Final agony of Christ on the Cross

Today is a good Friday and we remember our Lord Jesus Christ. It takes us to
this terrible cry of Jesus in Mark 15:34 ‘My God my God why have you forsaken
me’. A cry which speaks bought of the dept of the darkness of the cross for
Jesus but also of the dawning of the light for the Gospel for us. I want you
today to come with me, to come with Mark into the darkness of the scene but
then also into the light that brings to us.
A. Into the darkness. V33
At the 6th hour darkness covered the land which is 12 afternoon till 3pm. An in
that moment says Mark, darkness descended. Luke says because the Sun stop
shining, and what it mean? Let me suggest 4 things as we moved to this
darkness.
1. It was cover of darkness
Crucifixion was a deliberately, unbearably humiliating way to die. It was design
by the Romans to expose those whom they put trough it maximum shame and
mockery, along side with terrible pain as an ultimate deterrent they can think
of. And from 24-32 Mark has portrait this. And his original readers living in that
context, he didn’t need to say anything more than crucified him. Because
everybody knew what that meant.
Men where crucified totally naked which was shameful thing in itself.
And then from the pain of the crucifixion they would be cover in blood and
sweat. Then the insults will continue on and on. And Mark tells us that is what
happening. There is mockery he tells us, three times in v29 just by everybody
who passed by and in v31 from the religious leaders. And in v32 of two
terrorists crucified in either side of him. And it seems this went on for three
hours until is almost as God says enough is enough.
If I am going to hide my face from my only Son then you will no longer
look at him. And he switches of the light. And the scene is overed in darkness. I
assume that the mockery also died out and it was replaced with very profound
fear. That was the first thing in the cover of darkness, but it was also in the
darkness of creation.
2. The Darkness of Creation
Because look says the Sun stop shining. So it might as it was his creator dying.
After all who was in this cross? Pauls in Colossians tells us that Christ is the
invisible image of God. The first born of the whole creation. For by Him all
things where created, visable and invisible.
John tells in his Gospel through Him all things were made. Without Him
nothing was made… in Him was light… check the verse
The true light that gives light to every human being. And Jesus the uncreated
source of light of the Sun itself was dying. And creation responds. The earth
shucks, the Sun stops shining. Because on the cross the creator himself bearing
the cost of creation reconciliation.
3. The Darkness of judgment.
Because for those who knew their scripture which were all around the cross
except the roman soldiers, darkness was a symbol three hours of darkness
was a reminiscent of three days of darkness that was the 9th plague of Egypt in
exodus 10:21-23 read. Just as darkness spoke then of God’s judgment of the
Egyptians for what they were doing for Israel. So now the darkness of the cross
speak judgment on Israel for what they were doing for the Messiah.

Also, Amos speak about the darkness in 8:9-10 Speaking about the great
terrible day of the Lord that would come/ read the verse.
Darkness at noon was the judgment of God. But on whom it was falling? Out of
this darkness comes this terrible cry in v34 ‘Eloi, eloi lema shebaktani’ My God
my God why have you forsaken me? And it tells us that greater than the
physical darkness on the bystanders and the soldiers and the leaders was this
darkness of God’s judgment being worn on the one on the cross. On Jesus
himself. Which brings us to the 4th element of this darkness

4. The darkness of separation

Into the dept, the mystery and the paradox of the cross. Here is Jesus who
already wore the physical pain and the crucifixion and the emotional pain for
hours of public shame and mockery, now enters the darkness of an infinitely
greater suffering, which was the agony of his separation of the God his father. I
think we need to ask two questions about that.

 First Was it just Jesus felt abundant

Was Jesus just felt abundant in his pain and suffering but in reality, he
actually was not. It is how he just felt. The answer for this question is NO. Such
view doesn’t do justice to the terrible dept of the darkness of desolation that
Jesus was going through in those hours of darkness. The Son of God was cut
off from his Father. The one who has perfect communion with his father from
all eternity, now it loses it. The one who had never known anything but the
sunshine of his father presence, the joy, the light of that, now it sinks into the
darkness of his father absence. And he can only cry out Why?
There is one thing that can separate human being from God and that is sin.
Your inequity have separated you from your God. Says Isiah 59 Your sins have
hidden… so that he will not hear find the verse.
But Jesus have no sin! Even the Pontius Pilot acknowledges that, even one of
the two terrorists on the cross acknowledges that. Luke 23:41 says – read.
Then why is this terrible cry of separation of his father? The answer can only
be, it is because of our sins he was bearing. Our sins that cut Jesus off from his
father.
Behold the lamb of God carries the way the sins of the world says John. Paul
says God made him who knew no sin the bear sins… find the verse
Jesus enters this deepest dept of darkness. The place of God’s wrath
against sin, the place of God’s rejection, God’s condemnation of all that is evil
and Jesus goes into that place in our place.
His cry comes from Psalm 22, the opening lines of that psalm are My God my
God why have you forsaken me. But it could also come from Psalm 88:6 – until
the darkness is my closest friend. read

Jesus experienced in the infinite intensity of being God and man, what it
means to be separated from God. Jesus experienced what hell is.
Paul tells us in 2 Thesol 1:9 – until shut out from the presence of God read Hell
is to be cut out from God forever and Jesus went there.
Some people are attempting to say, well that is ok I can live without God there
is no problem, what is the difference? Dear friend if you are thinking like that,
please do not! Do not fall for this nonsense. You may be living without
reference to God now but you are certainly not living without God.
Who do you think is the source of your life, of your health? It is God
creation who gives you the food you eat, the water you drink the air you
breath. God is the source of all the love and joy and your relationships. God is
the source of all the beauty that we enjoy, the music and nature and
everything. God it is. Do not even imagine for a minute that your life is
without God. Bu do try to imagine what would be really without God? Cut off
from all of those things. No love, no life, no light, no joy, no encouraging
relationships, no peace, no pleasure and no hope without God. That is hell!
And Jesus went there. Jesus descend into the dept of that darkness, the utter
darkness of separation from God.
And he did so that you and I should never do so. So that who ever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life. So was it something that Jesus just
felt, NO not at all. It was real. It was the most terrifying real part of the whole
cup of suffering that Jesus drained on the cross.

