Matthew Chapter 23 Verse 13
•If this is something that enrages Jesus, something that He pronounces woe upon, that means that His desire, (and this is SO GOOD), God’s desire is for the kingdom of heaven to be OPEN to all men and for all men to go right in! I love that! It’s a Biblical truth of God that we read in 1 Timothy 2:4, “God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth!”
•Man, through Jesus God has swung wide the doors of the kingdom! How is that!? How does that happen right now!! He drops His kingdom right into your heart! His promise, His gift, His guarantee…God Himself, (the third Person of the Trinity), the Holy Spirit Himself makes His way into your heart of hearts when you place your faith in Jesus Christ and therefore, the kingdom enters YOU! And Jesus says to the religious elite, YOU stop folks from My very will. For freedom. Liberation of their heart, soul, mind and strength (I love that! Through God’s Spirit, we are unlocked and unleashed!)
•Now this perfectly contrasts with the first of the eight beatitudes given by Jesus in Matthew Chapter 5. There He detailed the beatitudes…the character of kingdom citizens, and here in Matthew 23 He is giving the Don’t-Be-Attitudes! HA! And so check this out…Matthew Chapter 5 verse 3…, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs IS the kingdom of heaven!”
•You religious leaders filled with self piety and high-and-mightiness…you’ve lost that loving feeling (Peter leans over to Jesus, “I hate it when they do that!” HA!) To be poor in spirit is to live in reality, man! To come to the realization that we are all a mess! Broken folks, sinful, without moral virtues and any adequacy towards a holy, pure and perfect God! It’s ONLY then that we knock knock knock on heaven’s door, and we go in RIGHT NOW…we turn to Him for sustenance, righteousness, help, and salvation…adequacy and purpose, man!
•But these have turned to themselves and to works and to making themselves good enough for God…God says, “He who seeks to gain his life will lose it but whoever loses His life for My sake,” (places His entire trust in Me), “he will gain it!”
•And that, friends, harkens back to the first of the Biblical covenants! You see there are 8 woes pronounced in Chapter 23. 8 ways in which you will kill your own soul, waste your life and the lives of those around you…and there are 8 beatitudes pronounced in Matthew Chapter 5. 8 ways in which you will find life and life abundant and infect people around you with that same vigorous, spirit-filled and spirit-freed life! And…there are 8 covenants of God in the Bible from the Garden of Eden to the New Covenant…and man, God has given us a pattern of alignment.
•The first of the eight covenants is the Edenic covenant and it is given to us in Genesis Chapter 1 Verses 28 – 30 where God said to His newly formed perfect creation, “Everything is yours! Be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth…it’s all yours!” The Edenic Covenant was what’s called a conditional covenant because God gave a condition. He said, “Of all of the fruit of the trees you may eat except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for in the day you eat of it surely you will die…” But the Edenic Covenant itself…everything My child, everything I have made, I give to you!
•Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…those that come to and trust in God…for theirs is the kingdom!” And then He says here in Matthew 23, “You have robbed both yourselves and the others of the kingdom of God!” And so how do we get back? Choose blessed…reject woe! (ONLY YOU CAN DO THAT FOR YOURSELF) Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your decedents may live!”
•So the application? The Edenic Covenant is yet for you and for me…to be fruitful, to subdue this place, to be given and entrusted with all that is of the Father…and yet the condition is still there…do you trust God or do you trust yourself? Are you ok with being a mess, undone and broken in the sight of God, transparent and not hidden…or do you shut up the kingdom to both yourself and those around you by your self-piety and high holy self righteousness – self trust? Blessed or woe…YOUR choice.
Matthew Chapter 23 Verse 14
•The idea here is that they used manipulation, cleverness, and even guilt trips to literally pull folks livelihood from them and their prayers were for their own benefit, self-serving and not God-honoring! Both of those things produces in the heart of man a pit that cannot be filled by anything…and so eventually, completely, woe will set in! But Jesus said in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!” A Christian, one who loves God and follows God, does not take advantage of the loss of others but rather if one member suffers, all the members suffer with them (1 Cor 12:26).
•Our prayers should not be pretentious…attempting to impress someone or attempting to appear important or smart or godly or whatever…those are pretend prayers! But man, blessed are you when you love others as yourself…aligning your own heart to God’s!
