6 Hours That Changed the Universe Forever

Thank you again, gentlemen, and again to everyone. Happy Sabbath to all of you!

As we draw closer to the Passover this year, I think we all realize that the death of Jesus Christ was significant and that it changed world history. It certainly changed our personal history, didn't it? We were going along in life and either like this or in most of our cases kind of like this, heading downhill without purpose, without a reason for being, wondering why we were even alive, and then we were called. And the trajectory of our lives totally and completely changed. Our personal history, including our rollover into eternity, was forever changed because of what Jesus Christ did for us. Well, today I would like to examine the six hours that Jesus Christ was hung in the cross. I'm not going to cover the period before he's crucified or the events immediately after he was crucified. I just want to focus singly on the six hours that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross. And the reason I want to do this is some of the things and events that occurred during this short period of time are easy to misread. Many people do. It's easy to gloss over some of the important things that he said, and I think we need to understand them.

I am merging all four Gospels together to make it kind of easy. I've used a harmony because I don't want to redundantly be reading over and over again some of the same events through four different passages, so I've combined them all using a harmony of the Gospels. I've combined the events into hopefully a single timeline or as close as I could get to a single timeline, and I will highlight some areas in which an exclusive point is made by one of the Gospels that the other three left out because I think that's pretty important too to understand that.

So I'm going to present a single timeline of these six hours, and it's my hope and prayer that we all have a deeper appreciation for the prolonged death of our Savior. You may have noticed I normally don't give titles because I believe that messages that people can create their own titles, and in any message there's a part of it that relates to someone and they grasp onto, and it's that part that they will forever remember.

And for them, that's the title of the message. For someone else, it might be something totally different. However, I'm going to have a title for this one today. It's called Six Hours That Changed the Universe Forever. Six hours that changed the universe forever. So we'll begin by looking at the first three hours of Jesus Christ on the cross at the point of His crucifixion.

That's from 9 a.m. until noon, the first three hours of Jesus Christ on the cross. If you'll turn with me to Mark chapter 15 and verse 24, we will read a few verses. Now, today we're going to be leaping back and forth between the different gospel writers. So loosen up your pinkies. We're going to be turning some pages as we go back and forth to look at the four gospels to go through this single timeline.

This that I'm about to read is exclusive to Mark in that thanks to him, we know when Jesus Christ was crucified. Only he gives us the time when Jesus Christ was crucified. Again, Mark chapter 15, beginning in verse 24. They divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take. Now it was the third power, and they crucified Him. Now, the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, use Hebrew time reckoning, beginning with sunrise, about 6 a.m., being the first hour of the day. That's the way the Hebrews reckoned time.

And the gospels specify particular hours in relation to His crucifixion. That's how we know that He was on the cross six hours, and we know that He was crucified beginning at 9 a.m., or the Hebrew configuration of the third hour. Later, we'll see that darkness was over the land from noon until 3 p.m., or from the sixth or the ninth hours recorded in Matthew, chapter 27 in verse 45, and eventually we'll get there. Now, as a side note, John's gospel was written much later. It was written close to 100 A.D., and he used Roman time with hours starting at 12 midnight and 12 noon, just like we do today.

We use the Roman calendar. We use Roman time reckoning today here in the Western world. So that's the example that John's gospel has. He wrote so much later. All right, let's go to Luke chapter 23 and verse 33. Kind of ties in with our sermonette very well this morning.

Luke chapter 23 and verse 33. It says, In one day had come to a place called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left, there were two criminals total, then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided his garments, and they cast lots. So here Jesus Christ shows his incredible love for humanity. No bitterness, no resentment, no anger. He shows his love, including those who have literally tortured him. He understands and compassionately understands their carnal, their selfish, their victims themselves, their slaves to sin.

They are slaves to the God of this world, and they need freedom. He asks his father not to hold the sin of murder against them. From the perspective of Jesus, where he's coming from, is he knows these individuals are temporarily lost until a time when God calls them, when the blinders are removed, whatever time that is, most likely immediately after the thousand years have finished. They're temporarily lost. They are confused. These Roman soldiers have no understanding who he is. At this point in time, it's just another crucifixion.

