Matthew 27-28 Chapter Study
Jesus has been arrested by
the Jewish leaders and tried in a sham trial at the high priest’s house.
Though
many witnesses had come forward to provide damaging evidence against Jesus,
none of their testimony held up under examination.
Finally, in frustration,
because the priests had already determined to get rid of Jesus, and not finding
any legal grounds to carry out their desire to kill Him, the high priest rose
from his seat, and against the principle of justice in which an accused man
cannot be compelled to testify against himself, he used his office to put Jesus
under a sacred bond to confess whether or not He was the Messiah.
Jesus deferred to the
authority of the high priest’s office and answered that He was indeed the
Messiah, the Son of the Living God
The high priest then turned
to all there and said they were all witnesses to what he called blasphemy – a
crime punishable by death under Jewish law.
But,
here’s the rub – the Jews had lost the power of exercising capital punishment. The
Romans had taken this from them early in the First Century.
1 When
morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against
Jesus to put Him to death.
They conspired as to how they
could execute Him.
While
blasphemy was a capital crime for the Jews, the Romans would laugh at the idea
of killing a man for such a charge.
So
they had to come up with a charge that would get the Romans to condemn Him.
They
settled on accusing Jesus of being a radical revolutionary – a pretender to the
throne of David; the man who would be king.
This
was something the Romans would not take lightly, especially not from the Jews
since they already dealt with several such insurrections.
2 And when
they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the
governor.
Now, there’s an interesting
little historical sidelight here that’s brought out in Mark Eastman’s book, The Search for the Messiah.[1]
The
Jewish historian Josephus tells us that early in the first century, around 6-7
AD, the Jews lost the right to carry out executions themselves.
Herod’s
son, Archelaus, had done a poor job of ruling
Archelaus
was removed from his office and banished to the fringes of the empire.
In
his place the Romans installed a Roman governor, and severely limited the power
of the Sanhedrin.
Most
importantly, they removed the right to exercise capital punishment.
The Jewish rabbis had a
meltdown because they saw this as an event which literally broke the Word of God!
You
see, in Gen. 49:10, the great patriarch Jacob had given a prophecy that the
scepter, meaning the right to rule and to exercise the full scope of the Law,
would not depart from the tribe of
Think
of a scepter in the hand of a king.
In
the ancient world, when a king wished to show favor and acceptance to someone,
he would extend the scepter toward them.
But
if he wanted to show his disfavor, he held the scepter upright, away from them.
The
person from whom the scepter was withheld was led away to the place of
execution. We see this in the book of
Esther.
Jacob’s
prophecy meant that there would always be a king from the tribe of Judah to sit
on the throne of Israel, and that the civil government of Israel would possess
the power to enforce the Mosaic law, even the rule of capital punishment.
This
would be the case until the Messiah came, who would take up all rule under His
authority.
So, when the Romans took the
right of capital punishment away from
What they didn’t realize, is
that the
Messiah had come!
And
this is why Luke tells us in his gospel about the 12 year old Jesus who visited
the temple to reason with the scribes.
[Luke 2:41-50]
That
was the
same year Archelaus was replaced by the Roman governor.
You
see, the prophecy of Jacob in Gen. 49:10 ought to have been another
time-marker, alerting the people to the fact they lived in the time when the
Messiah would appear.
What we need to realize is
that there’s a very important reason why God allowed the exercise of
capital punishment to move from the Jews to the Romans – We’ll see why in a
bit; and it will answer this goofy idea that’s been renewed lately that the
Jews are guilty for killing Christ.
3 Then
Judas, [Jesus’] betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and
brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4
saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What
is that to us? You see to it!”
When Judas realized that his
actions were leading to the death of a really good man, his conscience hammered
him.
As
we saw Sunday, he was filled with regret and tried to undo
his sin of betrayal by giving back the money.
But
the priests couldn’t accept it! It was
blood money and so tainted by Judas’ sin.
Interesting
isn’t it that the priests could PAY the money to gain a betrayal – but wouldn’t
take it back?
When
they paid the money, their attitude was, “Hey, what Judas chooses to do with
the money is his business and none of ours.
We can’t be held responsible for his actions!”
That
may be technically correct, but it was neither morally nor ethically
right. These guys were co-conspirators
with Judas though they tried to hold themselves above him; they were just as
guilty as he.
