Pastor Grant Brown's sermon on 'The Crucifixion (Part 2)' focuses on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies through the crucifixion of Jesus. He highlights significant events such as Jesus being brought to Golgotha, the darkness that fell over the land, and the tearing of the temple veil. Brown explains that these events symbolize the fulfillment of messianic prophecies from Genesis, Isaiah, and Psalms. He draws parallels between the crucifixion and the Passover, emphasizing Jesus as the final Passover lamb. The sermon underscores the Abrahamic covenant and the promise to bless all nations through Jesus, with the Roman centurion's declaration serving as a pivotal moment recognizing Jesus as the Son of God. Furthermore, Brown stresses the importance of understanding the gravity of sin and the necessity of Jesus as the Savior who bore the wrath of God, offering eternal salvation to believers.

Mark chapter 15 beginning in verse 22 and We will read all the way through verse 39. And I would ask the congregation to now stand as we hear the word of God. Beginning in verse 22, Then they brought him, that is Jesus, to the place called Gotham, which is translated place of a skull. They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided up his garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take.

It was the third hour when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, The King of the Jews. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and he was numbered with transgressors. Those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, ha!

You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. In the same way, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking him among themselves and saying, he saved others. He cannot save himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross so that we may see and believe those who were crucified with him are also insulting him. When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, Lama, Subahphany, which is translated, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, Behold, he is calling for Elijah. Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink saying, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who was standing right in front of him saw the way he breathed his last, he said, truly, this man was the son of God.

May God bless the reading of his perfect word. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Well, last week we began the first part of this two-part sermon centered around the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And we noticed that leading up to this moment, that the Lord Jesus has stood before two of the highest authorities in the land. Who were they? The high priest, the highest spiritual authority in Israel, and Pilate, the highest civil authority among the Jew and Gentile. And in both cases, what happens when Jesus is brought before these men? The Lord Jesus is brought before the high priest.

And the high priest asks Jesus, are you the Christ, the Son of God? What does Jesus say? I am. And then again, Jesus before Pontius Pilate, and Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? And Jesus once again says yes.

From the high priest to Pilate, from one authority to another, they're all asking the question here at the end of Mark that Mark has asked at the beginning of Mark. Is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God? Is Jesus who he says he is? Who is Jesus? And in case you haven't seen it yet, in case you haven't heard it yet, here at the end, Mark turns up the volume here at the crucifixion.

Who is Jesus? The answer is blasted all over this passage. It should be clear by the end of this chapter, so clear that even the pagans will have to agree that Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus really is who he says he is. Jesus really is who Mark says he is at the beginning of the Gospel.

So who do you say Jesus is? Children, young people, friends, who do you say that Jesus is? Let me exhort you. Let Mark tell you. Let the scriptures tell you.

Let the Roman centurion tell you and then repent and believe. We saw last week that Jesus checked every messianic box that the promised one, the Christ, was supposed to check. We noticed first that the prophecies of Christ were fulfilled. The text tells us that the Roman soldiers brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, the place of the skull, and why was that significant? Well that was significant because the first mention of the gospel in all the Bible is found where?

Genesis chapter 3 Where the promised Christ would come and he would crush the head the skull of the serpent and here is Jesus at the cross, at the place of a skull crushing Satan's head on the cross. Here is Jesus brought outside the camp as Leviticus 16 said would be, as Leviticus 16 said would be what the Christ would have to go through, just as the scapegoat was brought outside the camp in Leviticus 16, so the Christ would be brought outside the camp, and sin would be dealt with there. Here on this hill is Jesus crucified and His garments are divided up among the soldiers who cast lots for what each man should take, just exactly as Psalm 22 said they would do to the promised Christ. Here is Jesus on the cross with a placard over his head that read in three languages, the king of the Jews, so that everyone, no matter ethnicity, no matter what language, would be able to read here is the Christ. Here is Jesus crucified between two robbers, just as Isaiah 53 verse 12 said that whoever the Christ to come would be, whoever that Christ was, he would be nailed, he would be placed between two transgressors, between the transgressors.

