Matthew 27:45-56

Things Will Never Be the Same Again!

Rev. Jerry Hoek

Introduction:

What have been some “turning points” in your life? Getting married, getting a first job, having your first child or going through the death of a loved-one often can be turning points in our lives.  One major turning point in my life was when our first child was born.  I knew then that my life would never be the same again.  Another was when my father died because it was then that I realized that I was not immortal and I began to give things different priorities.  Turning points are those events in our lives which cause things to be significantly different.

In the verses we look at this morning, we read of Jesus’ death, which marks a turning point for the whole world and all of history.  In these verses, we see the complete rejection and ultimate death of Jesus, but immediately we see signs that now things have changed and the world will now and forever be a place of hope and life.  The question we must face is how we respond to this turning point.  Let’s read Matthew 27:45-56.

I. Jesus’ Cry    

II. The People’s Response                                

III. The Impact of Jesus’ Death           

IV. The Response of the Witnesses

I. Let’s look first at Jesus’ Cry on the cross.

Now from noon until 3 o’clock, at the point when the day should be brightest, thick darkness came across the whole land.  This isn’t a sandstorm or thunderstorm as some scholars believe; rather, God here is causing the whole area to be thrown into darkness.

Darkness is often used in the Bible as a symbol of judgment.  During the Ten Plagues in Egypt God sent thick darkness as a sign of judgment on the Egyptians.  Joel 3:14-15 speaks of the day of the Lord, a day of judgment:  “For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and moon will be darkened and the stars no longer shine.”  Amos in 8:9-10 also talks about the day of the Lord:  “In that day, declares the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.”

The darkness marks this day as being the day of the Lord, the day of God’s judgment against sin.  On that day, God poured his judgment on the sin of the whole world.  Only the judgment is being poured out on Jesus instead of the sinners in the world who deserve it.

And it is at that point that Jesus utters His moving cry.  At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Jesus uses these words from Psalm 22 to express Himself.  There is so much in this cry of Jesus that we could spend a lot of time on this sentence itself.

However, for now let’s notice a few significant things about what Jesus cried out.  As Jesus died, He felt the weight of all the sins of the world on him.  More than that, he felt the crushing judgment of God against all those sins.  Indeed, Jesus felt the curse of God press upon him, instead of the comforting presence of his Father in heaven, and it was the worst suffering Jesus could have endured.

Why did Jesus have to suffer in this way?  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Again Paul writes in Galatians 3:13:  “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written:  ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”  God made Jesus to be sin and so was cursed, but all this was for us.

What this means for us is that no matter what sin you have done in your life, Jesus suffered the full effect of punishment for that sin on the cross.  All of us have done things that have deeply offended God; we have sinned.  A Sunday School teacher was trying to teach the meaning of “confession” to her class.  To make sure the class had understood her point, she asked, “Can anyone tell me what you must do before you obtain forgiveness of sin?”  There was some silence, finally broken by a small voice from the back of the room: “Well, you gotta sin!”

Well, for all of us, sinning is not the problem for we all have sinned.  Perhaps no one besides God knows the extent of the sin in your life.  Perhaps you have things in your life for which you are very ashamed and you feel very guilty.

The good news is that Jesus took the punishment for our sin.  If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you believe that your sins were those who put Jesus through such agony, there is good news.  If you believe, it means that and God has forgiven your sins regardless of what you have done.  You do not have to live in fear and shame because of what Jesus has done for you.

II. However, let’s now look at The People’s Response to Jesus’ cry in verses 47-49.

When the people at the cross heard Jesus’ cry, they said, “He’s calling Elijah” for the words of Jesus’ cry sound similar to the word “Elijah.”  Elijah had a very important place in the minds of the people at that time.  First, the prophet Malachi had said that before the coming of the Messiah, Elijah would come again to prepare the way.  Moreover, many people viewed Elijah as a kind of heavenly rescuer whom you could call for divine intervention.

These people thought Jesus was calling on Elijah for help.  Some may have thought that Jesus was hoping that Elijah would rescue him from the cross.  Others may have thought that Jesus was so wrapped up in his belief that he was the Messiah, that he was pleading for Elijah to come now to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

What did they do in response to Jesus’ cry?  One person immediately ran and got a drink for Jesus.  This drink may have been offered in pity, giving a dying man a drink.  It may also have been that this man was taking no chances.  If Elijah was going to come and help Jesus, he wanted to have done the right thing for Jesus.

The rest, however, do not approve of this man’s actions.  “Before we help a condemned criminal, let’s see what Elijah will do.”  These words become one final bit of mockery.  To them it was obvious that Elijah wasn’t going to help him.  Since Elijah didn’t come it was more proof that Jesus wasn’t the Messiah.

But again, the mission of Christ was to stay on the cross and die in our place, not to save himself.  The people gathered there could not see nor understand this.  To the people, Jesus’ death was defeat, but in fact it was victory.

English General Wellington commanded forces at Waterloo against Napoleon’s French army.  When the battle was over, he spelled out by code, “Wellington defeated,” but then fog set in and people only thought “defeat.”  The fog cleared and the message continued:  “Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.”

People looked at Jesus’ death and said “defeat.”  At the Resurrection, God’s message was finished.  The resurrection said victory.

III. Then we read of Jesus’ death and The Impact of Jesus’ Death.

In verse 50, we read that then Jesus gave up His spirit.  Matthew makes it clear that this is a voluntary act on the part of Jesus.  First, Jesus cried out with a loud voice which is not how a crucified person normally died.  Moreover, Matthew writes that when Jesus died, He gave up His spirit.  Jesus consciously, willingly gave up his life to the Father who had given it to Him and He died.

But Jesus’ death is by no means the end.  It certainly isn’t the end of Jesus for we know that in less than three days, Jesus will be alive again.  Jesus’ death is not the end of the mission of God either.  It is in fact, the turning point of God’s mission and that is reflected in what happens next.

Matthew reports that at the moment of Jesus’ death, the curtain in the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. The curtain in the temple that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies which only the priests could see.  At the moment of Jesus’ death, God takes down this barrier between Himself and His people; it is completely torn in two.  Why did God do this?

First, it was a sign of judgment against the temple itself.  The way to God now is in Jesus Christ, not the old way of temple worship and sacrifices.  The sacrifice has been made once and for all in Jesus.

Moreover, now all who believe in Jesus have direct access to God.  The priests in the temple are no longer needed.  Jesus is the only mediator between God and man.

The curtain ripping in two signals that now, from this moment on, everything is going to be different.  The way of worship is different and the way of salvation is different.  Again, Jesus’ death is the turning point of history.

That is further emphasized through what happens next.  Matthew is the only one who reports that there was an earthquake.  This too is something that accompanies the day of the Lord, the day of judgment.  Jesus’ death was an event which literally shook the earth.

As a result, tombs were opened up and some of the saints arose.  Graves in those days are not like graves we think of.  Then people were buried in caves or carved out rocks.  It would not be unusual for such an earthquake to open such tombs.

But what is unusual is that some saints, the holy ones, were raised.  There are many questions regarding this resurrection.  We wonder who these people were and if they died again.  But Matthew’s point in telling this is not to satisfy our curiosity.  It is that now in Jesus’ death, things are completely different.

