Matthew 27:55-66
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Looking back on my life, I think the first time I ever had to deal with what I would call an emotional death in my life was actually when the first dog I ever remember having died.
Growing up, we had a beautiful dog that looked like Lassie.
Because he was a boy, we called him laddie
If you’ve ever seen the movie, Lassie, you know that that dog was a collie.
He was a beautiful dog with long flowing hair and he was super friendly and loyal, and I don’t even know how he died. Protective.
Everything you could want in a dog.
I don’t remember how he died.
I just remember my dad burying him in the backyard and just being so confused.
It was a sad moment.
Laddie wasn’t coming back.
Since then, I’ve had more meaningful experiences with death than that, but If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s this.
Death is hard.
And… We really don’t know how to deal with it.
Some of the most level headed people I know I have watched be rocked by the reality of death.
It’s something we really don’t even know how to talk about.
When we talk about death, we use what are called euphemisms.
An essentially what a euphemism is is a way of referring to something that makes it seem not quite so bad.
And so for example, when we refer to someone dying, we use the terminology, “They passed away.”
And then for comfort…
We say things like “they are in a better place.”
“Rest in peace.”
And don’t misunderstand me, some of those things are not inaccurate or bad to say, but I think sometimes we try to do everything but say what happened.
It’s almost thought of as irreverent, or maybe even calloused to just say that The person is dead.
We hate that language.
We do everything we can to skirt around that language because there’s something about it that we’re just not comfortable with.
Another thing I see a lot is that people will use the language that “so-and-so passed away from natural causes.”
Now when they say this, they are implying that this was not an unexpected death, but that it happened expectedly.
Maybe the person was older or something like that.
But I want you to consider that language from a biblical mindset.
Biblically and theologically, we have to understand that death is not natural.
The word natural means “of or in agreement with the character or makeup of, or circumstances surrounding, someone or something.”
Is there any part about death that is agreeable?
Death is not natural.
If it were natural, it wouldn’t be so hard to talk about.
If it were natural, we wouldn’t try to soften the language.
I’ve never heard that someone that I knew died where I just shrugged it off as something that was just expected.
No, every time that I hear someone that I know or I’m close with who passes away it sets me back for a few moments as I think about what happened.
Now certainly scripture does talk about death as something that is a part of the human experience.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
The author of Ecclesiastes here says there is a time for being born, and a time for dying.
There’s a season now to everything.
Moses in Psalm 90 gets more specific, even telling us a typical life expectancy.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Then listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:22–
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Paul speaks theologically toward the reason for our dying and that is because we are “in Adam.”
In other words, we descend from Adam, and all of Adam’s children inherit his nature and his curse of death.
The author of Hebrews speaks of the expectation of death and also the expectation of what follows death.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
So let’s be clear this morning, though death is not natural, meaning death is not how creation was originally intended, it is certainly something all of have dealt with on some level, isn’t it?
Here is where the Bible is helpful to us. It answers the question of why we die.
Why do we die? Why do we have to deal with this problem of death?
The Bible makes absolutely clear is that Death exists because of sin (Rom. 5:12).
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Death entered because sin entered.
Adam in the Garden represented us. He as the human man was created special in that he represented the entirety of humanity in the Garden.
Had Adam remained obedient, he would have stayed in that blessed state that he was created in.
But he didn’t. Did he?
No Adam sinned, and by sinning now Adam and all he represented have a sin nature, and sin’s curse which is death.
Paul says again—
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Church family, Life is a blessing from God.
It is a gift from God.
But if we use that life,to rebel against God, if we take the gift he has given and use to go against the Giver, the wages of that, what we are owed for that, is for the blessing of life to be taken away.
So now, theologically, and biblically, it would be more accurate to say that all people die of sinful causes.
We die because of sin and sin’s curse.
And so leaving the Garden of Eden there are two enemies that we all are familiar with.
Sin and Death.
These are our two greatest Enemies.
We face them even now.
We fight against sin and one day, for all of us, it will be our last day on this earth.
Now, I know this probably hasn’t been the most uplifting of introductions.
I’m certain that most of us are not adding this to the list of our favorite sermons so far.
But death is something that we all deal with, and so we have to speak about it.
Death is so much apart of our human existence that Jesus, the God man, comes and part of his taking on of human flesh is that he would experience this thing called death.
In our passage this morning, Jesus is dead.
And Jesus, like many people before his incarnation, and after his incarnation, he is buried.
And all of this is done exactly how it has to be done and according to the plan of God.