These 30 pieces of silver had
come been paid by the priests out of the temple treasury – a fund that was used
to purchase the sacrifices offered in the temple!
On
one hand, the priests used sacred funds to commit a crime.
On
the other hand, what they didn’t realize is that they were buying the One
Sacrifice all previous sacrifices had pointed to – JESUS!
5 Then he
threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged
himself.
When Judas first agreed to
betray Jesus, he was motivated by greed!
But after
the betrayal, he realized money could never buy-off or ease his sense of guilt.
There are some things money cannot
buy – ever; and one of them is peace!
Greed killed Judas!
Listen to the words of the
Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 -
Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a
snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in
destruction and perdition. For
the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have
strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with
many sorrows.
I like the way The
Message renders it -
Lust for money brings
trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing
in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.
There
are hundreds of people today who will tell you that money does not buy
happiness; it cannot buy love.
Money can buy things, luxury, physical comfort;
but those do not equal happiness.
Happiness
is not a thing that can be bought.
It’s the result of a life lived right! It’s the fruit of knowing that you’ve done
the
right thing, that you are in the right place.
Judas
held out no hope for forgiveness. His
sense of guilt was so great, he could see only one way out – suicide. So he hung himself.
6 But the
chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them
into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.”
What hypocrisy!!! They couldn’t put them back into the temple
treasury because it was blood money, but they could take it out
of the treasury to make it into blood money!
These
men have a twisted sense of ethics; of what is right and wrong.
7 And they
consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers
in. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to
this day.
They used the money Judas
threw back to purchase a field to bury foreigners in.
9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the
prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of
Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, 10 and
gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord
directed me.”
Okay – this passage is one
skeptics love to point to as an error in scripture.
And
they do appear to have a point.
You
see, Matthew attributes this to Jeremiah, but the passage is found
in Zechariah
11:12-13. What’s going on here? Did
Matthew goof?
No – actually, what Matthew
says here is drawn from two sources, Zechariah and Jeremiah 19 [1,4,6,11].
It
was a regular practice in that time when quoting multiple sources, to only name
the most important among them.
Jeremiah
was esteemed by the Jews of that period as the premier prophet, so Matthew only
gives his name.
We
see the same thing in Mark 1:2-3 where Mark quotes both Isaiah and Malachi, but
mentions only Isaiah.
11 Now
Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You
the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as
you say.”
This was the polite way of
saying “Yes” to a person of authority.
Today we encourage young
children to speak respectfully to adults and say, “Yes Ma’am” or “No, Sir” – what
Jesus says here was the polite way to reply to a person in Pilate’s position - “It is as
you say.”
A curt “Yes” would have appeared dismissive & disrespectful of
Pilate.
Pilate asked
Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” because
this was the charge that had been leveled at Him by the Jewish leaders who’d
hauled Him there.
As
the Messiah, the Son of David and the rightful king of
Even
more, as the Son of God, He was the King of the Universe, but Pilate hadn’t
asked about that.
12 And
while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered
nothing. 13 Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many
things they testify against You?” 14 But He answered him not one
word, so that the governor marveled greatly.
Get the scene; Pilate is
sitting on his formal judgment seat as the judge to whom the power of life and
death had been given.
In
front of him to one side stand the chief priests and rulers of
Across
from them stands Jesus.
The
priests & elders are giving a list of charges against Jesus.
Luke
23:2 tells us they leveled 3 charges against Him;
1) They charged Jesus first with being a
revolutionary,
2) Second, with inciting the people not to pay
their taxes,
3) And third, with claiming to be a king.
They fabricated 3 political charges, all of them conscious lies, because they
knew that only on such charges would Pilate act.[2]
As would be the case, they would
file a specific charge, & Jesus would answer it. Then they would give another charge, and Jesus
would answer it.
But
after they give their first charge, Pilate’s head swings to Jesus & Jesus doesn’t
say a word. Pilate says,
“Well???” Silence!
So
the priests give the 2nd charge & again Pilate’s head swings to
Jesus. “Well???” Silence.
This
happens a 3rd time & Pilate is amazed Jesus has nothing to say
in defense of Himself, because as b. 18 makes clear, he knows that the priests
are motivated out of envy; they have not real charges against Jesus.
Of course, Jesus knew all of
this was a formality. They weren’t
killing Him, He was laying down His life.
At
this trial before Pilate, He wasn’t being condemned by them, their actions
against Him were condemning themselves.
