Category: 2017 Sermons

Sermon Audio: The Death of Jesus
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 23:44-49
Duration: 26:27
Size: 12.1 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
The Death of Jesus
Luke 23:44-49

After a series of rushed civil and religious trials, Jesus was finally sentenced to death by crucifixion.

Crucifixion was a slow death, intended to inflict maximum agony and suffering.

The most extreme word in the English language to describe pain is the word “excruciating,” which comes from the Latin word excruciatus, meaning “out of the cross.”

The death of Jesus in Luke 23:44-49 shows us a number of events preceding and following his death.

I. Events Preceding Jesus’ Death (Luke 23:44-46)

A. Darkness Over the Whole Land (Luke 23:44-45a)

It was as if “a veil had been drawn over the unspeakable suffering of God’s Son.”

There was a disturbance in creation itself in order to demonstrate what Jesus was doing on the cross: suffering God’s judgment against our sin.

B. The Curtain of the Temple Was Torn in Two (Luke 23:45b)

The temple curtain being torn in two was a sign of spiritual access to God through Jesus Christ.

The tearing of the curtain in the temple teaches us that sinners no longer have to go to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice for their sins.

C. Jesus’ Final Words from the Cross (Luke 23:46)

But what was so different about Jesus’ prayer on the cross is the addition of one word, the word “Father.”

II. Events Following Jesus’ Death (Luke 23:47-49)

A. The Conversion of the Centurion (Luke 23:47)

We don’t know what happened to the centurion, but he came to see that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and Savior of sinners.

B. The Action of the Crowds (Luke 23:48)

C. The Observation of Jesus’ Followers (Luke 23:49)

As we have looked at the death of Jesus in Luke 23:44-49, we should make sure that we have been reconciled to God through Jesus.

Sermon Audio: The Crucifixion of Jesus
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 23:26-43
Duration: 21:58
Size: 10.0 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
The Crucifixion of Jesus
Luke 23:26-43

I would like to examine the passage from the perspective of three significant statements made by Jesus on his way to be crucified and while hanging on the cross.

I. Jesus’ Statement to the Daughters of Jerusalem (Luke 23:26-31)

Jesus would have been carrying the cross beam for the cross.

His basic message to the nation of Israel was, “Don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves.”

Jesus was saying that people should pray that God would have mercy on them, rather than feel sorry for him.

II. Jesus’ Statement to the Executioners (Luke 23:32-38)

It is as if the horror of the crucifixion was too awful to describe in detail.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and no-one is too lost for Jesus to love and to ask his Father to forgive.

Know that Jesus will forgive you your sins, and he will enable you to forgive others too.

III. Jesus’ Statement to the Thief on the Cross (Luke 23:39-43)

There were two criminals hanging on the cross next to Jesus. Although initially they both reviled Jesus, eventually only one continued to rail against Jesus, while the other criminal repented.

“One thief was saved that no sinner might despair, but only one, that no sinner might presume.”

One response is to reject Jesus, like the hardened thief. But the right response is to turn to Jesus in faith and repentance, like the repentant thief.

Sermon Audio: Jesus Before Pilate – Again
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 23:13-25
Duration: 20:39
Size: 9.45 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Jesus Before Pilate – Again
Luke 23:13-25

What, in your mind, is the greatest injustice in the world?

The injustice of Jesus’ death sentence in Luke 23:13-25 shows us how Jesus was convicted, despite his innocence.

I. The Conclusion of Pilate (Luke 23:13-16)

Pilate, using the Roman legal system of justice, did not find Jesus to be guilty of any charge. And Herod, using the Jewish legal system of justice, did not find Jesus to be guilty of any charge either.

Of course, to punish someone who is innocent is a travesty of justice.

But there is another reason why Pilate worked so hard to get Jesus acquitted. His wife’s dream.

II. The Choice of the Jews (Luke 23:18-23)

Perhaps he had hoped that the people would back him in his initial assessment of Jesus’ innocence.

The question is: who is responsible for the injustice of Jesus’ death sentence?

All are sucked into the vortex of Satan’s cosmic plan for the destruction of the Son of God.

III. The Condemnation of Jesus (Luke 23:24-25)

The people cried out for the release of one called “son of the father” and rejected the One who really is the Son of the Father!

Like Barabbas, we were dead in our sins and doomed to die; but an exchange has taken place in which Jesus takes our place so that we can take his.

Sermon Audio: Jesus Before Pilate
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 23:1-12
Duration: 19:47
Size: 13.9 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Jesus Before Pilate
Luke 23:1-12

Because they were not able to impose the death penalty on anyone, they had to get the Romans to convict Jesus of a capital offense, and thereby get him sentenced to death.

I. The Accusations Against Jesus (Luke 23:1-2)

Jesus was simply teaching the people a correct understanding of God’s truth rather than the perversion that was being taught to them.

II. The Question of Pilate (Luke 23:3a)

If Jesus was a revolutionary trying to rebel against Rome, then Pilate would have to take action against him.

III. The Answer of Jesus (Luke 23:3b)

IV. The Verdict of Pilate (Luke 23:4)

Pilate believed that Jesus was not a threat to Rome. And so he declared Jesus not guilty of any crime against Rome.

V. The Disagreement of the Sanhedrin (Luke 23:5)

VI. The Referral to Herod (Luke 23:6-7)

Under Roman law, a person could either be tried in the place where he was accused or in the province where he came from.

VII. The Ridicule by Herod (Luke 23:8-11)

He was simply trying to ridicule Jesus, and so Jesus refused to answer him.

Interestingly, although Luke did not state it in this passage, Herod, like Pilate, found Jesus not guilty of any wrongdoing.

VIII. The Friendship of Enemies (Luke 23:12)

Whatever else they disagreed about, Pilate and Herod could agree to despise and persecute Christ.

Jesus allowed the human injustice to go forward because he knew that it was part of God’s plan for divine justice to be met against sinners like us.