Life Project Blog

Matthew 28:1-15

Matthew’s account of the events that day, the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, varies from that of Mark and Luke, and while we can discuss that some other time, I would point out that Matthew’s account carries forward His emphasis throughout the narrative of both Kingdom and the messianic mission of Jesus; in fact, these two themes are virtually inseparable: Jesus’ messianic mission was to establish His kingdom, which is not of this world. No, I haven’t forgotten that Jesus came to die on the cross for the redemption of Mankind; rather I am asserting that He did so in order to establish the Kingdom as a present reality.

Early on the first day of the week, which is the day after the Sabbath (Sunday), the women come to see the tomb. Unlike Mark and Luke, Matthew doesn’t get into the exact purpose for this. They arrive and then God springs into action again: There is a violent earthquake, as the angel of the Lord comes down and rolls the stone away from the tomb, and sits down on it and speaks to the women.

If you recall, we have seen the angel of the Lord speaking before in Matthew’s Gospel, way back when it was time to announce the birth of the Lord. Here he is again, only this time he bears an even more exciting message: He has risen!

Notice in verse 2 the contrast between that stone which was sealed and guarded at the behest of the Jewish authorities has now been thrown open and the angel sits on it, making clear the futility of the actions of the Jewish leaders to suppress God’s purpose. Notice also that the guards were still there and saw the whole thing and ironically fall down as though they were the dead ones, while the dead One had just risen from the grave. That’s some nifty writing if you ask me!

The angel quickly interprets the events for the women, gives them instructions, and invites them to see for themselves; they look in the empty tomb and hurry off. We shouldn’t pass this by without taking notice that God set events into motion so that women were the witness to all of this. In those days, few would likely believe a couple of hysterical women, but the only men present were the guards, who lay terrified on the ground: Interesting point to consider.

As the women hurried off, who do you suppose they would run into?

Well Jesus, who else? He tells them not to be afraid, and confirms their instructions…

Those guards were still back at the tomb with a really tough decision to make; could they possibly tell the truth about what had happened, who would believe them? I must say that at first, they made the courageous choice; they went to the high priests and actually told the truth. Now, the chief priests were on the spot: What would they do?

It was as though they now had one last chance to turn things around, for here were two terrified guards, veterans of brutal war, tough guys, who had just witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. The chief priests could have believed them, and it would seem that they actually did believe them, but rather than repent before God, they came up with a plan to deceive Mankind.

And to think that just the other day, they had asked for guards to be posted to keep the “deceiver” in His grave. Who was really the deceiver? In fact, “deceiver” is an interesting choice of words, for is not Satan the “Deceiver”?

They bribed the guards to tell a lie, and then bribed Pilate not to have them killed for falling asleep on guard duty. As if their actions hadn’t sunk low enough in having Jesus murdered, now they actually found a way to sink even lower; you might want to keep in mind next time you read the book of Acts, that the chief priest really knew the truth about Jesus, and we can prove it, for if they hadn’t believed the guards, then why they need to bribe them?

Matthew 27:57-61

Matthew blows right through this part, and my original thought was that I would also blow past the burial of Jesus and then through the posting of guards, and concentrate on his account of the resurrection. Yet as I was reading through the text, the thought hit me that the modern reader may miss some rather important points here, that Matthew would not have needed to mention to his original audience.

You see, dear reader, the Romans did not allow bodies to be taken down from crosses as a rule; they were left to rot.

There are two great empires in the history of Man that stand out as the two most successful Empires of all, the Roman Empire of antiquity and the British Empire of modern times. Most historians that I am familiar with say that the British were so successful in building an Empire because they brought British law with them and established about as much justice as one can, while subjugating a people. The Roman Empire worked because the Romans allowed an unusual amount of local autonomy, as we see clearly in the Gospels, and the New Testament writings in general. A provincial outpost such as Judea would have local governance within certain limits, as long as there was no overt rebellion against the Romans. If there was open opposition to the Romans, then their response would be swift, violent and brutal, as those in Judea would discover about 40 years later.