It's just another day. It's like Groundhog Day to the Roman soldiers. Crucifixion was very common, and it's just another day for them. Let's go to a parallel account now in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 35.

Matthew chapter 27 and verse 35. I'll give you a few seconds to turn there. It says, they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots. So they're gambling, which isn't unusual for people that are in the military throughout history to kill time. People gamble. That it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. This happens to be Psalm chapter 22 and verse 18. They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So it's fulfilling the prophecy from the book of Psalms. And then sitting down, this is the Roman soldiers, they kept watch over him there. So after Jesus and the two criminals next to him are crucified, the Roman soldiers have hours to wait.

Again, this is boring for them. They're used to crucifixion, and once they get people up on crucifixion, they have to wait and wait and wait until those people die. And that can be very boring. Their job is to guard that person to make sure somebody doesn't come and try to take them down. And it wasn't unusual for people to live days when they were crucified. Now Jesus didn't live days because he was horribly scourged, lost a lot of blood before he was even crucified. So he didn't live days, but it was not uncommon. And some writings mention people who lived days in excruciating pain suffering through a crucifixion.

So again, to them, to the Roman soldiers, it was just another day at this point in time, and gambling was the soldier's way to kill time. Well now, let's go to John chapter 19 and verse 23. This is added, this is an extra layer to what we just read about the soldiers' gambling. Now we may have a good indication of how many soldiers were there.

So again, we're going to go to John chapter 19 and verse 23. It says, then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to each soldier apart. So that the indication there is that there were four soldiers. So they would divide it up. Now we don't know whether they rent every garment or whether they would say, you know, you get a sock and you get a sock and you get this and you get that. We don't know exactly how they divided it up, but we do know that his robe or his long, the Greek word can be a long shirt, was so valuable that they didn't want to rip it up and divide it into four pieces.

Let's read about that. The soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, again that's four shares for four soldiers, to each soldier apart, and also the tunic, again that Greek word can be a long shirt or a robe.

Now the tunic was without seam woven from the top in one piece. Now that was unusual. It wasn't like Mr. Thomas's clothes all stitched together from 15 different materials from Big Lots. This was high quality. The tunic was without seam woven from the top in one piece, and they said therefore among themselves let us not tear it. This is valuable. We don't want to tear this into four pieces, but they cast lots so that one person, one of the four, would get the whole tunic for themselves. Cast lots for it of whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, again fulfilling Psalm 22, verse 18, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Therefore the soldiers did these things. So I want to emphasize again this indicates that shirt or the robe that Jesus Christ was wearing was very high quality, and this may have been a shock to them. You know, they were used to crucifying criminals. That's who usually was crucified. Or the lower classes, people that were considered criminals, those who were in most cases ragged and poured. They had a certain amount of wealth. You might be executed, but you would not be crucified. That was the execution method for the lower classes at that time. So they were used to seeing people whose clothes weren't worth anything, ragged and poor, but this garment was worth keeping and not tearing apart. All right, Mark, let's go to Mark chapter 15 and verse 25. We started there. We'll now go and take a look at what was inscribed above the head of Jesus Christ. Mark chapter 15 and verse 25. This has been what we might say controversial for 2,000 years because each one of the four gospel writers says something different about what this inscription was. So here's what Mark says. Now it was the third hour. We've already read that. That means it was 9 a.m. according to Hebrew reckoning, and they crucified him. And the inscription of his accusation was written above. The king of the Jews.

With him, they also crucified two robbers. One at his right hand and the other on his left. I don't know if in the 21st century we can even use the word robbers anymore. That may not be politically correct. It may be considered offensive. You're implying they're bad, so maybe we'll call them possessions challenged. With him were two people who were possessions challenged. One in his right and the other on his left. So an inscription is written and placed over the head of Christ, and what we need to do is combine the four gospels to get the full message. A parallel, and with a little addition to what we just read in Mark, let's go to John chapter 19 and verse 19. John is also going to add something to the phrase, the king of the Jews.