Here is Jesus fulfilling Isaiah 53. Here is Jesus on the cross being mocked and scorned just as Psalm 22 prophesied the Christ would be. So that even in all the mockery, those wicked people hurling abuse at Jesus, they were actually giving credence and testifying to the truth itself that this Jesus the Christ really is the Christ. And this Jesus really is who he says he is. This Jesus really is the one promised from the beginning Because The promise was in prophecy after prophecy after prophecy that the Christ would be treated in this exact way.

Here is Jesus on that hill at the end plundering Satan's kingdom as he rescues even one of the robbers crucified next to him. Here is Jesus even in the midst of mockery and abuse, choosing not to save himself so that in dying he would save the world. Here is Jesus on the cross refusing the wine and the myrrh. He made a promise to his disciples that he would not drink wine again until he drank it new in his kingdom. He refused the murder, Jesus refused the time of it all.

He would suffer the wrath of God to the fullest degree just as Isaiah 53 promised that Christ would do. Just as a brief overview of what we did last Lord's Day, here in Jesus, this Jesus really is the promised Christ. He fulfills all messianic prophecy. Prophecy after Prophecy after prophecy throughout the Holy Scriptures here is who the Christ will be here is what the Christ will do And all of it all of it to a tee fulfilled by Jesus Who is Jesus Jesus is who Mark said he was in the very first sentence of this book. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Jesus is the one who refused the cup of wine mixed with myrrh and took a different cup to drink, the cup of God's wrath. This Jesus the Christ would drink to the dregs, the wrath of God for all the elect and this his world. Christ Jesus would drink the cup of iniquity, the cup of cursing, so that you and I, so that everyone who would believe upon him, would not perish, would not be condemned, but be saved and given a cup of blessing forever in exchange. And so it's to that cup that Jesus did drink on his cross that we now turn. We now turn to the cup that he spoke of in Mark chapter 10 verse 38, the cup of God's wrath towards the elect, poured out, satisfied on this Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.

He drank that cup to the dregs. He died in the place of sinners. He loved you. He gave Himself for you, Christian. I want you to see what all of that means this morning.

So to that end let us examine verses 33 to 38, the death of the Christ. I want you to see it, beloved. I want you to see it. The death of the Christ, this too was promised in the Old Testament. Genesis chapter 3, Isaiah 53, Zechariah chapter 12, Psalm 16, Psalm 22, and several others.

They promised, they pointed to the death of the Christ. And so especially here, we once again have a fulfillment, a great fulfillment of messianic prophecy in the death of the Christ. And so point one is like explained in point two. Earlier on in our passage In verse 25, if you look there, we were told that it was the third hour when they, Roman soldiers, crucified Jesus. The third hour would have been 9 a.m.

As we know time today, 9 AM. All right? Verse 33 tells us what? That when the sixth hour had come, the darkness came. The sixth hour.

That'd be three hours later. That'd be noon, 12 PM, midday. When noon had come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 3 PM. So from 9 AM to noon, the scriptures were fulfilled. That was point one.

Prophetic fulfillment. The prophecies of the Christ pertaining to his suffering prior to his death, fulfilled. Physical agony, Jesus enduring the agony of being scourged and then nailed to a cross and abused by mockers, his garments divided up among them. From nine to noon, it was Jesus refusing to take murder, to numb the pain, all of that. And yet as agonizing as all of that was, scourging, being nailed to a cross, slowly suffocating, bleeding out, As agonizing as this physical torment, an emotional torment, was for Jesus, it was but a candle compared to the blaze that happens between noon and three.

Between noon and three, between verses 33 and 38, darkness, Darkness covers the land for three hours. Three hours? This isn't some solar eclipse that just lasts a few minutes. This is a supernatural darkness, a God pouring out his wrath kind of setting. For three hours in the middle of the day, darkness is covering the whole land.

