Matthew 27:57-66

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:57-66

Introduction

Tomorrow is Christmas Day

Millions of People Around the World…

Are Thinking of Baby Jesus Laying in a Feeding Trough

This Morning, We’re Going to Be Thinking of Jesus Laying in a Tomb

That Little Baby Grew Up…

And Willingly Gave His Life as a Sacrifice for the Sins of the World

Last Week, We Looked at Jesus’ Crucifixion & Death

This Morning, We’re Going to Look at What Happened Directly After

What We’re Going to Look at Spans the Text of:

Matthew 27:57-66

John 19:31–42 (NASB95)

31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Typically, the Bodies of the Crucified…

Would Be Left on the Cross for the Buzzards to Eat

This is an Added Layer of How Little Regard the Romans had…

For the Dignity of Those They Crucified

But, the Sanhedrin Didn’t Want that to Happen this Time

They Didn’t Want Jesus Left on the Cross for the Buzzards to Eat

Not Because They Wanted Him to Be Treated with Respect…

And Given a Proper Burial

But Because the Sabbath of the Passover would Begin at Sunset…

And it was Against the Law of Moses…

To Leave the Corpse of a Sinner Hanging on a Tree Over Night:

Deuteronomy 21:22–23 (NASB95)

22 “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.

To Leave a Cursed Corpse Hanging from a Tree…

Would Defile the Land

And to Cause the Land to Be Defiled…

On Such a Holy Day as the Sabbath of Passover…

Was Especially Unthinkable

The Jewish Leaders Wanted Their Land Free of Defilement…

So that Their Worship & Celebration of Passover…

Would Be Pleasing to God

Oh, the Irony:

“Hey, God, We’ve Mercilessly Killed Your Son, the Messiah…”

“Now Be Pleased By Our Worship to You!”

They Ask Pilate to have the Legs of These 3 Criminals Broken

This would Speed Up Their Deaths, if They were Still Alive…

Because it would Prevent Them from Pushing with Their Legs…

To Lift Themselves Up to Open Their Chest Cavities & Breathe

So Pilate Sent Some Soldiers Go & Smash Their Legs with an Iron Mallet

32 So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 33 but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

When John Wrote this Gospel Account & His 3 Letters…

He was having to Deal with a Great Heretical Movement Called:

The Gnostics

They Claimed that the Son of God Didn’t Really Become Human & Die

It Only Seemed Like He Did

John is Claiming to Be an Eye-Witness to the Fact of Jesus’ Death

He Claims to have Seen the Spear Pierce Jesus…

And the Blood & Water Come Out of Him

And the Fact that He was Pierced, Instead of having His Legs Broken…

Carries Scriptural Significance, as John will Now Show:

36 For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Just Like the Passover Lamb…

Jesus was a Perfect Sacrifice, Without Flaw or Broken Bones

Jesus was Pierced as the Messiah Who was Rejected By His People…

And the World Mourns Over Their Rejection of Him…

Just as the Prophecy in Zechariah Portrays

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.

Each of the Gospel Accounts Give Us Unique Information about Joseph

Matthew Tells Us He was a Rich Man…

And a Disciple of Jesus

Mark Tells Us He was a Prominent Member of the Sanhedrin…

Luke Tells Us that He was a Good & Righteous Man…

Who Did Not Consent to the Plan & Action of the Sanhedrin in Killing Jesus

And John Agrees with Matthew, that He was a Disciple of Jesus…

But John Adds this Little Detail:

He was a Secret Disciple of Jesus, Out of Fear of His Colleagues

But Before We’re Able to Jump onto Joseph…

For Being an Unworthy Coward…

John Tells Us that Joseph is Stepping Out into the Light

He Personally Goes to Pilate…

Which Took a Lot of Courage, According to Mark…

And Asks if He can have Jesus’ Body

He’s No Longer Keeping His Faith in Jesus a Secret

And, He’s Not Alone:

39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Nicodemus was Also a Member of the Sanhedrin

We Meet Him Only 3 Times in John’s Gospel:

The 1st Time We See Him, He Came to Talk to Jesus at Night

The 2nd Time We See Him…

He Tries to Defend Jesus in Front of the Other Members of the Sanhedrin

And this is the 3rd Time We See Him

He, Like Joseph of Arimathea, Openly Reveals His Faith in Jesus…

By Taking His Body Off the Cross…

And Preparing it for Burial

The Burial Practice of the Jews Consisted of:

Washing the Body Thoroughly with Water

Rub it with Oil

Wrap it Tightly with Linen that was Covered with Spices

Nicodemus Brought 75 Pounds of Spices

This would Likely have Been Thousands of Dollars Worth of Spices

This Amount would Only Be Appropriate for Royal Burial…

Which Shows Us the High Regard These 2 Men had for Jesus

They weren’t Trying to Hide How They Felt about Him

And that Shows Even More…

With Joseph’s Last Showing of Honor/Respect to Jesus:

41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Joseph had a Newly Carved Tomb…

