The Harmony of The Gospels. The Crucifixion of Christ

Gospel Harmony and the Glory of the Cross

I'd like to speak to you this morning about Gospel Harmony. I actually titled this, Gospel Harmony of the Crucifixion of Christ. I was thinking for our communion service to break away from the Gospel of John, but there's not yet a complete break-off because a lot of the selected scriptures I have today will be some from John.

And that's why I titled it, Gospel Harmony of the Crucifixion. Please bow with me in prayer. Father, as we seek Your face and Your blessing within this hour, O God, our Heavenly Father, we bow our hearts now as we come.

We tremble before Your Word. Lord, there's no way that I can do justice to this text and to the selected scriptures about this great day that when You shook this world, You turned out its lights. So much happened as the hammer of Your judgment fell on Your Son.

Really, Father, all that really matters is that You alone are glorified. Your name is hallowed and will be hallowed. Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is honored, and Lord, You are honored. He was lifted up.

You're lifted up. Father, we are humbled and changed by Your Word and Your Spirit, Lord. And we just pray now, speak, Father, for Your servant here. Glorify Thy name. In Jesus' name. Amen. In the book of 1 Corinthians 2, verse 2, the Apostle Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had an overpowering determination.

I say it was overpowering because this man was absolutely consumed with preaching the message of the Gospel. He had a complete resolve not to know anything but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This just was not an intellectual knowledge but an experimental knowledge.

Anything among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is our message. This is what we must tell the world. Knowing Christ in His fullness and in the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection, as Paul says in Philippians 3 .10, was everything to Paul.

As he said in Galatians 2 .20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Folks, as we go through the harmony of the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ today, we will see all of God's great attributes in full demonstration and displayed. A. W. Tozer said this about the cross of Christ, and I love this quote, The cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God's wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers.

What a wonderful quote.

This is what we will see. At the cross we behold the Lamb of God high and lifted up. As Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3 .14 -15, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

That's our message. That's the message of salvation. That is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. At the cross, again, we behold all of the marvelous, matchless attributes of God in full display, on full display at the cross at Golgotha's hill.

And as we go through the harmony of the Gospels of the crucified Christ this morning, may we not miss one of those attributes that's on display. For each of those attributes are the glories and the beauties of God in full demonstration.

For us to behold as vile sinners as we once were, but yet with remaining sin within us, God deals with the sin that this world has and that we have through the cross of Christ. It's all through the cross.

And the harmony of the Gospel here of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a way that we can combine the four separate Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, into a single unified narrative of Jesus' life, death, burial and resurrection.

How important is this? So this past week I took out some paper and I started just jotting down and going through the Scriptures.

And all the...

Now there's no way I could be able to touch every one of these Scriptures because they are so many compacted together and I was jotting this down and I'm telling you folks, study the death of Christ. Study His crucifixion.

It is life changing. It refreshed my soul as living water. So when studying the crucifixion of Jesus Christ through the harmony, we can all see the Gospel writers having emphasized the different aspects of this great event.

And by the way, this is the greatest event that ever took place in history. This is the day that God shook the world. He shook the heavens. The hammer fell. And it fell on His Son. Giving us a more complete picture of Christ's crucifixion.

Now, and starting off here in my introduction, I'd like to just mention this and then we're going to go into the events that took place. But I'd like to mention how, in four ways, how a harmony of the Gospels writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, pulling this together, unifying it together, helps us understand the crucifixion of Christ.

And I'd like to give this to you. First of all, there is a completeness. There's a completeness that it gives to us.

A completeness.

By combining the accounts of the harmony provides a more comprehensive view of the crucifixion, including the events mentioned by the different Gospel writers. So there is a completeness in studying the harmony of the Gospels of the crucifixion of Christ.

Completeness. Two, is context. Context. As you've heard the saying in, if you study hermeneutics,.

Context is king. Context is king.

A harmony can help us clarify the sequence of events and the context in which they occur. Third, not only is there completeness in context, third, there is different perspectives. We see different perspectives.

It allows the readers to appreciate the unique perspectives and emphasizes of, emphasis of each of Gospel writers regarding the crucifixion of Christ. So it gives us a different synoptic view as it says in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But, this is to help us. So we have the completeness, the context. We have a different perspective. And fourth and final here, I was thinking is, and I think is probably one of the most important, that leads us to a deeper understanding of what took place.