In a real sense, Matthew can’t wait to tell about Jesus’ resurrection.  He wants us to know right now that Jesus’ death means the death of death and sin; death no longer has the last word.

In a cemetery in Hanover, Germany, is a grave on which were placed huge slabs of granite and marble cemented together and fastened with heavy steel clasps.  It belongs to a woman who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.  Yet she directed in her will that her grave be made so secure that if there were a resurrection, it could not reach her.  On the marker were inscribed these words:  “This burial place must never be opened.”

In time, a seed, covered over by the stones, began to grow.  Slowly it pushed its way through the soil and out from beneath them.  As the trunk enlarged, the great slabs were gradually shifted so that the steel clasps were wrenched from their sockets.  A tiny seed had become a tree that had pushed aside the stones.

Even though Jesus now hangs dead on the cross, the seeds of the resurrection have been sown and it is already bearing fruit.  Jesus is dead, but the victory has been won!

IV. Finally, let’s look at The Response of the Witnesses in verses 54-56.

Matthew reports that when the centurion and his soldiers saw and heard everything that had happened, they said, “Surely he was the Son of God!”  They put all the evidence together and came to their own conclusion.  Did they really believe in Jesus as the Son of God? Christian legend has it that this centurion became a Christian later on, but we simply don’t know.

Matthew’s point is that if a person’s heart is not closed to the facts of Jesus’ suffering and death, it becomes clear who Jesus is.  The Jewish leaders and many of the people had rejected Jesus completely and they couldn’t see who Jesus really was.  This Gentile who knew nothing about the Messiah could see that Jesus was the Son of God.

This section begins with the cry of Jesus which echoes Psalm 22:  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  But now there is also an echo of the end of Psalm 22.  Psalm 22:27 says, “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him.”  These Gentiles acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God.

Then Matthew looks at some of the women who were there.  They had been following Jesus from Galilee along with the twelve disciples.. They had been helping provide for Jesus’ needs as he did his work.

Now at this bitter end, they are there with Jesus.  They perhaps stayed at a distance simply because it wouldn’t have been safe with the soldiers there and all of Jesus’ enemies.  Nonetheless, they were there and the eleven disciples, aside from John, were not.  Matthew holds up these women followers as examples of what it means to be followers of Jesus.  It means to be there with the Lord and for the Lord.

These women would be the first to see the evidence that Jesus was alive.  These names would be known as the women who first saw Jesus.  Again, here Matthew is laying out the hope of Jesus’ resurrection.

We can see what our response to Jesus should be in these two responses.  First, we must proclaim that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.  If you have not come to that conclusion, I urge you to do so.  Recognize who Jesus is and what He has done for you and accept Him as your Savior and Lord.

Second, we must follow and be faithful as the women who followed Jesus were.  That may mean going through difficult times as we follow Jesus.  It must have been unbelievably painful for those women to watch Jesus suffer and die.  But they stayed there and were faithful.  We have to have the same kind of staying power as well as we follow our risen Savior and Lord.

We sing the song, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.”  A more important question is are we there for him every day with our crucified and risen Lord?  And if we are for him, if we are going to follow him, we must make sure that what we are doing each day is for him.

Near the end of the 19th century, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local newspaper: “Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.”  Actually, it was Alfred’s older brother who had died and a newspaper reporter had bungled the epitaph.

But the account had a profound effect on Nobel.  He decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process.  So he started the Nobel Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace.  Nobel said, “Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.”

What will our obituary say about our relationship to our Lord Jesus? Today let’s look at our lives and see if we are really with Jesus, doing what he wants us to be doing, or if we are serving ourselves.

Matthew 27:32-44 

Gloating Over Jesus

Rev. Jerry Hoek

Introduction:

We all know that gloating is not a good thing to do.  At times I gloat about our weather to my family up north about the weather.  They were still shivering in the cold and snow and it was almost 80 degrees here.  And I was gloating about it.  You know what happened of course, a few days later we were under a layer of ice and shivering ourselves.  Gloating is very awkward when it turns out you were wrong.

Now as Jesus hangs on the cross, the Jewish leaders are gloating over their apparent victory over Jesus.    The fact is, however, is that they were simply wrong in declaring themselves the victors.  While it seemed that Jesus had been defeated, by virtue of the fact that Jesus is hanging there on that cross, He had won the victory.  Seeing this reversal should give us confidence as we witness to people about our Savior.  Let’s read Matthew 27:32-44.

I. The Road to the Cross Continues                   

II. The Crucifixion

III. The Mocking Witnesses                               

IV. Jesus Died for Sinners

I. The Road to the Cross Continues as we see in verses 32-34.

Jesus had to carry his own cross to the place of execution.  By this time Jesus has endured a great deal.  He had just been severely beaten and abused.  Now it becomes too much for him and he simply cannot carry the cross.

The group meets Simon and the soldiers force Simon to carry Jesus’ cross.  Simon was likely a Jew from northern Africa who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover feast.

Mark mentions that Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander who were likely known within the church in Rome.  While we don’t read of Simon of Cyrene anywhere else, it is quite possible that something very significant happened to Simon that day.  Quite possibly Simon became a Christian who then taught his sons about Jesus as well and they become known in the church in Rome.

Matthew may also mention Simon because he is a symbol of what Jesus did.  Simon represents us as he carries that cross for we all should bear the penalty of death because of sin.  However, when Simon arrived at the place of the crucifixion, the burden of the cross was lifted from Simon’s shoulders and Jesus was nailed to the cross instead of Simon.  Jesus took our place and died for us.

Then the soldiers offered Jesus some wine mixed with gall.  The gall was a drug made from hemlock or wormwood whose purpose was to numb the pain.  But Jesus refuses to drink this because He wanted to bear the full brunt of suffering for us.  Moreover, in his last moments, Jesus didn’t want to lose self-control and say or do anything that would compromise his mission to die.

This too clearly fulfills the Scriptures.  Psalm 69:20-21 says, “Scorn has broken my heart and left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.  They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”  While these events seem so out of control for Jesus, this is exactly what God had intended to happen.

Let’s think a bit more about what happened with Simon for this should be encouraging for us today as well as we endure hardships.  God doesn’t want us to suffer, but God does allow suffering to occur if it can bring about a greater good.  Jesus was willing to suffer in this way for our greater good.  God can and often does work good through suffering.

A rather unusual example of this comes from the world of baseball.  One of the classic baseball television shots comes from the 1975 World Series, in which NBC captured Carlton Fisk, jumping up and down, waving his arms, trying to coax his hit to stay fair.  It did – for a home run. That colorful close-up would have been missed had the cameraman followed the ball with his camera, as was his responsibility.  But the cameraman inside the Fenway Park scoreboard had one eye on a rat that was circling him.  So instead of focusing on the ball, he left it on Fisk.

Sometimes we face problems like that rat.  We don’t know how they will be resolved, but because of them, we may see God work in a way we never would have without the problems.

Think about what likely happened with Simon.  Carrying some convict’s cross was likely the last thing Simon wanted.  But because God arranged that he do so, he likely believed and led his sons to belief as well.

II. The Crucifixion itself is then described in verses 35-38.

In fact, Matthew describes Jesus’ crucifixion in utmost simplicity.  Matthew doesn’t lay out what happened in gruesome detail.  There is no elaborate attempt to build an emotional response.