Jesus
wasn’t on trial, they were! Jesus didn’t
stand for judgment before Pilate, Pilate was sitting in
judgment before Jesus.
We need to take this idea
that’s popular among many people today that “they can choose Jesus” and turn it
around.
We
don’t choose Jesus, He
chooses us!
Jesus doesn’t stand like some
reality
show contestant hoping people will pick Him.
He’s
not just a religious leader among many other viable candidates.
Jesus
stands in no line up with Buddah, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi,
& Moses hoping people will pick Him.
Jesus is the sovereign, ONLY
Lord of heaven & earth.
And
a man or woman’s eternal destiny is determined, not by which religious box they
check, but by whether or not they bow themselves before the name which is above
every name – Jesus!
This whole scene, from the
Jesus – the Lord of
Righteousness, the One who defines what holiness IS, condemned to death as a
vile, sinful criminal!
The
Judge of the Ages, being judged by a petty Roman governor.
And
the Lord of Life whose eternal throne is a glory so bright eyes cannot behold
it, dying a despicable death on a rough, blood-stained piece of wood.
The irony of it all is too great
for words!
15 Now at
the feast [of the Passover] the governor was accustomed to releasing to the
multitude one prisoner whom they wished. 16 And at that time they
had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 Therefore, when they
had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to
you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that
they had handed Him over because of envy.
The Passover was the highest
annual holiday and celebration of the Jews.
The
Romans tied to be on as good of terms as possible with the people they ruled,
so while they ruled with an iron fist, they also practiced acts of mercy which
were meant to ease the tensions between themselves & those they ruled.
One
of the rituals they had developed was to use the Passover, when the City was
packed with visitors from all over the world, to release a prisoner, someone
the people considered a hero, even though the Romans might see him as a
criminal.
At that time, they were
holding a dangerous political reactionary named Barabbas.
Pilate
gave them an option – he would release either Barabbas, a known criminal; or
Jesus, whom Pilate knew the common people were acclaiming as the Christ, the
Messiah.
Pilate
had good reason to believe that when the choice was put to the crowd and not
the leaders, they would pick Jesus over Barabbas.
In
this way, he hoped to get out of the predicament he found himself in.
You see, we need to know a
little bit about Pilate.
Pilate
had become procurator/governor of
Where
previous governors had followed a kid glove approach to ruling the
temperamental Jews, Pilate used the mailed fist.
The Jews allowed no graven
images in compliance with the 2 Commandment.
The
Roman standard was a pole with the eagle on it, or a bust of the reigning
emperor.
When
Romans troops marched into
When
Pilate assumed his office and marched into the City, he refused to remove the
images and this created a stir so great it got him in trouble with
You
see, procurators were directly responsible, not to the Roman Senate but to the
Emperor. The Emperor’s displeasure meant
the removal of the governor.
At
any time, the people being ruled under a Roman governor could appeal to the
Emperor.
The
Jews had done this with Pilate and word had been sent to him that he was being
watched.
When Jesus appeared before
him, he was in a difficult place.
On
one hand, he would have loved to stick it to the Jewish leaders as these were
the guys who’d complained to Caesar about him.
On
the other hand, if he just overlooked a charge of sedition against Jesus, then
this could look to
By
presenting Jesus and Barabbas to the people, his hope was that they would pick
Jesus and the matter would be settled.
Matthew adds another little
insight that further added to Pilate’s predicament.
19 While
he was sitting on the judgment seat, . . .
Meaning before he presented
Jesus & Barabbas to the crowd – while the charges were being leveled by the
leaders.
. . . his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to
do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because
of Him.”
To Pilate’s own sense of
Jesus’ innocence was added his wife’s warning.
She
too called him a just man – he was not guilty of anything worthy of execution.
When Pilate asked if Jesus
was the King of the Jews, Jesus had acknowledge it in v.11.
On
the surface, this was a claim that could have condemned Jesus for it could be
construed as a claim to political power in opposition to
But
it could also simply mean He was the rightful king who accepted the Roman
presence and authority, as so many other conquered people had.
As
Pilate looked at Jesus, he saw nothing that would indicate He would
lead a revolution. If Jesus was a king,
his kingdom was no threat to
Jesus was an innocent man
& Pilate knew it.
