The Death of the Lord Jesus — Peter Brandon

The Supernatural Death of Jesus

Matthew 27, following the theme that the Lord has laid on our hearts this morning. We read from verse 50. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the goats. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

And the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Now when the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly, this was the Son of God. The death of the Lord Jesus was unnatural.

It was supernatural. It was unnatural because he was sinless, and we know that the sinless cannot die. Death is the result of sin. And therefore the Lord Jesus was totally and absolutely sinless. And so the word of God puts it beautifully.

Christ’s Obedience and Finished Work

He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. To us, apart from the coming of the Lord Jesus, death is a necessity. But for the Lord Jesus, he submitted completely to death. But his death was not only unnatural, it was supernatural.

When he had been on the cross for six hours, suffering three hours before men, three hours before God, he cried with a loud voice. Probably that was the loudest voice that ever came from human lips. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

And then it is finished. And so we see a supernatural cry. Then he bowed his head. The word there for bow is not the idea to drop the head, but to bow the head back. It's the same word the foxes have hosed, the birds of the air have their nest, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.

If you were to feel a little drowsy in the meeting this morning, you would drop your head. When you go to bed at night, you don't drop the head, you pillow your head back. The work's done, the toil is over, and therefore you can pillow your head back in the place of rest.

When the great work of redemption was done, and completed to the satisfaction of God, he was able to put his head back on the pillar. How triumphant was the faith. Then he expired his spirit. We human beings can die by death, and that's death through natural causes, or foolishly we can die by suicide.

We haven't the right or the authority to take our life's spirit and give it back to God. The Lord Jesus said, I have power to lay it down, and hallelujah, I have power to take it again. And on the cross when the work was all finished, he gave back his own spirit to the Lord.

And so we say, hallelujah, what a saviour. Immediately Matthew outlines the supernatural death of Christ, then he gives to us the effect and the triumph of that cross. Now I'm not going to give them in the sequence in which he gives them, but I shall reverse the order a little.

Four Supernatural Signs of the Cross

First of all there was an earthquake. Secondly the veil was raised. Thirdly a Gentile believed. And lastly, the graves were opened. Now in those four great supernatural facts, we have the epitome of the Bible.

In the earthquake we have the Roman epistle. For what's the key verse? I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it is the power of God unto salvation. And that word power doesn't mean authority, it means dynamite.

And here we have the dynamite. The earth was shaken. Secondly through the cross the veil is raised, and the way into the holiest is opened. And that's the main meaning of the Hebrew epistle. A way into the holiest.

Then we have a Gentile believing, and that means the wall of petition between the Jew and Gentile was broken, so that we have one body. And in that Gentile who believed, we have that man expressing as we shall see in a few moments, the one body of Christ.

And then the graves being opened, and some of the saints going into the holy city, gives us the two great words for the second coming, the parousia and the epiphany. And there you see them, in the coming of the Lord.

And as we have seen this morning, that is all expounded in the Thessalonian epistle. So in those supernatural events, that marked the death of the Lord Jesus, or after his death, we see the summary of Christianity.

The Earthquake and the Power of the Cross

Now let's look at the earthquake and the rock bending. Probably it was a universal earthquake, and it shows the mighty power of the death of Christ. Now great men have died, and we have forgotten them.

But when the Lord Jesus died, it was an unforgettable death. And I want you to think now of the effects of the cross. If we look back in history, we would see over and over again, the cross shaking nations.

But we haven't got time to look at it historically. But look at the cross and its power contemporary. In China, in the last 10 years, 50 million have been converted. What an earthquake. There in Latin America, millions have been saved.

In fact we do not know the number. What an earthquake. There in Asia at this moment, there are more people being saved in Asia at this moment, than on the day of Pentecost. What an earthquake. So you see that the cross of Christ has not lost its power.

The foolish western world, seems to be blind to its glory, but praise God the west is not the world. Where the great populations are today, God is moving in mighty power. And then you will notice, the rock, it rained.

