Adventure Christian Church of North Natomas
by Scott Mathews 3/4/04
Luke 23:44-56 (p. 734)
The Passion of the Christ
2:59:59 HOURS
Scene 1: Darkness at Golgotha (v. 44-49).
“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth our” (v. 44).
“If Socrates lived and died like a philo-sopher, Jesus lived and died like a god” – Jean-Jaques Rousseau, French philosopher (1712-1778).
I. When darkness fell on the land,…
** When darkness fell on the land,~~ His final words were spoken (v. 46).
- About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a
loud voice, “My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:26; Psalm 22:1).
- “I am thirsty” (John 19:28; Isaiah).
- Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father,
into your hands, I commit my spirit” (Luke
23:46).
- “It is finished” (John 19:30).
- When he had said this, he breathed his last (Luke
Nature has the ability to get our attention: have you ever accidentally stirred up a pheasant or a covey of quail on your running trail, walked into the path of a snake,
** When darkness fell on the land, ~~Nature responded to change (v. 45; Mt. 27:51-52).
- “At that moment, the curtain from the temple was
torn in two from top to bottom” (Mt. 27:51).
Intimate access to God is now available to all.
- “The earth shook and the rocks split” (Mt.
27:52). Earlier that week Jesus had said to the
Pharisees, “if they keep quiet, the stones will
cry out” (Lk. 19:40). The rocks testify to the
identity of Jesus.
- “The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy
people who had died were raised to life”
(Mt. 27:52). The age old question is
answered: Is there life after death?
Some people did not sleep well this Sabbath night. (The chief priests, the High Priests, the whole City experienced the earthquake and shattering rocks, and cemetery resurrections. What a night that was?
**When darkness fell on the land,~~No one would ever be the same (v. 47-49).
- Some people did not sleep well this Sabbath
night. (The chief priests, the High Priests, the
whole City experienced the earthquake and
shattering rocks, and cemetery resurrections.
- Darkness, earthquakes, tombs opening at
local cemetery, and the curtain of the
temple torn.
You know Pilate’s wife approaches him and says, “You should have listened to me.”
This had to breathe hope in the heart of Mary, the mother of Jesus life.
Someone out there in the Holy City believes, “This isn’t over.” It’s Friday, but Sunday’s comin’.
A Roman Centurion who may have had direct responsibility during the flogging said, “Surely this was the Son of God” (Mk. 15:39) or “Surely this was a righteous man” (Lk. 23:47).
Those that came to witness the sight, (who probably did not know Him) “beat their breasts and went away”.
Those “who knew him”, including the women, stood at a distance (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, John, and Mary the mother of Jesus).
Personally, what is it that God is doing in my life right now to get my attention?
_______________________________________
Scene 2: A Man Named Joseph (v. 50-56).
“a man named Joseph who had not consented to their decision and action” (v. 51).
When all appears to be lost, an unknown disciple…
**When all appears to be lost, an unknown disciple~~ Goes public with his position (v. 50-51).
- “he had not consented to their decision
and action” (v. 50).
- There is something special about making a
decision to honor Christ, to go public for the
first time, without a care of what people think.
Including, the governor.
**When all appears to be lost, an unknown disciple~~ Approaches the governor (v. 52).
**When all appears to be lost, an unknown disciple~~ Honors the body of Christ extravagantly (v. 53).
- When one man stands, so does another. Nicodemus
stood with Joseph to bury the body of Jesus. (v. 29).
- Joseph probably did not see it as extravagant at
all. He was was probably just doing what he
thought was his duty.
- It must have been meaningful to Mary to know that
while she was facing her son’s death without her
husband, Joseph, God provided another Joseph with
the authority and resources to honor her
firstborn son.
- Hope that there were religious men who
believed. Hope that there was still a thing like
integrity and courage.
- they “took it down” The body that is. “wrapped
it in a linen cloth. They placed it in the tomb
that had been cut in the rock…one in which no one
had been laid.”
His Last Gift to Her
(An Easter Story)
He hadn’t expected to be doing this already. No one expects to be burying his wife at 29 years old. But here was Kent, driving to Topeka to get a burial certificate.
Kent’s wife Joy had just delivered her third boy in April of 1998. In December of that year, Joy Nowlin was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. By January 2000, barely a year later, she was dead. She left a precious husband and 3 young boys: 18-month-old Joel, 3-year-old Jeremiah, and five-year-old Noah.
And now, Kent was preparing to give Joy the last gift he could give her—a personal goodbye.
Kent was an established dentist, and could have certainly afforded a beautiful casket. But that’s not how he wanted to say goodbye. He didn’t want the intimate pain of her death to be masked over by tufted satin or camouflaged by green outdoor carpet. Death is not so scary that we can’t deal with it ourselves.
So when Joy slipped away to her heavenly home on January 10, 2000, Kent knew that he didn’t have much time. He laid Joy’s body on the cool floor of the basement, and got in the car. If a body is not going to be embalmed, it has to be buried within 24 hours. And since funeral homes are generally unhelpful if you aren’t using their services, Kent had to drive from Leavenworth to Topeka for a permit to take the body out of state so Joy could be buried in Missouri. He also struggled to come up with the concrete vault in which a body must legally be buried, but he eventually found a wholesaler that made one available.
On January 11, 2000, a small group of family gathered at the cemetery in Carl Junction, Missouri to say their last goodbyes to Joy Nowlin. Husband Kent, Joy’s Dad, and brother-in-law Mike carried her body from the back of the Suburban. Kent went down into the vault so he could receive Joy’s body as Dad and Mike lowered her down. Then Kent kissed her, and placed a rose on her pajama clad chest. Aunt Tara had to hold back little Noah and little Jeremiah who also wanted to join their Mom in the vault to say goodbye.
After the crane put the lid on the vault, Kent, and Dad, and Mike started shoveling the dirt that would cover the resting place of Joy Nowlin’s body—for a while.
Kent wanted to handle Joy’s death himself, but not all by himself. He was able to give Joy the gift of a personal goodbye because he knew that it wasn’t really goodbye. His last gift to her was made possible by Christ’s last gift to us while he was on the earth.
"But I do not want you to be ignorant, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore comfort one another with these words."
[The italics is I Thessalonians 4:13-18, The Modern Translation]
Personally, what is it that God is calling me to do to honor the body of Christ this week? _______________________________________________
OUTLINE FOR BULLETIN
Adventure Christian Church of North Natomas
by Scott Mathews 3/4/04
Luke 23:44-56 (p. 734)
The Passion of the Christ
2:59:59 HOURS
Scene 1: Darkness at Golgotha (v. 44-49).
“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour” (v. 44).
When darkness fell on the land,…
• His _______ words were spoken (v. 46).
• Nature responds to change (v. 45; Mt. 27:51- 52).
• No one would ever be the _______ (v. 47-49).
Personally, what is it that God is doing in my life right now to get my attention?
_______________________________________
Scene 2: A Man Named Joseph (v. 50-56).
“a man named Joseph who had not consented to their decision and action” (v. 51).
When all appears to be lost, an unknown disciple…
• Goes _________ with his position (v. 50-51).
• Approaches the ___________ (v. 52).
• _________ the body of
Christ extravagantly v. 53).
Personally, what is it that God is calling me to do to honor the body of Christ this week?
_______________________________________________