Mark gives you this time stamp so that you see just how unusual, just how supernatural this event is. From noon to three, when the sun should be highest in the sky, darkness pervades. What's darkness? Why darkness? What should you think of when you think of darkness?

You know, without a doubt, you should be thinking of judgment. Time and time again in the prophets, darkness is a symbol of God's what? Judgment. Isaiah chapter 5, Isaiah chapter 9, Amos 5, Micah 3, Zephaniah chapter 1. I mean, the list goes on.

Prophet after prophet used the language of darkness to convey judgment. Jesus used it in Mark 13. Judgment. What was one of the judgments upon Egypt when God brought the plagues? You remember?

Exodus chapter 10, verses 21 through 23. Moses stretched out his hands as God had instructed him and God brought darkness upon the land. A darkness that Moses said was so dark, could be felt. It's palpable. That's a darkness.

I tried this at home. I turned the light off. I couldn't feel it. But Moses said, that's what it was, a pervasive darkness. How long did this thick darkness last?

You know how long it lasted in Moses' day? Three days. Three days of judgment. And now, interestingly, here in Mark, are three hours of judgment upon Golgotha. But beloved, what happened in Egypt after the darkness?

What happened after the darkness in Egypt? Remember? The Passover happened. The Passover happened. The judgment of death upon all the firstborn happened.

And now here is Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, being put to death so that sinners like you and like me are given life. What have we kept coming back to in this section of Mark? Since Mark 14, I've been talking to you about what? The Passover. The judgment of God being poured out, but those covered by the blood are saved.

That's the Passover. And that's what's going on here. Here's Jesus, the final Passover lamb, slain for sinners so that those washed by his blood would be saved from the wrath of God and set free forever. I want you to see the similarities between these texts. In the book of Exodus, darkness happens.

And then God meters out judgment of death upon the Egyptians. And then what happened in Egypt? After the judgment upon Egypt, the people were set free from their bondage. Got it? Darkness, judgment, set free.

And now here's Jesus enduring the darkness, enduring the judgment of God for sin on the cross so that his people will be set free from their greater bondage to sin, from a bondage that made slavery and Egypt look good in comparison. That's what Jesus, who endured the darkness, who endured the judgment of death. That's what Jesus did for his people as he set them free through his blood. The darkness in this passage is over the whole land, just like in Exodus. It's the judgment of God the Father, due to your sin, Christian, that is being poured out on God the Son.

And it's dark. It's really dark. Friends, I wonder, I wonder this morning, do you realize the darkness of your sin? Do you realize just how great your sin really is? Do you realize the severity of your iniquity before the thrice holy God?

Do you? Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Guilty! Who's guilty? You are!

You who worship the God of self, the God of mammon, the God of sex, the God of the mirror, guilty. Thou shalt not make any graven image, no idolatry, guilty. You. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Guilty.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Guilty. Honor your father and mother, children and adults. Guilty. Thou shalt not murder, even in your heart, guilty.

Thou shalt not commit adultery, on the screen, and in the bedroom, and in your heart, lost, guilty. Thou shalt not steal, guilty. God's talking about you. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not lie.

Guilty. And thou shalt not covet. Guilty. That's the summary of God's law. And on every point, on every point, you are Guilty of high treason, of high rebellion against your Creator.

Against the one who formed you in your mother's womb, You've sinned against the one who gives you the very breath and the very brain and the very muscles that you have been used to break his perfect law. Guilty. It's pervasive. Do you not see the greatness of your sin? Do you not see that you cannot fix nor clean yourself up?

How can a pig wallowing in the mire make himself clean when all he knows is mire. And yet the pig is better off than you and I. You need Savior. You a law breaker need someone bigger than your sin to save you from it. But oh, how big your sin is!

It's so big, so great, that the only one greater is God. And he came. He came. He hung on the cross. His name was Jesus, the Christ.

I wonder if you are understanding what Mark is showing you. Here at the cross, the greatness of your sin. The greatness of your sin was so great. The problem of your iniquity was so big. Mark is showing you that only God, only the infinite one, only the greatest and preeminent one, could deal with that great law breaking of yours.