And here's what John wrote. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Then many of the Jews read this title, and the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, near the city of Jerusalem, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. So this was written in three different languages.

Therefore, the chief priest of the Jews said to Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews, but say that he claimed, he said, he claimed, that I am the king of the Jews. Well, Pilate won't have anything to do with it. If you remember this story, Pilate just really wanted to rough him up and let him go. He didn't think Jesus was guilty. He thought the religious people were railroading him. This was a kangaroo court, and they were just trying to get him executed. So he kind of has the last laugh here, and Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written, to put it in the Greg Thomas paraphrase edition, put your big boy pants on because I'm not changing what I wrote.

What is there is going to stay there, is basically what Pilate tells them. Now, in contrast to what we've already read, Matthew, chapter 27, verse 37, says something slightly different. This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Luke, chapter 22, verse 38, states, this is the king of the Jews. So why the differences? The skeptics say, oh, say the Bible contradicts itself. There's four different ways that this sign is read. So why all of the differences? Well, remember again, it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin, and it might have slightly varied in each language. Some languages, the noun is one part of the sentence, other languages, that same noun is at the end of the sentence. So sentence structure changes, and for Luke and John, who wrote to the Gentiles primarily, they would have preferred the Greek inscription. Matthew, who was addressing the Jews, would have used the Hebrew inscription, and that would have altered his translation of what it said. And Mark, writing to the Romans, might naturally have used a Latin inscription. So these accounts actually supplement each other. They do not contradict each other. They're from the views and the memories of the persons who have written this down in the New Testament. And again, it's from their perspective, and what they recall and remember from it. Not one of the evangelists quotes the entire inscription.

But when you combine the narrative together, the inscription read, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. That's what it said.

All right, let's go to Matthew, chapter 27, and verse 37. Matthew, chapter 27, verse 37, reiterate here how Matthew said that the inscription read, Matthew 27, 37, and then we'll go beyond.

And they put up over his head the accusation written against him, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and the other on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads. You can just see people looking up and just wagging their heads, saying, You who destroyed the temple, build it in three days and save yourself. Now they're mocking a statement Jesus said in John, chapter 2 and verse 19, about if the temple would be destroyed, that is his body, it would be brought up again in three days. So they're taking little snippets of things that he said in his ministry. They're distorting them. They use these phrases to mock him. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priest, also mocking with the scribes and elders, said he saved others. He himself, he cannot save. He was able to heal others. He was able to bring others out of the dead. Lazarus came out of the tomb, and he can't even save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now if he will have him, for he said, I am the son of God. Verse 44, something that's overlooked by many individuals, even the robbers, this is both of them, even the robbers who were crucified with him, reviled him with the same thing. So Jesus experiences incredible humiliation by the mocking people passing by, by the chief priest, by the scribes, the elders, even the two criminals up there with him, crucified with him, are mocking him. So keep this in mind as we take a look at a conversation that is only recorded in the book of Luke. We only know this conversation between the two robbers and one of the robbers in Jesus Christ because Luke recalled it and recorded it. Luke chapter 23 verse 39, if you will turn there with me. Luke chapter 23 verse 39, then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, if you are the Christ, save yourself. Oh, and us too. A little selfish request there, maybe. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying, do you not even fear God, seeing that you are under the same condemnation? He's innocent. We're getting what we deserve. He has no reason to be up here. Don't you fear the fact that this is an innocent individual? He's not a criminal like us. Verse 41, and we indeed justly, for we received the due rewards of our deeds.

But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, and I'm going to read it exactly as it's punctuated here in the Gospel of Luke, and then we'll discuss it. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, assuredly I say unto you, today you will be with me in paradise. And this is a scripture that's often used by many in traditional Christianity to prove that salvation is by faith alone. Works aren't necessary. This man didn't have any works. He's just hanging there. His whole life is behind him. He's just hanging there, and he says to Jesus, remember me. And Jesus says, this very day you're going to be in heaven with me. And they'll point to this and say, look, an incredible example that nothing you do has any value. You are saved by faith alone. People will say.