That was Designed for Him & His Family for Future Generations

But, Out of Great Respect & Devotion…

He Gives Jesus a Spot in the Family Tomb

He Intended for Himself & His Family…

To Be Buried with Jesus

These 2 Men have Just Made Public Confessions of Allegiance to Jesus

And it’s Likely that the Consequences will Be Extreme

But They’re Willing to Face the Music Anyway

We Don’t Know What Their Futures Held

But We Know that in this Moment…

They Publicly Confessed Their Faith in Jesus…

And were Willing to Suffer Whatever was to Come Next

I Admire These 2 Men So Much

They were Both Afraid to Reveal Their Faith in Jesus

They Knew They’d Lose So Much:

Family

Friends

Power

Money

Honor

Dignity

From a Jewish Perspective…

They had Everything to Lose & Nothing to Gain

Yet They Chose Allegiance to Jesus Anyway

So Often, I See Myself in These 2 Men:

Afraid

Ashamed

Cowardly

Selfish

Prideful

But I Pray Whenever the Opportunities Arise…

That I’ll Take the Bold Stance They Took

That I’ll Recognize that Losing Everything & Gaining Jesus…

Is a Sacrifice that is Well Worth Making

That in the End, What I’ll Gain with Jesus…

Will Far Outweigh What I Lost for Him

Marshall has Talked about this in His Sermons Here:

The Narrative of Jesus’ Death, Burial, & Resurrection Begins & Ends in a Garden

Just Like the Story of the Scriptures:

Genesis Begins in a Garden & Revelation Ends in a Garden

Humanity Began in the Paradise Garden…

And Humanity will Find Our Eternal Home with God in the Paradise Garden

We will Live Forever in Pure Bliss/Joy in the Garden with God…

Because Our God was Willing to Suffer with Us in a Garden

Matthew 27:61–66 (NASB95)

61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.

After Joseph & Nicodemus Rolled the Stone in Front of the Mouth of the Tomb…

Matthew Tells Us that Some of the Female Disciples of Jesus…

Were There Watching Jesus’ Burial & Entombment

Why Does Matthew Tell Us this?

To Ensure Us that These Same Ladies Who will Return on Sunday Morning…

Know Exactly Where Jesus was Buried

The Tomb will Be Empty on Sunday Morning…

Not Because They Went to the Wrong Tomb…

But Because Jesus was No Longer in the Tomb He was Buried in

62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

What’s Interesting about this Text is:

The Jewish Leaders Who Hated Jesus & Put Him to Death…

Took His Predictions to Rise from the Grave…

More Seriously than His Own Disciples Did

They’re Afraid that His Disciples are Going to Steal His Body…

And Claim that He Rose from the Grave, Just Like He Said He would

But His Disciples, Even When They See Jesus Alive Again…

Have a Hard Time Believing that He Actually Resurrected

The Disciples had No Intentions on Stealing Jesus’ Body

They were Scared Out of Their Minds…

And were Likely Losing Any Hope They had in Jesus

The Jewish Leaders Tell Pilate:

“You Know What’s More Dangerous than a Living Deceiver?”

“A Deceiver Whose Living AGAIN!”

“So We Need to Take All the Precautions We can…”

“To Make Sure that Body Stays in that Tomb!”

So Pilate Gives Them a Guard to Station at the Tomb…

And They Placed a Seal on the Stone…

That would Show if it has Been Opened or Not

It would Take a Miracle for Jesus’ Body to Leave this Tomb

For Those of Us that Know the Rest of the Story…

We Know that Jesus’ Body Does Leave the Tomb

And the Jewish Leaders Begin Spreading the Lie…

That the Disciples Stole His Body

And We Know from the Writings of Justin Martyr…

That this Lie Lasts Well into the 2nd Century

Application

Before I End this Lesson…

I Want to Bring Us Back to What Happened…

When the Soldier Pierced Jesus’ Side:

Blood & Water Came Out

The Symbolism of that Information has Been Debated for Nearly 2000 Years

Was this Simply to Point to the Fact that Jesus Actually Died?

Or is There More Symbolism Involved?

I Don’t Know for Sure

But When You’re Reading the Book of John…

You’ll Find that He Mentions “Water” More Than Any Other Author of the NT

“Water” in John’s Gospel Sometimes Signifies the Holy Spirit

Sometimes it Signifies Eternal Life

Sometimes it Signifies Cleansing/Healing

And then You See it Here Mixed with Jesus’ Blood

When You Follow What John Does with “Water” in His Gospel…

And then See it Connected to the Atoning Blood of Jesus Here…

You Start See Where Augustus Toplady…

Got the Inspiration for His 1776 Hymn “Rock of Ages”:

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy riven side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

From the Side of Jesus…

Came the Double Cure for Our Sin:

Cleansing Water & Atoning Blood

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in You; Let the water and the blood, From Your wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Your law’s demands; Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow, All for sin could not atone; You must save, and You alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Your cross I cling; Naked, come to You for dress; Helpless, look to You for grace; Vile, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath, When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown, And behold You on Your throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in You.

Our Hope of Resurrection to Eternal Life…

Depends Upon the Fountain of Atoning Blood & Cleansing Water…

And Flowed from the Heart of Our Savior & King