Journey Through Matthew: The Death of Hope

And that seems like a lot of ground to cover in a short time, but the entire focus today is going to be around some of the historical events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion and it is really something that you can’t separate into segments.

If you recall, last week we ended with Pilate, under the peer pressure of the Jews setting the criminal Barabbas free and turning Jesus over to the soldiers to be flogged and executed.

And the reason Jesus was flogged by the way was that flogging was such a severe punishment that the blood loss during the flogging would speed up the death process in crucifixion.

In fact, many would not even survive the flogging process.

It was a brutal process where they took what’s called a “Cat of 9 tails” which is a whip with 9 ends on it with things like bone, rocks, and broken pottery tied to the end, which would rip the flesh from the bone.

It was a brutal torture that was only the beginning of what the condemned faced.

And they are now taking Jesus, who was not guilty of anything, and subjecting him to this torture.

All because people who knew what was right would not stand up for what was right.

All because they powerless and hopeless.

All because they were under the impression that their “leaders” were too powerful to stand up against.

And the reality was the ruling Jews had them convinced that the Romans would “get them” if they resisted, if they didn’t get on board.

When the fact was the Romans could have cared less.

The Ruling Jews had the people bluffed into thinking this was right because “they said so.”

And the people, who had just days before gathered by the masses praising Jesus, shouting “Hosanna” to him, were now sucked into this mob mentality, yelling “crucify him!”

Not because he had done anything but because it was easier just to go along instead of standing up.

And now we have Jesus before them and the people resounding . . .

Matthew 27

Matthew 27:25–26 NIV - Anglicised

25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Which is still hard for me to believe they would even say such a thing.

Matthew 27:37–44 NIV - Anglicised

37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. 38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Let his blood be on us and on our children! It is shocking as to how low the morality of these people has shrunk to .

Matthew 27:37-

Mocked and Humiliated (vs 27-31)

But Barabbas is freed to go back to his life of crime and Jesus is flogged and handed … over to be crucified.

Matthew 27:27–31 NIV - Anglicised

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers round him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spat on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

Matthew 27:27

Now, this is just par for the course for the Roman soldiers.

They were so hardened by war and years of treating humans like animals, that Jesus was just another criminal to them.

To them, he was worthless, less than human, so to them it was all fun and games.

Which actually speaks to the level of sin and depravity in their society.

The Romans were known to be ruthless, but they took it to the extreme and tortured people.

And I’ve heard people say that “it was and different culture and different times”

But the reality is, they were a society overcome by sin and depravity.

Which led them to dehumanize people and treat them in this way.

And we live in a society that is quickly approaching the same level of sin and depravity.

We live in a society that is all about “peace and justice” so long as you agree with certain points of view.

And the vast majority of the time, those certain points of view are things that are sinful and stand against God’s Word.

And when this vocal minority don’t get their way, they turn violent.

And they are able to do that because they devalue and see others that don’t share their point of view as less than human.

And these groups or factions, which on their own are relatively small, will join together and before you know it, you have people being mocked, ridiculed, made fun of, being treated as less than human.

And others see this happening and they are afraid to speak up and stand against these actions, and before you know it you have Roman culture and society, which fell by the way.

And if we are not very, very careful and if we continue to act the way that we are acting, this is the road our society is heading.

You are already mocked and made fun of if you believe in Jesus in many places.

Called, “backward” or “ignorant” or “old fashioned.”

Which is a mild version of what Jesus had to endure before his death.

Our Bible tells us that a whole company of soldiers, which is about 600 soldiers, gathered around him.

Matthew 27:28–29 NIV - Anglicised

28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.

Matthew 27:28-

And all they were doing here was delegitimizing Jesus’ authority as the Son of God.

They had no understanding or reference of who God really was and who Jesus was. They continued and . . .

Matthew 27:30 NIV - Anglicised

30 They spat on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

Matthew 27:

And when they had had their fun . . .

Matthew 27:31 NIV - Anglicised

31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

And honestly, they had no clue what they were actually doing and who they were doing it to.

Save Yourself IF you are the Son of God (vs 32-44)

And I have heard people say time and time again, “how many times have we crucified Jesus because of the way we act.”

Or, “how have we mocked Jesus by the way we act.”

And to answer the first question, ZERO.