Well, let's break this down and take a look at it, because I think this is important for us to remember. First of all, the Greek word remember is a Greek word that's pronounced na-o-mi. And it means the idea of fixing one in your mind or mentally grasping an image of someone to bear something in mind. So what he is asking Jesus Christ is, when you get to your kingdom, he doesn't say heaven, when you get to this kingdom that you preach, remember me. That's his actual request. Well, the first thing we have to do is ask ourselves is punctuation, the use of periods and commas in the Bible inspired. Because the placing of a comma is important. It can change the whole meaning of a phrase or sentence depending on where you place the comma. In the original Greek text of the New Testament, there was no punctuation. Any Bible scholar will readily admit that there was no Bible punctuation in the original manuscripts. The ancient Greeks did not have any equivalent to our modern usage of punctuation. Sentence punctuation was invented several centuries after the time of Jesus Christ, the oldest copies we have that exist. Both the Greek New Testament and the oldest Hebrew Old Testament are written with no punctuation.

So the punctuation was added later by translators. And translators are like all of us. They have a preconceived idea of what they want something to say because they believe in a certain thing. They believe things in a certain way. So we would expect, as is true of all of us, we would expect them to translate it according to their own beliefs and their own doctrines. And that's exactly what has happened. Virtually all translators imply that Jesus is telling the criminal that on that very day, today, the criminal would be in heaven with Jesus Christ. But aside from it being grammatically incorrect, there's a serious problem with not only the placement of the comma, but the fact that Jesus Christ was dead for three days and three nights as he prophesied in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 40. He likened himself to Jonah, and being in the whale's belly, he would be dead three days and three nights. He did not ascend to heaven until Sunday morning after talking to Mary of the first day of the week. Even if one accepts the traditional supposed day and a half linked to the death of Jesus from Good Friday to Sunday morning, even if someone were to accept that, he was not in paradise that day. So the phrase, surely I say to you today, you will, can't work. Doesn't fit. Secondly, the Greek word, paradise, which in Greek is paradisos, means in Eden, a place of happiness, hence translated paradise. It's not a reference of going to heaven. It's a metaphor for the new Jerusalem coming down to earth. It is earth.

That's where the place of the original garden of Eden was located. It's earth. That's where the original tree of life was originally located. In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 7, using that same Greek word, it says, to him who overcomes, I will give the paradise of God. So that's something that occurs on earth. It ties in with that very kingdom that Jesus preached, not talking about going to heaven. Oh yes, the criminal who spoke with Jesus was remorseful for his crime that was leading to his death shortly, but there's no indication of repentance. He never asked for forgiveness. He does not say, Jesus, forgive me of my sins. I repent of my sins. Wasn't that the core of the message that Jesus taught? Repent!

Right? And seek first the kingdom of God. Be baptized for your sins. He makes no request about repentance. He does not ask for forgiveness. He simply asks to be remembered in the kingdom. And Jesus is willing to comply with that request. It should read, assuredly I say unto you today, you will be with me in paradise. Just the moving of that comma changes the entire inflection and meaning of that sentence. Jesus is not promising the criminal that he'll be in heaven with Jesus that very day. He's promising the criminal that he will be resurrected again. That he will live again in the kingdom of God on earth. And that was the request, by the way, of the robber or the criminal. He said in verse 42, when you come into your kingdom, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Revelation chapter 20 discusses the great white throne judgment to occur a thousand years after the kingdom of God has begun. And this is a massive worldwide resurrection to those who were blinded and not called in their lifetime. So Jesus is going to keep his promise. That robber, indeed, is going to be remembered. And he's going to be resurrected from the dead. And he's going to be given an opportunity for the first time in his life to truly know who and what Jesus Christ was, and ask for forgiveness and to repent of his sins. So that's something that I think is very important for us to realize. Now let's go to another exclusive statement. We're going to go to the book of John, John chapter 19 and verse 25, an exclusive part of the story that's brought to us by John's gospel, John chapter 19 and verse 25. To me, one of the most beautiful and touching episodes in the entire New Testament, because it shows where the priorities of Jesus were. His priorities were on other people. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clophis and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, which obviously is John. John is the type of person to say, it's all about me, me, and I, I, and I did this and I did that. He's not that type of a person, the disciple whom he loved. He's referring to himself. Standing by, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son, talking about John. Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother.

