RESPONDING TO THE SPECTACLE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 6, 2022 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: April 6, 2022 from Luke 23:44-49

Theme: The death of the Son of God on earth is a spectacle to which all must respond.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning, we look at a very sacred passage. Thus far in his Gospel, Luke has only written of the events that involved our Lord’s crucifixion. But the main event of the crucifixion was our Lord’s death. The cross was significant because the Son of God died upon it for us. And so now, we come to the passage in which Luke tells us specifically about our Lord’s death.

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The words that Luke uses to describe our Lord’s death are found in only one verse—in Luke 23:46. It says; “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, “into Your hands I commit My spirit.”’ Having said this, He breathed His last.”

Most translations of the Bible treat Jesus’ words as if they were spoken as originating from Himself. But at least two translations—the New American Standard translation and the New King James Version—set them off as if the Lord was quoting someone else. This would be because the Lord was quoting from King David in Psalm 31. That’s a psalm that David wrote at a time when he was surrounded by those who sought to destroy him. He put his trust in the Lord to rescue him; and in verse 5, he declared, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.”

When the Lord Jesus quoted those words from David, He only quoted the first part of that verse. He left out the second part that speaks of David’s redemption. That was because our Lord was not crying out for His own redemption. He was committing Himself to bear our sins, suffer the wrath of God on our behalf, and die for our redemption.

His death on the cross for us would have been a stunning thing to behold. He uttered these words from Psalm 31:5—not as a man who was too weak to speak anything more than a whisper—but as a man who cried out with a loud voice. All would have been startled to hear it. And then, as everyone heard those words shouted loudly from Him—and as they remembered the Old Testament passage from which those words came—they would have been stunned to see Him suddenly breathe His last breath and die. He didn’t die on the cross as they had seen so many others die—with the life slowly and agonizingly leaking out of them. Instead, He died as Someone who seemed to have control over that death—as Someone who gave His life willingly and voluntarily—as the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep (John 10:11).

If you were to look in verse 48, you would see that His death was called a “sight”. But the English Standard Version and the New American Standard translation captured the intention of that word best when they translated it as “spectacle”. A ‘spectacle’ is a visually striking display of some kind—an event that’s visual impact would remain with you for a long time, and that would cause you to think often about what you saw. And in this passage from Luke—in which the death of Jesus is set before us—is truly the greatest of all spectacles. Luke tells us;

Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!” And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things (Luke 23:44-49).

In this passage, we see five responses to the great ‘spectacle’ of our Lord’s death for us. Together, they show us that the death of the Son of God on earth is a spectacle to which all must respond.

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First, Luke shows us …

1. HOW THE HEAVENS RESPONDED (vv. 44-45a).

Luke tells us that our Lord died in the midst of a remarkable phenomenon. He tells us in verse 44, “Now it was about the sixth hour …” That would have been the sixth hour of daylight. And then Luke tells us, “and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.” This would have meant that there was normal daylight across the land for much of the time that the Lord hung upon the cross. But from noon to three in the afternoon—at a time when the sunlight would have been the brightest—there was a strange darkness upon the land. Verse 45 tells us, “Then the sun was darkened …” Other translations have it that the sun “failed”.

How far did this darkness extend? In the original language, it can be translated as “upon the whole land”; and because in Luke 21:23, the ‘land’ is speaking of the Holy land of Israel; that’s probably how we are meant to understand this. All across the whole of the land of the Jewish people—as their Messiah was dying upon a cross—there was darkness. And what was the cause of it? Was it a natural eclipse of the sun, as some have suggested? Most likely not. A natural eclipse would not have lasted for that long. Those eclipses of the sun last for—at the most—less than a minute. And besides; this would have been at Passover, when the moon would have been full—and the moon cannot obscure the sun and be full at the same time. Perhaps the only way we can understand this is as a miraculous act of God.

But what would it signify? In Scripture, the darkening of the sun is a sign of judgment from God. In Amos 8:9, we read that—in warning of a time of judgment—God told His people;

“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,

“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in broad daylight …” (Amos 8:9).

But this was a time in which God’s Son was bearing our guilt for us. Could this be a way of showing us that as Jesus bore the curse of our sin for us, the Father had to turn His face away from Him? The Gospels of Matthew and Mark tell us that it was at the time when this darkness came that Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Could it be that God the Father cast a dark veil over this scene as His righteous Son died in our place?—and that the very heavens responded with darkness to hide it from sight until Jesus’ atoning death for us was completed?