And the second question, maybe before we were saved we mocked Jesus but afterward, ZERO unless we were never saved and just acting the way the crowd we were around at the time expected us to.

And I bring this up because the fact is Jesus was crucified once and for all. He rose again and when that happened he defeated death, hell, and the grave once and for all.

And when we say things like this all we are doing is trying to put him back on the cross over and over.

And all that does is just show that we don’t really believe what we say.

If we believe that Jesus finished the work, as he did, there is no need to put him back up there.

They real need is for us to repent of our sins, put our faith in him, and follow him.

So we really need to stop just trying to guilt people into things and get people to realize #1 the depth of their sin, #2 the hope found in Jesus Christ, and #3 their need for repentance and faith in Jesus.

Because like we talked about last week, just feeling guilty doesn’t save us.

We have to do something with that guilt.

And that something is repentance.

Jesus don’t want you feeling sorry for him.

Jesus wants you to do something with the sacrifice He made for you.

So, Jesus has been flogged.

He has been beaten.

He has been mocked.

He has lost no telling how much blood.

And now they are leading him out to be crucified.

And part of this is carrying the cross member of the cross you are going to be crucified on.

But they had beaten Jesus too much and he was unable.

And the Romans were not going to do it.

So . . .

Matthew 27:32–33 NIV - Anglicised

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).

Matthew 27:32-

By the way, Golgotha “the place of the Skull” and Calvary all mean the same thing Golgotha is Aramaic and Calvary was the Latin word.

So, they reach Golgotha and . . .

Matthew 27:34 NIV - Anglicised

34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

Matthew 27:34

Now, this wine mixed with gall.

People have claimed that this was a mixture made to dull the senses and make the pain easier to bear, but Jesus refused it because he wanted to feel the pain.

That’s ridiculous.

The reality was that all the blood Jesus lost would have led him to be severely dehydrated, and mixing this wine with gall made it bitter and undrinkable, which was just one more way they were mocking Jesus.

Matthew 27:35–37 NIV - Anglicised

35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

Matthew 27:35-

Now, the reason they were dividing up his clothes was because it was part of their payment.

The soldiers had to sit and wait on the condemned to die.

They had to ward off any rescues and they also had to report back that the condemned was dead.

So, they got to divide up the clothing of the condemned.

And yes, the crucified were naked as just one more way to humiliate them.

But one significant thing here is verse 37...

Matthew 27:37 NIV - Anglicised

37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

Now, the Jews wanted them to put “this is Jesus who claims to be the king of the jews” but Pilate refused.

We don’t know the real underlying reason why Pilate refused but maybe he knew who Jesus really was.

And also maybe the Jews did as well and this was a last attempt at easing their guilt.

But even on the cross the mockery continues.

Matthew 27:38–44 NIV - Anglicised

38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Matthew 27:38-

And we know that one of the robbers comes around, but again the true depth of sin and depravity of that society is evident.

Also, when we look at this it is the same old excuse people have for not believing in Jesus . . .

Matthew 27:42 NIV - Anglicised

42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

Morning Altar Call

Always wanting to put a condition on things.

Do a miracle Jesus and I will believe in you.

Help me through this situation in life and I will believe in you.

Give me this or that and I will believe in you.

Come down from the cross and then I will believe in you.

When will we learn and stop this nonsense?

Do we really want to know what Jesus did for us?

Do we really want more proof that He is who he says he is?

Do we really need all of that.

Here is what Jesus did.

Jesus was conceived and born of a virgin.

Something that was biologically impossible.

Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life.

Something that no person in the history of the world has ever done or is able to do do.

Jesus performed miracle after miracle after miracle.

Healing people, delivering people.

Jesus willingly endured the arrest, torture, and crucifixion on a cross.

But they wanted Jesus to come down off the cross—he did one better.

After he was dead for 3 days he raised himself from the dead.

He took control over all things.

He offers us a way of salvation and eternal life.

And all he is asking for is for us to believe and put our faith in Him.

That is it.

But still, we want more.

Have to have more.

The problem is not the work of Jesus.

The problem is our inability to be still and listen to the Holy Spirit.

Our problem is we are so caught up with all the things of the world, that we drown out God telling us the truth.

We drown out God convicting us of our sin.

And we play this game of Russian Roulette where we come to church week after week and do nothing.

