Sermon Tone Analysis

*MATTHEW 27:45-50  *

In recent weeks we have considered various people who were closely associated with Jesus in the time leading up to his arrest.

§         Mary [26:6]; the disciples in Gethsemane [26:36]; the betrayal by Judas Iscariot [26:24]; the denial by Peter [26:69].

‘Not until we understand his abandonment by the God and Father whose immanence and closeness he had proclaimed in a unique, gracious and festive way, can we understand what was distinctive about his death.

Just as there was a unique fellowship with God in his life and preaching, so in his death there was a unique abandonment by God’.

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*THE FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIP *

*1.        **The Relationship *

The relationship between the Father and the Son:

*a.        **The Eternal Relationship *

The Son was always the delight of the Father: “/I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him/” [Pro.8:30].

§         The closeness: “/the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father/…” [Joh.1:18].

§         The public proclamation: “/this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased/” [4:17].

*2.

**The Duties of Mediator *

The duties given to the Son: “/the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life as a ransom for many/” [20:28].

§         The path of duty: “/the Son of man shall be betrayed…mock, scourge, and crucify him; and the third day he shall rise again/” [20:18-19].

*a.

**Faithfulness *

Jesus began his ministry after a display of faithfulness: “/man shall not live by bread alone/…” [4:4];

§         The life of faithfulness: “/my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work/” [Joh.4:34].

§         The rebuke of Peter: “/Get thee behind me, Satan, for you do not favour/…” [16:23].

§         The garden of Gethsemane: “/nevertheless, not as I will but as you will/” [26:39].

§         Faithful up to the end: “/rise, let us be going/…” [26:46].

*3.        **The Behaviour *

The Son’s whole life was lived in harmony with the loving relationship of the Father:

*a.        **Prayer to the Father *

This harmony is evident in the prayer life of the Son: “/Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

And I knew that you hear me always/…” [Joh.11:41].

§         He prayed in times of great need: “/he fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible/…” [26:39].

§         He taught the disciples to pray in the same way: “/Our Father which art in heaven/…” [6:9].

*Application*

The life and experience of Jesus was one of complete harmony with the Father

§         During the thirty and three years the Son had been on earth he enjoyed unbroken communion with the Father.

Never a thought that was out of harmony with the Father’s mind, never a volition but what originated in the Father’s will, never a moment spent out of his conscious presence.

§         The relationship of fellowship and light: “/if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another/…” [1Joh.1:7].

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*THE UNEXPECTED CHANGE *

*1.        **The Cross *

*a.        **The Darkness *

*i.        **The Duration *

The midday darkness: “/from the sixth hour there was darkness/…” [27:45].

§         ἕκτης ὥρας - “/sixth hour/” [27:45], ‘sixth hour of the day is noon’;

§         ὥρας ἐνάτης - “/ninth hour/” [27:45],

§         σκότος - “/darkness/” [27:45], ‘physical darkness’; ‘absence of light’;

*ii.

**The Extent *

The extent of the darkness: “/over all the land/…” [27:45].

§         ἐγένετο – “/there was/” [27:45], aorist middle indicative, ‘to come to exist, happen’;

§         ἐπὶ - “/over/” [27:45], emphasising motion and direction, ‘on, to place on’;

§         πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν - “/all the land/” [27:45], ‘surface of the whole earth’; ‘each individual in a class’; ‘everything belonging to a class’; the phrase could mean ‘over the whole earth’ but it more likely means ‘the whole of the land of Israel’;

§         Matthew is probably mindful of the darkness mentioned in Exodus: “/Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt/” [Exo.10:21];

*b.        **Darkness in Scripture *

The idea of darkness in Scripture is in the context of chaos and judgement:

§         The initial chaos: “/the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep/…” [Gen.1:2];

§         The intervention of God: “/And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness/” [Gen.1:4];

§         The judgement of God on Egypt: “/there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days/” [Exo.10:22].

§         The judgement on the covenant people: “/in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof/” [Isa.5:30].

*c.        **The Explanation?

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This has been explained away by some as being the result of an eclipse.

§         An eclipse is the obscuration of the light of the moon by the intervention of the earth between it and the sun (lunar eclipse) or the obscuration of the light of the sun by the intervention of the moon between it and a point on the earth (solar eclipse).

§         Such an eclipse was not possible at this time because it was Passover time with a full moon; an eclipse is not possible.

*Application*

The intimate fellowship and complacency has been lost: “/what communion has light with darkness/” [2Cor.14].

*2.

**The Cry *

*a.        **The Loud Cry *

Jesus cried out so that all could hear him: “/about the ninth hour Jesus cried/…” [27:45].

§         περὶ - “/about/” [27:45], ‘round about location’; ‘approximate time’;

§          ἐνάτην ὥραν - “/ninth hour/” [27:45],

§         ἀνεβόησεν - “/cried/” [27:45], aorist active indicative, from /aná/, an /emphatic/, and /boáō/, ‘to cry out’; ‘to cry out loud, exclaim’;

§         μεγάλῃ - “/loud/” [27:45], basic meaning of ‘great’;

§         φωνῇ - “/voice/” [27:45], ‘any kind of distinctive breaking of the sound waves’;

*b.        **The Words of the Cry *

The cry: “/My God, my God, why have you forsaken me/?” [27:46].

§         θεέ μου θεέ μου - “/My God, my God/” [27:46], vocative, case used for direct address;

*i.        **Psalm 22  *

The words are quoted from the words of Psalm 22: “/My God, my God, why have you/…” [22:1].

§         אֵלִ֣י- “/my God/” [22:1],

§         עֲזַבְתָּ֑נִי - “/forsaken/” [22:1], qal perfect, ‘to abandon, desert’; ‘to leave behind’; “/therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife/…” [Gen.2:24].

§         רָח֥וֹק - “/far/” [22:1], ‘distance’; ‘amount of separation from two points’;

§         מִֽ֝ישׁוּעָתִ֗י - “/helping/” [22:1], ‘deliverance, rescue, salvation’;

§         דִּבְרֵ֥י שַׁאֲגָתִֽי - “/words of roaring/” [22:1], ‘the loud, deep, rumbling cry of a lion’; ‘groan, cry of anguish’; “/I have roared because of the disquietness of my heart/” [Psa.38:8];

*ii.

**A Cry of Abandonment *

Jesus was abandoned by the Father: “/why have you forsaken me/” [27:46].

§         ἐγκατέλιπες - “/forsaken/” [27:46], aorist active indicative, from /en/, ‘in’, and /kataleípō/, ‘to forsake, desert’; ‘to leave behind in any place or state’; ‘to leave, abandon, desert’;

§         με - “/me/” [27:46], ‘personal relationship’;

*iii.

**A Cry of Faith *

The saying shows that the faith of Jesus was strong: “/My God, my God/…” [27:46].

§         The saying does not suggest a moment of weakness (like ours) when we wrongly conclude that God as “forsaken” us and later realise how wrong we were.

*c.        **A Question *

The expression of abandonment is accompanied with the question: “/why have you/…” [27:46].

§         ἱνατί - “/why/” [27:46], interrogative, ‘for what purpose’; ‘to what end’;

§         לָמָ֣ה - “/why/” [Psa.22:1],

interrogative, ‘cause, question’; ‘an interrogative marker of cause or reason’;

§         The rest: “/all the disciples forsook him and fled/” [26:56].

*Application *

There has been an eclipse in the relationship between the Father and the Son – “/God is light, and in him is no darkness at all/” [1Joh.1:5]

– and the Son is looking for an explanation.

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*3.        **The Answer~/Explanation *

*a.        **Your Position *

*i.        **The Mediator *