And here in Mark 15, he came and he did. He did. And he did. He did. Here on the cross, he dealt with the curse of your sin by becoming a curse in your place.

That's how big your sin is. It took God to come down and save you from it. There is no greater problem that you have than your sin and its power over you. And so there is no greater need that you have in your life than to have a Savior who is more powerful than that sin. And here he is, the Almighty, hanging on a tree, becoming a curse for you to sever the power of your sin in your life and to save you from its condemnation for eternity.

God had to do that. That's how big a deal it is to break the law of God. That's how big a deal your sin is. That's how big a deal your iniquity is. God had to come and deal with it.

Ye who think on sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great, here at the cross may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed. See who bears the awful load. Who is it? Who bears the awful load of your sin, the wrath of God towards your sin?

Who is it? Who bears that load? Tis the word, the Lord's anointed, Son of man and Son of God. Who is it? Jesus.

It's the God man here in verses 33 through 38. Tell me ye who hear him groaning, was there ever grief like his? Friends through fear, his cause disowning, foes insulting his distress. Many hands were raised to wound him. None were interposed to save.

But the greatest stroke, the severest stroke, the greatest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice gave. When Jesus the Christ endured the wrath of God for your sin. And so it's to that stroke of justice that God the Father metered out upon God the Son, that we now read in verse 34. Verse 34 tells us that at the end of these three hours of darkness, look there, At the end of these three hours of darkness, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, Olamas Abakfenu, which translated as, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That is a cry of true English.

That is a cry of Jesus, hear this, in His humanity. In His humanity, being forsaken by the Father, as God the Father pours out his wrath of judgment upon Jesus the Christ, and this Jesus the Christ drinks that cup of cursing in your stead. Now that's anthropomorphic language by the way. The language of Jesus drinking from the cup that I'm using, it's human language that helps us describe what's going on here. Jesus uses that language in Mark chapter 10 when he's talking with his disciples about drinking the cup and being baptized.

Mark chapter 14, verse 36, Jesus uses that same language when he's praying to God the Father, remove this cup from me, remember that? Not my will but yours be done. Paul uses the same language in the New Testament, the cup being a cup of cursing that Jesus drank so that in exchange you might receive the cup of blessing. In fact, it's something we celebrate each Lord's Day here at the table. You take that cup, whoa, whoa, what a victory.

So this language of the cup, I just want to pause for a moment. This language of the cup is language that we should use, but it's not a literal cup. It's symbolic. I don't want there to be any confusion, especially for the children if they would go back home and read this passage and say, man, passage grand, we're talking about a cup? I don't see any cup here.

I get that. I get it. But actually, I mean, you do. It's just not a literal one. You're about to see a symbolic cup of wrath in just a moment that is so righteously potent that you'll actually wonder if a barrel the size of the sea could even contain it all.

That's the potency of this cup symbolic of the wrath of God poured out upon Jesus who drink it to the drags for you. We've been very sick in my house. That is an understatement. We've got all kinds of medicines. We've got the whole range of them.

You know what I'm talking about? Homeopathic to the other kind. That shall not be named. You know what I'm saying? We've got all of them.

And I know this is not so surprising to any of the children in here, but some of those medicines do not taste very good. You know what I'm saying children? If you ever had bad taste in medicine, raise your hand children if you had bad taste in medicine. Oh I hear you. Me too.

Especially my kids this week. And so this week while we were at the dinner table, everyone but Carissa hacking and coughing, we're all getting ready to take our medicine. We kind of made it a thing. We talked about how even in medicine you know, well anyway that's another story, never mind. But it was in that moment this week that I shared a very brief devotional with my wife and children during family worship.

I was looking at one of my girls who was having a very hard time getting the gross tasting medicine down. And I told her, and I told all of my girls there, as she was choking it down, the reason that we are sick right now. And the reason that we get sick, and everyone in the world gets sick, the reason is because of sin. We live in this world and we get sick because of sin. My sin, Your sin.