And then, we’re told of another remarkable phenomenon … as if to show us …

2. HOW THE HOLY PLACE OF THE TEMPLE RESPONDED (v. 45b).

Luke went on to tell us, in verse 45, “and the veil of the temple was torn in two.” Luke tells us about this before he tells us about Jesus’ cry of committal to the Father. But the other Gospels—especially Matthew’s Gospel—tell us plainly that it occurred after our Lord died—and also as the earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:37-38).

What veil was this? It wasn’t—as some have suggested—a veil that hung over the entrance to the temple itself. Rather, it was the veil that was within the temple—the veil that separated the Holy Place inside from the Holy of Holies. It was the veil that separated the most holy meeting place of God from all the rest of the earth. No one could enter beyond that veil except the high priest once a year—on the day of atonement; and only with the offering of much sacrificial blood (see Hebrews 9:6-7). And when Jesus died, that most holy place ‘responded’ by the veil of the temple being torn in two. It wasn’t by the hand of man that this occurred—as if from the bottom up. Rather, as we’re told in Matthew 27:51, it was “from top to bottom”—as if by the hand of God Himself.

And why would this have happened? It would have been because Jesus—in His death—completely removed the barrier of our sin, so that now we can be welcomed by faith into the holy presence of God. As the writer of Hebrews puts it in Hebrews 10:19-22;

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Next, we’re told of …

3. HOW THE CENTURION RESPONDED (vv. 46-47).

The centurion was a rock-hard military man. He was responsible for 100 Roman soldiers; and he was entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the execution of the three men on the three crosses. But he—just like one of the men who were crucified next to the Lord—must have been paying careful attention to the things that Jesus had been saying as He hung on the cross. This centurion had, no doubt, seen many men die on many crosses. Most men cry, and whimper, and curse and swear, and gasp desperately for breath, and grow fainter and fainter and quieter and quieter, as they hung dying. But not this Man Jesus. He prayed for His executioners. He spoke salvation to the man who was hanging next to Him. And when he heard Jesus cry out with a loud voice as we read in verse 46, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit”—and then, give up His own spirit and suddenly die—he had seen Jesus die in a way that he’d never seen another man die before. Luke tells us in verse 47, “So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous Man!’” Think of it! The centurion responded to the spectacle of Jesus’ death by worshiping God and affirming Jesus’ righteousness.

Those words weren’t the only words that the centurion spoke. Matthew 27:54 tells us that he said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”; and Mark 15:39 tells us that he said it in a very specific way; “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” He uttered the words of testimony upon which our Lord said that He Himself would build His church (Matthew 16:16-18). Even the tough Roman declared the truth as he responded to this spectacle!

Luke goes on to tell us …

4. HOW THE MOCKING CROWDS RESPONDED (v. 48).

It hadn’t been long before this that the crowds were shouting out words of scorn and ridicule against Jesus. Matthew 27:39-40 tells us that they were saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Verses 41-42 tell us that the chief priests and scribes and elders were saying similar things: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

But now—at the spectacle of His death—we find that Luke tells us in verse 48, “And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.” They weren’t mocking anymore. They had seen something so stunning—a spectacle so remarkable—that they beat their own breasts in sorrow and remorse. It’s worth noting that, when Peter later preached to this crowd a few weeks later at Pentecost, three thousand believed on Jesus. Later on, in another sermon, another two thousand believed in the temple. And soon we’re told—in Acts 6:7—that “the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.” Clearly, they had been impacted by what they saw. Clearly the Holy Spirit was at work in them because of it.

What is this response—this beating of the breast—meant to tell us? Perhaps it’s a picture of a promise that God has made about the Jewish people as a whole. Zechariah 12:10 speaks of the second coming of our Lord to His Jewish people; and it says;

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (Zechariah 12:10).

And finally—after the heavens, after the temple, after the Roman soldier, and after the mocking crowds—verse 49 tells us …

5. HOW THOSE CLOSEST TO JESUS RESPONDED (v. 49).

Luke writes, “But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.” We’re not told specifically who “His acquaintances” were. But the other gospels tell us of the women. In Matthew 27:55-56, we’re told;

And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons (Matthew 27:55-56).

To these names Mark adds “many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem” (Mark 15:40-41). They may have stood at a distance because of the fear of the authorities. But they followed because they were devoted to Jesus. And as a result, they were able to serve as eyewitnesses to the things that happened. And it may be that it’s because of their testimony that we know the truth of these things that have become so essential to our faith. Perhaps many of the details that we have in the Scriptures about Jesus’ death is the result of their response.

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These all beheld this great spectacle. And they couldn’t help but respond in some way. A response cannot help but be given to the spectacle of the Son of God dying on earth for sinners upon a cross.

What will our response be? Let it be that we love Him and trust Him as our Savior.

AE