•And the second covenant of the scriptures is what is called the Adamic Covenant…which pronounced the curse of sin upon mankind but also brought with it the grace of God in that God made provision for that sin! Genesis Chapter 3 and specifically Genesis 3:15…the grace of God being upon His own provision in that God will bring forth the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent…when woman has no seed and therefore speaking of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ…the Savior! And so aligning with the blessed and with the woe, within this covenant is a surety of condemnation through sin but a promise of grace through heart-alignment with God! That’s where the blessed is, man…seek His heart and see whatever and whomever through His eyes…! Or Woe, man…your choice…
•Now Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth…,” but to the scribes and Pharisees He says…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verse 15
•This has a habit of happening…when someone has some sort of religious trip…oh man the way to God is to repeat this prayer every day or this ritualistic service every week and they go and make a convert, that convert will be often times more enthusiastic, more passionate and zealous about that trip! And Jesus man breaks through with a huge statement here…that the words said sound godly and holy and righteous and ring with the lingo of truth but the result is a son of hell…staggering. There are many groups on the scene today offering a way of belief and using similar or even the same language as Christianity but they are leading people not to the light but to darkness.
•The third covenant is the Noahic Covenant…and this one is unconditional…God promised to never destroy the earth again by a flood…giving the rainbow as a sign…folks God has promised that we are free…His disciples, His followers, His children alone and we ought to look only to Him, and His word for the way to go…He has promised through the resurrection of Jesus Christ that our sins are forgiven, our chains are gone…pursue only Him!
•Jesus spoke in the beatitudes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled!” But to these religious leaders He said…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verses 16 – 22
•They had a clever and deceptive way to get out of oaths and really their tool was complication…how complicated was what we just read! But God said citizens of the kingdom keep things simple…hunger and thirst after righteousness…the things of this world, money, things, power, position…the list goes on and on…this is me here…cloud me. If I don’t actively fight my own self to keep the Lord first…I quickly find myself rushed, frustrated, irritated, distracted and that list goes on and on too…
•To hunger and thirst for righteousness, you have to have a hunger…you have to not allow yourself to fill up on the junk food of this world. A beautiful meal can be prepared for you, healthy and scrumptious, but if you’ve been eating junk food for the last hour…you’ll skip it…and just like junk food complicates your physical health, worldly junk complicates your spiritual health…
•The fourth covenant is the Abrahamic Covenant…In this covenant, many things were promised but probably the one most known is that God promised Abraham that, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed…” Keep it simple, man…that blessing will come through you as well…first to your own family and then to many others…
•Jesus said in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy,” but He says of the scribes and Pharisees…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verses 23 – 24
•Notice here Jesus says that there are things that come before other things…mercy, justice and faith are weightier…they must come before sacrifice lest your sacrifice be hypocritical and eventually disdained in your own heart! Woe will set it…but mercy…man, mercy requires God in you…doesn’t it? Ever wanna choke someone but you getting right with the Lord!? HA!! That is a work of the Spirit…anyone can brag on their giving…anyone can feel good about themselves because they tithe their time…(which is not a real thing by the way), but to love mercy and seek justice and walk humbly with God…that is the weight of the Law.
•And the fifth covenant is the Palestinian Covenant found in Deuteronomy 30. This less known covenant basically promised a restored land in obedience but also ensured a scattering due to disobedience…like blowing on spice when it is spilled on the counter…God promised (more like revealed) that walking apart from Him would result in a scattered mess of a heart…woe…
•And Jesus said in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!” But to these He said…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verses 25 – 26
•Outward religion, purity of behavior and ritual, profits nothing but man, a pure heart…you will see God!! Go after the heart, not the habit! The habit can be fixed yet the heart can remain sick…but if the heart is filled with the love and truth of God then man the habits will fix themselves!
•The next covenant in the Bible is the Mosaic Covenant! Awesome! The law given to Moses that is and was a school master, a pointer to the fact that no man can keep the true standard of righteousness and that each man and woman is in need of a Savior…a heart fix…aligns so perfectly!! And I’ll remind you again…woe or blessed. Which will you take? Your choice!