That's why this medicine and so many others looks and tastes and smells so bad. Why? Because sin is so bad. I told them the children is bad and as yucky as that medicine that you are gagging down, as bad as that medicine is that you're gagging down, it's not even a whiff of the terrible drink that Jesus Christ drank for you. It's but a shadow of that terrible drink that Jesus drank on the cross so that as he drank the cup of bitterness for you, you could take the cup of blessing from his hand and be healed from the power and penalty of your sin.

And so every time I exhorted my children, every time you taste this bitter medicine, children, every time you drink from that little cup, that little spoonful of medicine, and it makes you grimace. You know I'm talking about eww. Every time that happens I want you to consider how Jesus the Son of God freely, lovingly drank something infinitely more terrible for you in your place. Remember that when you drink that medicine. Remember the gospel.

Remember what he drank for you and then, in the same moment, remember the amazing cup that this Jesus offers you in exchange. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, Jesus says. And I will give him who believes living water to drink. Remember that when you take that message. You too.

You too. Here is Jesus satisfying the wrath of God, drinking the cup of God's wrath, quoting there from Psalm 22. If you see there in verse 34, it's in capitalization. That's from Psalm 22. Jesus cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Unless there be any confusion, Jesus was forsaken by God the Father in his humanity. He was forsaken in his humanity. I just don't want you to go home thinking that at one point in history the Trinity was broken. It's not what we're talking about here. It's a mystery, you bet.

But the Trinity was never broken apart, even here at the cross. But there was a forsakenness of Jesus the Christ, who drank the full cup of God's wrath for the sins of the elect, that they would be redeemed and that the world would be redeemed. So in that moment, in the moment of drinking, what does being forsaken look like? That should be the question in your mind. What is in that word forsaken?

Why would Jesus use forsaken? Why did Jesus in quoting Psalm 22 verse 1 say that God the Father had forsaken him here in our passage? That's the question. What does that word mean? Here's the answer.

Matthew's gospel says that in this moment, the earth trembled and rocks split. Have you ever tried to break a rock? I'm not talking about that wheat sauce ones. I'm talking about a real rock. You ever tried that?

I know some pretty muscled up dudes that can't do that. And these aren't pebbles. If you go back to Matthew's gospel, boldness, boom! So Matthew's gospel says, the earth trembled, rocks broke apart. Luke's gospel says that so palpable was the judgment, so intense and so clear was the indignation of God towards sin in that moment.

It was metered out on the sun. That even the mocking crowds, Luke tells us, they go away beating their breasts. They don't get it, but they know what they've seen. In a moment, they're beating their breasts, I think, in shame. Remember, whatever that was, Well, it was palpable.

Palpable. You put that together, Matthew, Luke, put it together with Mark's Gospel. Here's what you get. The ground is literally shaking. Rocks are literally being split wide open.

Darkness, like a vacuum, completely covers the land when the sun should have been shining. Jesus crying out in spiritual agony. You know what that is? I'll say it better. You know what that's not?

I don't think that's a picture of God simply turning His face away. It's just not conceivable. I don't think that's a picture of God simply turning His face away while Jesus is suffering. No, instead, that's a picture of God the Father fixated on Christ the Son, peering with a piercing stare and white-hot anger at Jesus, who in his humanity on the cross is bearing the sins of his people. That's what I think.

That's what the text team seems to suggest. That's what this forsakenness is. God the Father fixated on the Son, pouring out his wrath upon Jesus, satisfying the demands of his justice because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins a lot of them But no longer No longer would those be passed over because here on the Passover in the final Passover lamb on the final Passover lamb, this Passover lamb, Jesus, is drinking that cup of wrath, past, present, and future sin, for all the elect, deadly to the dregs. Now when I say that, I really mean that because the Bible means it. Every last drop, that's the suffering of Jesus, stricken, smitten, and afflicted, smoked by God the Father himself, who metered out his wrath that you deserve, Christian, on this Jesus in your place.

