Click here Matthew 27:45-50 PODCAST
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!" 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him." 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. ~ Matthew 27:45-50
Today, we continue our study of Matthew 27 where we witnessed the miraculous conversion of one of the two thieves who hung on the cross next to the Lord Jesus. What a contrast between those two. The first was hardened by sin while the other had been broken by sin. As the hours passed on the cross, one of the two openly acknowledged his sin. Then, out of his brokenness, he confessed the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus, affirming His claim as the Son of Man. This is one of the greatest scenes ever, demonstrating how a person moves from the dark into the light. It was his brokenness that enabled him to see the Lord Jesus anew and this moment he began to see the light of eternity.
Like the prodigal, this man once ruled by sin came to the end of himself. This is where true repentance begins, when we come to the end of ourselves. The thief on the cross was made aware of his sinfulness, then he confessed it to the only One who could forgive Him. This is the picture of true repentance. He did not blame the evil influences in his life for his sinfulness. He came to the realization that he was standing on the edge of eternity and he needed the mercy and grace of God. Then, he begged for forgiveness from the only One who could give it. Earlier he had heard the Lord Jesus pray, "Father, forgive them." It was then that he saw that as soon as the blood of the Lord Jesus began to flow, he heard Him interceding which is what moved Him to ask for forgiveness.
In v.45-46 of today's passage we read, "45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'"
Darkness covered the earth for three hours that afternoon. It was an object lesson as God judged our sin in the body of the Lord Jesus. In the Old Testament the high priest on Yom Kippur, also known as Passover, went into the holiest place through the veil in darkness to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. In doing so, forgiveness for sin was granted by God for those willing enough to believe. The transaction was made alone, in secrecy and under the cover of darkness. It was a holy transaction between earth and heaven that took place in the dark.
The people lived in the darkness when the Lord Jesus came to this earth. He came to give us light, the light of His salvation. The physical reality of darkness pictured the spiritual reality of the reign of sin and death to that point. Darkness speaks of evil in the Bible and light speaks of all that is right. The cross of the Lord Jesus was the worst crime ever committed by humanity. They tried to extinguish the Light of the World but they failed to do it. "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it."
Many today don't like the cross because it is a reminder of their sinfulness. But, a gospel that doesn't have at its core the cross is powerless. Its power comes from its message: There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. This is, of course, what the Lord Jesus did for us on that day so many years ago.
Before the Passover lamb was sacrificed in Egypt, the ninth plague was darkness over all of Egypt for three days. It was a darkness they acutely felt. It was the object lesson spelling out God's judgment on sin. And then, the tenth plague was the death of the firstborn picturing the death of God's firstborn Son. The Lord by this time had already spoken three times while hanging on the cross. This saying from the Lord Jesus, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' was the only saying of the Lord Jesus from the cross that Matthew recorded. It revealed the separation from fellowship with His Father that the Lord experienced. He was not separated from the nature of the Father, He was separated from fellowship with the Father. The Lord Jesus spoke these words as the Father was judging our sin in His body as He hung on that tree. God treated the Lord Jesus like we deserved to be treated, so that He could treat us like the Lord Jesus deserved to be treated.
In v.47 of today's passage we read, "Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, 'This Man is calling for Elijah!'"
When the Lord Jesus said, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?,' the people thought He was calling for Elijah because it was their practice that if they were in a time of great distress, they could pray to Elijah and he would deliver them. They also knew that the Old Testament promised Elijah would also come before the Messiah, according to Malachi 4. So, when they said "This man is calling for Elijah," they were mocking Him on the notion of the joke that the Lord Jesus thought He was the Messiah. But, God the Father poured out His wrath on His Son that day, so that He would not have to pour it out upon us. The Lord Jesus was damned, so that you and I would not be damned. He was excluded so that we could be included.
In v.48-49 of today's passage we read, "48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, 'Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.'"
This scene was the fulfillment of Psalm 69:21 when they offered the Lord Jesus this sour wine. The promise of the Old Testament was that this would occur at the death of the Messiah. Earlier He had been offered gall, the Lord Jesus didn’t drink it, because gall was a pain killer to try to lessen the pain. The Lord Jesus refused the gall because he wanted the full impact of the suffering. The sour wine was a cheap wine that was there for the soldiers to quench their thirst. The soldiers offered it to the Lord Jesus because they wanted to prolong the life of the Lord Jesus.
In Exodus 12, during the Passover night in Egypt when the death angel came, if he saw the blood of the sacrificed lamb applied on the door posts, he would not kill the firstborn therein. In obedience to God, the believing Jews applied to the doorpost the blood of the lamb using hyssop. Reminiscent of those Passover Lambs who shed their blood and secured the firstborn therein, the Lord Jesus is our Passover Lamb.
In v.50 of today's passage we read, "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit."
Just before the Lord Jesus died, John tells us He cried out "Tetelestai" which means "It is finished." Tetelestai is a financial term used when a debt is paid in full. The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross was more than enough to pay the debt that our sin had created. And, in the end, God won the battle between good and evil, the war between life and death.
The Lord Jesus bore the wrath of God for every sin ever committed. It means that the work for our salvation is fully complete. There is nothing left to do other than to receive the benefits of His work, to put our faith in the One who offered his life as a sacrifice for sin. It means His work on the cross plus nothing equals His perfection applied to us who believe in Him. The Lord Jesus came to secure for us what we could never secure for ourselves. He finished the work that God sent Him to do. The irony of it all is that a dead man overcame sin and death. While being killed as a blasphemer, the Lord Jesus made it possible for the very people who blasphemed Him to be pronounced the children of God.