Crucifixion was certainly an unbelievably horrible way to die.  Death could take several days with the victims painfully dying.  We should not gloss over the fact that Jesus’ death was so horrible.

Still the main point is that Jesus’ death brought us victory.  The point in Jesus’ death is not for us to have pity on Jesus.  The point is to see Jesus’ great love in that he was willing to suffer in this way to bring us life.

Then after Jesus is crucified, the soldiers gambled for His clothes.  As Matthew reports this he almost certainly has Psalm 22:18 in mind.  “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.”  Again God’s plan from the very beginning is being fulfilled.

Then the soldiers sat down and watched.  They would make sure that no one rescued the person and make sure that the person actually died.  This may be Matthew’s way of again emphasizing that Jesus really did die; the soldiers were there watching making sure.

Then Matthew points to the sign above Jesus’ head which said, “The King of the Jews.”  The condemned would often have such a sign attached to the cross.  It seems that this was especially true if the crime was rebellion.  The sign would be a deterrent to others:  “This is what happens when you rebel!”

However, in this case, it is also a statement of victory in this sign.  It was intended as an accusation; it proclaimed the truth!  He is not only king of the Jews, he is the King of kings!

Edward Bennett Williams was a Washington D.C. lawyer who had many political connections from the mid-1940′s to the 1960′s and was very influential and powerful in Washington D.C..  As he lay dying in 1988, someone was talking to him about all the power he had in Washington.  Williams said, “Power?  I’m about to meet real power.”  Jesus is the king and He is dying, but his death will bring about a greater kingdom and greater power than what could be imagined.

Finally, Matthew notes that Jesus was crucified in the midst of sinners who were rightly condemned.  Jesus is crucified between these two as just another criminal.  However, again the Scriptures are fulfilled for Isaiah 53:12 says that Jesus would be numbered with the transgressors.  This is where Jesus had to be for he came to seek and save the lost.

III. Now three groups of Mocking Witnesses gather around in verses 39-44.

First, Jesus is mocked by those who were passing by.  These were people who were basically ignorant of what was really happening.  Perhaps they had been in the crowd cheering for Jesus’ death and had followed the procession from Jerusalem to Golgotha.  Perhaps they were some who had stopped to gawk.

They shout at Jesus:  “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself!”  They had heard the false accusation that Jesus had said he would destroy the temple and believed it.  Well, these people look at this miracle worker now and he certainly isn’t in any position to do any such thing, much less save himself.

They gloat:  “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” This is an echo of the words Satan himself said to Jesus when he was tempting Jesus in the desert.  The assumption is that if Jesus is the Son of God as he claims to be, he should be able to do anything he wants to do.  Since Jesus isn’t coming down from the cross, clearly Jesus isn’t the Son of God; he is a phony.

Actually Jesus proves that He is the Son of God by staying on the cross.  Jesus refuses to use the power he has as the Son of God.  He remains obedient to the Father and to the mission God sent him on.  However, to the ignorant it Jesus seems to be a failure for he isn’t doing what they think He should be doing.

Then the whole Jewish leadership joins in the gloating over Jesus.  First they mock him as savior, “He saved others but he can’t save himself!”  They admit that he had saved others; he had done miraculous works.  Jesus no longer had the power to save since he couldn’t save himself.

Next they mock him as king:  “He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.”  They thought that he could prove that he was the true king if he just came down from the cross.  While Jesus would not come down from the cross, he would come back from the dead.  Even then many of them wouldn’t believe in him.

Finally, they mock Him as Son of God:  “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”  They assumed that if one is in a close relationship with God, then when he is in trouble, God will save him.  Since God wasn’t saving Jesus from this, clearly Jesus wasn’t the Son of God.

There is a great deal of truth in what the Jewish leaders are saying:  He is the Savior, King and the Son of God.  They had the facts all right, but they interpreted them incorrectly.  They assumed that all of these things meant that Jesus could and would come down from the cross.  However, since Jesus is Savior and King and because he is trusting in the Father, he will stay on the cross.

They were gloating, but they had it backwards and were completely wrong.  They confused Jesus’ real power with apparent weakness.

In the spring of 1991, even before the breakup of the Soviet Union, then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev found his authority and leadership tested on all sides.  From Baltic states declaring their independence, to conservatives clamoring for a return to old-line communism, to progressives pushing for more economic reforms, the Soviet Union was a nation on the brink.

Things were coming to a head when demonstrators planned a massive march on Thursday, March 28, in Moscow itself to show their opposition to government policy, hoping that 500,000 would participate.  The Kremlin banned demonstrations, issued dire warnings against protesters and promised a massive show of force if the ban was defied.  Two months before in Lithuania a similar demonstration had been crushed by Soviet tanks and troops, killing fourteen people.

On the day of this march, 50,000 troops and police crowded Moscow; 100,000 people ignored the ban and marched.  Fortunately there were no clashes, but, commenting on short-wave radio, a BBC correspondent described Gorbachev’s show of force as a “display of strength that showed considerable weakness.”

When Christ voluntarily went to the cross and allowed His own creation to torture and kill Him it was a display of weakness that showed amazing strength.

Finally, Matthew observes that the robbers as well joined in the gloating.  Luke tells us that later one of the robbers repented and was saved.  But at this point, Jesus was rejected completely by everyone.

IV. What is the point for us?  It is that Jesus Died for Sinners of all kinds.

Jesus died for those who are still ignorant today.  Jesus died for those who reject Jesus without really understanding him.  You likely know people who don’t really understand much of anything of the Christian faith.  All they know is that they don’t like Jesus or Christians.  The message this morning is that Jesus died for those people.

What they must do, of course, is learn about Jesus and then believe in him.  And that means that we must share the good news with them.  It is our duty as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, to help others learn about Jesus and understand who he really is.  We must try to correct their understanding of Jesus by showing them who Jesus really is.

The point this morning is that Jesus also died for the religious people.  These are the people who are good and moral but who don’t really know and understand Jesus either.  You likely know people like this as well.  They are good people, but they resist the radical claims of Jesus because it interferes with their lives.

We must help them understand that the death of Jesus on the cross is the only way to salvation.  We must help them see that it is not being a good moral person that will save them but only a relationship with Jesus that will enable a person to share in the victory Jesus has won.  We must help others around you see what Jesus really did and why He did it.

Finally, the point is that Jesus also died for the condemned, like the criminals.  And that, quite simply, is us.  Many times, we don’t feel qualified to tell others about Jesus.  Remember we all deserve death, but God has saved us anyway.

We are not like a gloating person telling others that we are right and they had better shape up.  We are poor beggars telling other poor beggars where to find help.  We know the cure for sin, let’s lovingly share it with those around us who need to hear it. Our task is to tell others of Jesus’ great love by dying on the cross.

Send Magazine gave an example of how Jesus’ love can impact others.  A trip through the jungles of Thailand brought four Christian women face-to-face with death.  As they made their way through the dense foliage to follow up on some new converts, they were ambushed at gun point by three communist rebels.  When the men found that the women had no money, they angrily told them they were going to kill them.