20 But the
chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for
Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said to
them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said,
“Barabbas!” 22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus
who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” 23
Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out
all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” 24 When Pilate saw
that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising,
he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am
innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” 25 And
all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our
children.” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had
scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.
By some arm-twisting, the
leaders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas’ release.
When
Pilate asked what he should do with Jesus, they cried out for his death.
When
he asked on what basis He should be crucified, the crowd just got all the more
vocal and started jostling.
Seeing
that a riot might break out, Pilate complied with the crowd’s request.
He knew Jesus was innocent,
but for the sake of political expediency and maintaining his own position, he
consented to the evil of putting Jesus to death.
By washing his hands before
the multitude like this, he was saying that while he was using his official
authority to condemn Jesus, personally, he
accepted no moral responsibility for this.
As Jesus was innocent, so he
claimed innocence of any wrong-doing here.
But Pilate’s act of washing
his hands did not in any way relieve him of his guilt.
An
ancient tradition says Pilate became obsessed with washing his hands. That he would wash them again and again,
always seeing them covered with blood and trying to wash it away.
Pilate is a classic example
of a man who is in the office of a leader without being a leader.
A
true leader makes decisions that he/she believes are right, regardless
of whether or not anyone agrees with him/her.
A
true leader is a person of conviction who lives and dies by his/her
convictions.
A mere office holder has one
goal, to hold on to the office.
Their
decisions are made to stay in place – not by what’s right or wrong.
Pilate was an office
holder, not a leader; a politician, not a ruler.
This is something to keep in
mind as we go to the poles & vote for our civil leaders.
Are
the candidates political or principled?
Are
they leaders
or merely seeking office?
In v. 26 Matthew tells us
that before Jesus was led out to be crucified, the Roman soldiers scourged Him.
Crucifixion
was a grueling and terribly painful way to die.
It
also took a long time, sometimes, days for the condemned to finally expire.
So
the Romans had started scourging the condemned as a way to hurry the process of
death along.
Scourging was a severe
beating with flagellum, a leather whip with bits of metal, glass or bone knotted into its
thongs.
The condemned would have his hands tied and then
secured to either an upright post, or stretched over a lateral post.
This whipping bloodied the victim’s back, leaving
strips of flesh hanging from the wounds. [3]
The
scourging was so brutal, some prisoners never survived it.
Though
I haven’t seen the movie yet, I’ve heard that the scourging scene in “The Passion of the Christ” goes on
& on and for many becomes hard to watch because it seems like just too
much.
Well, how long did it take the soldiers to scourge
Jesus? They could have gone at it for 10
minutes or more.
Let’s look again at vs. 24-25
24 When
Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult
was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”
25And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us
and on our children.”
The
charges of some that “The Passion” is
anti-Semitic lie in what we find here.
You see, throughout church history, there has been
a stream of thought that sees the Jews a “Christ-killers.”
They use v. 25 as justification for persecuting the
Jews – “After all,” the reasoning goes, “they called down the guilt for Jesus’
death on their heads for all succeeding generations.”
Jewish groups were concerned Gibson’s movie would
inflame a new round of anti-Semitism and outbreaks of violence against Jews.
So the reports I’ve heard is that while the crowds
shouts this in Hebrew or Aramaic, it’s not translated into English sub-titles.
This
is all rather silly – but yet another example of people who mis-interpret and
mis-apply scripture.
No one killed Jesus! He laid down
His life of His own accord and choice.
In John 10:17-18 Jesus said,
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I
lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay
it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This command I have received from My Father.”
In
the Garden when the mob came to arrest Jesus, He demonstrated His power over
them by causing them all to fall to the ground with nothing more than a
word! [John 18:4-6]
When
standing before Pilate, the governor asked Jesus, “Why won’t you answer? Don’t
you now I have the power to release or condemn you?”
Jesus replied, “You have no power but what My
father gave you.”
Jesus
was no victim of a plot or conspiracy by the Jews, the Romans, the
Illuminati, the Bilderbergers, or anyone else!
He
was and is Master of every situation Who went to the cross of His own volition;
to die for our sins; your sins, my sins.
My Sin + God’s Love = The Cross!
1 John 1:7 says that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from
all sin.
So,
when in v. 25 we read that the crowd said,
“His blood be on us and on our children”
we shouldn’t read this as the basis for condemning the Jews, but as the
basis for a hope that they will be saved!