Hopefully you remember, that last week we got through verse 54, where in the verses prior we saw that Jesus yielded up his spirit.
In other words, he died.
But the language is important there- “he yielded up his spirit.”
He is the one with the authority to lay his life down.
Next week, we’ll see he’s the one who has the authority to take it back up again.
But, at this point Jesus is dead and he’s hanging there on the cross.
Matthew picks up to tell us that there were some loved ones of Jesus there, specifically women.
Look at verse 55
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.
I find it interesting you have these ladies mentioned.
These women who loved Jesus, they have been faithful to him to the end.
Now in light of that fact that Matthew makes it a point to mention these women here— One thing that is interesting to me is that the only one of the 12 disciples explicitly mentioned in the New Testament of having been there at the crucifixion of Jesus is John.
John records, the command of Jesus to him to take care of his mother.
But that is the only record we have of any of the disciples being present.
Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that the others were not present.
We certainly know that Peter followed Jesus at his trial for a certain amount of time, but then after his betrayal, he went out and he wept bitterly.
But the gospel of Matthew does make it clear that whenever Jesus was arrested all the disciples scatter, and they run away and leave him.
Matthew 26:56
And-so while the disciple scatter.
At the same time, what you find is these women are pictured as having been faithful to Jesus never leaving him.
At this point, I have to say thank God for faithful women.
Many times, though men are to be the spiritual leaders in the home the women take that role.
Thank God for faithful women.
Ladies I want to encourage you here that though much ink is used in the Bible to talk about men, the ladies are not forgotten.
Here gathered around the cross of our Savior you have women whose lives have been changed by Jesus and who loved him to the end.
While all the others scattered these gathered.
May we have more faithful woman who love Jesus to the end.
Keep reading with me in verse number 57-
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.
Here we are introduced to another disciple of Jesus.
Joseph of Arimathea.
Let me just tell you a little bit about this guy.
Here in Matthew, we’re not told very much about him other than that he is a wealthy man from Arimathea.
Mark tells us though that he is a respected member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43).
So in other words, he would’ve been a member of the council that were the very ones to put Jesus on trial.
John tells us he was a disciple but he was a disciple secretly for fear of the Jews (John 19:38).
Luke tells us He was waiting for the kingdom of Godand had not consented to the council’s decision to condemn Jesus in Luke 23:51.
Now, after the crucifixion, he really does something bold.. he goes and asks Pilate for Jesus’ body.
According to John’s gospel he does this with Nicodemus, another one of the Jewish men. We know him from his conversation with Jesus in John 3.
Anyway though, Pilate gives him permission and so he takes Jesus’s body and he wrapped the body of Jesus in clean linen, laid it in his own new tomb cut from rock, and rolled a great stone before it.
And what he does here is significant because what he does here fulfills prophecy.
Specifically from Isaiah 53:9
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Joseph steps up and gives Jesus an honorable burial instead of being thrown into a criminal’s grave.
Now Matthew tells us that this happened the same evening of the same day that Jesus died.
And I want you to see here that this burial was urgent.
Joseph being a Law keeping Jewish man there were laws that the Jews had with regard to how they treated people who were hanged on trees.
First off those who were hanged on trees were considered to be cursed.
And so because they were considered cursed, Jewish law stated that they were not to be left hanging on the tree.
They are to be buried out of sight once they were dead on the same day!
This is all found in Deuteronomy 21:22-23
“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
So according to OT Law, Jesus died and is buried the same day.
Now you may be thinking right now— Why is he making such a big deal about the fact that Jesus died and is buried?
I make a big deal about this because these truths are absolutely vital to our faith.
In fact these things are so vital, that the church throughout history has made this a part of what we confess what we hold to as our creed.
That Jesus truly died and was buried.
Listen to some of the most respected and important creeds of our faith—
The Apostles’ Creed which is the earliest creed of the church says Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.”
The Nicene Creed affirms He “suffered death and was buried.”
The Chalcedonian creed says the same thing .
The Athanasian Creed reminds us His suffering was for our salvation.
The Heidelberg Catechism emphasizes that His burial proves He really died.
The London Baptist Confession proclaims He “was crucified, and died, was buried, and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption.”
The church throughout history has made it a part of our statement of faith that we believe that Jesus died. That he truly died.
And they did what they do with people who died. They buried him.
And so, this is important because if Jesus doesn’t die, then the resurrection means nothing.
Matthew goes out of his way to affirm for us, the true death of Jesus and the burial of Jesus.
