207 Matthew 27 B The Death of Life

Jesus is turned over to the soldiers to be crucified. They treat Him terribly, mocking, and hitting Him. He is then taken to be crucified. The taunt to 'save yourself' comes at Him from every side. After responding to the criminal at His side assuring him that he would be with Jesus in paradise, Jesus cries out to the Father "why have you forsaken me?" It is evident that Jesus felt forsaken by His Father. Then Jesus cries out again and released His spirit and dies. His body is taken to be placed in a tomb and guards are put in place to ensure the disciples don't steal his body and claim He had been raised to life.

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SHOW NOTES

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

This is normal behaviour for brutalized men. In this case it is intensified by their recognition that this man is innocent. His innocence is embarrassing to them because they recognize their lack of compassion compared to him. This torture is also public for all to see what evil does with innocence. It reflects the abuse of children, women and weaker people and animals. It is not new but intensified to an extreme form in the treatment of the kindest man who ever lived. This message is about the inevitable result of rejecting love. In the rejection of mercy and compassion we open ourselves to evil, the desire to dominate and control those around us.

The Crucifixion

32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.

Cyrene was a city in northern Africa. Simon was clearly not a Jew who would have refused to carry the cross. He could have been black or brown which would have identified him as a non-Jew. The necessity of help for Jesus and not for the two revolutionaries indicates that torture Jesus had already been subjected to would have killed him but for his divinity. He could not die until he had demonstrated the

unconditional love of God for his creation.

33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).

We have competing sites claimed as Golgotha or Calvary. The early fathers developed a legend as follows. “Shem and Melchizedek retrieved the body of Adam from the resting place of Noah's ark on Mount Ararat and were led by angels to Golgotha, a skull-shaped hill at the center of the earth where Adam had previously crushed the serpent's head following the Fall of Man.” (Wikipedia)

One site is The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth- century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem. (Wikipedia)

Another site is In the 19th century, Protestant scholars proposed a different location near the Garden Tomb on Green Hill (now "Skull Hill") about 500 m (1,600 ft) north of the traditional site.

Yet another site is Historian Joan Taylor has more recently proposed a location about 175 m (574 ft) to its south- southeast. (Wikipedia)

34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

This is an interesting event for a victim suffering from dehydration. For what reason would Jesus refuse moisture and an analgesic? Would it have clouded his senses?

35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.

Gambling for his clothes meant his clothes had been removed. Romans crucified felons naked to add to their shame. Jesus would have had one set of clothes. A few late manuscripts add This fulfilled the word of the prophet: “They divided my garments among themselves and cast lots for my robe.” See Ps 22:18.

36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there.

This action implies friends of the victim could have come and taken the him down and he might have lived.

37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

This was no doubt that the sign was meant to indicate the power of Roman power but it was also the recognition by the Romans of what the Jews refused to accept.

38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

They are using his words against him. But the words are prophetically true and will be revealed in two days when the “temple,” they were busy destroying, will rise out of the tomb, more dramatically than any legendary phoenix bird.

“If you are the son of God,” we heard it in the wilderness temptations, we have heard it from the religious leaders, “show us a sign” that you are the Messiah. Now it is reaching crescendo proportion. It can only be said a few more times over a few more hours and then the truth of the matter will be demonstrated. He is “I AM. ” Believe!

41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

How cruel the phrase “if he wants him.” They are implying Jesus is God forsaken. They are striking the very heart of Christ—that which he feared most. How the two crucified revolutionaries could make fun of Jesus in the last few days or hours of their lives is astonishing. Were they caught up in the mob mentality they watched from their aerial vantage point? Luke 2(3:39-43) adds additional detail for this incident.

39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to

die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus’ promise to this Jew was far more than he had asked for. He was crucified and this meant he was accursed () and his name would have been removed from the family tree by his father. His parents would deny that he ever existed. He wanted someone to remember him and Jesus is the only person he can think of who would do so. Perhaps he did not think Jesus would die but escape death as most of his contemporaries believed Messiah would live forever (John 12:34). Jesus promises him eternal life. It is

magnificent grace and astonishing forgiveness.

Unfortunately, translator bias has fumbled the punctuation in verse 17. The comma needs to be after “today.” Jesus did not go to Paradise with his death since with his resurrection he explained to Mary which she could embrace him forever (John 20:17) because he had to go to Paradise to see his Father.

“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Some Christians teach that Jesus went to hell when he died (1 Peter 3:18-20). This is also problematic because Jesus promised he would be with him in Paradise, not in Hell.