•Jesus said in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God!” But to these religious jerks (oh I mean zealots) He said…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verses 27 – 28
•How do we know this is the case with a man or a woman? That their religious piety is outward alone and on the inside they are as dead as a doornail (whatever that means…)…we know this is the case when they are not peacemakers…wow!
•And the seventh covenant in the Bible is the Davidic Covenant…in that God promised through David an everlasting kingdom…and the fulfillment of that covenant is and was the coming of the Prince of Peace Himself…aligns so very perfectly! How do we become peacemakers? Learn from the Prince…
•And finally, Jesus closed the beatitudes by saying, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…” But to these He says…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verses 31 – 36
•Aligns perfectly doesn’t it…Jesus said that we won’t fit in this world…that the world will reject truth and true love…pointing people to the One and only God and His Word…but we ought to remember, they hated Him first…we are in good company and our home is coming…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
•The final covenant given in the Bible is the New Covenant…in which God takes away the things of the past and makes all things new…He desires to make in us a new creation…outside of this creation…something different, something more, something that fits not with this world but with Him in His kingdom…my how we fight and resist as we grow up in Him, do we not…?
•And Jesus brings His final public official broadcast to a close by saying…
Matthew Chapter 23 Verses 37 – 39
•You can hear it in His voice, can’t you? The heart-cry of Jesus in their lives, in my life, in your life is to take nothing from you but our woe…to protect you, to care for you, provide for you and even cherish you like a father does his children…This is not the desire of a prophet, or a spirit brother of Lucifer, or an angel…this is only the desire of a Savior…
•The issue is not God’s willingness to save and do all that you need and require, the issue is my willingness and your willingness to be saved…doesn’t seem to make sense does it…but the world, the flesh and the enemy are all quite formidable opponents…you must win…You cannot lose…woe and blessed…your choice.
Matthew 23 vs 13-39
Calvary Chapel Cherry Creek
May 7, 2017 • Pastor Matt Korniotes
Matthew 28 vs 1-20
August 27, 2017 • Pastor Matt Korniotes
Matthew Chapter 28 Verses 1 – 2 • Mark tells us that they were bringing spices to anoint the body, why? Because no doubt Jesus had been prepared for burial in a hurry due to the Passover and because of the quickly approaching Sabbath, and so they went to finish the job (if you will). But Mark also tells us that as they went, they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone?” They have a real problem in that statement! • It’s estimated that the stone used to seal the tomb weighed a couple tons! Certainly too big for the Mary’s to displace! I mean, I suppose they could have been body builders! Working that crossfit there in the temple gym…but even if they were buff, that boulder wasn’t budging! That’s not all though. Matthew told us in the last chapter that the tomb was sealed…so not only who is going to have the strength to move the stone, but who is going to have the insanity to break the seal!? That would mean certain condemnation by the Roman and the Jewish authorities (who by the way are definitely still there guarding the tomb! – I mean, this IS the third day!). • What’s my point? Crazy obstructions, disincentives, interference! But get this, they’re discussing it on their way! And note this, they’ve gathered spices…they’ve bought them…they’re invested…and they’ve risen early and they’re carrying those spices…they’re putting in work! This is the point that I’m getting to…we read the Word and we hear clearly the direction of God…often contrary to our reason and even our own expectations…BUT…that stone is not their responsibility. Neither is the seal…and neither is the Roman Guard…their only responsibility is to get to Jesus! • When we went through Mark I made this statement and I’m just as thrilled to make it again today, faith is often the denial of senses, sight and sentiment (emotions) for the sake of scripture! Every awesomely miraculous thing in your life or ministry or break through in your marriage or work or whatever will come with this kind of hope in faith…that in order to get to the Lord, man the path seems to be so very difficult…go…you may just find the rock rolled away, the seal removed and the guard passive and paralyzed…and perhaps even an angel waiting for you (then your only problem will be, “how do you talk to an angel!?” HA!) • One last thing here, never under estimate the importance and power of simply being there. The ministry of presence! Look at what God does just because these chose to be there!! So very important… Matthew Chapter 28 Verses 3 – 8 • One simple question I have for you. A question I love to ask and the answer I LOVE to teach…Who raised Jesus from the dead? God? Jesus Himself? The Holy Spirit? If you answered any of those then you know what? You’re right! The Holy and Eternal and Mysterious Trinity…the Godhead Three in One is expressed explicitly in the resurrection of Jesus Christ! • Want to see?