A deeper understanding. It helps us to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for us and accomplished at the cross. It brings us into a place of worship before Him.

And if we miss that, we've missed everything. And here we mean, not just intellectualism, of knowing more intellectually about what took place historically, but what Christ accomplished for us in our salvation.

Unto the glory of God. Pride cannot exist here, folks, when we go to the cross. Pride cannot exist. For pride cannot even survive at the cross. If you want God to deal with your pride, as I pray, go to the cross.

Kneel at the cross. Many songs have been written and great hymns about the cross. At the cross, near the cross. O .A .B. Simpson, the founder of the Christian Missionary Alliance says, How about getting on the cross?

I say amen to that. So we need to come to spiritual wisdom through this Holy Spirit and only by the Holy Spirit, for only the spiritual things can be spiritually discerned. And folks, this is something that's so deep beyond us, only as we study and survey the wondrous cross in which the Prince of Glory died, meditate upon the crucified Christ, and behold the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world by faith and believe it Through seeing Him, seeing Him through the Scriptures, we gain a rich and more profound understanding of the importance and the significance of the great sacrifice of all time.

The Lamb of God, to behold Him, to behold the man of sorrows, to behold the Lamb of God. Thus it strengthens our faith in Christ, and God, now may God help us put on the spectacles of the glasses, the eyeglasses, so to speak, of the Holy Spirit as God would show us through the Scriptures of this great account and to behold the gospel harmony of the crucifixion.

And again, this is the greatest day in all history when God brought down His full judgment upon His own one and only Son. So, here are the harmony events of the crucifixion of Christ.

And I want to mention this.

And there's no way I'm going to be able to. I preached before the seven sayings of Christ on the cross and this will include that. But there's much more that took place and I'd like to talk about the events that also took place, but specifically as well bring up the seven sayings, the last sayings of Christ on the cross.

Makes me think seven is a number of completion. And what Jesus said in those seven sayings is sufficient. There's such depth to each and every one of them. But let's look at what happened at the cross.

We know at Calvary forgiveness is released, heaven is opened, and victory was sealed. Jesus arrived at Golgotha, number one. This is the first event that took place. And we see this in Matthew 27, 33.

And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say the place of a skull. It's also recorded in Mark 15, 22, Luke 23, 33, John 19, 17. Luke actually uses the name Calvary from the Latin calvaria, meaning skull.

So this is called the place of the skull. So first of all, Jesus is literally dragged. He was beaten. Now He arrived at Golgotha. When they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say the place of a skull.

He comes to it. Secondly, the second event that happens, Jesus refused to offer the offer of wine with myrrh as they nailed Him to the cross. Matthew 27, 34, Scripture says they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink.

What happened? But Scripture says, but when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Now I want you to think this and keep this in mind. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ dying a very slow death that is absolutely so cruel beyond imagination.

And I'm sure His tongue was parched. He was thirsty, but He refused to take this sour wine mingled with gall. What's the purpose here? And according to Mark 15, 23, it identifies as a myrrh, a narcotic.

The Jews had a custom based on Proverbs 31, 6 and administering a pain deadening medication mixed with wine to victims of the crucifixion.

Why?

In order to deaden the pain. Now I want you to think what our Lord does here, folks. Tasting what it was, our Lord Jesus Christ, though He was thirsty, refused to drink. Scripture says, would not drink.

Why?

Lest it dull His senses before He completed His work. I want you to listen to what Pastor MacArthur says as we all know he went home to be with the Lord this past week. He's with the Lord and his work here was finished and it was His appointed time and God called him home.

But I thank God for this expository that's had such a great influence on my own life as a pastor. MacArthur says this and this is so good. Quote, MacArthur says, the lessening of physical pain would probably not have diminished the efficacy of His atoning work.

But He needed His full mental faculties for the hours yet to come. It was necessary for Him to be awake and fully conscious, for example, to minister to the dying thief on the cross in Luke 23, 43, end quote.

Isn't that wonderful? Jesus refused to take any narcotics, anything to deaden the pain. Though He was in great pain, He refused it because of His great love. His greatest trophy. Third, Jesus was nailed to the cross between two thieves.