The women pleaded with their captors not to shoot, but the men were adamant.  Then one of the workers asked them if they could tell them about God’s love before they were shot.  Surprisingly, the gunmen agreed!  So the woman explained that Jesus had died on the cross because He loved them.  The men did an astonishing thing __ they dropped their guns, and tears began to flow.  The leader said, “If Jesus has that much love, then I want it too.”  Soon all three accepted Christ as Savior and are today serving God in Thailand.

Telling others of Jesus’ love can have a great impact on others. Think back for a moment again to Simon of Cyrene.  Apparently, Simon was so moved by Jesus’ death, it changed him and he shared that new life with his sons.  Does the fact that Jesus died for you fill you with joy?  Are you telling others that Jesus can be their Savior and King as well?

Matthew 27:27-31

Taking King Jesus Seriously

Rev. Jerry Hoek

Introduction:

What if I came up here this morning dressed as a doctor.  I wore scrubs or the white coat and had a stethoscope around my neck.  And then I said, “Good morning.  My name is Dr. Hoek and this morning I want to speak to you about the specific physiological implications of proper diet and exercise in maintaining one’s pulmonary and cardiovascular systems.”  And then I would begin to say things that didn’t make any sense whatsoever.  Would you take me seriously?  I certainly hope not!  Why?  Because it would be clear to everyone that I was pretending to be someone I really wasn’t.  You would not take me seriously if is clear to you that I am not what I have claimed to be.

This morning we see that the Roman soldiers did not take Jesus seriously at all.  They heard that Jesus had been found guilty of being the king of the Jews.  Well, they looked at Him and it was certainly clear to them that this man was no king.  And so they heaped abuse and mockery on King Jesus.  However, Jesus was in fact the King.  They didn’t understand how Jesus could be a king and so didn’t take seriously the fact that Jesus was the King.  However, Jesus was indeed the King and a far greater king than what they could have imagined.

Once again, however, we see that even this part of the suffering of Christ is part of God’s wonderful plan for our salvation.  Moreover, we see here a warning to us.  Since we do understand that Jesus is the King, we must treat Him with the honor and obedience necessary for the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Let’s read Matthew 27:27-31.

I. The Mockers

II. The Mockery             

III. The Way to the Cross Continues

I. First, let’s look at The Mockers.

At this point, Pilate has turned Jesus over to the soldiers for execution.  He is taken from Pilate’s house to the Praetorium in the Roman headquarters where the Roman soldiers would have their barracks.  You can see on this map where Herod’s palace is and the Praetorium would be.  Jesus would be held in custody there while the preparations were being made for his crucifixion.  While waiting for his execution, they decided that they would have a little fun with Jesus.

The soldiers invited the whole group of soldiers to join in the fun.  A full company of soldiers would have meant 600 men.  While it is not likely that all 600 were there, the point is that a very large group of soldiers had now gathered to mock Jesus.  The soldiers would most likely be draftees from the area of Syria and so would be able to converse in Aramaic and mock Jesus in his own tongue.

Why did they engage in this mockery?  It may have been an opportunity for them to display their disdain of the Jews.  The Jews passionately hated the Roman soldiers.  Now, the soldiers could vent their anger back at the Jews by mocking their “king.”

Matthew may also be in an ironic way, making fun of the soldiers.  They represented the huge and powerful Roman Empire and they were completely clueless as to what they were doing and who they were dealing with.  The soldiers end up looking ridiculous and wrong in their assessment of Jesus.

Their cruel mockery also reflects one of the sad effects of sin in the world.  George F. Will once wrote about the old practice of  “bear-baiting.”  “In bear-baiting, you purposely handicap a bear by tying him down to a stake.  Then you let loose some agile dogs who nip and run.  If this goes on long enough, the bear finally keels over from blood loss and exhaustion, and the dogs crowd in to finish him off.  This entertainment was popular not only because of human lust for blood. It was popular also because of human fascination with bondage, with having a creature in your power.”

The soldiers have someone captured who thinks he is more powerful than they are.  I can imagine them thinking,  “Well, we’ll see who really is stronger, who is in control.”

There are people today who mock Jesus as well.  Some today simply don’t understand who Jesus is and make fun of Him.  They mock the church and its leaders as a bunch of hypocrites.  Some mock Jesus by taking His name in vain by constantly saying “Oh God” and other things.  Some mock what Jesus teaches and what Christians stand for.

Patrick Buchanan once wrote, “We live in an age where the ridicule of blacks is forbidden, where anti-Semitism is punishable by political death, but where Christian-bashing is a popular indoor sport; and films mocking Jesus Christ are considered avant-garde.”

Now I’m not advocating that we bash anyone by any means nor that any sort of bashing in the past was ok to do as well; that is not what Christ would do or have us do.  But it does seem odd that it seems to be fine today to make a mockery of who Christ is and what Christians believe.

But, like these soldiers, many people today simply don’t understand who Jesus really is.  They think Jesus as a person who is out to rob them of their fun.  They think Jesus wants to be king so he can tell them what to do.  Jesus seems to have no real power over them and so they mock Him.  They simply don’t understand that He is really their King.  The soldiers didn’t understand and so they mocked Jesus as a king, but even in their mocking, they are saying true things about Jesus.

II. Let’s look at The Mockery itself.

The soldiers went out of their way to produce the trappings of royalty as we see in verses 28-29.  They decided that his clothing was not suitable for a king, so they took it off and replaced it with a scarlet cloak.  This was a cloak worn by military officers; this one likely an old faded one about to be discarded.  The color of the coat was somewhat near purple, the color of royalty.  By getting a color of a cloak, not quite the color of royalty, the soldiers were mocking Jesus’ claim to be a king.

A crown was also needed for a king so they got some thorny material and wove a crown out of it.  Emperors would wear an imperial wreath as a crown on their heads.  It wasn’t a real crown, but one suitable for this “King of the Jews.”  This also had the result of increasing his sufferings for the thorns would likely dig into his head.

It may be Matthew’s intent as well to point out the crown of thorns for his Jewish audience.  When Adam and Eve fell into sin, their curse was that now that they would have to work the ground which would grow thorns as part of the curse of sin.  Now Jesus painfully bears the symbol of the curse of the fall in the thorns as He is about to endure the full punishment for the fall into sin by Adam and Eve.  Jesus’ suffering releases all who believe in Him from the effects of that curse from sin.  They then put a stick in his hand for a king must have a scepter.

With Jesus properly attired, the soldiers are now ready to treat Jesus as a king.  The soldiers knelt before Jesus and said, “Hail, king of the Jews!”  “Hail” is what you say when you greet the emperor.  But you can imagine the contempt and mockery in their voices as they exaggerate their adoration of this fake king.

Then as they rise, they all spit in His face.  There is nothing more degrading, more denigrating than to be spit at.

Two years ago, a U.S. appeals court ruled that on  a man who intentionally spat at another can be charged with criminal assault.  Jeffrey Lewellyn was sentenced to two years probation and 50 hours of community service after he spat in 2004 at a patient who swore at him on the grounds of a Veterans Administration Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington.  “Intentionally spitting on another person is an offensive touching that rises to the level of simple assault,” the three-judge panel wrote.  Spitting is a hostile and degrading thing to do to another person.  The soldiers show their true feelings by spitting at Jesus.