… this is so cool! God raised Jesus from the dead! Acts Chapter 13 Verses 29 and 30 say, “Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead.” • Ok, hold that truth and look at this…Romans Chapter 8 Verses 10 and 11 say, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” So the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead! • Let’s complete the picture – because indeed the Bible is clear…Jesus raised Himself from the dead! John 2:19, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up!” And in John Chapter 10 verses 17 and 18 Jesus said, “My Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again!” • And so how is it that Jesus raised Himself, yet God raised Him, yet the Holy Spirit raised Him? Because indeed they are all One God! A clear and awesome testimony of the Trinity in the resurrection that I wanted to show to you! Mark it down, remember it! Matthew Chapter 28 Verses 9 – 10 • Notice these women immediately, their response to Jesus, seeing Him after He was dead and now is alive again…their response is to worship Him! That is it, man! Your response to meeting Jesus is not to now be right in every argument or to take up your sword and defend Him…that’s an un-risen Jesus! (Like Peter in the garden!) The natural response isn’t to harden or close down or whatever…the natural response if you’ve truly encountered Jesus ALIVE is WORSHIP! • And this is so cool…An hour ago they were walking in the thought that everything was lost…Jesus is dead…now they are filled with awe, joy and worship because they know everything is gained because Jesus is alive! • Continue the scene – watch this! Jesus receives their worship…and His response is legend! You’re with Me now…no more fear…Go, and tell My brethren! Never before, throughout all 28 chapters, had Jesus referred to His disciples as His brethren…they’d always been His children, His creation, His friends, His disciples…but now, because of what Jesus has done, we share in the very eternal inheritance of the Son of God…being hidden in Him…, (and what grace is this! You’d think they would expect rebuke!). One other cool revelation… • Back in Matthew Chapter 25 Jesus said in verse 40, “In that day the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” This statement by Jesus to these women…go and tell My brethren…the King has come and in that the Kingdom has come! Matthew Chapter 28 Verses 11 – 15 • So let me get this straight…while you were asleep, you saw the disciples come and steal the body? Hmmmm. Any of you remember what happened last night while you were asleep? Matthew Chapter 28 Verses 16 – 17 • Matthew doesn’t give us the account of Thomas in that Jesus welcomed him to physically experience the wound left from the spear that pierced through His heart and the punctures left from the nails in His hands…and so that could be what he is referring to here but the word in the Greek is interesting. Its distazo…this isn’t a doubt of unbelief necessarily but rather of unfamiliarity! • Thomas or even some of the other disciples felt distant (distazo) in a way…this was so different…this was so brand-new…the implications of the whole scene were intensely overwhelming! What does all of this mean? And so the disciples, even those closest to Jesus, in the midst of worship…listen it can feel distant that God has given His grace…it’s not deserved, you haven’t earned it, you can’t walk into worthiness for it…you just simply receive! Matthew Chapter 28 Verses 18 – 20 • All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth…such an anemic translation…look at the Greek in your own time…What Jesus says is what was due to Me has been delivered…Death has bowed, the Law has acknowledged, the enemy has been defeated and sin has surrendered…it is finished…therefore…go (you don’t need power or authority…I have all of that…your only responsibility…go) and make disciples. • How? How did Jesus make disciples? Baptizing them? He baptized no one…How did He make disciples then…? Loving them and teaching them the truth. Remember that disciples are made…they’re not spontaneous… And when you love His people like He loves them…well, that’s when I’m most catching up to Him…that’s when I see Him the most clearly…as He promised…I am with you always!
