Matthew 27:1 ¶ When the
morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel
against Jesus to put him to death: 2 And
when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius
Pilate the governor. 3 Then Judas, which
had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and
brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have
betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou
to that. 5 And he cast down the
pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 And the chief priests took the silver
pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because
it is the price of blood. 7 And they
took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
8 Wherefore that field was called, The
field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then
was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they
took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they
of the children of Israel did value; 10
And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.
Notice for verse 4 an interesting cross-reference;
Psalm 94:21 They gather
themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent
blood.
Judas, in his self-disgust and realization of what he has done but
clearly not fully understanding or caring for repentance took his own life
realizing that this stain of betrayal was on him.
Acts 1:16 Men and brethren,
this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the
mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took
Jesus.
17 For he was numbered with
us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18
Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling
headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it was known unto all the dwellers at
Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama,
that is to say, The field of blood. 20
For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate,
and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.
Verse 9 is difficult for us because the prophecy seems to be in
Zechariah, as I have said before. See the prophecy of this betrayal in
Zechariah.
Zechariah 11:12 And I said
unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they
weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the
potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty
pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
Some say the reason that Jeremiah and not Zechariah will be
mentioned later is the way the scrolls of the Hebrew Bible were put together
and read at that time with the section on The Prophets beginning with Jeremiah
so it would natural to refer to that scroll as Jeremiah.
Matthew 27:11 ¶ And Jesus
stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the
King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. 12 And when he was accused of the chief priests
and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then
said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against
thee? 14 And he answered him to never a word;
insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. 15 Now at that feast the governor was
wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. 16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called
Barabbas. 17 Therefore when they were
gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you?
Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? 18
For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. 19 When he was set down on the judgment seat,
his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for
I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. 20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded
the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said unto them,
Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I
do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let
him be crucified. 23 And the governor
said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him
be crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he
could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water,
and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person: see ye to it. 25 Then answered all the people, and said, His
blood be on us, and on our children.
Pontius Pilate asks a pointed question of Jesus, similar to the
question posed to him in 26:63. Again Jesus turns this political
question back on Pilate as He did the spiritual question back on the High
Priest. Whereas before He was asked if He was the Messiah now He is asked if He
is the King of the Jews. Again he turns it back on them. “You said it.” This is
a confirmation. But he did not respond to the accusations made by the Jews. Jesus’
spiritual authority is already established at the Cross and the Empty Tomb as
the Saviour of all mankind but His political authority will be realized when He
returns to rule from Jerusalem.
As you read this it is clear that Pilate does the political thing
he must do to appease the Jews and their condemnation, the outright rejection
of their Messiah, and the demand that a murderer be released instead of Jesus
and that Jesus be crucified weighs on their own heads and the heads of their
children for two thousand years.
Pilate, like any cowardly politician, washes his hands of the
matter. However, Ethiopian and Coptic Christian tradition says that Pilate,
too, perhaps I think from the influence of his wife, becomes a Christian and he
is a saint and a martyr in their churches.
Pilate knew that Christ was being condemned for envy. The
religious high mucketymucks despised His popularity among the common people and
we know;
Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is
cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?
Matthew 27:26 ¶ Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. 29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
Barabbas, representative of us all, is released while Jesus
receives the punishment Barabbas so richly deserved.
Scourging, if you didn’t already know, was a pretty brutal
whipping. A scourge is said to have been composed of several lengths of leather
and had bits of bone and metal balls and spikes intertwined.
Isaiah 52:14 As many were
astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more
than the sons of men:
Physically mangled in this way Jesus is humiliatingly stripped in
front of a band of soldiers and, mockingly, a scarlet robe symbolizing royalty
and the sins of our blood is placed on Him along with a crown of what we are
told by some commentators are particularly long and sharp thorns. Then they
spat on Him.
Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back
to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my
face from shame and spitting.
Then they replaced His former clothing and took Him away to
crucify Him. The cross bar which He would have carried, according to
commentators, would have been the bar parallel to the ground. Simon of Cyrene
will go down in history as a man compelled to carry that cross beam.
Matthew 27:33 ¶ And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and wewill believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
An ancient tradition that has no foundation in any historical
document was that Adam’s skull was found at Golgotha, hence its name. However,
the more likely explanation is that with people being executed and left to
decompose bones, including skulls, would have been prominently displayed.
Vinegar was part of a Roman soldier’s allowance so was readily
available some say. It had been used as a condiment and preservative for a
thousand years or more.
Ruth 2:14 And Boaz said
unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy
morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her
parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
It is also said by some that it was thought to prolong the life of
men sentenced to die to make them suffer more. Some say that vinegar mixed with
gall would have been very bitter.
Psalm 22 is a Psalm that foretells Christ and His sufferings.
Psalm 22:16 For dogs have
compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my
hands and my feet…18 They part my
garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
See what Pilate has done to rub this in the face of the Jews,
labelling Jesus as their king?
In verse 40 the former accusation is repeated showing that the
misunderstanding of Jesus’ earlier comment was common. See Matthew 26:61 and
then John 2:19-21.