What's the rock? It's a vivid picture of our heart. Didn't Ezekiel say that he would take away the heart of stone, and give us the heart of flesh? Don't you remember the first time the cross came to you as a revelation?

Weren't you broken? You know it's always good around the Lord's table, to remember the moment you were saved. That moment when the cross came to you, and you wept, you were broken. And that rock like heart was touched.

Now that's the Roman epistle. The way in which he can move nations through his power. The way in which he can break the stoutest power. So we see that in the rock. But look at that veil being rent, and I'm so pleased our brother read that scripture.

The Heavenly Sanctuary and Access to God

You see the veil has been rent, and praise God we do not come into the presence of the Lord, that can be measured by cubic. The holiest of all in the tabernacle could be measured. The holiest of all in Solomon's temple could be measured.

But in that tabernacle that the Lord pitched, and not man, it's immeasurable. It's heaven itself. And isn't it wonderful in spirit and in soul, we're in heaven at this very moment. Physically our bodies are in this little building.

But spirit and soul, our spirits are in heaven itself. The very sanctuary of God. Now what's in this heavenly sanctuary? It's called the city of the living God. What does that mean? The city was the place of sovereignty.

The city was the place of activity. And isn't it wonderful this morning, there is the sovereignty of God here. He's in total control. And there's the glorious activity of the spirit, moving upon our hearts to worship, to read the scripture, so that we function as holy priests in the presence of the city of the living God.

And then it's called the heavenly Jerusalem. What does that mean? In the Old Testament there was a place of sacrifice. And if they offered their sacrifices in any other place, it was called a high place.

But now we praise God there's not just a place of worship. You see all that's been removed. It's wherever God's people are gathered together in New Testament synthesis. We have the presence of God and we have the heavenly Jerusalem, a place of worship.

Then in the heavenly Jerusalem, there is an innumerable company of angels. Isn't it wonderful? We're in the presence of angels, listening to our praise. They're seeing in this little company an expression of the body of Christ.

And therefore they worship as they see God's people coming together in New Testament synthesis. They're here to see the creatorial order. They look out in the world and they see all that God intended for the human race smashed and broken.

But in the local church they see the creatorial order. That's why our sisters are covered and the men are bareheaded. It's a lovely sign to the angels that we are upholding the creatorial purposes of God.

And therefore we want to worship because we're in the presence of angels. Dear old Wesley caught this when he said angels help us to adore him. What a presence we're in this morning. And then this is quite shattering.

The spirits of just men may pass in. We're not in communication with them but we're there with them. And all our brothers and sisters that have gone before they're in the Holy Sanctuary. And what are they doing?

They're worshipping and adoring the Lamb. And we're joined up with them this morning. We're imperfect, they're perfect. And we're crying aloud Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And then it's the Church of the Firstborn.

Oh I love this. When you're in the sanctuary you can't be sectarian. You can't say like some do Me Lord and us two and no more. When you're in the sanctuary of God you see the Church of the Firstborn.

You don't see little labels. You don't see little companies. You express that there is one body. And you see that one body. The Church of the Firstborn. The general assembly in the very presence of God.

And then there's God the judge of all. What does that mean? There is one judge in the sanctuary and that means when we function in the sanctuary God is the judge. Someone might stand up Sunday morning and give a very profound oration but God may find a very little in it.

And some brother might get up and give just a simple thank you. And God's heart is filled with holy joy. You see he doesn't judge the verbal capacity. He looks at the movements of the heart. He's the judge of all.

And then best of all Jesus the mediator of the new covenant. What would the sanctuary of heaven be like without him? And therefore we are gathered around him this morning. And so we thank God for the renaissance.

The Gentile Centurion and Unity in Christ

And then I want you to note a gentile belief. A centurion. The first one to be saved at the cross was the malefactor and obviously he was a Jew. The second one to be saved was the centurion and he was a gentile.