Matthew 27 vs 52-66
August 20, 2017 • Pastor Matt Korniotes
Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 51 – 53 • Certainly one of the strangest couple of statements in all of scripture. We don’t really know anything more about this event because no one else mentions it at all. Not any other Gospel, not Paul, not Jude (even in the midst of the creepy stuff he talks about)! So all we can do is take it at face value and move on. Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 54 – 61 • I love this squad, this cast of characters. First, we have Matthew talking about a totally spooky scene…that the dead somehow come out of the graves…and although the timing of that is at the resurrection (which hasn’t happened yet), that eerie account actually goes well with this squad. Why? Because the rough and hardened soldier, the centurion comes to life. He joins women like Mary Magdalene, the formerly demon-possessed woman who followed Jesus from Galilee. Joseph of Arimathea… • According to Luke Chapter 23 he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the group who called for Jesus’ crucifixion AND he was a very wealthy man…hold that thought. His buddy Nicodemus, confused and confrontational, conflicted and cowardly, coming to Jesus under the cover of night so as to not be discovered in John Chapter 3…Jesus had repaired all of them! • Restored them all, settled all of them and in that peace and power, they are now all one association. It is amazing, simply amazing, that the power of the touch of Jesus on a heart will always manifest itself in people of all different types, backgrounds and bents becoming family. Gentile killer (the centurion), demon-possessed prostitute (Mary Magdalene), harsh religious elitist (Joseph of Arimathea) and even the fearful (Nicodemus)… • The body of Christ, like the body of Christ actually being the body, should be unifying! Look at this cast of characters! Proverbs 6 talks about things the Lord hates and among the list is one who sows discord among brethren. Do you think a week before the cross Joseph of Arimathea would have been anywhere near Mary Magdalene? But now they are rallied around what Jesus has done! • Divisiveness, negativity, ill will, insult and all the like is not permissible within the body of Christ. That’s just all there is to it. But know this…it is SO easy. You know what’s hard? Unifying…gluing…bringing crazy different freaky and fault-ful people together…but here’s the shocker, each of you has the ability, capability and power to do it…what you lack is the worship! • Here’s your task, starting tomorrow because I can bet that many can’t start today…because it’s already happened…but do this tomorrow…say nothing negative, nothing…, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Oh church, have we forgotten that commandment? That love thy neighbor thing, yea I really meant that! HA!) And at the end of the day, put a little mark somewhere, perhaps on your fridge to show you did it…and then do it the next day and the next…in no time at all you know what will change drastically? YOU! • Your attitude, your mood, your mannerisms, your heart, man…if you’re not imparting grace then you are DEPARTING it when you divide the body…and division of the body begins in the abundance of our dark hearts and our mouths simply sell us out! • A story is told of a couple in marriage counseling and after months of session after session they just were getting nowhere…they just couldn’t see past each other’s shortcomings. It was so seemingly hopeless that they were heading for a split. And so the pastor told them look, one last thing to try, for the next 2 weeks I want you both to complement each other every day and for the next 2 weeks I want you to not say anything negative in front of or about each other. • Sincerely do this…they agreed and he sent them away…they never returned…they killed each other…HA! NO just kidding…they never returned to counseling! Their hearts slowly changed…healed…got back in line with the heart of God who said “Father, forgive them! They are SO in sin but they are SO in need!” Their hearts changed, their faces changed, their affections changed…and it all began with attacking their own divisive hearts! If you are divisive, defensive, negative, critical and condescending…that ain’t Jesus in you…He brings all kinds of creeps into communication and companionship and complete peace!! • Back to the scene. Jesus is buried and He is buried by Josepth of Arimathea, a rich man. Can you be wealthy and be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Absolutely! And here’s the thing…this guy wasn’t just wealthy, he was crazy rich! He had a tomb carved out of the side of a mountain! I mean, talk about a non-essential! BUT, notice when it came to the Lord, he gave it to Jesus! If you have a lot, if you are wealthy, is that a good thing? Well, is it yours or is it His? Ultimately rich or poor, a lot or a little, no difference to the Lord…I mean come on…you’re either filthy rich or dirt poor, HA! Pretty much the same thing…but do you honor the Lord with what you have…that’s the real question. Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 62 – 63 • Isn’t that just interesting!? Back in Chapter 26, the false accusations against Jesus, one of them was that He would destroy the temple of God and build it again in three days…and they all looked at Him sideways and ridiculed Him…well here it is…they knew the whole time what He was saying. Isn’t that just interesting…folks can hear, they can even understand, but the truth is, they choose not to believe Jesus…is that your heart towards Jesus? To you, is He just a deceiver!? WOW… • And notice this…look at their statement to Pilate…, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive…” What does that mean? He is dead. That’s important because there are numerous heretical thoughts out there including what’s called the “Swoon Theory” that ultimately attempt to explain away the resurrection…but listen, without the resurrection then all is lost…and the truth of the account is that even the enemies of Jesus admitted, stated, witnessed Him dead… • A funny letter was written to a Christian Magazine on this topic…Dear Eutychus: Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered • Dear Bewildered: Beat your preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross; hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his heart; embalm him; put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens. Sincerely, Eutychus. HA!! Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 64 • They’re not afraid of the disciples! They had all scattered. They’re not afraid of the body of Jesus being stolen! If the body was stolen and the disciples began to proclaim that He had risen from the dead, what are they going to do? Prop Him up with strings Weekend at Bernie style!? Leave Him hidden!? No one would believe them! • He is risen? Where is He then? What they were really afraid of is what if Jesus is the Truth!? They were really afraid of Him doing exactly what He said He would do…and that fear…which is still prevalent today…there is no quenching it…seal all you want…guard all you want…If Jesus is the Savior then there’s nothing that can stop Him from fulfilling His Word! Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 65 – 66 • This isn’t Pilate sending them away empty handed…this is him giving them a guard…they did have a way to guard the tomb themselves and they wouldn’t need permission for that…they wanted a Roman guard…the threat of death…and they got it…which, in the end, served to only make that much more certain that God raised Himself from the grave! The tomb was so well guarded that it can be certain that the body wasn’t simply stolen…way to go chief priests…thank you! HA! • And I love this…the stone speaks of a material obstacle…the seal speaks of a personal obstacle…the guard speaks of a societal, governmental obstacle…but nothing, nothing can contain or constrict the power of the Lord!
Matthew 27 vs 45-51
August 13, 2017 • Pastor Matt Korniotes
Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 45 – 46 • We know from Mark Chapter 15 that Jesus was crucified around 9am. The sixth hour would be noon and so in total, Jesus was on the cross for 6 hours, from 9am to 3pm. Now, from 12pm noon (the sixth hour) to 3pm (the ninth hour) there was darkness over all the land. The word in the Greek for “darkenss” is skotos and it means darkness of night or darkness of sight. This is interesting…I’ve said this before and I continue to find this to be even more true Bible study time after Bible study time again…I think we, I, us, men, women, in totality have only begun to see and understand what happened at the cross of Calvary. • Hold the thought of darkness of blindness just for a moment…for three hours, the earth, in the Greek – the entire earth – lay under complete, spiritual and physical blindness…and at the ninth hour (3pm), Jesus cries out with a loud voice, “My God, My God.” Never before had He referred to the Father as “My God.” It was always, “Abba,” or Father…Daddy…but here, in this thickness of darkness, Jesus erupts…after three hours of silence…three hours of darkness…a voice is heard of a Son that is lost. What on earth happened? What in heaven happened? • John Chapter 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In the arche the beginning without beginning…the infinite, the eternal now…always was…always was this way…the Word, the Logos, the Word that became flesh, Jesus the Son was with God, God the Father and the Word WAS God. Somehow One. Somehow there is and was distinction of Personhood and yet at the same time, Oneness of unity. Always was this way, from the beginning without beginning. • And the Word, still in perfect unity with the Father, became flesh and dwelt among men. Perfect Son and Perfect Father in Perfect Oneness just as had been ever since ever…but Jesus had a job to do. For the Father so loved the world that He sent His only Son to secure for His creation, salvation unto eternal life. To lead the coup against sin, man’s ever present patriarch and to overthrow the power of sin, the right and reign of sin….which is death. • 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that this Perfect Son, this Jesus the Christ of creation, “For our sake He who knew no sin was made to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And so the weight, the whole, the consummation, the complete kingdom of sin was present at the cross as Jesus faced the penalty of sin…death…and yet was without sin Himself. The substance of sin met face to face with the glory of God, (check this out, man) hidden from the eyes of man as darkness was upon the earth and as Jesus accepted the penalty of sin, in that acceptance, He accepted the responsibly, the liability, the culpability, the ownership for every sin as well…He who knew no sin, became sin. • And He cries out for the first time in all of eternity, never before anything like this from the