In John 11 we read
something provocative –
49And
one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know
nothing at all, 50nor do you consider that it is expedient for us
that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should
perish.” 51Now this he did not say on his own authority; but
being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation.
John turns the malicious words of the high priest
into a prophecy that means the very opposite of what the high priest intended.
Caiaphas meant that Jesus should be executed just
so they could keep their positions.
But John spins it as actually prophetic, for Jesus
did come to die for the nation, for all nations!
By His death, others are saved from perishing.
The same is true for the cry
of the crowd – they said, “His blood be
on us and on our children” as a statement accepting responsibility for
Jesus death.
But
the fact of the matter is, WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS DEATH!
Now,
may His blood which secures salvation, be applied to all!
To
be honest, what they said that day before Pilate, I say as well - “His blood be on me and my house; on each
& every one of my children, & their children, forever. AMEN!”
27 Then
the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the
whole garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a
scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns,
they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand.
The reed was a mock
scepter. They were mocking His claim to
being a king.
And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him,
saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 Then they spat on Him, and took
the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked
Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him
away to be crucified.
John
tells us Pilate brought Jesus out one more time for the crowd to behold,
thinking his desperate appearance would draw forth some mercy, but they cried
all the louder for His crucifixion.
Why did the common people
turn so quickly against Jesus?
Just
days before they’d been heralding Him as the Messiah; why now the hatred and
angry cries calling for His death?
Simple
– in their minds, if He was the Messiah, He would not look like this!
He’d
have done this to each and every Roman in
They
felt cheated, disappointed & angry that Jesus had not met their
expectations & desires for a conquering King.
There’s a lesson in that for
us – for you see, Jesus WAS THE MESSIAH.
It
was they who were wrong in their expectations and desires.
Some
people are disappointed in God because He doesn’t meet their expectations or
answer their prayers the way they want them answered.
Their
attitude is, “Why follow God when He doesn’t do what I like?”
The answer to that is, Follow
God because He is God and you are NOT!
He
knows far better what is best for you than you do.
When
God doesn’t meet your expectations, it’s the expectations that are wrong, not
God.
32 Now as
they came out, they found a man of
This was necessary because
the ordeal Jesus has endured so far has weakened Him to the point He cannot
carry the cross.
It
was the rule that when a Roman soldier place the flat head of his spear on a
person’s shoulder, the person was immediately conscripted to carry out the
soldier’s order.
Simon was the poor guy they
picked to carry Jesus’ cross.
This
was the kind of humiliating thing a person would absolutely dread.
But
for Simon, this exercise in humility became the means of his salvation.
When
Marks tells this story, he refers to Simon as the father of Alexander and
Rufus, which can only mean they were believers who were well known to the
church. [Mark 15:21]
More
than likely, they were led to faith by their father.
That which to Simon had seemed his day of shame
became his day of glory.[4]
33 And
when they had come to a place called
The Latin word for Golgotha
is “
34 they
gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it,
He would not drink.
Ancient writings inform us
the women of
Jesus refused the drink; He
wanted to be fully alert & aware, tasting the last bitter dregs, not of
wine, but of death.
It
was for this moment He’d come, and He was not going to be taken out of it by
being drugged.
35 Then
they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among
them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”
This is from Psalm 22:18,
which is in itself an incredibly accurate picture of the crucifixion, written
some 1,000 years before Jesus, before the Romans and their hideous practice.
Matthew spares us the gory
details of crucifixion because he knew his readers were well acquainted with
it.
We
aren’t. What we’re used to seeing are
sanitized & romanticized versions of the cross. “The Passion” is an attempt at stark realism.
The Roman statesman
One of the great humiliations
for the Jews would be that the condemned were stripped naked by the Romans.
This
is why they were getting rid of His clothes.
36Sitting
down, they kept watch over Him there. 37And they put up over His
head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
The list of crimes the
condemned were being executed for were always attached to the cross so those
passing by could be warned.
38Then two
robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. 39And
those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40and
saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save
Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41Likewise
the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42“He
saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of
In the midst of all the
physical pain came the soul pain as these guys mocked the Lord of Glory!
Talk
about a trial! For at any moment, Jesus
could have burst off the cross and smoked them!
They
taunted and told Him to come down from the cross!
But
it was for the Cross he’d come!
There’s not a person here who
could have endured this scorn without answering back, without some exercise of
raw power that would have caused infinite agony to the mockers.
