At The Cross Part 1 | Matthew 27:45-56

Scripture

• Matthew 27:45–56

About this sermon

Introduction: It is a strange thing, from every human point of view, that the boast of Christianity looks to a cross. ESV Galatians 6:14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The cross represents the very point at which the believer is now dead to world system out of which he has been saved. ESV 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ESV 1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Paul GLORIES in the cross. Christianity GLORIES in the cross. WHAT A STRANGE THING THAT A CROSS SHOULD BE THOUGHT GLORIOUS! The cross is a symbol of judgment. It is, by Scripture, identified with God’s curse. ESV Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- ESV Deuteronomy 21:22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. It is, by any human estimation, a mark of shame. It was a shameful, horrific, way to die. A cross was not a place where power or strength is displayed; it was a place of public humiliation — the one who was hung there was a public spectacle of rejection, helplessness, and weakness. And yet, believers BOAST IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. Far from being ashamed of His cross, we glory in it. Our salvation is traced there. Our Savior rescued us there. There was a substitutionary, atoning, sacrifice that was offered there. The wisdom of God is displayed there. God’s wrath and mercy met there. And though our Savior was stripped bare and was humiliated, His majesty and His mercy were clearly on display at the cross. EVEN MORE, GOD’S TESTIMONY TO HIS SON IS ON DISPLAY AT THE CROSS. We saw, last Lord’s Day, that our God testified to His Son in a powerful, yet “quiet” way, as the Word of God was fulfilled, in Christ’s execution, through God’s providence. God was doing something extraordinary, through ordinary means, and Scripture was being fulfilled. But what we read in our verses this morning is different. God now testifies to His Son in ways that were anything but normal. He testified to His Son in miraculous ways that arrested the senses, that left even the most blinded, the most hardened, aware that something unusual was taking place. Events were taking place that should have called forth immediate repentance. GOD WORKED IN A WAY THAT PAGANS WERE SEIZED WITH FEAR. Beginning this morning, we see FIVE WAYS THAT GOD TESTIFIED to Christ’s saving work at the cross. We see five ways that the Father was bearing testimony to His Son, while His Son was dying to save us from God’s wrath and to secure us as God’s people.

Topics

• Jesus Christ