That's the suffering, That's the suffering of Jesus through which your sin was dealt with and through which the world was redeemed. But even then, the bystanders, they're not giving. You see all this, and they believe, and in that moment, Jesus is calling out for Elijah in verse 35. And this has been consistent throughout Mark's gospel. Several times in the chapters prior the crowds have either mistaken Jesus for Elijah, or they believe that if Jesus really is the Christ, that Elijah would have to come first before Jesus could then save him.

So if Jesus really is the Christ, Elijah will come first. And The reality is though that Jesus has already answered that question in Mark chapter 9. Elijah did come. John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah. What did they do to him?

They killed him. What did they do to the one he announced? Kill him too. So these crowds, they haven't listened to Jesus. And so someone, it says in text, they probably want to keep Jesus alive a little bit longer with the hope that maybe Elijah will come.

They haven't listened to Jesus. And so they ran, filled the sponge with sour wine, our text tells us. They put it on a reed, gave him a drink, saying, let us see whether Elijah will come and take him down. And then what happens? Then Jesus uttered a loud cry.

He breathed his last. We're told in John chapter 19 verse 30 that the loud cry was this phrase in John 19 30. Here's what the loud cry was. It is finished. To tell us that.

It is finished. And it really was. Salvation, your salvation, and the restoration of the world really was secured. Your atonement, Christian, was accomplished. Your sins fully paid for.

Past sins, present sins, future sins finished. There's no maybe in this text. There's no buts. There's no perhaps. There's no mostly done.

Mostly finished. None of that. No, it is finished. Cried Jesus the Christ. What the God man, what the Almighty had set out to do he accomplished And I just want to show you just how glorious this finished work was, is.

I just want to show you just how glorious this finished work of Jesus is by doing my best to tie it all together here at the end, okay? If I can do it. Our text reads, Jesus uttered a loud cry, which was, it is finished, and then what happens? And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And then immediately after that, what does Mark tell you in verse 39?

When the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, truly this man was the Son of God. Do not miss the significance of that phrase, that moment. Mark chapter 1, verse 1 makes the claim, Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. In the middle of the book, Jesus asks Peter, who do you say that I am? And how does Peter, a Jew, respond?

You are the Christ. And now here at the end of the book, how does a Roman centurion, a Gentile, a representative of the nations, how does he respond? Truly, this man was the Son of God. Mark 1, 1, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Halfway through, Peter, a Jew, you are the Christ.

Here at the end, a Roman soldier, a Gentile, the Son of God. So you see the structure there? Man, Mark is good. God is good. But that's just the beginning.

I'm going to try to tie it together. Keep that in mind. What I just said, it's structure. Now get this. You got to get this.

Darkness is over the land, okay? Without a doubt, Mark has Exodus and the plagues of Egypt in mind. We talked about that briefly a little bit a little bit ago, right? It's got the Exodus, the Passover, got to get that language, okay. Whoa, Jesus, whoa, Jesus fulfilled all of that.

He's the final Passover lamb. That's definitely in Mark's mind, but I think he has one other event in mind as well, and I'm not the only one. Lots of theologians think this. Can you think of another event in the Old Testament before the Exodus where darkness covered the land and God made a promise to a certain man? His name starts with an A and it rhymes with ham.

Children? Anybody? Someone said it. Who was it? Abraham.

Abraham. Also known as Abram before his name changed. You can write this down. You can look at it this evening. In Genesis 15, Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abram.

It's gonna be called Abraham later. You know what happens in Genesis 15? God makes the covenant and a great darkness falls upon Abram and the land. That sound familiar? Answers yes.

And then, get this please, God promises to Abram, he makes an oath to Abram while passing through carcasses of animals that have been cut in half, torn in two. You can read about this tonight in Genesis 15. Darkness falls, God makes an oath to Abram that he will keep his promises to Abram and while God is making that oath I'm going to keep my promises it is God who walks before the animal carcasses toward him too. It makes a path. God walks in the middle of it.