Matthew 27, 35, 38. Then they crucified Him. They crucified Him. Divided His garments, casting lots. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet and He quotes here Psalm 22, 18. They divided My garments among them and for My clothing they cast lots.

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him and they put up over His head the accusation written against Him. This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Warren Wiersbe said this is the first gospel tract. And it was.

Then two robbers were crucified with Him. One on the right and another on the left. That's what the Scripture says. The fourth event is Jesus gave His first cry from the cross. His first cry was a prayer.

It makes me think that Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount, Love your enemies. Pray for them that persecute you. Folks, Jesus demonstrated this.

Before us.

He demonstrates this to the full. Luke 23, 34. Then Jesus said after they crucified Him, Father, forgive them. For they do not know what they're doing. He prays for His enemies.

Now I want you to think of this.

He could have easily said, Injustice.

Father, destroy them.

But He doesn't pray that.

He prays, Father, forgive them.

Forgiveness is released. First words was a prayer directed to God, His Father.

Father.

It was a prayer for those who crucified Him. It was a prayer for those.

That.

Did the most hideous sin ever committed to crucify the Son of God on a cross. But does not that fit us as well, beloved?

Forgive them?

That's us. The most hideous sin of all, they crucify the Son of God, and yet He prays the most compassionate prayer of forgiveness. He prays for His enemies. He prayed for forgiveness for the soldiers who were crucifying Him.

But His prayer, again, included much more. It was included to the mob of the people who shouted out, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! And by the way, a week before that, they were hailing Him, Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hypocrisy. And Jesus knew this. And yet He prays, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing. He prays for His tormentors. Jews and Romans. They were not aware of it. They were not aware of the full scope of their heinous sin.

Their wickedness. And neither were we. Neither does this.

World know.

But yet, He says, Father, forgive them. Do you see what the heart of the Gospel is? It's compassion.

And mercy.

And grace.

And not judgment.

The judgment fell on the Son like a lightning rod. Just like the day of Elijah on Mount Carmel. The day the fire fell. The fire did not fall on the people. It fell on the sacrifice.

And here,.

God's fire fell on His Son. They did not recognize Him. Neither did we. Until the Holy Spirit opened up our eyes. And we were born again of the Spirit of God. And we see it.

And we say, Lord, forgive us. And Father,.

And Jesus says, He's prayed. By the way, we cannot pray until first Jesus prayed. At Calvary, they nailed Christ to the cross. They crucified Him, but yet He prays for His enemies. Father, forgive them, for they do not know.

What they do.

Acts 13, 27, 28 says, For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers because they did not know Him,.

Nor.

Even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath have fulfilled them in the condemning Him, and though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.

The.

Sinless, perfect Son of God. Remember what Jesus said. It really wasn't the people there that were in charge. God was in charge. Jesus laid down His life. Jesus said, I have authority to lay my life down, and I have authority to take it up again.

And He laid it down willingly. These people were blind to the light of divine truth. 1 Corinthians 2, 8 says, For if they had understood it, this is the Apostle Paul, they would not have crucified.

The Lord of glory.

You see who's in charge? God allows sinful man to do this, but really God's in charge. This is God's Lamb. Still, their ignorance certainly did not mean they deserved forgiveness. Rather, their spiritual blindness itself was a manifestation of their guilt.

John 3, 19, Jesus said, and this is the condemnation, that light, and Jesus is speaking of Himself, and that the light has come.

That.

The light has come into this world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. But Christ's prayer of forgiveness, while they were in the very act of mocking Him, is an expression of the boundless compassion of God's divine grace.

The fifth event that took place, the soldiers took Jesus' garments, leaving Him naked on the cross. He's beaten. He's stripped. The Canaanite tales has opened Him up, wounds, blood.

It was a gory.

Sight. Jesus takes our shame, and He takes it to the cross. You can read this in Matthew 27, 35. I'll read that text. It's also found in Mark 15, 24, Luke 23, 34, John 19, and 23. All four gospel writers gives this account, but I want to read Matthew's.

Version.

In Matthew 27,.

35.

