos. 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:30.560 We're going to be, I'm not going to ask you just to write through your Bible. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:31.740 If you want to, please do. 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:36.780 And if you want some of these scripture verses, I can give it to you after. 00:06:37.280 --> 00:06:38.079 I'd be happy to. 00:06:38.280 --> 00:06:40.759 But we're going to be back and forth a whole bunch this morning. 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:46.620 So the first allusion to the Old Testament is from the prophet Amos, chapter 8. 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:52.780 And just before we read the passage, Amos is a prophetic book in the Old Testament, and 00:06:52.779 --> 00:06:59.259 it details the judgment of God upon the evil committed by the enemies of God, but also 00:06:59.259 --> 00:07:01.859 by God's people themselves. 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:09.239 But God is just, and he is a judge, and he doesn't, he is not going to forever overlook 00:07:09.239 --> 00:07:13.159 the evils committed by anybody, be they his people or not. 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:18.300 So in Amos, chapter 8, it reads this, starting in verse 9. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:25.620 And on that day, declares the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:26.880 the earth in broad daylight. 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:33.320 Verse 10 says, I will turn your feasts into mourning, all your songs into lamentation. 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:37.260 I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head. 00:07:37.259 --> 00:07:43.199 I will make it like the morning for an only sun, and the end of it like a bitter day. 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:51.740 So much of that, those two verses, are found throughout our short section in verses 33 to 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:52.219 39. 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:57.079 I will make the sun go down at noon, darken the earth in broad daylight. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:02.360 The bit about feasts turning into mourning, remember this is happening at the Passover. 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:05.860 This is like the high point of the Hebrew calendar. 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:14.279 And right at the end, I will make it like mourning for an only sun, and the end of it like a bitter day. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:18.439 Judgment is coming upon Israel, God's people. 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:28.039 In a very real way, in a very real way, everything that God has prophesied has come to pass. 00:08:28.219 --> 00:08:29.839 Jesus was never a plan B. 00:08:30.500 --> 00:08:31.899 He was always a plan A. 00:08:31.899 --> 00:08:38.340 So it was always God's will for Jesus to die upon the cross, and to suffer everything that 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:39.240 he is suffering. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:49.019 But notice that sinful, evil people that should have turned their face towards God have been 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:53.279 the very means by which God, Jesus, is strung up on a cross. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:09:01.019 They have, like the prophets and servants of old, have disregarded God's servant. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:03.360 And what have they done? 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:07.799 They have condemned and persecuted God's anointed. 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:09.379 And we are seeing this now. 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:11.500 There's great judgment on the people. 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:14.120 And this darkness is just that. 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:18.919 God is judging the land because of the evil that was committed to Jesus. 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:19.079 Jesus. 00:09:19.839 --> 00:09:25.599 It's a very real picture of judgment here, and it's captured in Amos chapter 8. 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:31.079 Now we could spend some time unpacking that, but I want to actually focus a bit more attention 00:09:31.079 --> 00:09:33.620 on the second Old Testament illusion. 00:09:34.219 --> 00:09:37.959 And I'd argue that, at least for this, it's maybe a bit more significant. 00:09:38.819 --> 00:09:41.539 And that comes from, the second illusion comes from the Exodus. 00:09:42.819 --> 00:09:45.779 The Exodus comes up time and time again in the New Testament. 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:52.559 If it's been a while since you've gone through the Exodus, give it a shot this week because 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.360 we see allusions all through the New Testament, and we see it here. 00:09:56.339 --> 00:10:00.579 So if you remember, the Exodus was when God delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:09.039 They cried out to God 400 years in bondage, and God delivers them from slavery, and he forms 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:10.299 them into a people. 00:10:10.939 --> 00:10:13.039 And he makes a covenant with them on Mount Sinai. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:21.299 And this relationship that existed from Abraham, in a sense, it gets codified. 00:10:21.500 --> 00:10:24.179 It is solidified at Mount Sinai. 