We come, the Holy Spirit talks, but we don’t respond.

And I am not just talking about people who need to come into a relationship with Jesus for the first time.

Face it, we don’t get a lot of visitors.

Most everybody here has been here for a while.

And that’s a good thing, but it also shows our complacency.

God is still speaking to us.

God is wanting us to do things in our community.

But we can’t get past our “old ways of thinking.”

We are so wrapped up in our behaviors, our prejudices, our own way of life, that we have no interest in changing this community for God.

Ever hear of a bedroom community?

These are communities where people live because the taxes are cheaper, but they go somewhere else to work, shop, and spend all their money.

We are slowly turning into a bedroom church.

We come to ease our conscience and enjoy a comfortable, PREDICTABLE church service and go on our way.

When are we going to stop doing that and start changing Stanford?

When are we going to start reaching out to the people that actually live in this community and not just those who act like us?

We need people to start stepping it up and reaching their friends and their families.

Hope Dies (vs 45-55)

Telling them what Jesus has done for us all.

Showing them the love of Jesus Christ in all of us.

Showing them the hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

And that is something we have to stop making excuses about and be willing to do.

But are we willing?

Hope Dies (vs 45-50)

Hope Dies (vs 45-50)-Evening Service

As we begin tonight, we are going to go right back into where we left off.

So, if you will turn back in your Bibles to .

And tonight we are going to be picking up in verse 45, which is the darkest moment in all of human history.

Remember, Jesus has been hanging on the cross for a while now and all this mocking and other things have transpired.

Which is the darkest moment in all of human history . . .

And now things are going to come to a dramatic close.

Picking up in verse 45, Matthew writes . . .

Matthew 27:45–50 NIV - Anglicised

45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Now, some will say, “that must have just been an eclipse.”

Altar Call

And who knows maybe that’s what God did.

We can’t say he didn’t but we also can’t say he did.

What we can say is what the Bible said.

At that time, evil and darkness came over the entire land.

The hope that Jesus represented was slowly dying.

While Jesus was with them, there was always a sense of hope.

Even before Jesus came there was a sense of hope in the anticipation of his arrival.

But now, there is no hope.

Just that sense of doom and dread falling on the people and the land itself.

As the people watched.

As some of them mocked and ridiculed.

As some of them tried to ease their conscience and make excuses as to why they have done what they have done.

As some have just flat out ignored what was going on, just going about their daily routine.

And in the midst of this darkness . . .

Matthew 27:46 NIV - Anglicised

46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:46

It was at that moment that Jesus was separated from God the Father.

Some say that the best metaphor was that God the Father turned his back as Jesus bore our sins.

And I will tell you that none of us understand what it is like to be completely separated from God.

God is the force that gives us life and keeps our entire universe in motion.

We have never experienced life completely void of God.

But this is literally what Hell is like.

It is a place of darkness, hopelessness, pain, anguish, and void of God’s presence.

We are completely alone there.

It is the place where sin resides and God turns his back on the sin.

But we have people every single day that make the choice to make Hell their eternal home.

They don’t have to, but they do anyway.

That is what it like and Jesus endured it, for us.

But because the words spoken were similar for Elijah . . .

Matthew 27:47–48 NIV - Anglicised

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.

Matthew 27:47

But then the mockers continue.

Absolutely no compassion whatsoever . . .

Matthew 27:49–50 NIV - Anglicised

49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Matthew 27:49-

God Speaks (vs 51-56)

And at that moment, after hours of silence, God makes His presence known. First . . .

Matthew 27:51 NIV - Anglicised

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.

Matthew 27:51

And this tearing of the temple veil is something that is very significant but often ignored.

Notice, it was torn in two from top to to bottom.

This temple veil was a heavy curtain that separated the innermost Holy of Holies, where God resided from the rest of the temple.

On the inside was where the High Priest only would enter and offer atonement for the sins of the people.

To tear it from top to bottom would have been nearly impossible for a human.

And God doing it removed the barrier between humans and God.

Jesus accomplished the work and through Jesus we have direct access to God.

The ability to have a one on one personal relationship with God for all humanity was restored.

The sad thing is, we often refuse to take advantage of that gift.

We think that we only pray when we are in church.

That in the church is the only place we connect with God.

The church should be the least place we develop our relationship with God.