There is a lot of information found in the other gospels that
Matthew doesn’t discuss because he probably wasn’t privy to certain
conversations. For instance he doesn’t mention the thief on the Cross who
speaks with Jesus in Luke 23. As I have said repeatedly I did not want to make
my study of Matthew a harmonization of the gospels but present Matthew’s
experience and his recollections prompted and given by inspiration by the Holy
Spirit.
In verse 46 Jesus directs us to Psalm 22 by quoting the first
verse aloud in Aramaic which confuses the hearers as it confuses many
Christians today. Here is that Psalm about Christ which I will discuss in
detail in my comments on the Psalms.
Psalm 22:1 ¶ «To the chief
Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.» My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the
daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our
fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered:
they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of
men, and despised of the people. 7 All
they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head,
saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he
would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 9 But thou art he that took me out of
the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s
breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from
the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
11 ¶ Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for
there is none to help. 12 Many bulls
have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a
ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am
poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax;
it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my
jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of
the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare
upon me. 18 They part my garments among
them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19
But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help
me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword;
my darling from the power of the dog. 21
Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of
the unicorns.
22 ¶ I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in
the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the
seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the
affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he
cried unto him, he heard. 25 My praise
shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that
fear him. 26 The meek shall eat and be
satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for
ever. 27 All the ends of the world shall
remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the
kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and he is the
governor among the nations. 29 All they
that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust
shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted
to the Lord for a generation. 31 They
shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be
born, that he hath done this.
From noon to three there was a darkness over the land and then
Jesus died. I believe this was a miraculous event like the fish/whale God
prepared just for Jonah. We will be frustrated in trying to find an eclipse on
record.
John 9:4 I must work the
works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can
work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I
am the light of the world.
Matthew 27:50 ¶ Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. 54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
As the body of Jesus died He cries out and then gives up His human
spirit, ghost, lowercase g. For ghost and spirit as synonyms see;
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being
full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness,
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
John 1:33 And I knew him
not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon
whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he
which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
John 7:39 (But this spake
he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Acts 2:4 And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the
Spirit gave them utterance.
1Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore
I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth
Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost.
It is no wonder both English words are typically translated from
the same Greek word, pneuma, from which we get pneumonia.
The veil of the temple separating the profane from the holy is
then torn from top to bottom indicating a work not of man but of God, from
Heaven downward to earth. The significance of this action is referred to by
Paul in Ephesians, chapter 2.
Ephesians 2:11 ¶ Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by
hands; 12 That at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers
from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 ¶ For he is our peace, who hath made both one,
and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; 16
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And
came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by
one Spirit unto the Father.
An earthquake accompanies His death on the Cross according to
Matthew. Then some of God’s anointed ones rise up and are seen in Jerusalem in
a prophetic event preparing the way for Christ’s resurrection. Are these Old
Testament prophets? Would they be recognized? What if they are followers of
Christ who died during His ministry? These are questions we ask ourselves when
we read this passage like what happened to these people? Like Lazarus we must
assume that they would die again as they would need resurrection bodies to live
forever and we would have seen or known of them if they were alive today,
movies and fantasy books notwithstanding.
The centurion in command of the crucifixion acknowledges that
Jesus is God in the flesh, the Son of God, and one would presume that saves him
and he will be seen by us in eternity. Women who ministered to Jesus witness
this single-most important event after creation itself. There are so many good
preaching points in this passage but I’ll leave them for another time and move
forward.
Matthew 27:57 ¶ When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. 61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. 62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Joseph of Arimathea plays an important part in Western European
lore and legend. First, from the Bible, we have the prophecy of the Messiah
being buried in a rich man’s tomb.
Isaiah 53:9a And he made
his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;
Then, there is mention made of this man in a non-biblical text,
the apocryphal 5th or 6th century work called, since the
Middle Ages, The Gospel of Nicodemus, but called at first The Acts of Pilate. In
this it is recorded how angry the Jews were at Nicodemus, mentioned in John, at
providing the burial place for Jesus.
Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in the works of several early
church fathers like Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Eusebius where they spread traditions
that had formed around him. Much later in the Middle Ages writers created
legends about Joseph being buried at Glastonbury Abbey, having brought the Holy
Grail of King Arthur legend to Britain, and how his miraculous walking stick
grew into the tree that still exists from cuttings and is called the
Glastonbury Thorn.
A great stone is rolled in front of the opening to Christ’s burial
place. Women who followed Jesus witnessed his burial, three prominently named. The
Jews the next day come to Pilate and repeat what Jesus had said in the face of
Scribes of the Pharisees;
Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas
was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
They are concerned about Jesus’ body being stolen but Pilate seems
to be suggesting they use the temple watch to guard the tomb. They set a seal
on the stone and placed their watch. A seal could have been something as simple
as a piece of string or it could have been the governor’s seal of which it
would be under pain of death to break. Later, apocryphal texts such as The Gospel
of Peter, The Report of Pilate to the Emperor Claudius, and the aforementioned
Gospel of Nicodemus suggest that there was either only Roman guards or a mixture
of Roman and Temple guards at the tomb. There are, though, some things in the
text that suggest a Roman guard rather than just a Temple watch, arguments
which I am not going to go into here as they don’t really matter or change what
is about to happen unless you’re making a movie.
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