Now that can be confusing and you might think that's a weird ritual at first glance. But if you were to read Jeremiah 34 as well tonight, you'd find that this is actually a ritual that communicates something really spectacular. In fact, it would not have been lost on the original readers. It's more common than you might think. You'd find if you read Jeremiah 34 that God is putting a curse on himself.

He will be ripped in half like these animals if he does not fulfill his promise. God is saying to Abram, be it done unto me as was done to these animals if this covenant, if these promises that I have made to you are not kept. That's huge. What was the promise made to Abraham? There's several things, but at its core, at its core, was that there would be a seed that came from Abraham.

And that seed would do what? That seed would be a blessing to the nations. Remember that promise? That seed would bless all the nations of the world. A seed through which all the peoples of the earth would be blessed.

And those covenantal promises were sealed with God saying, in the midst of darkness covering the land, I put the curse on me. I will be torn in two like these animals if this promise is not kept. And now here is Jesus, darkness covering the land, becoming a curse for his people that they might be saved from the judgment of God. But notice something, notice something. It is not Jesus who was ripped in two.

What is? Jesus isn't torn in two. What is? The curtain of the temple is torn in two. Put it all together.

Oh Lord help. Put it together. Mark chapter 11. Jesus comes to the temple. You've made my father's house robbers dead.

You've robbed from God and you've robbed from the nations. So Jesus says, this temple will be destroyed and I will be the temple for the nations not built by hands. Curtain Temple is 22. Mark chapter 14, the high priest tears his robes. And so Jesus takes his office as the great and final high priest and the true and new temple.

Mark chapter 12, Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard and the tenants. The tenants will kill the son of the vineyard owner. They're going to throw him out of the vineyard. What will happen to those vineyard tenants? They will be destroyed.

And what will happen to the vineyard? The vineyard will be given to others. And so the garments of Jesus divvied up to the nations. The kingdom is given to the nations. The placard above Jesus' head written in three languages proclaimed to the nations that Jesus is king.

And with all of that in your heart and mind, it should come as absolutely no surprise that here at the end of this section, a Roman centurion, a pagan, a member of the nations that had been promised long ago a blessing from this seed of Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant. It should come as no surprise to you then that here is a representative of the nations in verse 39 at the foot of the cross gazing at that promised seed and finding blessing. Declaring that that Jesus really is the Son of Almighty God. The Abrahamic blessing, the promised blessing of the Christ to the nations fulfilled. You got that?

Boy, I hope you see that. Labor, I want that to be clear. I'm happy to talk about it later if it's not. The Abrahamic blessing. Yes and amen in Christ Jesus.

Your living proof of it. No, I just, so good, I think. So the Abrahamic blessing, definitely on Mark's mind here, curtain torn in two, the promised blessing of the Christ to the nations fulfilled, and so how does Mark's gospel end then? Right, So at the end of this, the death of Christ, the crucifixion, you have this, oh, the Abrahamic blessing, the Abrahamic covenant, the blessing to the nations. So how would you expect Mark's gospel to end?

Wouldn't you expect then to see that Mark has some kind of ending to his gospel where the gospel is going to the nations? How does Mark's gospel end? Just like that. Goes to the nations. Which is a big reason why I think you should read and study and preach the whole gospel, not just part of Mark 16.

Let me conclude with this. With all that in mind, therefore brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he had not greeted for us through the veil that is his flesh. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, Let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. If you are a Christian today, would you please say amen? Amen.

Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, thank you for this, your word. I pray, Lord, it would have its intended effect that the people here would be convicted of their sin, see the seriousness of it, and then also see the greater Savior, who in Him there is more righteousness and mercy than there is sin in them, that they might turn and be saved. And for the Christian In this wonderful gathering, I pray that they would be transformed by the renewing of their mind.

They would walk away from here with their eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the author, perfecter, and finisher of their faith, who has kept all of His promises and will keep all of his promises to them. We thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and how in him we are more than conquerors. Pray these things in Jesus name and thank you. Amen.