arche and never again will there ever be…He cries out in the greatest of loss…, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” What happened? Jesus was forsaken. Why? Psalm 22, begins with this prophetic proclamation, and goes on to say, “It is because You are holy,” and Habakkuk 1:13 and Isaiah 59:1 both announce, “You of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” • Darkness fell upon all the earth. Blindness. Here is a depth of glimpse perhaps further today than before at that cross on the hillside. All men forsook Him. All men, all women, all creation, all the earth, covered with darkness of blindness. Jesus disappeared, He became nothing to all of creation…and for a moment in time, as sin charged the very heart of the Savior and the confrontational convergence caused even the earth to quake, the Father in complete and undefiled holiness, withdrew Himself from His Son and Jesus became nothing to all of heaven and nothing to His Father. Never before and never will there be someone so alone in all of eternity…and Jesus is broken. Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 47 – 50 • Jesus made seven statements while on the cross. “Father forgive them, for they know now what they do.” “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” “Woman, behold your son! Behold your mother.” “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” “I thirst.” “It is finished!” “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” • Matthew gives us only one statement and its crazy, some of those who stood there thought He was calling for Elijah!? What He did was quote Psalm 22. What He said was Eloi Eloi, not Elijah, Elijah…but some standing by never get past one word…I mean He said, “Why have You forsaken Me?” Not, “Come to save Me!” So they get the message all wrong. They miss the meaning completely. They miss everything really! • Maybe for some but not for me and man I pray not for you either, this simply will not do. There are so many talking heads out there and especially in the “church” that have position or power or some sort of jurisdictional force because of their name and I respect that, they’ve been running this race, but one word from Jesus? Half heard. Can’t do it man. I’m going in. I am going in to see Jesus, myself. And here’s the thing…the dangerous thing in that…I’ve got to have the non-stupidity to do it comprehensively and thoroughly. • God help our younger generations and any folks for that matter who have been disenchanted with the church or organized fellowship and so they take it upon themselves to doctrinally go it alone…WAY MORE WORK…no direction, guidance, authority or corrector in their lives? They have to put in work or they will be tossed around by all sorts of half truths and junk theology…and end up graceless…most likely towards the Body of Christ…no NEED to say, “Father forgive them…” • Many end up holiless! (New word!) Their lives won’t resemble paradise as promised by Jesus in John 10, caring for themselves intensely because man they’re just always trying to recover…feeling forsaken at times…thirsting…and never coming to the peace that is there when sin is finished and living in the constant spiritual presence of God because you’re actually like Jesus but, “oh man that’s just legalism,”…that statement is a mess…one word won’t do…I’m going in…I’m going thoroughly after every word! • And you know what I’ve found? That love does win. Love is everything and all of God. And I’ve found that THAT love is only found in relationship…a relationship that I have a part in and my part is humility and brokenness. Believing from WITHIN Jesus. • So are the reformed folks right? No. Are the legalists right? No. Are the bad pastors and bad churches right? No. Are the good churches and good pastors right? No. There is no one right, not one upon this earth. Jesus alone is right. But love is His way. Forsaking of Himself is His path and passage. Love and courage and honesty and humility is His and the truth. And believing from within Him, thoroughly going in is where there is life! So many live and stake their claim on one word…just like these around Jesus…but you heard wrong… Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 51 • Can you imagine the priests and the people in the temple that day? No one could see or go behind the veil or they’d be goners…only once a year could the high priest go alone and that was a gamble! Now the veil rips and they are essentially in! There is no room separation anymore! They see it all! Terror must have flooded their hearts…then after a moment or two…, “Hey, we’re not dead!” And perhaps a few moments later…well, there’s really no reason now for the high priest to do his thing again…we’re all in now…It’s like it’s finished…the covering of sin…the lawful appeasing of God year after year…what now then? • Everything else pauses, all talking heads muted, time for everything to stop…no more figuring out, no more condemnation of self, no more exaltation of self, no more darkness, no more thirst, no more trying to recover, no more feeling forsaken…press stop on all that noise…it’s all finished because of Jesus…and you, you’re welcomed, acceptable, adequate, admissible…so…go in. You’re world may shake and the rocks you’ve set up as foundational stones may split…so be it…that’s a good thing…what if you heard wrong? • In a moment, on the cross, God the Father went from Dad (Abba) to God for Jesus so that for all of eternity, He could go from God to Abba (Dad/Father) for you…