00:10:25.099 --> 00:10:29.539 But if you remember, during the deliverance, there was judgment upon Egypt. 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:33.620 Time and again, Pharaoh would not let God's people go. 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:37.940 So God would send a plague, and it would afflict Pharaoh. 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:40.440 Pharaoh would say, sure, go, please, please. 00:10:41.100 --> 00:10:47.259 And then his heart would harden, and then each plague would get progressively heavier and 00:10:47.259 --> 00:10:48.360 worse and worse and worse. 00:10:49.980 --> 00:10:54.740 And if you remember, and bonus points, I'm not going to ask anybody to say it out loud, 00:10:54.740 --> 00:11:00.840 but if anybody knows what the ninth plague was, it was darkness that covered the land. 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:07.740 And the darkness that covered the land preceded the tenth plague, obviously. 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:09.320 It's the ninth plague. 00:11:09.480 --> 00:11:10.399 And what was the tenth plague? 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:12.259 It was the death of the firstborn. 00:11:13.340 --> 00:11:20.659 And what we have here is a reimagining, in Mark's Gospel, a reimagining of a new Exodus. 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:25.079 That God is doing a new thing that's very ancient and old. 00:11:25.500 --> 00:11:31.579 And he's pointing back to his deliverance being the same as the deliverance that he won 00:11:31.579 --> 00:11:33.519 for his people Israel from Egypt. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:39.159 So the darkness that we see, what's interesting too is that it's happening over Passover. 00:11:39.740 --> 00:11:44.959 The darkness that we see is preceding the death of the firstborn. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:48.299 And Israel was delivered from the death of the firstborn. 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:48.759 Why? 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:52.779 Because a lamb, God commanded Moses to tell the people to slay a lamb, 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:57.319 to take the blood and to mark it on their doorway so that death would pass over. 00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:03.179 But now, now it is not a lamb that was slain so that death could pass over 00:12:03.179 --> 00:12:08.299 and the people of God would be delivered from slavery, in this case to sin. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:10.319 But it was God's own son. 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:18.400 So where the Exodus was regional and specific to mortal people, 00:12:18.980 --> 00:12:24.560 this new Exodus, this greater Exodus, is for all people. 00:12:25.280 --> 00:12:29.760 And it includes God's own son, Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God. 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:35.440 The new and greater, the ultimate lamb who was slain for the sins of the world. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:39.940 And here, this darkness, it's like it's tipping us off. 00:12:40.020 --> 00:12:40.720 It's alluding to. 00:12:40.920 --> 00:12:42.900 It's saying, remember the Exodus? 00:12:43.520 --> 00:12:46.060 Something is happening like it, only way greater. 00:12:46.920 --> 00:12:48.160 And this is what we see. 00:12:49.560 --> 00:12:51.360 The ninth plague is darkness. 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:56.539 And it precedes the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:58.680 And we see it here, right in our text. 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:06.360 By the Son of God shedding his blood, the blood of the Lamb who was slain, 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:10.740 a new, a greater Passover deliverance was happening. 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:15.500 A Passover that would release many from slavery to sin and death. 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:20.680 A Passover that would lead to the formation of a new and more expansive people of God. 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:27.379 This is, it's remarkable that God delivers Israel from Egyptian slavery, 00:13:27.719 --> 00:13:31.519 brings them to Mount Sinai, and in a sense makes a covenant with them. 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:36.139 And like I mentioned, like solidifies his relationship with Israel. 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:38.879 And this is exactly what will happen. 00:13:39.019 --> 00:13:42.620 And we'll see this, it's picked up in Acts chapter 2 especially. 00:13:42.919 --> 00:13:45.039 By the way, a little plug for the fall. 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:49.199 We're going to get into Acts, a sermon series come September. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:56.540 So I don't know, I mean by the pace we're going, maybe we'll hit that Acts chapter 2 in like October or November. 00:13:56.780 --> 00:14:03.980 But we'll see that in Acts chapter 2 that we're going to see God again make a covenant with people 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:06.800 that previously were under bondage to sin. 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:14.959 So Jesus here is the Passover lamb of all Passover lambs, the ultimate Passover lamb. 00:14:16.959 --> 00:14:23.759 A Passover here that Jesus is inaugurating would provide entry into an eternal family. 00:14:24.339 --> 00:14:28.979 And this is really what the beauty of the Exodus was. 