The Aftermath of the Cross
The Sufferings of Christ from the Eyes of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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Please take your Bible and turn to Matthew 27:55-66, as we consider the Aftermath of the Cross.
Last week we came to the focal point of the Gospel of Matthew — more than that, the focal point of all of the history of mankind — the death of Jesus on the cross. When Jesus hung on the cross He paid the price for our sin. He absorbed God’s wrath for the sins of His people. And God was well pleased with His sacrifice.
Today we shift our focus from the gruesome cross, and the miraculous things which occured as a result of the cross, to the aftermath of the cross.
In the aftermath of Jesus crucifixion various groups and individuals took action: certain women watched over Jesus death and burial; a certain man took responsibility for Jesus burial, and certain members of the council sought to keep Jesus in the grave. I will refer to these distinct groups of people as the watchers, the caretaker, and the paranoid.
Rather than reading our passive in it’s entirety first, we will read each section as we come to it. Let’s begin by looking at
The Watchers
The Watchers
Look with at verses 55-56.
Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him.
Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
The Role of the Women Who Followed Jesus
The Role of the Women Who Followed Jesus
D. A. Carson noted these women observed the crucifixion from a distance, whether through timidity or modesty; they were the last at the cross, and they were the first at the empty tomb. “Not only do they provide continuity to the narrative, but they prove that God has chosen the lowly and despised things of the world to shame the wise and the strong (1 Cor 1:27-31).”
We mostly think of the twelve apostles when we think of the followers of Jesus. But there were many others who followed Him devotedly for years. It was from this large group of followers that Jesus chose the twelve and appointed them as apostles. From Luke’s Gospel we learn of the important ministry that some of the women of this group had.
Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,
and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
With the exception of John, the twelve had deserted Jesus and gone into hiding, fearing that they too would be arrested. But Matthew informs us that Many women were there looking on from a distance.
Matthew doesn’t tell us the names of all of the women, but he does name a few. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Seven demons had been cast out of her
No Scriptural support for the common teaching that she was either a prostitute or the woman who anointed Jesus
Magdalene indicates that she came from Magdala, which was a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, just south of Capernaum
She was probably identified this way because she was not married — rather than being identified as the wife of so and so, or the mother of so and so
Mary the Mother of James and Joseph
Mary the Mother of James and Joseph
Two possibilities:
This could be Mary the Mother of Jesus who had sons by the name of James and Joseph (Carson and Turner support this view)
John’s account mentions that she was at the crucifixion (John 19:25)
Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Matthew could be referring to Mary the wife of Clopas, who apparently was the mother of the apostle known as James the Less (Mark 15:40)
There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome.
I take it that it is the second choice, because if he was referring to Jesus’ mother it would seem that he would have identified her as such
The Mother of Zebedee’s Sons
The Mother of Zebedee’s Sons
Mark identifies her as Salome
Some believe she was the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus — this would make James and John Jesus’ first cousins!
This would also explain the access she had to Jesus when she tried to talk Him into having her son’s elevated to the most prominent positions in His coming kingdom
John MacArthur points out:
“The first of the three women Matthew mentions was not married, the second was identified by her children, and the third by her husband. The implication seems to be that divine dignity is bestowed on all categories of womanhood. God has a marvelous and blessed role for women He has gifted with singleness, for women who are faithful mothers, and for women who are faithful wives. And perhaps in order not to suggest a secondary rank for the single woman or the formerly wicked woman, Mary Magdalene is here named first.” (MacArthur, pg. 285).
Let’s turn our attention now from the watchers to
The Caretaker
The Caretaker
When I create a point in my sermon notes sometimes I probably try to be too creative. This may be one of those times. My original title for this point was The Grave Digger. Then I changed it to The Compassionate Rich Man. Finally, I ended up with The Caretaker. For some of you these points may be starting to sound too much like a suspense thriller! But they are certainly appropriate.
Notice what Matthew has to say about this compassionate rich man whom I am referring to as The Caretaker:
When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
Evening, in Hebrew thinking was between 3 p.m. and Sundown. During this time, after Jesus had died, this rich man named Joseph of Arimathea came on the scene.