And then they all hit him with His scepter.  “This is the symbol of your kingship and your kingdom?  This is what I think of you as a king!”  They are the ones who have the power, not this fake king.  One can imagine each soldier taking his turn in abusing Jesus again and again kneeling before him, calling him king, then spitting on him and hitting him with the fake scepter.

But the physical abuse isn’t what is the most tragic, it is the mocking heaped on the Son of God that should trouble us.  They are treating Jesus not as a king, but as a buffoon.

Yet Jesus was in fact a far greater king than they had any idea of.  He is mocked wearing the clothes of an officer of the Roman army.  In fact, his army is far greater than anyone could imagine.  In Matthew 26: 53, Jesus had said when Peter tried to defend him with the sword, “Do you not think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

Jesus could have said, “Enough!” and called for his army of angels.  As King of kings, he could have put an end to this whole ordeal.  But he didn’t stop it at all, but instead willingly endured it.

Why?  He loves us so much that he was willing to suffer this to save us.  Certainly Jesus’ suffering is not finished.  He still has to continue on to his gruesome death by crucifixion.

But remember that he is doing this not as an unfortunate victim, but as the King who is willing to suffer all this for you and me.  Jeffrey Ebert writes of the time when he was 5 years old, many years before factory installed seat belts and air-bags, when his family was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver.  After a visit to his grandparents’ farm, his family had been driving home at night on a two-lane country road.  Ebert was sitting on his mother’s lap when the other car swerved into their lane.  He didn’t have any memory of the collision.  He did recall the fear and confusion he felt as he saw himself literally with blood from head to toe.

He writes, “Then I learned that the blood wasn’t mine at all, but my mother’s.  In that split second when the two headlights glared into her eyes, she instinctively pulled me closer to her chest and curled her body around my smaller frame.  It was her body that slammed against the dashboard, her head that shattered the windshield.  She took the impact of the collision so that I wouldn’t have to, and my life was spared.”  After extensive surgery, his mother eventually recovered from her injuries.

In a similar, but infinitely more significant way, Jesus Christ took the impact for our sin, and his blood now permanently covers our lives.  What wondrous love Jesus Christ has shown to us!

III. Then the Way to the Cross Continues in verse 31.

After all the soldiers had their fun, the business of crucifixion continues.  Matthew says, “After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him.”  John reports that it was at this time that Jesus is brought back to Pilate.  At that point, Pilate introduces this spit covered, bruised and bleeding Jesus to the crowd with the words, “Behold the man!”  John indicates that Pilate was hoping that this spectacle might be enough to change the people’s minds seeing Jesus so humiliated.  But the crowd cheers all the more, “Crucify Him!”

So Matthew concludes simply with, “Then they led him away to crucify him.”  Matthew ends this brief interlude with the word “crucify” just as he ended the trial before Pilate.  He keeps reminding his readers and us of where this will end up.  The time is coming closer when Jesus will actually be killed.

God is using the horrible treatment of His Son to bring us salvation.  Let’s not let the facts of these events become so commonplace that we gloss over what Jesus did for us.  Think of Jesus’ body being beaten, his face spit upon, his head being hit.  Think of the real blood that Jesus shed during the scourging and from the crown of thorns.  Remember that Jesus suffered these things and indeed went on to die to take the punishment for our sins.  But let’s also evaluate how we treat Jesus as our King.

Let’s ask ourselves if we are also guilty of mocking Jesus.  Are there ways in which we mock Jesus as well?  We don’t literally spit in Jesus’ face or beat him.  But the real sin of the soldiers is that they didn’t accept Jesus as the King he really was or submit to Him.  They treated him as if his kingship didn’t matter.

That is something we do as well, even today, even as Christians.  We call Jesus our King on Sunday, but then on Monday through Saturday, we live as though Jesus wasn’t there or wasn’t important.  We say we are sorry for our sins, but we find ourselves falling into the same sins again and again without much of a struggle.  We say Jesus is Lord, but then we do things that show that what we are really serving in our lives is ourselves.  We mock Jesus when we don’t take living the life of discipleship and following Jesus seriously.

So what do we do?  First, we must confess our sin of rejecting Jesus as our only King.  Let’s confess that we have treated Jesus with contempt and disdain in the things we have said and done.  We are sinners who desperately need God’s forgiveness.  Then let’s humbly seek God’s forgiveness and grace.

Then, let’s prepare to also suffer for our Lord as we serve Him.  Jesus said if we will follow him, we can expect to receive the same treatment he received; we should expect to suffer for Him.

In the 1300′s , Raymond Lull was a missionary and scholar who dedicated himself to reaching Muslims with the gospel.  Once he wrote, “I was fairly rich and tasted freely of the pleasures of life.  But all these things I gladly resigned that I might spread abroad a knowledge of the truth. I studied Arabic, and several times went forth to preach the gospel to the Muslims. I have been in prisons; I have been scourged.  Now, though old and poor, I do not despair; I am ready, if it be God’s will, to persevere unto death.”  After writing those words, Lull was stoned to death in North Africa in 1316 after gathering a small flock of converts.

Are we willing to suffer and even die for Christ?  Our choice is simple, we either mock Jesus or we suffer with Him.  What will your choice be?

Matthew 27:11-26

The Innocent King is Condemned

Rev. Jerry Hoek

Introduction:

“What have you done for me lately?”  This statement captures the attitude of so many in the world today.  “Yes, you may have done this for me, but that was long ago.”  What have you done for me lately?  People today tend to be focused on self and that can lead to a rapid change in attitude toward someone.

Winston Churchill knew that public favor was no proof of real success.  Once, after he gave a speech for which 10,000 people came out, a friend asked, “Winston, aren’t you impressed that 10,000 people came to hear you speak?” Churchill replied, “Not really.  100,000 would come to see me hang.”

One element that has always intrigued me about Jesus’ crucifixion was the reaction of the crowd.  Within a matter of days, Jesus is jeered instead of cheered.  As the “Hosannas” from the Triumphal Entry die away, the cry “Crucify Him” erupts.  How could such a change happen?  It was a case of what have you done for me lately.

This morning we look at Jesus’ trial before Pilate.  When a choice had to made, the people chose for themselves and rejected God’s own Son, their Messiah.  However, through this, God continues to work out His plan for our salvation.  Moreover, in this we have the opportunity to look at the choices regarding Jesus that we make in our own lives as well as we seek to follow Him.  Let’s read Matthew 27:11-26.

I. The King is Questioned

II. The Evidence of Innocence

III. Jesus is Condemned

IV. The Responsibility for Jesus’ Death

I. First, in verses 11-14, we see Jesus, the King being questioned by Pilate.

As Pilate looks down at Jesus from his judgment seat, he asks the question, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  It was clear to Pilate that Jesus was no rebel leader, no terrorist.  Jesus had no army, no means to begin a revolt against Rome.  The question asked shows that Pilate is very skeptical.

Jesus’ answer is closer to the statement, “You are saying it.”  A simple “yes” would have led Pilate to understand that Jesus was admitting to be the rebel leader he was accused of being.  On the other hand, by saying “no” Jesus would have been denying the fact that He really is a king.

Jesus is indeed a king, in fact, the King.  He is king of a kingdom what is vastly greater than any empire.  Yet Jesus is not a king that Pilate needed to worry about who would fight against the Romans.