Therefore two great barriers were broken down. The first barrier was the sin barrier and that was removed through the cross. And now we see him removing the social barrier. And through the glorious baptism of the spirit we've all been baptized into one body and we're here this morning as brothers and sisters in Christ.

There's neither bond nor free. There's neither Jew nor gentile. We are all one in the Lord Jesus. And the cross has removed the barriers and the baptism of the spirit has joined us all together in one glorious body.

Isn't this lovely? You know brothers and sisters I don't know you too much and you don't know me but we know one another in Christ and isn't that lovely? All these earthly relationships that we hang on to so much they're going to die when the Lord comes.

And this lovely spiritual fellowship that we have together is going to last forever. I'm looking at you and you're looking at me. Well brothers and sisters this thrills my heart. We're going to be shaking hands forever in the eternal kingdom.

Isn't that lovely? Why? Because at the cross the sin barrier was removed. At the cross and through the baptism of the spirit the social barrier has been removed and we see one another in Christ. And then lastly the graves were opened and many bodies of the faith which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many.

Resurrection, Recognition, and the Coming of the Lord

Now could I ask a question? Is there any theologian here that knows the people that were raised and how many? If he could inform me after the meeting I should be very happy. No we do not know who they were but we know that many came out of the graves after his resurrection and they went into the holy city and appeared unto many and the word appeared is the Greek word epiphany which means the Lord's coming to us and his manifestation to us.

Now it must have been a shock to many of them when they saw those people coming to them and they went into the holy city and they recognised them. But let not the shock worry us, let the fact grip us.

They appeared unto many and that shows us that when the Lord comes we shall recognise personality forever. For they appeared unto many. But you know before the epiphany there is going to be the parousia and that means his coming into it.

Now I do not want to be an alarmist but brothers and sisters we have come to that point where we are all going home very shortly. We have only got a few seconds left here. We are shortly going to break bread for the last time.

And this could be our last Sunday. Think of it. The Lord Jesus is coming and when he comes he will not come with an apologetic whisper he is going to come with a victorious shout. The dead in Christ shall rise first and they shall be raised with glorified bodies and those that are alive are going to be shamed and we are going to meet the Lord in the air.

What a moment that will be. Just get the thrill of this. This could well be our last Sunday morning together. The next time we meet it won't be just a hundred around the Lord's table. It will be millions upon millions around the Lord Jesus in the air and we shall see him.

Now get the thrill of this. We have been looking at him by faith. In that day we shall see him in all the glory of his Lordship and we shall be presented to him without fault without blemish and without a wrinkle.

A spot is symptomatic of ugliness to the Greek. We shall have perfect beauty. A blemish is symptomatic of disease. We shall have an eternal body that's not subject to disease. A wrinkle is symptomatic of old age.

In that day we shall have eternal youth. Can I prove it to you? After the church has been in the presence of God for a thousand years she's seen coming out of the glory and she's still the Lamb's wife, the bride.

Some of our sisters you were only a bride for one day. But after forty years you're a wife and you wear the wrinkle the same you have. But after she has been in the presence of the Lord for a thousand years there's not a spot there's not a blemish there's not a wrinkle on her.

Living in Readiness for Christ’s Return

May we all learn to say even so comes. Lord Jesus, are we ready? You know in our family it was a rarity for me to be at home. I was home, my wife used to go out shopping and I looked after the children.

And she was out shopping, I shall never forget it and our two boys were too quiet. And I knew when there was absolute quietness there was something wrong. I was up in my little room studying so I went downstairs and there was Antoinette.

Where was Philip? And I crept behind the little boys and I could see his face was in a cream gown. I could see it by the cream on the lobes of his ears. I crept behind the little chap and he was trying to get this gown in before anybody would come.

And then he turned round and he just said this Oh it's you daddy. He was ashamed. At night coming Beloved when the Lord comes May the cream of this world be all of us And may we go out saying Even so come Lord Jesus.