Then they crucified Him and divided the garments, casting lots, as it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among them. For my clothing they cast lots. I did read it before that, but does it hurt to hear it again?

The sixth event, the Jews mocked Jesus. They mocked Him. Matthew 27, 39 through 43 says, and those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads, saying, you who destroyed the temple and built it in three days, save yourself.

See, they're mocking Him. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. Even there, see, Satan is tempting Him to come off the cross. Scripture says, likewise, the chief priest also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 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. Listen to the mockery. Let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.

That's recorded in Mark 15, 29 through 32. Luke 23, 35 through 37. Jesus' enemies were not satisfied that they had condemned Him to the crucifixion. Now here they are mocking Him as He hung on the cross, suffering in agony and pain.

They paraded below, mocking and jeering, and Satan is using them as tempting Christ to come off the cross. They believed that they had defeated Him, and they were flaunting their triumph in His face. Jesus' enemies taunted Him, but in their taunting words, we find a testimony of His own claims and to His own works.

Matthew 27, 42.

Says,.

And He saved others He Himself cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. Basically what they said, but He is the King of Israel. They admitted that Jesus was a good man, one whose life displayed supreme trust in God.

He was not a rebellious sinner worthy of death, and now receiving His due punishment basically to their viewpoint. A little bit more to say about this and we'll move to the seventh event. What a testimony this was coming from the lips of His very enemies.

Think of that. He taunts, their taunts show that they had not misunderstood Jesus' claims. They had charged before Pilate that Jesus was an enemy of Caesar, but as He hung upon the cross, they made no mention of this charge.

Instead, they reminded Him that He said He was the Son of God, and that He claimed to be able to destroy the temple and build it again in three days. Basically referring to after Jesus cleansed the temple in John chapter 2 verse 13 to 22.

And they misunderstood the point completely. Yet Jesus voluntarily laid down His life and Jesus again, I'll say this and I quoted it a minute ago, but let me quote it again. John 10, 17 and 18,. Therefore my Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again.

No one, notice what He says, no one takes it from me. But I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father. The seventh event that took place, He conversed with the two thieves on the cross.

The two thieves, and this is a wonderful, wonderful testimony here of the grace of God, of the mighty amazing pity of our Lord.

To.

One of the thieves, but He converses, there's a.

Converse in Luke 23.

39 to 43. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him. One blasphemed Him saying if you are the Christ, save.

Yourself and us. But the.

Other answered and rebuked Him saying do you not even fear God? Seeing you are under the same condemnation? This is the Spirit of God dealing with this thief. J .C. Rowe called this particular thief Christ's greatest trophy.

And the.

Scripture says, and we indeed, he says it goes on, and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds. You see what he's saying?

We deserve this.

The other one is mocking. And then he says yes, and this is the Spirit of God that's helping this man see his real condition. But this man, and who Christ is, but this man has done nothing wrong. He done.

Nothing wrong. What did Jesus say to him? Well Jesus.

Has something wonderful to say. The thief first says, and he prays and he looks to the Lord and he says Lord remember me when you come into.

Your kingdom.

Lord.

Remember.

Me.

When you come into your kingdom. Notice what he's saying. First he's acknowledging that he is.

Lord. He's already.

Acknowledged that Christ is sinless. Now he's saying he's Lord. Now he's saying remember me and now he's recognizing.

That he's a king.

Into your kingdom. Where did he see that? Again, he must have read it above Jesus. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Jesus said to him, he gives him that blessed assurance. So most assuredly I say to you today.

You will be.

With me in paradise. Charles Spurgeon said this is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. This is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. Much more could be said there but we must move.

On. The.

Eighth event that took place, Jesus gave his second cry from the cross. We see this in Luke 23, 43 and I think I just quoted it. That was the second cry. Assuredly I say to you today.

You will be with me in paradise.

That's actually his second cry. The next event is he spoke the third time. John 19.

Verse.

25 to 27. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, John, standing by he said to his mother, woman.

Behold.

Your son. And then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour that disciple took her to his own.

Home to take care of.

Mary.

He was even thinking of his own mother's needs, her personal needs or her being a widow because Joseph at that time was already passed.

And dead.