At that point, the Jewish leaders begin rattling off charge after charge, becoming desperate to find something that would be worthy of death in Pilate’s eyes.  Yet during this, Jesus remains completely silent, not dignifying  their charges with any kind of defense.  That, however, left Pilate in a very difficult position.  In the Roman system of justice, if the accused made no defense, it was understood as an admission of guilt.  Pilate didn’t believe Jesus was guilty, but the last thing Jesus said was closer to a “yes” than a “no.”

And so as a result, Pilate was greatly amazed.  All other accused people would be trying to refute the charges.  Jesus was clearly not guilty, yet he wasn’t trying to escape either.

Let’s reflect for a moment on Jesus’ admission to be king.  Jesus is not the kind of king that the people were looking for.  They wanted a king who would resist the Romans and restore the nation of Israel once again.

However, Jesus was the king they should have been looking for.  Jesus was the promised king who would be like the great king David.  Jesus, as king would lead the people to receive God’s special spiritual blessings again.  But the people were looking for a king that fit what they wanted.

We too have to be careful as to what kind of king we want Jesus to be.  Some would like Jesus to be a political king that will make our nation a Christian nation once again.  We want Jesus to be a king in a way that is purely for our benefit.

Rodney Clapp writes:  “A noted Western philosopher, introduced to the world in 1926, was one day sitting on a log when he heard a buzzing sound.  He was puzzled and fell to pondering.  As his leading chronicler remembers the event, the philosopher reasons along the following lines:

“‘If there’s a buzzing-noise, somebody’s making a buzzing noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you’re a bee.’  Then he thought another long time and said, ‘And the only reason for being a bee that I know of is making honey.’ Then he got up, and said, ‘And the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.’”

The philosopher, of course, is Winnie the Pooh.  But what Pooh says describes the attitude we can sometimes have toward Jesus:  “Yes, Jesus you are king, and the only reason you must be king is for me and to give me what I want in my life.”  “I want financial success or the perfect job or health, status and happiness in all of my endeavors.”  “I want you to be my King, Jesus, so that you can give me all that I want.”  We must remember that Jesus is king of a kingdom far greater than us.

II. Second, Matthew wants his readers to see The Evidence of Jesus’ Innocence.

Throughout this trial, Pilate is trying to keep the peace but is also trying very hard to have Jesus released because he is convinced that Jesus is innocent.  By now, a crowd had gathered around to see what was happening.  It was the custom for the governor to release a prisoner to the people at the time of Passover.  At the Passover, the people could ask for one person to be released.  The Romans then would release this person as a sign of good will.

In this case, Pilate suggests that the people consider Barabbas.  The other gospels tell us that he was a rebel leader who had murdered someone during an uprising.  Barabbas was a violent criminal, but one who may have been well received by the people.

Pilate’s strategy was to pit the Jewish leaders against the people.  Pilate knew that the leaders simply wanted to get rid of Jesus because they were envious of the large crowds following Jesus.  The leaders may have been against Jesus, but Pilate believed that the general population would chose Jesus over Barabbas.  They would clearly chose a popular, non-violent, innocent man over a convicted killer, even if he did fight against the Romans.

Did Jesus really matter that much to Pilate?  To Pilate, Jesus was likely nothing more than an unfortunate man who was being railroaded by a bunch of arrogant bullies.  Pilate, however, is so convinced of Jesus’ innocence  that he goes to great lengths to release Him.

Jesus’ innocence is also seen in Pilate’s wife’s testimony in verse 19.  During this time, Pilate’s wife sends a message to Pilate:  “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”  We don’t know what she suffered but dreams had a great impact on people in those days.  The dream must have been very troubling for her to send this message.

Why does Matthew include this?  He again wants to underscore Jesus’ innocence for even this pagan ruler’s wife can see it.  Moreover, even this pagan woman is open to seeing the truth about Jesus while the Jews have closed their minds to Jesus.

Why does Matthew want to emphasize that Jesus was innocent?  Jesus had to be perfect in order to be able to be the substitute for us.  The Old Testament required that a sacrifice for sin had to be perfect, without blemish.  If Jesus had sinned, He couldn’t be the substitute for us for then He would then have died for his own sin.  But because he is sinless and completely innocent, he is able to take on the sins of the whole world.  Jesus, though he was innocent, took the place we deserved and died for us.

The men of Block 14 were digging gravel outside the Auschwitz concentration camp in July 1941. Suddenly, the sirens began to shriek. There had been an escape. That evening their fears were confirmed: the escaped prisoner was from their block.

The next day, the block’s 600 men were forced to stand on the parade ground under the broiling sun. “At the day’s end,” wrote reporter Connie Lauerman, “the deputy commander, Fritsch, arrived in his crisply pressed uniform and shiny jackboots to announce the fate of the terrified men in dirty, striped prison suits. ‘The fugitive hasn’t been found,’ barked Fritsch. ‘In reprisal for your comrade’s escape, ten of you will die by starvation.’” The men slated for starvation were selected. One of them, Franciszek Gajowniczek, a Polish army sergeant, was sobbing, “My wife and my children.”

Then a Polish Franciscan priest, Maximillian Kolbe, pushed his way to the front as S.S. guards sighted their rifles on his chest. “Herr Kommandant,” he said, “a request.”  “What do you want?” barked the commandant.  “I want to die in place of this man,” pointing to Gajowniczek. “I’ve no wife and no children. Besides, I’m old and not good for anything.”  A stunned silence, and then “Request granted!”

It is a remarkable thing for one to die in another’s place.  However, Jesus had everything in heaven and was perfect and he was willing to die for us.  Jesus, the innocent One willingly died for us and for our sins.

III. Even though Jesus was innocent, Yet He was Condemned.

During this time, the Jewish leaders have been working the crowd, convincing the people to ask for Barabbas instead of Jesus.  We don’t know what they said or how they convinced the people.  It may be that they were pointing to the immediate future and telling them that they had more of a future with Barabbas than Jesus.  They will have more of a chance to get rid of the Romans with Barabbas than with Jesus.

Now Pilate lays the choice out before them once again.  Based on Jesus’ popularity from the Triumphal Entry the Sunday before, Pilate was expecting the crowd to ask for Jesus.  Imagine his shock when the crowd all shouted together for Barabbas.

Pilate seems to be dumbfounded and asks if they are sure they understand what they are doing.  They are asking for a terrorist to be released and sealing the fate of their own innocent Messiah.  Surely they would want to save their Messiah!  But the crowd now passionately cries out, “Crucify him!”

Pilate attempts once more to show that Jesus is innocent.  He asks what Jesus has done, implying that he has done nothing wrong.  However, now the mob had been incited and they kept on shouting “Crucify him.”  How utterly tragic that the people would not accept Jesus as their messiah.

When Elizabeth Barrett became the wife of Robert Browning, her parents disowned her because they disapproved of the marriage.  The daughter, however, wrote almost every week, telling them that she loved them and longed for a reconciliation.  After 10 years she received a huge box in the mail that contained all the notes she had sent.  Not one had been opened.  Though these “love letters” have become an invaluable part of classical English literature, it’s really sad to think that they were never read by Elizabeth Barrett’s parents.  Had they looked at just one, the broken relationship with their daughter might have been healed.  How tragic that God’s own people failed to accept God’s own Son, who brought a message of complete reconciliation from God.