And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. I want you to think about this in spite of all the pain and suffering that he's experiencing. And the fact that his very life is ebbing away, and he can sense that. He knows he's dying. He knows he's not going to get out of it alive. His hands are throbbing. His feet are throbbing from where nails were hammered into the cross. He's had a thorns pushed on his forehead, which drew out blood. He's been scourged, beaten to a bloody pulp. In spite of all of that, he's so filled with love for his mother that he wants to ensure that she's taken care of after his death. And he says, in essence, John, take care of my mom, will you? Take care of my mom for me.

Well, what we just read had occurred from about 9 a.m. to noon, the first three hours of the total of six hours in the cross. Now let's read what happened the next three hours that the Savior was on the cross. Again, this is Hebrew reckoning. This is 12 noon to 3 p.m.

Matthew chapter 27 and verse 45. Matthew chapter 27 and verse 45. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour, again using Hebrew reckoning, as we spoke about earlier, this is 12 noon to 3 p.m., there was darkness over all the land. Now I did some research. I didn't spend days, but I spent a fair amount of time trying to find out if there was an eclipse. We're talking about the eclipse coming, right? If there was an eclipse in the world at that time, and I could find nothing in the record, nothing on Google search or anywhere else, that there was an actual eclipse. So this appears to be a truly supernatural event, not the result of an eclipse. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, this man is calling for Elijah. Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed and offered it to him to drink. Verse 49, and the rest said, let him alone, let us see if Elijah will come to save him. And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. All right, before we dig into this, let's find out what that final loud voice was, because we have John. Thank you for that. None of the other synoptic gospels mention what these final words were. John chapter 19 and verse 30. Here is the loud voice that Jesus uttered, and then he yielded up his spirit. John chapter 19 and verse 30, he said loudly, it is finished, and probably with a sense of relief, that the whole purpose of him emptying himself to come down and walk on this earth as a man, and all that he had to suffer and endure finally had come to an end. All the pain and the suffering, and now he was going to be able to be restored to the glory of God as part of the Godhead. And he was successful, and he shed his blood so that humanity would have an opportunity to be saved and be part of the kingdom of God and ultimately serve as part of God's family. So he said, it is finished. Those were his final words, and then he expired. Now, it spoke here in these verses about darkness. A strange darkness engulfed the land, and as one scholar said, a natural eclipse would be unlikely at Passover because that was the time of a full moon. The darkness signifies a miracle of God that was designed to draw humanity's attention to the darkness of the hour when men crucified the Savior of the world. It's as if even nature, even the creation, is mourning. The Creator, the Word who spoke the world into existence, it's as if even nature itself, with that darkness, is mourning over the death of Jesus Christ. When he says, Eli, Eli, Lama, Sibachthani, he's quoting Psalm 22 and verse 1, but he's saying it in Aramaic. He's not saying it in Hebrew, not saying it in Greek. He's saying it in Aramaic, which was the common language of the people of his day, including the common language of Jesus Christ.

