"The Crucifixion" Matthew 27b May 25 2025

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

(Pray...)

Leading up to the Crucifixion

When I was a kid, whenever I thought about the crucifixion, I only thought about Jesus hanging on the cross

I never meditated on what he went through leading up to that moment

Immediately following his sermon on the Mount of Olives - he told his disciples that he would be crucified right after Passover

So, just to start off - he knew he had very little time

He also knew full well that one of his disciples had begun the process to betray him

So, right after he has Passover with his disciples, he called out Judas in front of the others

Imagine the stress and the sense of betrayal he must have felt

And later, he tells his disciples that they will all fall away

And Jesus declares that Peter will deny him three times

Then Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with him into Gethsemane - and he goes through agony while praying to the Father

And those three guys - who had pledged their lives to Jesus - couldn’t even stay awake with him

Eventually - here comes Judas to betray him with a kiss

Here’s Judas - with a big crowd, holding swords and clubs - along with the chief priests and the elders

And they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him like a common criminal - and just like he told them, they all left him - he was now alone

Jesus went to the cross alone

He went through the trial, the accusations, the humiliation, the torture, and the cross - alone

So they stood him in front of Caiaphas - where they brought forth false witnesses who gave false testimonies

Peter “followed” him, but at a distance - and then he denied that he even knew Jesus, or that he was ever associated with him

And then they bound him up - and led him to Pilate for sentencing

Then we come to this kind of bizarre scene - where the Roman governor of that region has to make the determination of whether or not to hang him on a cross

It all fell on his shoulders

The Jews pushed this

Pilate didn’t even want to do this

The Jewish leaders saw Jesus as a threat - and they had to do something now, when the crowds were against Jesus

This was their one chance

What a perfect plan - not just to stone Jesus - but if they could convince Rome to kill him - after all, he claimed he was a king - and Rome has to do something about it

I think Pilate was a very smart man - he was spineless, but he was smart

He saw through their plan

Verse 18 tells us that Pilate knew it was only out of envy that the Jewish leaders were trying to kill him

The NIV says that he recognized it was out of their own “self-interest” that the Jews handed Jesus over to him

But Pilate has a problem - if he ignores this and turns him loose -

What of the angry crowd?

What political mess would this create between Rome and Judea?

And what if Jesus was actually guilty of sedition?

If that were true, would Rome come after Pilate? Could this very episode ruin his career??

So, he takes a gamble - he calls for a worthless criminal, named Barabbas

Pilate figured he could bring forth this man Barabbas - and just maybe, the crowds might want to set Jesus free - Jesus, the man who looked so innocent compared with this notorious criminal, Barabbas

“You want me to set Barabbas free? Or set Jesus free?”

But the religious leaders got the crowd all amped up

“Set Barabbas free!!”

They wanted Barabbas because Barabbas looked guilty...just like them

It was comfortable for the crowd to saddle up to Barabbas

There’s a part of us today that says,

“I’ve done wrong - do I really want Justice to come after all people who have done bad things? Justice might come after me!”

We want to be set free - we love God’s grace but we hate his justice

Justice would have meant that the innocent man, Jesus would’ve been set free

Real justice means all of us should have been crucified

And not just crucified - real justice means that God’s wrath should have been poured out on all of mankind

In one sense, Jesus hanging on a cross is the complete opposite of what should have happened

God could have, and should have, destroyed all of us

But Grace stepped in - it was Jesus, not us on that cross - and God’s wrath was poured out on his Son, as he became sin for us

God did this because he loves us - and we’ll never understand his level of love for us

Then Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

“Let him be crucified.”

“Why?” Pilate came back, “What evil has he done?”

But they shouted even louder, “Let him be crucified!”

The Crucifixion

He was then taken to the Place of the Skull, which is called Golgotha

The Bible says that they compelled a “man of Cyrene,” named Simon to carry his cross

I have a question:

Where was Peter to be there to carry his cross? Where was James or John?

I thought they were part of the “inner circle” of Jesus

Where were the other disciples - who should have been there to help carry his cross?

It’s great that Simon helped him, but his true friends deserted him

When they came to the place called Golgotha, they offered him wine - he tasted it, it was mixed with gall, and he wouldn’t drink it

The gall was a First Century type of narcotic - used back then to ease the pain

I think my Lord chose not to numb himself - as he desired to endure the fullness of human suffering

And then they crucified him

People were still mocking him, saying,

“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

We think it’s God’s job to deliver everyone from suffering - if suffering exists, there can be no God

If suffering exists, God can’t be a God of love - therefore, he’s no god I want to worship

We think we know better how to be God, than God knows

And if all of this wasn’t bad enough - below his feet, they divided his garments, like souvenirs

The dividing of his garments was actually prophesied in Psalm 22 - the guards had no idea they were fulfilling prophesy

And they mocked him even more

The Death of Jesus

Let’s continue this starting in verse 45 -

Matthew 27:45–50 ESV

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

Notice it says that he “yielded up his spirit”

In John 10, Jesus said,

“For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Friends - no one took Jesus’ life - he gave his life willingly, of his own accord - because he had the authority to do so - all because he loves us

Verse 51 -

Matthew 27:51–53 ESV

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Notice it says very specifically that the curtain was torn “from top to bottom”

Man didn’t tear the curtain - God did

The temple curtain was a used as a barrier from the outer room of the temple to the inner room

Only the high priest could enter the inner room of the temple - and only once a year - the Day of Atonement

Inside that inner room, was the Ark of the Covenant

One of the things the Ark of the Covenant did, was that it represented the presence of the Lord

And here is the Father, at the moment his Son dies, tears that curtain in two - destroying that barrier - allowing us access to him

That we no longer need a high priest to be in the presence of the Lord, once a year

We live our lives in the presence of the Lord

It’s interesting - the title of my entire series on Matthew is “God With Us”

I got that title from Matthew 1

Verse 23 tells us,

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”

God came to be with us, in the form of his Son - to be with us and redeem us

Think about that concept for a minute - and how significant it is - what infinite steps Jesus took to not only be present with us - but to rescue us

And today, we have the presence of the Holy Spirit who dwells in every believer

God is with us

Verse 54 -

Matthew 27:54–56 ESV

When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Jesus is Buried

Verse 57 -

Matthew 27:57–61 ESV

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

Verse 62 -

Matthew 27:62–66 ESV

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

And that’s how Matt 27 ends

Close

I’m going to stop here

We’ll continue into Chapter 28 on the Resurrection next week

I’ve tried hard today to convey my feelings I had when I prepared for this message during the week

The pure adoration and love for Christ I have felt

The times I have been in complete awe of who Jesus is

I feel like I can’t describe what I’ve gone through - not just for this message, but this entire series

It has been wonderful, but gut-wrenching

That’s why this morning I read a lot from the Bible - so you can internalize it yourself

I’d like to invite you - if you feel comfortable - to just close your eyes for a little while

Meditate for a moment - all that Christ did for us - for you

All that he went through in order to demonstrate his love for us

In your heart, give him praise, not only what he has done, but give him praise for who he is

There is none other like our Lord

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Rom 5:8 NKJV]

This is the Gospel message - that Christ did it all - and our response is to believe him and receive him

(Pray...)

Communion

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he com

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