45 Now
from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
The darkness was
supernatural; it was as if the creation was drawing a veil over the scene of
the cross.
As
Jesus was made the sin of the world for all time, the agony He bore may have
simply been too great for human eyes to witness, so God mercifully pulled a
screen over the sight by dimming the light.
Two
early church fathers, Origen & Eusebius, both quote from Phlegon, a Roman historian, who wrote, "In the
fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was an extraordinary eclipse of the
sun: at the sixth hour, the day turned into dark night, so that the stars in
heaven were seen; and there was an earthquake."[5]
46 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?”
This was the opening line of
Psalm 22, which Jesus cried out here both as a true cry of His heart, and as a
way to alert those standing by to consider the scriptures.
If
they had, they would have realized what they were witnessing had all been
foretold.
Psalm 22:1-18
1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why
are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do
not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the
praises of
4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted,
and You delivered them.
5 They cried to You, and were delivered; They
trusted in You, and were not ashamed.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; A
reproach of men, and despised by the people.
7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They
shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He
delights in Him!”
9 But You are He who took Me out of
the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My
mother’s womb You have been My God.
11 Be not far from Me, For trouble is
near; For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls
of
13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like
a raging and roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, And all My bones
are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It
has melted within Me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And
My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation
of the wicked has enclosed Me. They
pierced My hands and My feet;
17 I can count all My bones. They look and
stare at Me.
18 They divide My garments among them, And for
My clothing they cast lots.
Remember,
this was written about a thousands years before Jesus & the Romans.
47Some of
those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling
for Elijah!” 48Immediately 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. 49The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will
come to save Him.”
Whereas Jesus refused the
drink earlier, John tells us He took it here.
[John 19:30]
The
reason He took it here was because He needed the moisture to be able to frame
His final words – “It is finished.”
50And
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51Then,
behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the
earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52and the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53and
coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city
and appeared to many.
When the Creator died,
creation shuddered.
And
the devil, in his greedy grasp to take hold of Jesus, let loose of some of his
other prisoners.
He
was like the dog with a bone in his mouth, who sees his own reflection in a
pool of water and in trying to take the bone out of his reflection’s mouth,
loses the one he has.
Matthew tells us that at the
instant of Jesus’ death, the veil that separated the holy place form the most
holy place in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, not bottom to top,
which is the direction it would have torn if a man had done it.
It
was torn form top to bottom because God did the tearing.
He
was saying that the final sacrifice had been offered.
There
was no longer any need for sacrifices or a special priesthood, or even a temple
– because through the death of Christ, all can come directly to God themselves,
on a equal basis.
54So when
the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake
and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was
the Son of God!”
These soldiers had seen many
executions, many men had been crucified by their detail. But at none of their deaths had anything like
this happened.
What about Pilate? What about
Caiaphas and the chief priests and elders?
Do
you think maybe a huge “Uh oh!” went though them when all this happened?
Maybe
it did, but it didn’t move them to faith.
This Centurion & his men
were moved though!
55 And
many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there
looking on from afar, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
57 Now
when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who
himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to
Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be
given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a
clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn
out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and
departed. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary,
sitting opposite the tomb.
It was the usual custom that
the bodies of crucified criminals were left on their crosses to rot or be eaten
by wild animals.
But
the Jews wanted no such horror displayed during the Passover.
A
body so exposed would ritually defile the land, so Pilate would be inclined to
let Joseph have the body for burial.
Matthew
tells us the evening had come – the Sabbath was about to begin, so Joseph had
to do a hurried job of preparing the body and insert it into the tomb before
the sun set.
The women who followed saw
that Joseph had not done a proper job of attending to the body so they
determined to do it themselves – but that day was spent.
They’d
come back at the earliest opportunity; dawn Sunday morning.
62 On the
next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and
Pharisees gathered together to Pilate,
This is the Sabbath day –
Which means for some of these guys, they went farther than the Sabbath
limit for travel.
And they visited a Gentile on the Sabbath, another
violation.
63 saying,
“Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’
So, all their playing dumb
about what He meant about rebuilding the temple
is exposed! They knew full well
what He meant! Oh the hypocrisy of these religious men!
64 Therefore
command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples
come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen
from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate
said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you
know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the
stone and setting the guard.
The official Roman seal was
placed over the seam between the tomb and door-stone.
