Have you ever seen an amazing display of power and grace? In one of my cardio workouts, the instructor talks about power and grace. Exploding with power in a jump, but landing softly and gracefully. You can see this in ballet dancers. You can see this in football players and skaters and gymnasts. You can see this in surgery. And you can see this in our awesome God! Today, we are reading through Matthew 27:32-66, where Jesus is crucified, died, placed in Joseph’s tomb and guarded. At the heart of this lesson is a phenomenal display of power and grace that will enable us to leave here today knowing Jesus displayed awesome power and grace on the cross and in the tomb.
We have three Divisions today:
1.Jesus is crucified (Matthew 27:32-49)
2.Jesus gave up His spirit and was placed in Joseph of
Arimathea’s tomb (Matthew 27:50-61)
3.The next day, the chief priests and Pharisees asked
Pilate to secure the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66)
Heavenly Father,
would you open our hearts and minds to Your Scriptures today? Will You give us wisdom and insight to see
You? Will You convict our hearts where
they need cleansing and transformation?
Will You help us to see Your love on display in this event? And may it help us to find purpose in our own
suffering. In the mighty and gracious
name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Read Matthew
27:32-37.
We start our study today with a wounded Jesus and a man from
Cyrene named Simon. After Jesus was flogged,
punched, slapped, spit on, beaten over the head, etc., He was weakened and
unable to carry the cross to the place of His execution. So, the Romans grabbed Simon of Cyrene out of
the crowd to carry it for Jesus. Since
Matthew makes a point of mentioning that Simon is from Cyrene, which is in
Africa, he was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. What might this man have thought when the
soldiers pressed him to carry the cross?
What might he have seen, heard, or smelled walking with Christ to
Golgotha? Was his life forever changed
by his encounter with Christ? How has
your life been changed as a result of your encounters with Jesus?
Golgotha was
outside the city of Jerusalem. No public
square executions here. If you read
Leviticus 4:12, 21, you will see that sin offerings were burned outside the
Israelite camp back in the times of the Exodus.
Hebrews 13:11-13 further explains “Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people
holy through his own blood.” So,
Jesus being crucified outside of the city gate has its foundation in the Old
Testament.
Verse 34 says
Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall to drink. This cocktail was apparently offered
to those being executed by crucifixion as both a pain reliever and a poison to
speed the death. Jesus refused this
drink. He was absolutely determined to drink
this cup of suffering God’s way. No
dulling of the senses for Him. No death
by poison. We’ll look at this a bit more
in just a minute.
Then Scripture says they crucified Him. No details.
Not that I want to read details.
Crucifixion is a gruesome way to die!
I’m glad Matthew was vague. It
gives us the opportunity to look at what Scripture says about what the
crucifixion means to us. Let’s look at
Romans 5:6-8. It tells us that God
demonstrated His love for us in Christ’s perfectly timed death for the
ungodly. That’s us. Thank you, Jesus! Scripture also says God made sinless Jesus
become sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in
Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). We have
salvation for our souls through faith, which brings us inexpressible joy and
makes us love Jesus more and more (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross
so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, we are healed (1 Peter
2:24). God loves us and sent His Son to
pay the price for our sins. This means
we should love each other (1 John 4:10-11).
I am convicted by that last verse. Loving Jesus is easy. Isn’t it?
Loving each other can be pretty challenging. Jesus is so loving, so generous, so giving. People can be self-seeking and
demanding. It makes me want to
rebel. Even though I can be just as
self-seeking and demanding. Pray for
me. What about you? Let’s read on to see the reactions of some of
the people present at the crucifixion of Jesus.
Read Matthew
27:38-49.
Jesus was crucified between two criminals. Apparently, the execution site was near a
road because Scripture says the people passing by taunted Jesus, saying, “You
who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save
yourself! Come down from the cross, if
you are the Son of God!” The chief
priests, teachers of the law and the elders said, “He saved others but He can’t
save Himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross,
and we will believe in him. He trusts in
God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of
God.’” Those crucified with Him taunted
Him as well. How do these taunts
resemble the devil’s temptation of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11?
Now, let’s get back to Jesus’ resolve to do things the
Father’s way. Take a few minutes to read
Psalm 22. It reads almost like a script
of this event. The taunts and mocking we
see in Psalm 22:6-8. There’s a pretty
graphic description of His death in Psalm 22:12-18. His heart would melt like wax. John 19:34 records that a soldier pierced
Christ’s side with a spear and blood and water flowed out. According to medical reports, this is
consistent with a cardiac event as the cause of death. Jesus was determined to do this “saving of
the world” the Father’s way. No death by
poison. I would like even a fraction of
Christ’s resolve.
Let’s talk about the darkness. Isaiah 13:9-10 and Acts
2:20 speak about the “great and awesome day of the Lord”. They speak about the darkness that comes on
that day. Isaiah particularly mentions
this day as being cruel with wrath and fierce anger. This was when God’s wrath was poured out on
His sinless son to pay for the sins of the world. For the first time ever, Jesus is separated
from His Father because God the Father cannot be in the presence of sin. This explains Jesus’ response after three
hours of darkness.
Psalm 22:1 is quoted when, in verse 46, Jesus cries out,
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Scripture also gives the phrase in Aramaic: Eli, Eli (some manuscripts
say Eloi, Eloi), lema sabachthani? This
is why the people thought Jesus was calling Elijah.