The Death of Jesus

45 At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 46 At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Jesus is quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. There were no numbered Psalms in the Old Testament. Jesus could have been referring to the whole psalm and identifies it by the first sentence. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times” could remind one of Charles Dicken’s novel, The Tale of Two Cities. It could also reflect reality on this planet.

It Jesus meant the whole psalm then he revealed that he realized that he was caught up in the narrative of the psalm. This does not exclude that he also experienced the apparent abandonment of God’s presence at this point in the narrative.

47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink. 49 But the rest said, “Wait! Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

It was prophesied by Malachi that Elijah would come before the great and dreadful day of the LORD. Jesus had confirmed that John the Baptist had fulfilled this prophecy. No body was coming to help Jesus. It had to demonstrated that nothing could stop God loving rebellious sinners. We can be sure that the kindness of this bystander is not forgotten by God.

50 Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.

Jesus shouted out that it was finished (John 19:30).The Greek term "tetelestai" used here means "paid in full" or "completed." This declaration signifies the completion of Jesus' earthly mission and thefulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies about his death. What he had finished was more than his earthly suffering. This was the climax of history and timelessness. It was shown that God was completely unselfish. He had become the servant of sinners, to do as they ordered him to do, which included laying down his life. There was nothing more for God to give us. He gave us what we demanded and never blamed us for our choice after his resurrection. He had truly become the servant of sinners and in so doing he also became the Lord of LORD’s.

51 At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,

The curtain “in” the Temple was between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Only the High Priest was allowed into the MHP once a year on the day of Atonement (Leviticus 16). Opening the way into the MHP by the supernatural tearing of the curtain from top to bottom meant that God was now accessible any day of the year. This tearing open was to echo the reality of Jesus’ flesh being torn open to reveal the heart of God (Hebrews 10:19-20).

It was a seismic shift in access to God which was accomplished through the death of Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22). Jesus is the way, the truth and the life of God (John 14:6). Jesus is the way to God through his torn open body when he took our flesh. This flesh which Jesus took (Galatians 4:4-5), had created a barrier between us and God (Genesis 3:10; Isaiah 59:1-2). The veil symbolized that which separated us from God. It had to be torn to allow us access to God. We were the problem not God. The timing of the earthquake which accompanied the rending was an acknowledgement that this was not a natural event as the next verse affirms.

52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

These are the first fruits of the resurrection and are referred to in Ephesians (4:8). The grammar of this verse is interesting in that it refers to bodies being raised but there is no activity by these resurrected people until Sunday when they go into the city to announce the resurrection of themselves and Jesus Christ.

54 The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

The Romans soldiers thus connect the earthquake with the death of Jesus when many Jews did not. 55 And many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

Notice that it is mostly women believers who were present at the execution. Ten of the disciples have disappeared and left the consequences to the women. Mark placed Mary (the mother of James and Joseph) at the crucifixion (15:40) and at the resurrection (16:1). This Mary represented the woman from Galilee who had ministered to Jesus (Mark 15:41; Luke 23:55). We also know that Mary the mother of Jesus and her sister were at the crucifixion together with Mary the wife of Cleopas (John 19:25). Thisindicates that there were at least 6 women followers of Jesus at the crucifixion compared with one male

disciple, John (19:27).

Were they there out of morbid fascination as with public executions? They could also have been there because they did not believe Jesus would die and would have wanted to observe his escape as he had done at least 8 times previously. What ever the reason they were there.

The Entombment of Jesus

57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. Joseph was a man of influence to be able to gain access to Pilate and persuade him to give him the body.

Nicodemus, another man of influence, worked with Joseph. They used linen cloth and 75 pounds (30 kg.) of spices to prepare the body for the tomb (John 19:39). From the amount of spices used they did not expect Jesus to rise early Sunday morning or any other time soon. It is more believable that they did not ever expect Jesus to rise from the dead.

60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left.

The Jews placed the dead in a tomb for the flesh to decompose off the skeleton. After about a year they would then bury the bones in a stone box, or ossuary, which needed to be only as long as the longest bone. The stone was to prevent robbers and carnivores desecrating the body.

61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.

They need to know where the body is placed so they could bring their spices after the Sabbath day. Who the other Mary is, raises a question for the curious but Mark reveals it was Mary the mother of James and Joseph (15:47).

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”

The leading priests and Pharisees did not believe he would rise again. Their motive is not to prevent Jesus from resurrection but to prevent the disciples from removing the body starting a rumor that Jesus was alive again. These leaders had no qualms about doing their security work on the Sabbath day.

65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it. This action will backfire and confirm beyond doubt the resurrection of Jesus since the guards were eyewitnesses of his resurrection.

Ian Hartley, April 2025