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:35.800 I mean, sure it was the deliverance of sin, or deliverance from slavery from Egypt, 00:14:35.940 --> 00:14:40.860 but really the beauty of the Exodus was God forming a people, forming a family. 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:45.460 It's a beautiful, beautiful picture of what has happened. 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:49.180 And this is what God is doing here with Jesus. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:56.039 Does this not, in a sense, address a universal existential need in human beings? 00:14:56.039 --> 00:15:03.959 Is it not that the human condition desires to belong and to have a place in a family? 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:08.719 We see the great tragedy of when that doesn't happen. 00:15:10.459 --> 00:15:15.559 When there is a lack of belonging, a lack of a place, you don't have a place in a family. 00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:16.799 And it's a problem. 00:15:17.079 --> 00:15:25.279 That's why, in a sense, divorce is such a sad thing to have happened to a family. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:28.319 Because it tears the fabric of a family apart. 00:15:28.839 --> 00:15:32.139 And yet, all of us desire to belong. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:37.100 I mean, we live in a time where inclusion is, it seems like it's the buzzword. 00:15:37.779 --> 00:15:40.000 To exclude somebody is to kill somebody. 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:44.740 Not actually, but in a sense, to exclude them, 00:15:45.100 --> 00:15:49.659 it means that you're denying something that they desire more than anything else. 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:52.139 And there's something real about that desire. 00:15:52.139 --> 00:15:58.419 Now, it's been elevated to an ultimate end, and that's problematic. 00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:07.799 But it's still, in a sense, it communicates the heart of people that desire to be connected forever. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:13.500 And this is what God offers, and this is the hope that the gospel brings. 00:16:13.500 --> 00:16:22.080 Because, my first year at the downtown church, I was the youth leader. 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:29.600 And we had a young guy who, his parents were Southern Baptist missionaries. 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:30.879 And they were Southern Baptists. 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:33.539 Like, they were from Memphis, Tennessee. 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:38.419 They, Chris, the dad, he was a chaplain at Ottawa U. 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:41.159 And he was, I mean, I talked to him a couple weeks ago. 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:42.120 He's a lovely guy. 00:16:42.719 --> 00:16:47.759 His son, sorry, previously to them coming to Ottawa, they were in Brazil for like a decade. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:57.399 And when they were in Brazil, they adopted a young Brazilian kid who was otherwise destined for street life. 00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:04.420 And Michael grew up, and he's, by that time, you know, he's, I mean, he doesn't know Portuguese. 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:06.640 Like, he's very, very American. 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:09.140 Because that's a family he was adopted into. 00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:16.620 And we were talking about adoption because the scriptures speak of adoption in a very wonderful way. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:18.980 That we are adopted by God into his family. 00:17:19.620 --> 00:17:21.940 And I said, Michael, tell me. 00:17:22.040 --> 00:17:23.220 And I didn't prep him for this. 00:17:23.340 --> 00:17:25.140 He was like 13 or 14 at the time. 00:17:25.320 --> 00:17:26.240 I didn't prep him. 00:17:26.300 --> 00:17:28.580 I said, Michael, you're adopted by your parents. 00:17:29.340 --> 00:17:35.380 Is there anything that you're going to do to Chris or Melody where they're going to say, you know what, that's it. 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:37.640 Like, we're pulling the plug on this adoption thing. 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.020 And right away, he's just like, are you crazy? 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:40.720 Of course not. 00:17:40.780 --> 00:17:41.340 They're my parents. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.140 Like, there's belonging there. 00:17:44.259 --> 00:17:49.180 And it's a beautiful thing that nobody could rob Michael of. 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:51.900 This belonging, a part of his adopted family. 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:55.540 And this is exactly what is happening here. 00:17:55.640 --> 00:18:01.780 That God, through Jesus, is making a way for us, by faith, to be included into God's family. 00:18:01.779 --> 00:18:07.799 He is answering a deep, deep, deep longing of the human being to belong. 00:18:10.639 --> 00:18:15.920 But it's not just that God invites us into a family and we have a place in the family and we belong. 00:18:16.500 --> 00:18:23.859 But he also, he addresses another issue that we have is this desire to be connected to the transcendent. 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:26.219 To be connected to God in some kind of way. 00:18:26.379 --> 00:18:29.000 To have a taste of eternity. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:31.119 To not just live in the here and now. 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:34.419 And turn with me now to verses 37 and 38. 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:38.559 And we're going to take a look at the curtain and explore what the curtain has to tell us. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:42.039 Verse 37 and 38 read, 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:58.299 Without exploring the significance of the temple, the Old Testament allusions, 00:18:58.460 --> 00:19:03.680 once again we have a seemingly random detail in the narrative. 00:19:04.180 --> 00:19:07.359 And what's interesting is that we've left the temple behind in the narrative. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.579 Chapter 12 was the last time we really saw Jesus speak of the temple. 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:13.740 He was in the midst of the temple. 00:19:13.979 --> 00:19:19.759 And he condemned what the temple had become because of the neglect of the religious leaders. 00:19:20.659 --> 00:19:23.319 And we haven't really heard from the temple at all. 00:19:23.419 --> 00:19:27.859 And now just a random, again another random detail, 00:19:28.139 --> 00:19:29.619 pokes its head into the narrative. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:36.799 And this is specific to the curtain that separated the rest of the temple 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.419 from the most holy place. 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:40.619 So what is happening here? 00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:42.639 Again, we're going to take a look in the Old Testament. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:44.639 I will be fairly brief. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:46.680 Two spots. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:47.659 And there's a lot of spots. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.700 But I'm going to focus on two spots. 00:19:51.019 --> 00:19:54.980 Genesis chapter 3 reads this in verses 24 and following. 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:57.240 Actually we'll just read verses 24. 00:19:57.339 --> 00:19:58.399 A little background first. 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:01.480 Adam and Eve, if you remember, they're in the garden. 00:20:01.980 --> 00:20:02.539 They sin. 00:20:03.139 --> 00:20:06.180 God curses them and kicks them out of the garden. 00:20:06.659 --> 00:20:07.480 It's horrible. 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:11.139 That's like the nutshell of nutshells of Genesis chapter 3. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.000 But what happens in verse 24, 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:19.480 God ensures that Adam and Eve will never again enter the garden. 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.940 And it reads here in verse 24 of Genesis chapter 3. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.319 God drove out the man. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:30.039 And at the east of the garden of Eden, he placed a cherubim. 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:32.259 That's like a warrior angel. 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:34.159 A cherubim. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:40.019 And a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:41.500 It's significant. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.180 Eden was the place where God's presence was. 00:20:45.299 --> 00:20:47.920 Where man enjoyed God's presence. 00:20:49.159 --> 00:20:52.859 So he is expelled never to enjoy God's presence again. 00:20:52.859 --> 00:20:59.979 And this imagery, this warrior angel cherubim imagery, it gets picked up again. 00:21:00.139 --> 00:21:06.639 When God is giving examples of construction for the tabernacle and later the temple. 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:15.039 But here is a passage detailing construction of the tabernacle. 00:21:15.179 --> 00:21:20.779 Specifically, the curtain that separates the temple from the most holy place. 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:24.059 And it reads this in Exodus 36, 35. 00:21:25.859 --> 00:21:28.220 He made the veil, this is the craftsman, 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:34.259 He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:38.200 With cherubim skillfully worked into it. 00:21:38.379 --> 00:21:39.000 He made it. 00:21:39.619 --> 00:21:41.579 This is just a detail of the temple curtain. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:46.099 And what did God want on the temple curtain embroidered in? 00:21:46.099 --> 00:21:50.019 A cherubim, a warrior angel with a sword. 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:52.599 It's very interesting imagery. 00:21:52.740 --> 00:21:53.759 The Bible is full of it. 00:21:54.439 --> 00:21:59.139 And again, we have the cherubim, which now we can kind of piece two and two together. 00:21:59.379 --> 00:22:04.500 It's this picture that represents man's eternal separation from the presence of God. 00:22:04.500 --> 00:22:13.440 So the curtain in the temple is more than just a part of the tapestry, so to speak. 00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:23.200 It represents forever that mankind is not allowed back into God's presence. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:27.920 But it also shows us that we were made for God's presence. 00:22:28.600 --> 00:22:32.920 That we were made to know and enjoy the transcendent God. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:34.279 To connect with Him. 