Principle 1: Jesus willingly (lovingly) bore the penalty
of death for the sins of the world.
Application 1.How
has Jesus’ loving, willing sacrifice made you more selfless and generous?
Read Matthew
27:50-56.
Jesus’ death on the cross triggered other supernatural
events: the curtain of temple tore from top to bottom, the earth shook, rocks
split, tombs broke open, the bodies of many holy people were raised to
life. They came out of their tombs AFTER
Jesus’ resurrection.
It would be very easy just to read those words and move
on, but I want to camp here for a minute or two. The tearing of the temple curtain is a HUGE
occurrence! I’m not sure what you know
about this curtain, so I’m going to give you a quick teaching on it. If this interests you, please read up on the
Old Testament tabernacle for the background (Exodus 25-31, 35-40). Let’s start with a wide angle lens and work
our way in. Herod’s temple in Jerusalem
was the place where the Jews worshiped and offered sacrifices. If you look at a sketch of the Temple, you
will see the Court of the Gentiles at the outermost area. Then, the court of the women. Then the Israelites’ courtyard. Then, the altar where sacrifices were made
and the laver. Finally, there was a
large structure with two rooms separated by a very thick (several inches) curtain. The first room, the Holy Place, could be
entered only by the priests to perform the necessary functions to maintain the articles
inside: the table of showbread, the lampstand and the altar of incense. The second room, the Holy of Holies or Most
Holy Place could only be entered once a year on the Day of Atonement by the
High Priest, who would sprinkle blood from the sacrifices for the sins of the High
Priest and the people on the mercy seat which sat upon the ark of the covenant. The curtain between these two rooms is what
was torn when Jesus gave up His spirit. Keep
in mind this curtain was several inches thick.
Also keep in mind it was torn FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. Who tore that curtain?
Only God Himself could have torn the curtain. The tearing of the curtain made the Holy of
Holies available to every priest. Not
everyone? So who is considered a priest nowadays? Take a moment to look up a couple of verses
of Scripture. 1 Peter 2:9 says we are a
royal priesthood. Revelation 5:10 says
Jesus’ blood made us into priests and kings.
In a nutshell, those who have been born again and accepted Jesus as
their personal Savior have been covered in His blood and are part of that royal
priesthood. We are welcomed into the
Father’s presence because of Jesus. Remember
He said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
In addition to
the tearing of the curtain (which also eliminated Caiaphas’ job, by the way),
there was an earthquake, tombs opened, rocks split. This was a real display of God’s power that
even the centurion and those guarding Jesus with him saw and it stopped them in
their tracks. They declared, “Surely He
was the Son of God.” Do you think they
got the idea from the taunts of the onlookers who mockingly called Jesus the
Son of God? Do you think they had participated
in so many crucifixions that the supernatural happenings surrounding this one
were so extreme they were amazed and perhaps converted on the spot? Wow!
I’m very curious
about those who rose from the dead at Jesus’ death and appeared in Jerusalem
after His resurrection. Did they hang
out in their tombs, hiding? Did it take
three days to dig their way out through the split rocks? Did they lay low with family or friends? Oh, Lord, please bring me some wisdom on
this.
There were also many
women there who followed Jesus while ministering to Him. Those named are Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons – this is Salome,
the mother of the Sons of Thunder, James and John. The wording implies there may have been
additional women.
As evening and Sabbath
approaches, a new character is introduced.
Read Matthew 27:57-61.
Joseph of
Arimathea is a rich man and a disciple of Jesus. He courageously comes forward and asks Pilate
for Jesus’ body. Then Joseph and
Nicodemus (see John 19:38-42) prepare Jesus’ body and bury Him in Joseph of
Arimathea’s own tomb. They rolled the
stone over the entrance and went away. Joseph
provided a place for Jesus to sleep for three days.
Scripture says
Mary Magdelene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb. How long did they stay? Did they help prepare the body? They were
certainly mourning. Were they also
hopefully watching?
Principle 2: Jesus’
physical death released power to tear the temple curtain, shake the earth,
break open tombs, raise the dead, make believers and destroy the power of sin
over people.
Application 2.What transformation has Jesus’
physical death unleashed on your heart and mind?
Read Matthew
27:62-66.
The next day, the chief priests and Pharisees went to
Pilate. They apparently remembered that
Jesus claimed He would rise from the dead after three days. They asked Pilate to secure the tomb so the
disciples wouldn’t be able to steal the body and claim Jesus had risen. They believed this would be an even greater
deception than the one where Jesus claimed to be God. Proving they have still learned nothing! Who do they think tore the curtain in the temple
from top to bottom? Pilate sent a guard
to make the tomb secure. In essence,
what these men did was create the situation that served as evidence for the
resurrection of Jesus Christ by preventing human tampering. Isn’t God awesome?!?!
Principle 3: Jesus’ tomb was guarded to prevent
deception about His rising from the dead.
Application 3.How
is the Holy Spirit guarding your heart and mind from deception?
How are you seeing great displays of God’s power and
grace in your life? Are YOU an example
of God’s power and grace at work?
Holy God, thank You
for sending Jesus to die for us. We
could not bear this punishment for ourselves.
Please don’t let anyone walk away from this passage of Scripture without
accepting the free gift of salvation. In
Jesus’ wonderful name. Amen.
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