Beloved, if Jesus doesn’t die then death wins.
If Jesus doesn’t truly die, then Jesus didn’t truly resurrect. Which means you and I are left without Hope.
Matthew is giving the account here that he died.
He was crucified by expert executioners.
John tells us they pierced his side with a spear and blood and water flow down. To make sure he was truly dead.
It is absolutely important that we see Jesus died.
Pick up with me in verse 51
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
Again, these women obviously mourning the loss of their friend and savior and Lord.
I say again, thanks be to God for faithful women.
We will see next week that these will be some of the same faithful women who will get to witness not only his burial, but what happens after his burial.
but in the meantime, something else happens.
Look in verse 62
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.”
These people just won’t leave something alone will they.
No, I just imagine this these cheif priests and Pharisees after a long day of watching Jesus be crucified …they’re laying in their bed that night and all of a sudden they start thinking about the fact that Jesus said he was going to rise from the dead.
And so, the next day they have to do something about that.
We can’t let these disciples of his come and steal his body and then make up a story.
If they do that, his following will be bigger after that than it was before.
Now, just so you know, I think all of this happens according to the sovereign plan of God.
I think it’s put here so that we know for a fact that there were people who took special precautions to seal up the tomb of Jesus so that no one could go in and steal the body of Jesus.
Specifically, there was attention given to keep the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus.
What you’ll find is later whenever Jesus does rise from the grave spoiler alert, is that this is the very charge they make the disciples stole the body of Jesus.
They’ve already got their excuse when Jesus rises from the dead.
Finish this chapter with me
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.
I can imagine Pilate is fed up with these people.
He’s already done their bidding through the crucifixion of Jesus and now they want more and more.
The Jews have been given apparently a contingent of Roman soldiers and so Pilate says use them.
Do whatever you want.
And then he makes the comment make the tomb as secure as you can.
And make no mistake. That is what they do.
They seal up the tomb, and they place a guard there.
The idea here is that they create a “do not cross barrier.”
Most scholars compare this to what happens when police seal off an area because a crime has been committed.
You’ve all seen the do not cross tape where they tape off an area and don’t allow anybody in.
So that’s what these Jewish religious rulers do.
They officially seal off the area around the tomb and they station Roman guard there by the tomb to make sure that no one crosses that seal.
And again, why do you suppose this detail is given and why do you suppose that this happens?
This happens because in the Providence of God, and in the sovereignty of God, man has given all his effort to ensure that Jesus stays in the grave.
So that when he does rise, there will be no mistaking the miracle that has happened.
And that’s where we leave off this week.
Jesus is dead he’s buried.
The point of this text is that Jesus‘s death is real and it’s verified that Jesus truly died.
His death was witnessed by faithful women, Joseph of Arimethea and according to John, Nicodemus saw it,
And his death is even witnessed by his enemies.
We see—They make efforts to make sure his tomb is secure.
They’ve watched him be put there and then they seal off the area and place a Roman guard there.
Jesus truly died and was buried.
But the other thing that this passage teaches us is this— Death does not have the final word.
We know this isn’t the end.
We know Death is temporary for Christ.
We know what happened to Jesus when he died.
We even crack a smile whenever Pilate says go and make this the tomb as secure as you can because we know what’s gonna happen.
We’ve heard the story right?
We’ve all been to church on Easter.
We know the story, and so this death doesn’t bother us because we know he overcomes it.
That’s how it should be.
Now, consider this.
Have you ever considered that when it comes to a believer in Christ that our resurrection is just as sure as Christ resurrection?
As we approach death or if we have to go in place our loved ones who are believers in Christ in the ground, we should understand that they have just as much hope of rising as Jesus does.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
He is the first, but we will all be raised.
So how can we have hope in death?
Through Jesus’s death… through Jesus’s burial ,and then next week through Jesus‘s resurrection.
And so the question this morning is this—
Knowing that death is reality, How should we prepare for death?
We know that there’s a judgment coming we know that that’s coming after death.
How are we preparing for that?
The last thing I want you to see is we know why we have to die because of our sin.
Why did Jesus have to die?
It’s the same answer— because of our sin.
I began by telling you, we have two enemies sin and death.
Jesus in his death and his resurrection, defeats those two enemies, so that the enemies that we fight here in this life, we fight from the victory that we have in Jesus
Death is an enemy we all fight, but Jesus has came to taste death for us so that we may not be eternally dead through him or end with this:
When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to be afraid of death. Jesus took care fo that with his.
We can hope even at the grave side.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