No
one, and I repeat, no one would dream of breaking this seal! It carried the authority of no one less than
the Emperor himself!
There’s a theory about the
resurrection that’s popular among skeptics; it’s called the “Swoon theory.”
It
says that Jesus merely passed out on the cross and was shocked back to life by
the cold stone bed of the tomb, then was nursed back to health by the
disciples.
This is simple hog-wash! Look here – his arch enemies took him to be DEAD!!!
Pilate
knew he was dead, the soldiers who were experts at crucifixion, they knew He
was dead!
But
still, the Swoon theory gets play among the skeptics, because the resurrection?
Well, it just can’t be true – please don’t let it be true!!! Please, please, please!
Some years ago a humorous
letter appeared in a magazine poking fun at the Swoon Theory.
The letter went – “Dear
Eutychus: On Easter our preacher said that Jesus just swooned on the cross and
that the disciples nursed Him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely,
Bewildered”
“Dear Bewildered: Beat your
preacher with a cat-of-nine-tails with 39 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross;
hang him in the sun for 6 hours; run a spear through his heart; embalm him; put
him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see what happens. Sincerely, Eutychus”
One of the ethings that will
come to the mind of many of us as we go see “The Passion” is not if Jesus just swooned, but how could He have
survived THAT LONG!
1Now after
the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2And behold, there was a
great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and
rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.
The angel came, not to let
Jesus out; He was already gone.
The
angle came ot let the women in so they could see that Jesus wasn’t there!
3His
countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4And
the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5But
the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that
you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen,
as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly
and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going
before you into
The terror of the angel
overwhelmed the soldiers who collectively passed out.
The
women went into the tomb, saw it was empty and then left, running to find the
disciples to tell them the good news.
I love v. 8 – it says they
went out of the tomb with both fear & great joy!
Those
seem like two opposite emotions! How can
you be both fearful and joyous at the same time?
Well,
since this will be my text for this coming Easter, you’ll haveto wait to find
out!
9And as
they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and
worshiped Him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do
not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to
go to
They held Him by the feet because
they were on their faces in worship!
This
One had conquered death!
Though Jesus actually
appeared to the disciples in their room there in
All
the disciples were from
Jesus
is simply letting them know they will see Him again back home.
11 Now
while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and
reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When
they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large
sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples
came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if
this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15
So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying
is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
What a foolish cover-up!
Roman
soldiers bested by some fishermen from
It
was an offense punishable by death for a soldier to fall asleep at his post –
and it was against this very thing, that the disciples would steal the body of
Jesus, that they’d been stationed there.
But Roman soldiers were used
to pay-offs by local citizens to look the other way.
16 Then
the eleven disciples went away into
How many disciples? 11, not 10 – 11! Peter is included!
In
His appearances to the disciples in Jerusalem He’d told them to go to a
particular mountain in
They
got there, and Jesus appeared to them.
Note the v. 17 -
17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some
doubted.
All the disciples worshipped, but some of them struggled
with doubt.
The
word for ‘doubt’ here refers, not to outright hardened unbelief,
but to a faith that isn’t settled.
Some
of the disciples doubted simply because the truth was just too good to be true.
They
were gun-shy of fully committing themselves to the idea that Jesus, their
Jesus, had risen from the dead!
Their
bitter disappointment had created a kind of emotional shock that kept them
insulated & reserved from fully embracing the idea that Jesus had risen.
Their
heads knew the fact of it because their senses told them He lived, but their
hearts held back from entrusting themselves to the reality
of it.
This
happens with people all the time. They
suffer some terrible trauma, and then when it turns out there was a big mistake
and things were not at all the way they thought they were, they still act as
though the event was real.
They
hurt so badly, they withdraw and protect themselves against further hurt.
Within a few days, those
disciples who still doubted released those doubts to the Spirit and enjoyed a
full, firm faith in the Lord.
18 And
Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority
has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20
teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
This is my text for Sunday,
so I’ll leave it till then.
[1] Eastman, Mark M.D. The Search for the Messiah pg. 96-103
[2]The
Gospel of Matthew : Volume 2. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the
[3]Keener,
C. S., & InterVarsity Press. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary
: New Testament (Mt 27:26).
[4]The
Gospel of Matthew : Volume 2. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the
[5] Guzik, David – Online Commentary on Matthew (Cited in Clarke) Origen (Contra Celsus, ii,33) & Eusebius (Chron.)