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:43.140 To go deeper into the spiritual journey and feel connected with something or someone bigger and greater than now. 00:22:43.220 --> 00:22:44.200 Someone that is eternal. 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:57.120 So it's very interesting that in our day, if you check out the various podcasts where it's just long form discussion. 00:22:57.580 --> 00:23:01.440 Oftentimes there's a conversation around psychedelics. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:06.680 And for folks that grew up in the 60s and 70s, you might be familiar with this. 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:10.660 More than us folk that were born in the 80s or beyond. 00:23:10.660 --> 00:23:16.740 But it seems like psychedelics are making a comeback in a big way. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:23.640 And at the heart of this is this desire, in a sense, to have a spiritual experience. 00:23:23.940 --> 00:23:25.880 To go beyond the here and the now. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:29.759 To touch something that we can't see in the material world. 00:23:29.860 --> 00:23:31.160 To connect with the eternal. 00:23:32.360 --> 00:23:37.320 And it's so remarkable that we can explain God away. 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:42.819 We can enjoy the material world and rationality. 00:23:42.919 --> 00:23:43.899 All very good things. 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:47.159 And say that what we see is what we have. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:52.399 And yet there's this yearning in the human heart to connect with something beyond the here and now. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:58.939 The movies that do the best in the theaters are not the indie films that win Oscars for best whatever. 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:06.440 It is these wild production superhero movies or these grand fantasy adventures. 00:24:06.980 --> 00:24:10.360 And of course the production is fantastic and it's exciting and it's an experience. 00:24:11.059 --> 00:24:14.180 But all of these are otherworldly stories. 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:19.299 That are not based in this world we live in. 00:24:19.440 --> 00:24:24.840 But open our mind to this idea that there might be this expansive universe. 00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:28.079 Or these crazy mythical characters. 00:24:28.859 --> 00:24:35.399 And again there seems to me that there's this longing for something greater and eternal and bigger and spiritual. 00:24:37.159 --> 00:24:44.439 I have friends who have cousins who lost a brother in a really bad accident. 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:48.119 And it was very tragic. 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:52.939 They decided to go to a medium to converse with him. 00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:55.799 These are people that are not religious at all. 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:58.440 They don't really have a faith so to speak. 00:24:59.140 --> 00:25:01.279 But it couldn't sit well with them. 00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:08.140 That here and now the imminent, what we see is all that there was. 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:09.420 They had to seek something more. 00:25:09.500 --> 00:25:14.259 They had to connect with their brother who was gone to the next life. 00:25:14.340 --> 00:25:15.600 Whatever that next life could be. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:22.399 This great need, it is undeniable, it would seem. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:29.079 That we would get to know this transcendent God or this force. 00:25:29.199 --> 00:25:30.119 Whatever it would be. 00:25:30.439 --> 00:25:31.879 The Bible calls it God. 00:25:31.939 --> 00:25:33.879 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:41.299 And this curtain, in a sense, is proof that we, no matter how hard we try, 00:25:41.659 --> 00:25:43.639 can only know God on his terms. 00:25:43.640 --> 00:25:47.020 And his terms are purity. 00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:51.200 His terms are perfection and complete integrity. 00:25:51.980 --> 00:25:53.700 And that's something that we can't achieve. 00:25:55.160 --> 00:26:00.140 This is why the curtain was torn when Jesus died. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:02.540 I'll read it again, verses 37 to 38. 00:26:03.340 --> 00:26:06.060 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 00:26:07.120 --> 00:26:10.040 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:12.960 The curtain's torn when Jesus dies. 00:26:12.960 --> 00:26:17.480 The son of God comes and he sacrifices himself. 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:23.620 And the curtain, this random detail in the narrative, 00:26:24.240 --> 00:26:25.920 is that the curtain is torn. 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:27.500 But not that it's just torn. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:29.319 It's torn from top to bottom. 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:30.380 It's a very high curtain. 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:33.640 It's as if God himself, from the very top, from heaven, 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:37.500 a hand on each side, ripped it apart. 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:43.799 As if to say, this whole business now of you not connecting with me, it's done. 