The location of Arimathea is unknown
That Joseph was a rich man was significant considering Matthew’s penchant for OT fulfillment in Jesus
His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
Obviously the wicked men were the two criminal who were crucified with Jesus
And Joseph was the fulfillment of the prophecy about the rich man
Matthew has more to say about this rich man; he was not only rich, but he was bold!
This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him.
It took a lot of courage to go to Pilate with this request
Mark gives us a little more information about Joseph
Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus.
He was a member of the Sanhedrin
Like Simeon and Anna from Luke 2, he was waiting for the kingdom of God
Luke informs us that he had not consented to their plan and action
John informs us that Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews
Matthew continues on to tell us of the compassionate care that Joseph gave to Jesus’ deceased body:
And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.
You do see how I came up with the term Grave Digger, don’t you? John informs us that Nicodemus aided Joseph in the task of transporting Jesus and preparing Him for burial. More than likely they had servants who worked for them that did a lot of this work.
Matthew then informs us that The Watchers were taking this all in.
And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.
So far we have looked at The Watchers and The Caretaker. Now let’s turn our attention to
The Paranoid
The Paranoid
There are many reasons for paranoia which afflict many people in our society. Sometimes it comes from mental illness, such as schizophrenia. And I want to make clear that I am not referring to that here.
Sometimes paranoia comes from a guilty conscience, and that would be what was taking place among certain members of the religious establishment of Israel on the day after Jesus’ execution. Let’s look at what Mathew had to say about this:
Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,
The day of preparation was probably for the Sabbath and not the Passover
Therefore the next day was the Sabbath
It appears that this was not a representation of the entire council, but of certain individual members
These paranoid leaders of Israel first bring their reason for paranoia to Pilate:
and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’
Notice that they called Jesus that deceiver — they couldn’t even bring themselves to speak His name
Who was the real deceiver in this whole affair?
The Council with their kangaroo court
The false witnesses
The true deceiver — Satan
How they knew that Jesus had said He would rise from the dead is a mystery since Jesus had only told the twelve apostles of this
It is possible that Judas told them as a part of his betrayal of Jesus
It is possible that they garnered it from Jesus’ statement in
But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;
for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
After giving Pilate their reason for paranoia, they then made this request of him:
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.”
They didn’t give Jesus enough credit to believe that He would rise from the dead
They gave the disciples too much credit, thinking they might steal Him away, when in fact they had gone into seclusion
Notice Pilate’s reply to them:
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
There are two ways this statement could be taken:
Pilate could be telling them to use their own Temple Police to guard the tomb, and washing his hands of the whole thing since he didn’t believe Jesus should have been crucified
Pilate could be cooperating with their request and giving them Roman Soldiers to guard the tomb
Whichever be the case, we read:
And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
The funny thing about this is that their own paranoid actions actually quash the conspiracy that they will try to put forward come Sunday morning. By having a guard stationed at the tomb there is absolutely no way that Jesus’ followers could have stolen His body from the grave. We will come back to this when we look at Matthew 28:11-15.
Today we have looked at the watchers, the caretaker, and the paranoid. Which of these categories would best describe you? If this were a survey or a multiple choice test I would instruct you to check all that apply.
I am a watcher — I’m watching for the return of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
I am a caretaker — I’m caring for the message of the gospel which has been entrusted to me
I am paranoid — I’m worried about what will happen to me if Christ is truly raised from the dead
The first two of these categories are positive ones, and, , if it were a survey, I’d hope that every believer would check them both off. But the truth of the situation is that we often are negligent in one or both of these areas. If that is the case, I encourage you to go to the Lord, seek His forgiveness for your negligence, and seek His empowerment to become diligent in these areas.
The last category is a negative one. If this describes you then you are probably not a true believer in Jesus Christ. I encourage you to pray and ask God to help you with your unbelief. I encourage you to embrace Jesus Christ as your Savior. Let’s pray.
Dear Lord,
I pray that we, like these women who followed Jesus and ministered to His needs wherever He went, would be faithful watchers. I pray that like Joseph, we would be faithful caretakers of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I pray that if there is anyone this morning who falls into the category of the paranoid, that they would seek Your face and Your truth. That they would embrace the message of the gospel and be saved.
In Jesus name. Amen.
Closing Song: #759
What if it Were Today
2 Cor. 13.14
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.