Individuals who didn’t follow the Roman rules were also dealt with merciless brutality, and that is where crucifixion came into play. Let’s be honest, crucifixion was not a very efficient method of execution; if the victim wasn’t roughed up too badly beforehand, it would take days for them to die, and that meant that guards would need to be posted for days to ensure that the victim wasn’t saved. The reason is that there is nothing inherently fatal about being nailed to a cross. By having the victim suffering in agony for days on public display served as a warning to all others not to cross the line.

But wait that’s not all! After the person finally died, their body would be left on the cross to rot and stink and be picked at by scavenger birds or animals until they fell apart in a heap of bones that dogs would chew on. That is why Golgotha (place of skulls) had its name. In Judea, as a concession to Jewish sensibilities, the Romans usually broke the legs of the victims before the Sabbath so they would suffocate… that was a good day to be crucified, as oddly as that may sound, because if you were nailed to a cross on the day after the Sabbath, and hadn’t been scourged first, you would be up there alive for several days.

Joseph was a rich and influential man, and a secret follower of Jesus. He is the kind of person who could get an appointment to see Pilate, and apparently as a favor, Pilate agrees to allow an honorable and decent burial for Jesus, whom he knows to be innocent, possibly as a last shot at the Jewish leaders.

Consider Joseph’s position here; he is, in a sense, “coming out” when he went to Pilate, putting himself in jeopardy by claiming the body. In doing so, he has just put a big target on his own back.

And thus, Jesus is laid to rest in haste on that most fateful of all days.

Matthew 27:27-56

I doubt that you need me to go through the details of Matthew’s text concerning Jesus’ scourging and crucifixion, for you can probably tell the story yourself, and there is always the link to the text itself. Nor am I inclined to indulge in the gruesome and macabre business of reciting the violent and bloody details so as to encourage a sense of guilt and self-loathing among my readers, for to do so is, sadly, to miss the point of the events on that most fateful of days.

On that day, as on all other days, a priest stepped out onto the highest point of the Temple, ready to blow his horn at exactly three o’clock. This was done every day to announce the sacrifices that reminded the people that God was faithful to keep His promise to deliver Israel from their sins. Unbeknownst to the priest blowing the horn, the real action on that day of days was taking place a short distance away at a location known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. For at Golgotha, the Son of God cried out and gave up His Spirit, in the last and final sacrifice of the Old Covenant− at that very moment, God fulfilled His promises to both Moses and Abraham, and completed His act of ultimate redemption. It was the dawn of a whole new age, the last age of this world.

As the hour approached, the skies had begun to darken. The taunts of the Jewish leaders that had begun when Jesus was nailed to cross, had died down; many people had gone home thinking the spectacle was pretty much over; there was a sense of unease among those who had remained. Jesus quoted the 22md Psalm near the end, and again there was a buzz in the crowd that remained; was He calling for Elijah to save Him?

But Jesus did not need saving, He was the Savior!

At the moment of His death, God springs back into action; there is an earthquake, and although the people at Golgotha didn’t know it yet, the veil in the Temple that barred entry into the Most Holy Place, the barrier that had separated all of humanity from God’s presence, had been torn open, for no longer was Mankind to be kept away from God.

In stark contrast to the ridicule of the Jewish leaders who should have known better, pagan Roman soldiers shame them by calling out that Jesus was indeed the Son of God!

The events of that day were of such magnitude, that it would take mere humans quite some time to process them.

Yet there wouldn’t be much time for reflection because God had quite a bit more to do…

Matthew 27:11-26

Matthew makes one thing very clear above all else; Pilate wanted nothing to do with the Jesus matter. Notice in verses 11-14 that Pilate is trying to engage Jesus in a defense against the charges brought by the Jewish leaders, and Jesus declines to engage: Suffering Servant. Pilate is amazed by this. In 15-21, Pilate tries to free Jesus, as part of his annual custom of pardon, and the people, instigated by the Jewish leaders choose Barabbas instead. Notice verse 18 that tells us he knew Jesus had been handed over to him out of the leaders’ self-interest; no, Pilate wanted a way out of this situation, for he knew perfectly well that Jesus had done nothing wrong.

Pilate’s situation is made worse when he receives that famous note from his wife about her dream…

But the Jewish leaders were unrelenting in their demand for His blood. Doesn’t that strike you as the greatest irony of all time?