However, this is exactly what God intended to happen.  Although Matthew doesn’t quote Isaiah 53, it certainly describes Jesus.  Think of the way the crowd treated Jesus and listen to Isaiah 53:2 – “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”  Think of Jesus’ silence and listen to Isaiah 53:7 – “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”  This treatment of Jesus is what God intended as part of His plan.

Pilate will turn Jesus over to be crucified.  While this is despicable and weak of Pilate, it is wonderful and strong of God.  God used this fiasco to put everything right.

IV. So who bears The Responsibility for Jesus’ Death?

Pilate tries to avoid the responsibility in verse 24.  He washed his hands, a symbol of not being guilty or responsible and said, “It is your responsibility!”  Claire and I do that from time to time when we have tried to encourage someone to do something but they refuse to listen.  We just look at each other and make the motion of washing our hands.  “Ok, we’re done trying.  It’s up to them now.”  Pilate tried to shift the blame from himself to the people but it didn’t work.

Pilate had already shown that he believed Jesus was innocent.  What he should have done next was release Jesus because Jesus’ fate was precisely in his hands.  But he decided to keep the peace rather than maintain justice.  He is guilty of Jesus’ death for he turned Jesus over to be killed.

However, the people as well are certainly guilty.  “All the people answered, ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children!’”  The mob cheerfully accepted this responsibility.  They had gotten Jesus!  So what that they have the responsibility for killing him?  Theirs is a chilling acceptance of responsibility for killing Jesus.

However, we must remember that Jesus’ blood is on us as well.  We can blame the crowd, Pilate, the Jewish leaders, but the fact remains that we bear the responsibility for the death of Jesus.  Why? Isaiah 53:6 gives the answer – “We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus suffered this horrible injustice to bring us forgiveness.  If we had not fallen into sin, Jesus would not have had to die.  If we were going to be saved, Jesus had to die.

Moreover, in a certain sense, we make the same choice as the people in the crowd.  The people were faced with a choice that day:  temporary help or help that they really needed.  They opted for what they could see and hope for.  They had liked Jesus in many ways, but ultimately, they wanted the salvation this world offers.

So often in our lives, we make the same choice on a daily basis.  How many times haven’t we chosen the king of material gain over giving things up for Jesus.  How many times don’t we wish for power and position instead of humble service.  We want Jesus to be our King as long as He gives us what we want.  Well, Jesus is our King and if we are going to submit to Him as King, it means we accept what He does without question.

C. S. Lewis writes:  “The Christian way is different:  harder, and easier.  Christ says “Give me all.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work:  I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.  I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked __ the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself:  my own will shall become yours.”

Let’s humbly live a life of obedience to our king as we thank God for his great gift of salvation.

Matthew 27:1-10 “Remorse or Repentance?”

Rev. Jerry Hoek

Introduction:

One of the things that stands out from Captain Sullenberger landing of the jetliner on the Hudson River was something he said later on when he was interviewed on 60 Minutes.  Everything had to be just right to make such an emergency landing.  The wings had to be perfectly level, the air speed just right and the nose up.  After the plane splashed down, he looked at  his co-pilot and said, “Well, that wasn’t too bad.”  They were expecting something really bad and instead what happened was far better than anyone could have expected.

As far as the disciples were concerned, what they were going through was the complete opposite.  They were fully expecting Jesus to be a great leader who would do wonderful and amazing things.  Jesus being arrested was not at all what they were expecting.  Peter denying Jesus was not something they were expecting either.  They must have been stunned and shocked by all of what was happening.  We are so familiar with this story that we fail to grasp just how shocking this was for them. Being a disciple, a follower of Jesus, meant that things would be different than what they thought.  It is different for us as well as we learn how to be followers of Jesus Christ.

That is why we are doing things differently this morning.  We are used to doing our worship a certain way and in a certain order.  What we are doing today is not what you were expecting.  However, we are doing this to highlight that what the disciples were going through was not at all what they were expecting.

This morning we begin a series of sermons on Matthew 27 which describes the last full day of Jesus’ life.  Over the next 6 weeks, we will move from the early morning hours where Jesus stands before Pilate to the end of the day when Jesus is buried.  Matthew’s goal in describing this day is more than just relating what happened to Jesus.  Matthew’s point is to show that all this is part of God’s plan of salvation.  Moreover, he also wants to teach his readers about what it means to be a disciple of the crucified and risen Lord.

This morning, we ask how should one respond to the death of Jesus when we know that it is our sins that has caused Jesus to suffer and die?  Let’s read Matthew 27:1-10.

I. Closer to the Cross               

II. Judas’ Remorse

III. The Leader’s Response

IV. God’s Plan Continues

I. Closer to the Cross

Chapter 27 describes the events of the day Jesus was crucified.  The night before, Jesus had celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples.  Then they went out to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him.  Judas had betrayed Jesus and he had now been tried by the Jewish leaders as well as denied by Peter.  The next day, the Jewish leaders hand Jesus over to the Roman authorities.  The Jews could find a person guilty and sentence him to death, but they didn’t have the authority to carry out the death penalty.  So they had to go to the Romans to actually have Jesus executed.

They did this early in the morning because they were eager to get on with this business.  Their law required that if a person was found guilty of a capital offense, the sentence had to wait to be given until two days.  Evidently they wanted to give some semblance of proper procedure for while they knew they were going to kill Jesus, they waited at least until daybreak before passing on the official sentence of death.

They bound Jesus and brought him to Pilate.  Jesus was bound so that He would look more like the political rebel they were portraying Him to be.  These circumstances would lead to Jesus being unjustly condemned by Pilate.

However, it is important to understand that in all this God’s plan continues.  Jesus himself had prophesied that this would happen to Him in 20:18-19.  He said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.  They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.  On the third day he will be raised to life!”  Jesus knew what was happening and allowed things to continue.

Moreover, the whole Old Testament prophesies about these events as well.  Psalm 2:1 is not cited by Matthew, it too illustrates how God says: “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and his Anointed One.”  The Jewish leaders conspired against Jesus, the Lord’s Anointed One.  One of Matthew’s goals is to show how the Old Testament points to the suffering of Christ.

Indeed, the whole Bible is the message of God’s plan of redemption through Christ.  It is said that when W. C. Fields was on his deathbed, a visitor found him reading the Bible.  Asked what he was doing, he replied, “Looking for loopholes, my friend. Looking for loopholes.”  He was looking for the wrong thing.

The Bible is not a rule book that we can maneuver around in.  It is the message that God loved the world so much that He sent his one and only Son.  This is what God had planned to do from the beginning and what God was doing the day Jesus died.  This is the Son of God willingly going to death to bring salvation, even though it was not what the disciples were expecting.  Now within this we now find out what happens to Judas, the betrayer.

II. Verses 3-5 show that Judas was filled with Remorse.

Now Judas realizes the full impact of his actions.  There are different possibilities as to why Judas betrayed Jesus.  He may have done so with the hope that Jesus’ arrest would stir the people up against Rome.  But now it becomes painfully apparent to him that the only result from his actions were that an innocent man was about to be killed.

And as a result, he is filled with remorse as we see in verses 3-4.  He literally changed his mind about what he did.  He genuinely wished that he hadn’t betrayed Jesus.