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:51.440 God has made a way through Jesus to meet one of our deepest needs, 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:54.160 to connect with the transcendent, in this case, God, 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.000 and to know him in an intimate way. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:03.000 So through the death of Christ, we have a new family of deep belonging. 00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:03.880 We have a place. 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:06.099 We are formed into a new people. 00:27:06.819 --> 00:27:10.000 And we also have an invitation to enjoy the presence of God. 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:13.759 There's a third thing that I wanted to draw our attention to. 00:27:13.880 --> 00:27:20.220 And I think this is an absolutely beautiful picture of the grace of God. 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:21.680 And it's with the centurion. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:25.519 So verse 39, if you want to follow along with me, it says this. 00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:31.299 And when the centurion who stood facing Jesus saw that he died in this way, 00:27:32.100 --> 00:27:35.559 sorry, saw that in this way he breathed his last, 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:39.600 the centurion said, truly, this man was the Son of God. 00:27:41.100 --> 00:27:44.799 The centurion was very likely the captain of the death squad 00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:50.960 that escorted Jesus from the place of his scourging to Golgotha. 00:27:51.960 --> 00:27:53.559 He was a hardened man. 00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:58.899 He would have participated in the humiliation of Jesus, very likely. 00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:03.579 He would have been very accustomed to seeing death, 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:05.440 maybe countless crucifixions. 00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:06.519 Who knows? 00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:14.480 He was a Roman, which meant that he had a devotion, 00:28:14.859 --> 00:28:18.980 a divine devotion to Caesar as a God-man, 00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:23.240 but also probably to a number of other household gods as well. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:28.660 He in every respect was an outsider, 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:31.139 an enemy to both God and to God's people. 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:35.880 And yet, this confession that the centurion makes 00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:38.980 is the first one that we see in Mark's account 00:28:38.980 --> 00:28:43.320 that understands Jesus in his fullness as the Son of God, 00:28:43.560 --> 00:28:47.480 as the King who was slain for his people, 00:28:48.020 --> 00:28:51.040 the suffering servant who died on behalf of his people, 00:28:51.480 --> 00:28:56.820 and it is in this way that the centurion confesses Christ. 00:28:57.320 --> 00:28:57.880 It's incredible. 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:01.740 There is no person that could be more of an outsider 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:04.940 than the centurion. 00:29:05.080 --> 00:29:05.420 Nobody. 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:08.480 There's nobody that Jesus interacted with 00:29:08.480 --> 00:29:12.120 from Pilate to the religious leaders 00:29:12.120 --> 00:29:15.700 to the random people in the Galilee 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:17.240 or the people saying, 00:29:17.360 --> 00:29:19.320 Hosanna, Hosanna, as he entered Jerusalem. 00:29:19.760 --> 00:29:23.740 Nobody could be farther from God in a very real way, 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:25.280 in a most comprehensive way, 00:29:25.600 --> 00:29:26.500 than the centurion. 00:29:26.500 --> 00:29:29.279 And with Jesus' last breath, 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:31.259 the fullness of this term, 00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:32.579 this title, Son of God, 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:33.519 is on full display. 00:29:34.460 --> 00:29:38.099 That only when we see Jesus upon the cross, 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:39.599 only in his passion and death, 00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:42.799 is he fully revealed as the Son of God. 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:46.279 And God is revealing himself to this centurion. 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:59.879 I mean, for a Roman to believe that a God would be worthy of praise for dying for people is hogwash. 00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:05.680 It is antithetical to Roman spirituality, if you want to call it that. 00:30:06.399 --> 00:30:07.899 And yet his eyes are opened. 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:09.559 Not to Peter. 00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:11.539 Peter, Peter's not the first one. 00:30:12.179 --> 00:30:15.419 It's given to this revelation of who Jesus is in his fullness. 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:17.220 It is the centurion. 00:30:17.359 --> 00:30:19.539 It's an incredible picture. 00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:22.579 And in a sense, it's a great hope for all of us. 00:30:23.399 --> 00:30:25.240 That no matter what we have gone through, 00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:26.899 or matter how far we are away, 00:30:27.019 --> 00:30:30.179 or a great hope for family members who do not know the Lord, 00:30:30.180 --> 00:30:36.140 that they are not that far off compared to the centurion. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:45.900 It's also a beautiful picture of how the Son of God and the Gospel turns foes to friends. 00:30:46.799 --> 00:30:48.360 How does God deal with his enemies? 00:30:48.820 --> 00:30:49.580 Dies for them. 00:30:50.779 --> 00:30:54.560 And what's remarkable is that, I mean, Rome was an enemy to the church. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:00.279 But it was only 300 years, which, I mean, it's a long time, 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:01.759 but it's not a long time in history. 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:05.339 Rome becomes a Christian nation. 00:31:06.619 --> 00:31:08.220 And there's junk with that. 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:08.859 I get it. 00:31:09.679 --> 00:31:12.419 But the Rome that crucified Jesus 00:31:12.419 --> 00:31:19.259 becomes a country, a city, state, whatever you want to say, 00:31:19.419 --> 00:31:20.839 that embraces Jesus. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:24.379 Jesus turns enemies into friends. 00:31:25.500 --> 00:31:28.500 And that friendship is extended to you and I. 00:31:28.700 --> 00:31:31.460 And I'm telling you, if there's ever a message 00:31:31.460 --> 00:31:33.899 that was so important today, 00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:36.240 with all of the polarization, 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:40.460 all of the mic drop moments of, you know, 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:44.359 owning whatever side that you seemingly hate your enemies, 00:31:45.220 --> 00:31:46.559 how does Jesus respond? 00:31:46.879 --> 00:31:48.319 He lays down his life, 00:31:48.859 --> 00:31:50.679 and he makes his foes his friends. 00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:56.880 The Son of God came to make enemies friends. 00:31:57.060 --> 00:31:58.220 It's a beautiful thing. 00:31:59.420 --> 00:32:01.039 Friends, this is the Gospel of Christ. 00:32:01.380 --> 00:32:02.340 It really, truly is. 00:32:03.340 --> 00:32:04.920 Jesus is the Son of God. 00:32:05.019 --> 00:32:06.220 And only in this Gospel 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:09.900 is there a real movement from estrangement to family, 00:32:10.580 --> 00:32:13.620 from isolation to belonging and communion, 00:32:13.619 --> 00:32:15.679 from enemies to friends. 00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:20.619 In the one act of Christ dying on the cross, 00:32:20.719 --> 00:32:22.119 the Son of God reconciles, 00:32:22.659 --> 00:32:25.079 redeems, restores, and repairs. 00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:28.139 The example, 00:32:29.139 --> 00:32:31.000 more than Peter, 00:32:31.619 --> 00:32:32.779 I mean, the disciples, 00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:33.659 more than James, 00:32:33.779 --> 00:32:34.419 more than John, 00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:35.599 apart from Jesus himself, 00:32:35.919 --> 00:32:37.500 the example that's held up 00:32:37.500 --> 00:32:38.939 for us to emulate 00:32:38.939 --> 00:32:39.899 is the centurion. 00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:42.460 So I'll say this in closing. 00:32:43.300 --> 00:32:44.340 Friends, let us look upon 00:32:44.340 --> 00:32:45.560 the Lamb who was slain. 00:32:45.820 --> 00:32:46.620 Let us look upon 00:32:46.620 --> 00:32:48.500 Jesus Christ and confess him 00:32:48.500 --> 00:32:50.000 and say, 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:50.940 truly this is 00:32:50.940 --> 00:32:52.640 the Son of God. 00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:53.780 Let us pray. 00:32:54.800 --> 00:32:56.320 Lord, we thank you for 00:32:56.320 --> 00:32:59.940 the way you fulfill Scripture 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:02.560 and how Jesus isn't just 00:33:02.560 --> 00:33:03.940 a mere fulfillment, 00:33:04.140 --> 00:33:06.340 but he is the culmination 00:33:06.340 --> 00:33:07.080 of all of Scripture. 00:33:07.780 --> 00:33:09.300 Lord, we thank you that he 00:33:09.299 --> 00:33:10.859 through his death 00:33:10.859 --> 00:33:12.440 has formed a new people, 00:33:12.919 --> 00:33:13.460 the church. 00:33:14.139 --> 00:33:15.519 Lord, that we can belong 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:16.240 and have a place 00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:17.940 that we can enjoy your presence 00:33:17.940 --> 00:33:20.000 and we can be reconciled 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:20.819 also with those 00:33:20.819 --> 00:33:21.839 that are our enemies. 00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:23.980 Lord, help us to have 00:33:23.980 --> 00:33:27.200 a real heart like the centurion 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:28.339 to behold who you are. 00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:30.980 Lord, we ask that by your Holy Spirit 00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:32.659 that you would daily reveal 00:33:32.659 --> 00:33:35.839 more and more of who your Son is to us. 00:33:36.500 --> 00:33:37.599 We pray this in Christ's name. 00:33:38.399 --> 00:33:38.680 Amen. 00:33:39.299 --> 00:33:40.899 Amen. 00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:43.259 Amen. 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:44.379 Amen. 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:45.859 Amen. 00:33:53.919 --> 00:33:54.339 Amen.