“‘Jesus Yielded Up His Spirit’ for All of Us!”
“‘Jesus Yielded Up His Spirit’ for All of Us!”
Please enjoy “The Gospel” as presented by Pastor Phil Newton of the South Woods Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. Other ministries \ can be found at https://www.southwoodsbc.org/. May the S-H-A-L-O-M of the Father brought to you by the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ His only begotten son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you at this Resurrection Season. AMEN!
“The Day” (Used by Permission)
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit” (Matthew 27:33–50).
Jesus knew the day was coming. He had spoken of the day throughout His ministry. He told the disciples of that day as they gathered around the table, where He announced the giving up of His body in an act of atonement. On that day, as Paul later wrote, He would become sin for us, the only one who knew no sin, so that the Father turned away from Him as He poured out His wrath upon our Substitute. The day loomed in the thoughts of Jesus as He made His way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, knowing that He was the Passover, slain for the sins of many to avert the eternal wrath of God from those who would become His beloved.
Soldiers callously gambled in the shadow of Jesus’ cross to see who would be the owner of the robe, now stained with His blood from the scourging He had endured. Pouring contempt on Him, even the two robbers crucified on either side, made fun of God’s holy Son. Others looked with arrogance upon the figure struggling to breathe upon the cross, mocking, “hurling abuse at Him,” and with disdain “wagging their heads” as they taunted Him to prove Himself to be God’s Son by coming down from the cross. But the Father sent the Son on a mission—the costliest mission ever laid upon a man—to be the Sin-bearer, the focus of divine wrath to satisfy eternal justice, that God might be just in counting sinners to be righteous through Jesus Christ.
The religious elite added their mocking voices, even using the words of Psalm 22, a Messianic psalm depicting crucifixion before its invention, “He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” He who had for all eternity been the delight of the Father, the One whom the Father called “My beloved Son” and the One “in whom I am well-pleased,” was now on the cross, because the Father sent Him there. The religious leaders and Roman authorities with the most vile and wicked intent, were merely instruments in God’s providence to secure the pardon of untold multitudes through the ages among all peoples by the Substitute’s death at the cross.
Then it happened. He became the object of divine wrath. Forsaken! “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He cried! The collective weight of eternal justice bore down upon the only truly innocent person to ever walk on earth. Such price He felt in every molecule of His being, as an infinite payment affixed upon Him at the cross, Jesus took and bore away the guilt and punishment forever. No more to be paid! “It is finished!” Redemption accomplished! “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” He died. The Son of God, pure, holy, undefiled, kind, gracious, full of love even for His opponents, died. That was the day, the aim of the divine purpose from all eternity, the day He secured pardon for us at the cross.
The Father exhausted eternal justice upon His Son on our behalf. Good Friday! That’s what we call it. But that’s also why we call it Good Friday. For on that day Jesus died to save sinners. The sinless One took the place of countless sinners, so that His righteousness might become their righteousness, His life their life.
The day Jesus died on the cross marks the eternal turning point for all who trust in Him. What a day!
Roger D. Duke retired from Baptist College of Health Sciences after eighteen years of classroom teaching ministry. He is now a free-lance writer. Duke received his doctorate from The University of the South at Sewanee—in History of Christian Thought and Classical Rhetoric. He also holds degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Harding University Graduate School of Religion, and Mid America Baptist Seminary. Duke has authored or contributed to volumes on John Albert Broadus, John Bunyan, William Carey, Basil Manley, Jr., and John Paul II. See https://www.invertedchristian.com/ for more information.