In fact, his words and actions reflect just how sorry he was.  He brings back the money he was paid to betray Jesus.  He freely confesses that what he did was wrong, a sin against God.  He isn’t this hardened man who maintains his innocence or shows disregard for what he has done.

In fact, he does everything that the church in the middle ages taught needed to be done for penance.  You must feel sorrow and remorse; Judas felt terrible about his sin.  You must confess your sin; he did this freely and willingly.  You must correct the wrong; he returned the money he had been paid.

Yet there is a key element that is sadly missing from Judas’ words and actions:  he doesn’t ask for forgiveness.  Instead he throws the money in the temple and then kills himself.  He wants to be get rid of the money which is a reminder of his guilt.  And in this ultimate act of suicide, he seeks to correct the wrong himself and does not go to God with his need for forgiveness.  In fact, Judas ends up judging himself, condemning himself instead of appealing to the grace of God.  He has great feelings of regret or remorse but he doesn’t do anything to really correct or change things within himself; he doesn’t repent.

It is an important question to ask ourselves when we fall and sin:  Do we have remorse or repentance?  Today feelings of remorse and regret would be welcomed in our culture.  Many criminals have absolutely no regret about their crime.  We are encouraged when someone takes responsibility for their sins and expresses genuine remorse.

And so in light of that, we too feel that we are doing well if when we sin, we feel badly about it.  We know the pain it caused in our lives or in other’s lives.  We genuinely wish that we hadn’t sinned, but that is not enough!

What is required is repentance, not just remorse.  For example, Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was.  His was a terrible sin against the Lord.  He too was filled with remorse but he sought and received the Lord’s forgiveness.  Judas is filled with remorse but doesn’t turn to God.  Instead, he ends his own life which is what desperate souls sometimes do when they do not hear words of judgment on disobedience and then God’s great gift of forgiveness to those who repent of sin.

The Bible requires not only a change of mind, but a change of heart and actions.  It is not enough just to be sorry for something and wish we hadn’t sinned.

One of my favorite examples of this comes from Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie who was having lunch with a prominent businessman.  A woman, who recognized the executive, walked across the restaurant to their table and greeted him with a slap on his back, causing him to spill his coffee.  Then with a flamboyant gesture, she tossed her fur stole over her shoulder, brushing Dr. Ogilvie full in the face.  “Oh, I’m so terribly sorry,” she apologized.  Looking straight at the woman, the businessman said, “Madam, don’t be sorry, be different!”  We try to take care of our sin ourselves by feeling badly, but it doesn’t work.

We must rather be driven in our remorse to our knees and repent before the throne of God.  Repentance drives a person to seek God’s forgiveness and then drives a person to correct the wrong and do what is right in God’s eyes.  It is to confess that we have gone the wrong way, ask forgiveness and then turn around and go down the right way of obedience to God.

III. The Leader’s Response to Judas’ remorse is seen in verses 6-8.

They respond to Judas with callous disregard.  First, they deny any responsibility by saying, “What is that to us?”  Judas is the one who betrayed innocent blood; that is now his problem, not theirs.

And they show a callous disregard for a hurting, remorse-filled person.  It is possible Judas came to them to find guidance and help.  But they were too busy getting rid of Jesus to help this troubled and distressed man.  They have used him as they desired and now they are finished with him.

What is interesting is their response to the money thrown back at them.  They know they can’t put the money back in the temple treasury because it was blood money.  It was unclean now by the fact that it brought about both Jesus’ death and Judas’ death.  It wouldn’t be right to use it for holy purposes.  Isn’t it amazing that while their consciences were numbed to orchestrating Jesus’ death, now suddenly their consciences are moved when it comes to what to do with this tainted money.

And so they decide to use it for some noble purpose.  They purchase a field where the homeless, the strangers and the poor could be buried if the family couldn’t provide a proper burial.  They were perhaps thinking that this tainted money could be put to some good use for the poor.

However, Matthew reports that from then on, that field was called the “Field of Blood.”  It was called that because people knew where the money came from.  Like Judas, the Jewish leaders failed to get rid of their guilt.

Moreover, in many respects, their sin is far worse than Judas’ sin.  Judas at least recognized his sin and expressed great remorse.  These leaders felt no remorse and claimed no responsibility.

This morning, let’s ask ourselves if we try to do similar things with our sins as the leaders did.  Perhaps we did something we knew was clearly wrong, but we deliberately, intentionally did it anyway.  And then we perhaps refused to admit it or ignored it altogether.  We may have even gone about our Christian business as usual.

We perhaps made some token effort of confession or correcting things.  Perhaps we were like the story of the man who wrote a letter to the IRS.  The man enclosed five $100 bills.  In the letter he admitted having cheated the IRS in 1970 and that he had not slept well since.  He closed the letter as follows:  “If I don’t sleep better now, having enclosed the $500, I will send the rest later.”  That kind of repentance is merely a token effort.

If these things describe us, then we must do only one thing:  repent!  We must with genuine sorrow, confess the sin we have done to God.  We must ask God to forgive based on Jesus’ death and be assured of that forgiveness.  Then we must try to live our lives the way God would have us live.

IV. Finally, Matthew shows clearly how God’s Plan Continues even in this.

He says that this fulfills a prophecy from Jeremiah:  “They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” Actually Matthew is not making a direct quotation but combining the substance of Jeremiah 32:7-9 and Zechariah 11:12-13.

The people in Zechariah’s day had a low opinion of Zechariah as a shepherd and accordingly only paid him thirty pieces of silver for his labors.  If a free adult man or woman had to been gored to death by the ox of a careless owner, both ox and owner were put to death.  But if an ox gored a slave, the slave’s owner was paid a mere 30 pieces of silver.  Zechariah is instructed by the Lord to reject the thirty pieces of silver and to cast it to a potter in the temple.  This would show what God thinks of their valuation of His servant.

So what is the point of this prophecy?  First, Matthew wants to highlight how Jesus was viewed by the people.  Both a slave and Jesus were paid for with the paltry amount of 30 pieces of silver.  This prophecy would underscore to his Jewish readers of just how badly Jesus was treated.

But more importantly, the point is this is what God intended to happen.  God planned for these events to happen just as they did.  These are the steps that will lead to death, yes, but King Jesus took them to that He would eventually gain the victory over sin and death.  It’s not enough to feel badly, we must seek God’s forgiveness.

A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot.  He practiced in the woods but could never hit his target.  As he came back to Grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck.  On an impulse he took aim and let fly.  The stone hit and the duck fell dead.  The boy panicked desperately hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching.  Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.”  But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today.  Didn’t you, Johnny?”  And then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!”  So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if they wanted to go fishing.  Grandma said, “I need Sally to help make supper.”  Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of.  Johnny wants to do it.”  Again she whispered, “Remember the duck!”  So Johnny stayed while Sally fished.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it.  He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed her duck.  Grandma gave him a hug and said, “I know, Johnny.  I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing.  Because I love you, I forgave you.  I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

God is willing to forgive if we seek His forgiveness.  Jesus will die a cruel and unjust death, but the point is that is exactly what God intended.  That is what was needed to bring us salvation and forgiveness.  Let’s let God’s forgiveness free us to live in His amazing grace and love.