Now we come to the twelfth event and here is where we enter into holy ground before the burning bush. It literally causes me to tremble and I really mean that as we go here because this is where the Lord Jesus Christ takes the full wrath of God.

Darkness came from noon twelve noon to three pm three hours Matthew 27 45. Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour three hours there was darkness over all the land. See God cut out the lights. It was apparently during this time that Jesus was undergoing his worst suffering.

This.

Here beloved is beyond the physical sufferings. As horrifying as that is now he will enter into.

The most horrific.

Sufferings and we will never ever know this. People in hell know.

But Jesus.

Took the wrath.

Of God.

Some say that God drew a veil across the scene so that men might not look upon the sun in his great agony. I don't know. We don't know fully but whatever the case God cut the lights out. Others think that this was God's sign that he was rejecting Christ even as men have rejected Christ.

There's so many different comments on this. Both of these are very possible but the second seems to be more likely. G. Campbell Morgan the great interpreter and espouser of his day would not even comment.

On this.

He said we just put our hands our hand to our mouth and bow in worship. I think that's the greater interpretation. But darkness of the heavens seems to be a reminder that our savior was suffering the very agony of hell itself.

Because Christ spoke of hell as a place of darkness. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. He takes the full judgment and when you look in scripture anytime you see darkness it's always related to judgment.

To.

Wrath. To God. Remember in Egypt?

Darkness.

They said darkness came. God it was one of the plagues and when darkness came it was so dark they could feel.

It.

And here there's darkness. The eleventh event. Jesus gave his fourth cry.

In Matthew.

27 46 and 47 about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying that is interpreted by God my God why have you forsaken me? Folks I tremble when I.

Say that. This is the.

Son of God. This is the second person of the trinity in flesh taking the full judgment and wrath and rejection.

Of.

God the father so that we could be reconciled. The lightning rod is on him. He absorbs it for us to be reconciled and he's the substitute. This cry from the cross is a fulfillment of Psalm 22 1. One of many striking parallels between that Psalm and specific events of the crucifixion.

Christ at that moment was experiencing abandonment. We cannot know.

This folks. He was.

Abandoned by God the father and despair that resulted from the outpouring of God's divine wrath on him as.

A sin bearer. Isaiah.

53 10 yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, to crush him.

He has.

Put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin. Folks do we really see how much God hates sin? That he crushed his own.

Son? But yet.

Christ absorbs it all and we can have that blessed.

Security in Jesus Christ that the father forgives us.

And welcomes us in.

And you can be.

Assured of that. If you.

Repent and have faith in him. Second Corinthians 5 21 that wonderful gospel message in one verse. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.

In him.

Hallelujah!

Again let me quote.

MacArthur.

And this is a wonderful quote. God the father using the principle of imputation treated Christ as if he was a sinner though he was not. He had him die as a substitute to pay the penalty for the sins of those who believe on him.

On the cross he did not become a sinner as some suggest. But remained as holy as ever. He was treated as if he were guilty of all the sins ever committed by all who would ever believe. Though he committed none the wrath of God was exhausted on him and the just requirement of God's law met for those for whom he died.

Praise his name end quote.

Let's go to the.

Twelfth event. The fifth cry of Jesus on the cross is found in John 19 28. After this Jesus knowing that he all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be.

Fulfilled said.

I thirst. I thirst. I could not help but think after we have completed a two part series on living water that we have a well of.

Living water within us.

From the fountain of the cross here. That Jesus was thirsty so that you and I would never thirst again.

Psalm.

22 15 references this. This may mean that his sufferings of hell agony.

Was ended. When his soul.

Was in torment he probably did not notice the pain of his body because he underwent the eternal agony of eternal wrath. Now he became aware of the terrible thirst caused by the crucifixion and he cried out I thirst.

The thirteenth event that took place next is he drank wine and vinegar from a sponge.

This is.

Found in Matthew 27 48 Mark 15 36 John 19 29. Matthew 27 48 says. Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine and he put it to read and offered it to him to drink. The fourteenth event is that Jesus cried out the sixth time and said.

And this is found in John 19 30. And this is the great cry of victory it is finished. Three words.

It is.

Finished. Paid in full.

The cry of victory. The verb here carries the idea of fulfilling one's task. In a religious context has the idea of fulfilling one's obligations the entire.