WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:03.919 Good Friday invites us to slow down. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:09.199 It invites us to pause and stand at the foot of the cross. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:15.119 Not to rush past it, not to soften it, but to see clearly. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:21.280 In these verses, we are told that we are not just told that Jesus died. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:24.079 We are shown what his death means. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:31.199 This scene of Jesus on the cross, it's heavy, it's dark, and it's sacred. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:36.240 And if we listen carefully, we'll hear what God is telling us through it. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:42.399 Now let's walk through this passage together and consider three different movements. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:51.119 First, the darkness, second, the death of Jesus, and third, the response that it all merits. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:01:00.640 So Matthew tells us in verse 45 that from noon until about three in the afternoon, darkness came over all the land. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:05.599 Now, this is not a passing cloud or some kind of natural eclipse. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:06.959 This is a sign. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:11.920 In Scripture, darkness often signals judgment. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:18.719 The kind of judgment seen in the plagues of Egypt or the kind of darkness that the prophets spoke of. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:24.079 But here, the darkness is not falling on Egypt or Babylon. 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:26.239 It's falling on Calvary. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.959 And at the center of that darkness hangs Jesus. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:36.719 And we hear his cry, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:49.599 These words, which Jesus quotes directly from Psalm 22, reveal the mental and the spiritual torment of the cup Jesus accepted when he was in Gethsemane. 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:58.879 Notice here how Jesus, for the first time in Matthew's gospel, he doesn't refer to God as his father. 00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:06.400 This is because the relationship that Jesus had always known with his father, it was now broken. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:17.840 To give his life as a ransom for many for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus must for the moment be separated from his father. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:20.800 This is the cost of sin. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.520 We often treat sin lightly. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.120 We rename it, excuse it, we manage it. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.479 But here at the cross, we see the true reality of what sin does. 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:37.919 It brings darkness, it brings separation, and it brings suffering. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.240 And Jesus, he steps into this darkness for us. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:47.680 Jesus isn't crying out because of his own guilt, because he has none. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:52.000 He's crying out because he has taken our guilt upon himself. 00:02:53.039 --> 00:03:02.639 Now, as we move on in the story, Matthew tells us that Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.599 At this moment, Jesus died. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.120 But notice the language that's used here. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.000 He yielded up his spirit. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:17.199 Jesus' death was not noble or peaceful. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.199 Jesus didn't simply fade away quietly. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:25.759 Instead, Jesus was in full possession of his senses. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:27.360 He was in full control. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.439 And this is how we know that this was a willing sacrifice. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:38.800 And then at that very moment, at the moment of Jesus' death, something extraordinary happens. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.840 The curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:53.360 And this is the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies, the place where God's presence dwelled from the rest of the people. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:04:00.800 Only the high priest could enter, and only once a year, and only with the sacrificial blood. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.879 But now the curtain is torn. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:08.400 And notice how the curtain was torn from the top to the bottom. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.159 God is so clearly the one doing the work here. 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:15.759 And this isn't just a dramatic detail. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.319 This isn't something that's just glossed over. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:25.600 No, instead, this is a declaration that the barrier between God and humanity has been removed. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.680 Access to the Father has been opened. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:36.639 And at the same time, the earth shakes, the rocks split, and tombs are opened. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.279 Even creation responds to Jesus' death in this moment. 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:47.839 The death of Jesus, it's not a quiet moment that's tucked away in history. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.759 It's a cosmic event. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.720 Everything has been affected. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:59.040 The cross, even in this moment, it's not defeat. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:04.160 It may look like weakness, but it is the power of God at work. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.360 It is where justice and mercy meet. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:12.000 It is where sin is paid for and grace is made available to us. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:18.639 Because of the cross, we no longer approach God through rituals or through intermediaries. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:20.639 We come through Christ. 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:23.040 The way is open. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.959 And now we turn in the story to the people watching. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:33.439 We have a Roman centurion, a hardened soldier who would have spent his whole life fighting for Rome. 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:36.480 And he's likely accustomed to executions. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.040 This isn't the first one that he's seen. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:53.439 And he sees everything that has just happened: the darkness, the earthquake, the way in which Jesus died, and he responds with a confession: truly, this was the Son of God. 00:05:53.920 --> 00:06:03.360 And this is truly remarkable that a Gentile, an outsider, recognizes what many insiders refused to see. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:10.319 And at the same time, we're told about the women who were there, watching from a distance. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:13.839 These are faithful followers. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.480 They had not abandoned Jesus. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.600 They stayed and they witnessed. 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:25.680 In every direction, people were responding to the cross in different ways. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:32.879 Some mocked, some misunderstood, some confessed, and some remained faithful. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.000 And that is still true for us today. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:42.480 The cross on Good Friday, it confronts each and every one of us. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.560 It does not allow neutrality. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:51.439 You cannot simply observe it as history or admire it as a symbol. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:54.079 It calls for a response. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.240 Will you dismiss it? 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:06.639 Or will you confess like the centurion that Jesus is in fact the Son of God and stand like the women as faithful witnesses to what has happened? 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:12.959 Good Friday, it's not just remembering that Jesus died. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:17.839 It's not just looking back and seeing a death that happened in history. 00:07:18.079 --> 00:07:22.319 It's about understanding why he died and what it means. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.199 In the darkness that day, we see the weight of sin. 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:33.040 In Jesus' death, we see the way to God opened. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.720 And in the witness, we see the call to respond. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:43.120 So the question isn't simply what happened at the cross. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:48.160 The question on Good Friday is this what will you do with it? 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:54.959 Today we stand at the foot of the cross, and it truly changes everything. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:56.319 Amen.