We should be in relationship with God every minute of every day.

But what we do is we put on our “Sunday clothes” dust off our Bible and come to church to spend some time with God.

And when we get home, we forget all about him until the next Sunday, or in many cases the next time it’s convenient for us to come to church on a Sunday.

That’s not a relationship.

That’s just a casual friendship, selfishly based on what we want.

God’s not interested in that.

God wants a true, lasting, exclusive relationship where He is #1 in our lives, EVERY SINGLE DAY, not just 1 or 2 Sundays a month.

But something else also takes place here . . .

Matthew 27:52–53 NIV - Anglicised

52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Matthew 27:

Now, just imagine if we had a big earthquake and all the graves of the Christians out at Buffalo Springs opened up and the people came out of them and paid a visit to town.

All of our dead relatives and friends that died in the Lord.

What do you think the reaction would be?

Some would think it was the Zombie Apocalypse but others would rightly know that it was God’s work.

Just like the hurricane that went through Florida last week.

The largest hurricane to ever make landfall on that side of Florida that was headed directly toward Panama City.

But for some reason at the last minute it changed direction and landed in an area with a very small population.

There was still damage but if it would have hit the city, it would have been completely destroyed.

However, where it landed was perfect to minimize damage.

And people say “how lucky they were.”

Luck had nothing to do with it.

People were praying to God and God spared it.

But people don’t want to give God credit for God’s mercy and grace.

Folks, luck doesn’t exist.

It is something made up to try to explain away things in life.

The hand of God was on those people and they need to realize it.

Just like God raised these people from the dead after Jesus’ death.

The sad thing was the only ones, besides Jesus’ disciples that seemed to get it were the Romans . . .

Matthew 27:54

Matthew 27:54–56 NIV - Anglicised

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” 55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

The time of mocking was over.

Things got real, real quick.

Jesus’ Burial (vs 57-66)

But, it was over with now.

It was too late to change things.

They had to move on at this point . . .

Matthew 27:57–61 NIV - Anglicised

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

Matthew 27:57-

So Joseph’s role in all of this was to provide the tomb and to initially clean Jesus up.

Now, they didn’t do the full burial ritual then because time was limited because of the Passover and all of the Jewish customs.

So, he basically took Jesus and wrapped him in clean linens and put him in the tomb to keep the animals away from the body.

One important key factor though is the last part of of verse 60, He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance of the tomb and went away.

And then in verse 61 . . .

Matthew 27:61 NIV - Anglicised

61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

And the reason this is important is it plays into the miracle of the stone being rolled away that we will see in chapter 28.

But, even though Jesus was dead the Jews were still not satisfied.

Matthew 27:62–64 NIV - Anglicised

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

Matthew 27:

Now, I will just tell you the Jews did not believe for one moment that the disciples were going to come and steal Jesus’ body.

They knew what they had done and they wanted some assurance that he was going to stay in the tomb.

But really, what did they think was going to happen if Jesus came walking out of the tomb?

Did they think the guards were going to kill him?

What would have happened was that they would have ran away or fell on their face worshipping him.

The reality though, they couldn’t have set things up any better for the disciples.

There was now no way anyone could steal Jesus’ body and now they had no other explanation for his empty tomb than the fact that he rose from the dead.

So, Pilate grants their wish . . .

Matthew 27:

Matthew 27:65–66 NIV - Anglicised

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

There wasn’t nobody going to open that tomb without the guards knowing and allowing it.

Which set us up for next week.

Evening Altar Call

But tonight, what can get get from this?

What understanding can we glean?

Sure, its a nice history lesson, but is that all it is?

Is it just about history?

No, its really about our faith and our understanding of God’s word.

Do we believe God’s word?

Do we believe these events happened the way they did?

If we say yes, then the question is, if we believe this part, why do we live like we don’t believe the rest?

Why do we live lives that have no faith in God?

Why do we live lives that have no love for our neighbor?

Why do we do everything we can to solve our problems and only consult God as a last resort?

Why do we not trust God with everything?

What I would like for us to do tonight is just spend some time thinking about what we do believe, or say we believe.

And ask ourselves if our lives reflect what we claim to believe.

And if the answer is no, then what are we prepared to do to change that?

Nothing changes unless we are willing to change.

But, are we willing?

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