Now, his phrase, this phrase here, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It also is controversial. With some, they can't see how the Christ himself would have said something like that to the Father. They think it's somehow disrespectful, or they think the statement lacks faith or whatever going on in their heads. But this cry may reflect a desertion that Jesus felt as he alone was bearing the sins of the world. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So Jesus was certainly human. Remember in the garden, he asked if there was any way the cup could be removed from him. Is there any way to do this aside from me going through interrogation and trial and scourging and crucifixion, but not my will, Father, your will be done. He was human. He felt human emotions. And at this time, he felt abandoned since he had to carry the sins of the world on himself on behalf of all sins that have ever been or could ever be. The theology of this is that the very creator himself is of such great worth and value that his one life was of greater worth than any and all sins that could ever be committed. That's the theology behind him dying here. So as Christ dies, other events happened as a result of his immediate death. Let's read about what those are as we begin to conclude this sermon today on the crucifixion of Christ. Let's read what's occurring as he dies. Matthew chapter 27 and verse 51. Matthew chapter 27 and verse 51.

Matthew records, then behold the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom. This was that heavy curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy of holies that only the high priest could enter once a year. It was torn in two. This is supernatural from top to bottom. And the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they're a forerunner of his resurrection and resurrections to come, according to God's plan. They went into the holy city and they appeared to many, so we couldn't deny that these resurrections occurred. So when the centurion, now here are the four soldiers who it was just another day in the Roman Empire. I'm bored. Let's gamble over his clothes. Another day, another dollar. Well, they're in for a rude awakening, right? So when the centurion and those with him, four Roman soldiers total, who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake, the things that had happened, they feared greatly saying, this truly, this was the Son of God. And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, were there looking on from afar among those whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

So again, this veil of the temple that's torn in two was a heavy curtain that separated the holy place from the most holy place. It barred the way into the presence of God. And according to Mosaic law, only the high priest, and we understand this because we observe atonement, only the high priest, once a year, was allowed to physically go into the literal presence of God. But he had to go with all kinds of incense and things, and he had to purify himself before he did it, and he had to prepare himself before he did it, and only he was allowed to go in there once, one day, one time, every year. The tearing of that curtain was a type of the physical body of Jesus Christ as his flesh was torn. It signified that a new and living way was now open to the very presence of God. We now have an open way through Christ, to the throne of grace, through the mercy seat, and we have that right now. That's not something that we have the ability in the future.

We have that precious opportunity right now to go to the very throne of the Father and his great high priest, Jesus Christ. Christ is both the eternal sacrifice and the eternal high priest. There are no longer a need for sacrifices, except our living sacrifice, I might add. There are no longer a need for high priests because Jesus Christ fulfilled that need. All right, our final scripture today, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19. The author of Hebrews, which I personally believe was Paul, wrote this regarding the very subject we're talking about.

He wrote Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19, therefore brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil that is his flesh. So the torn body of Jesus Christ, his shed blood, made it possible for us to have direct access to God the Father, direct access to Jesus Christ. We don't need churches or ministers. We don't need any other intercessor aside from our great high priest, Jesus Christ, to be able to talk to God and have a personal relationship with him. That barrier that existed in the Old Covenant is no longer there for New Covenant believers. As I mentioned, some of the saints were given a foretaste of the resurrections to occur in the future, and as a result of the death of Jesus as the Lamb of God, some people wonder about what happened to them. Well, they lived out their resurrected physical lives, however long or short that may have been, and they died. Again, that was a supernatural miracle just to impress the point across to the people in Jerusalem and in that area that Jesus Christ would be resurrected, and that resurrection is something all the dead can look forward to. Well, brethren, as we can see, a lot of profound events occurred during the six hours Jesus Christ was crucified before he expired. As I mentioned earlier, many individuals lived for days on the cross, however Jesus was scourged before his crucifixion weakened, and he died in six hours. So, as we prepare for Passover this year, let's meditate on all the things that the Lamb of God did for us. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ is our Passover, and he makes salvation possible because of the shedding of his blood. Jesus never observed Lent or Easter services with his disciples, but he observed every Passover in his ministry with his disciples, and we're going to follow his example and do the same thing that he did this year on the Passover. We can all be reminded of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7. He said, therefore purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, encouraging the Gentile believers and Corinth to observe the days of unleavened bread. He says, since you were truly unleavened and spiritually we're all truly unleavened because of that sacrifice of Jesus Christ, for indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

Let's begin thinking more deeply, more profoundly, about this upcoming Passover.