 Second question was: Was God really absent from the scene?
Another words, as Jesus was dying on the cross was it true that God wasn’t
there? And again of course we have to answer with NO. And this is the most
amazing paradox and mystery of the cross. God was never more present on
earth than at the cross.
I and the father are One Jesus had said. Even in that terrible time of
separation, was as much agony for the Father to impose as it was for the Son
to endure.
Paul says God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The work of our
salvation including this dept of darkness and separation. The work of our
salvation was the work of God father, son and indeed Holly Spirit. Because the
Hebrew tells, it was through eternal spirit that Jesus offered himself
unblemished to God. God was there on earth as in heaven, on the cross an in
the agony of separation bearing in God one-self the cost of our salvation. That
was the dept of the darkness of the cross.
But It was also the beginning of the light.
B. Into to the Light
Having led us to the darkest moment of the cross, Mark now begins to lead us
into the light.
1. He leads us into The Light of God’s creation
At the 9th hour the darkness ended, and the Sun came out. The Sun that is the
symbol in the Bible of the joy of creation. Psalm 19 says the Sun is like a joyful
athlete running at race.
Of course, the Sun had risen that Friday only to be darken as Jesus died. The
Sus will raise on Saturday with Jesus still in the tomb but on the 3 rd day, the
Sun will rise with the raising Son of God himself. Bringing about a new creation
as the Son of God is shown in all his glory.
And Paul tells that the whole creation is reconcile in the blood of Christ shed
on the cross. This is the beginning of redemption of the creation as the Son
came out.
2. It was in The light of God’s victory
As I already says the cry of Jesus in v34 is the beginning of Psalm 22, but in the
middle of that Psalm we read about God’s great triumph. – All the end of the
earth will remember and turn to God and all the family of nations will bow
down before him. And Psalm end in v31-34 He has done it.
God has accomplished it, God will have achieved all that he intended to for the
salvation of the world. That was the Psalm that Jesus cried in the beginning of.
22:51-23:43 not recorder
The victory is won, and Jesus have done what he came to do, to bear the sin of
the world, to bear the judgment of God, to go to a place of desolation and give
his life as ransom for many.
Jesus died in agone, of course he did but he did not die in despair. He died in
the knowledge of victory of God.

3. Mark takes us into The light of God’s presence. V38 read

That was the curtain who kept people out of the presence of God. Only the
high priest could go the place of holy of holies once a year. And God tears the
curtain away from top to bottom. There is no longer a barrier. God is now
inviting the world into the light of forgiveness and new life trough the shed
blood of Christ.
Hebrews 10:19-22 tells us read. Paulin Ephesians tells that Christ has destroyed
the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility so that we all can have access to the
Father trough him. Isn’t that wonderful?
In Mark’s account in this moment the very first person through that curtain
who moved into the presence of God by faith was a gentile. The Roman
centurion who recognised the truth of what just happened. In v39 He walk into
the Light of faith into the living Go. Which brings us finally to our 4 th point
where Mark takes us

4. The light of God’s Son. V39

The centurion standing in front of Jesus says Mark. The centurion was the
supervisor he was in charge for the whole event. And how many others such
scene he has witnessed? How many other people he crucified? He must of
seen 100s of people die. Mark tells us when he heard Jesus cry and when he
saw how he died something convinced this hard, pagan, Roman centurion
about the truth of this man he crucified. And he says ‘surely this man was the
Son of God’
We might not know how much the centurion understood the words he just
said. He might of confess a genuine faith, which the text by the was strongly
suggests. But Mark wants us to know something about Jesus, that he is the Son
of God.
Interestingly in Mark’s gospel before this event only God and demons declare
that Jesus is Son of God.
God declares it twice, once in his baptism ‘You are my Son’ and once in the
transfiguration ‘this is my son’
In Mark’s gospel no human being acknowledges Jesus to be the Son of God
until this moment. Mark wants us to understand, witnessing the death of Jesus
that this Roman centurion recognises the truth.
The truth that Christ was rejected by religious leaders who crucified him. Mark
wants us to know that in order truly to understanding the Son of God we have
to see him on the cross. He is the Son who came to give his life. The Son with
his Father who choose to bear the cost of our salvation.

Mark’s purpose is exactly as John’s. John said at the end of his gospel 20:31
read
Let us summarise: Mark starts an account of crucifixion, in it he takes us into
the cover of darkness, into the darkness of creation, into the darkness of
judgment of God and into the atter darkness of separation between the Son
and the Father for us. But he also draws us from darkness to light. Into the light
of sunshine, reconcile creation, into the light of accomplished victory of God
that is been achieved by Christ. Into the Light of presence of God for all who
come to him through faith in Jesus. And into the light of glorious Son of God
who died for us.
And Paul says what then we should say in response to this? If God is with us
who can be against us? He who did not spare his only Son but gave him up for
us all, how will he also not give us graciously all things, live, forgiveness and the
blessings of eternity with Christ. Because Christ went to a place we will need
not to go if we trust in him.