In verse 21, the pagan governor goes out of his way to shame them, as he washes his hands of the matter in a symbolic act of utter contempt, telling them that Jesus’ blood will be on their hands. He will bow to their pressure, for he, like the Jewish leaders in earlier scenes feared that the crowds would turn ugly, and if there was one thing a Roman official did not want on his record, it was a riot; such things had ruined the careers of many officials before him, so Pilate bows to pressure, and sends Jesus off for a good flogging and execution, simply to appease the mob.

And with this, Satan and his human agents charged headlong into an ambush, for through their great rebellion, their treachery, lies, corruption and pure malice, they brought God’s eternal purpose to fruition, and secured their ultimate doom in the process.

Matthew 27:1-10

Peter is having a bad night, but he isn’t the only one having remorse for his betrayal; Judas is having a worse night. When Jesus was condemned by the Jewish leaders in a classic act of perfidy against God, Judas is suddenly filled with remorse for his actions. He went back to the chief priests and an exchange takes place that is nothing short of incredible:

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” (27:3-4)

The chief priest had what they wanted, they couldn’t care less either for Judas or for the righteousness that they prided themselves on and went out of their way to show off in public. Judas threw the money into the temple and then went out and committed suicide, so great was his remorse. Yet were the chief priests having second thoughts about these events? Well actually, yes they were:

The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. (27:6-7)

Yes sir, the chief priests did have some second thoughts; they couldn’t return the money to the treasury, for that would be unlawful!

Just let this sink in for a moment…

It wouldn’t seem that they had any problem with condemning an innocent man to death; their long awaited Messiah, no less, but they wanted to be sure they handled the returned bribe according to the rules, and they used it to buy real estate.

The sheer magnitude of their perfidy is almost incomprehensible.

What makes this even more incredible is that their action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah (See Zech. 11:12,13; Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9). Are not the chief priests the very ones who should have known this?

Yes, of all the people they should have known what they were doing, and in fact, since they agreed it was blood money, I would suggest that they did know what they were doing, but they simply did not care, for on that night, they were on the payroll of Satan.

Matthew 26:69-75

Quite a lot has taken place since Jesus told the disciples that they would disown Him. Quite a lot has taken place since Peter objected to that and Jesus told him he would deny Jesus three times that very night.

Jesus has been arrested, tried in a joke of a trial and been found guilty of blasphemy and condemned to die; Peter was outside listening to the proceedings. You might recall that when Jesus was arrested, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of one of the guards, but Jesus had stepped in to stop Peter, replacing the man’s ear. Then Jesus told the crowd off for not doing their foul deeds in public, and Peter, along with the other disciples had fled the scene.

The disciples had learned a great deal over the past few years from Jesus, but in spite of at least three warnings, they hadn’t quite gotten the point of Jesus’ mission as the Messiah; that He had come not to conquer the Romans and restore Israel as a Nation of the earth, but instead had come to conquer sin and death and establish a Kingdom not of this world. Jesus told the group about His real mission three times, each of which ended by Jesus telling them He was going die at the hands of the Jewish leaders, and then rise again from the grave on the third day. Yet in each instance, the disciples reacted to His death prediction and apparently didn’t notice the resurrection prediction.

Peter now knew that Jesus was about to die, but the resurrection part of the story still eluded him. Remembering Jesus’ words of earlier that evening, he now creeps of and weeps bitterly over his own rejection of his Master in front of those in and around the place of His trial. For Peter, relief from his agony was still far off, but he wasn’t the only one having a bad night; Judas, the betrayer was having a worse night.

Matthew 26:57-68

Let’s all be very clear on one point: This trial was a joke. If you miss this point, then you miss the entire scene.

There really isn’t much left to be said. Notice that they were looking to convict Him of something, anything, based upon false evidence and false witnesses (26:60) and even by cheating, they couldn’t manage the job. Then, they catch a break when two men came forward to say: “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’” And the chief priest jumps for his chance: “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” (26:62), Jesus remains silent.

In verse 63, he asks Jesus if He is the Son of God. Jesus, the Suffering Servant breaks His silence and actually helped them out:

You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (26:64)

That did the trick; the trial was over.

It seems that our old friend Peter was lurking in the background; I wonder what he was thinking at that moment as Jesus was found “worthy of death” for telling the truth to the Jewish leadership. We will get some insight into his thinking in the next scene, next time.