salvation through suffering
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• At the end of Matthew, the Evangelist weaves
many Old Testament allusions/prophecies
together to speak of the cross.
• Why would it be so important for Matthew to make
sure his audience understood the Messiah was to die
on the cross?
• Remember, the cross was a major obstacle to Jews
(1 Cor 1:23).
MATTHEW 27:27-50
• The Sanhedrin had mocked/abused Jesus as a
false Messiah (Matt 26:67-68).
• Now, we see the Roman guards mocking Jesus as
a false King.
• Ironically, Jesus is both Messiah and King.
• The scarlet rob put on Jesus was probably the
reddish purple cloak that Roman military & civilian
officials wore.
• Perhaps the crown of thorns resembled the one on
Caesar’s head on Roman coins.
• The Greek verb beat is in the imperfect.
• The imperfect tense refers to a repeated action in
the past.
• In other words, Jesus was beat on the head
repeatedly.
• Several verses in the Suffering Song come to mind.
• Is 52:14.
• Is 53:5.
• This episode shows human brutality at its worst.
• Here is the Person laying down His life for the sins of
the world & man inflicts great punishment/suffering
on Him.
• “The overenthusiastic attempts to draw out the physical horror
of crucifixion which disfigure some Christian preaching (and at
least one recent movie [i.e., The Passion of the Christ]) find no
echo in the gospels. Perhaps the original readers were too
familiar with both the torture and the shame of crucifixion to
need any help in envisaging what it really meant. At any rate,
the narrative focus in these verses is rather on the surrounding
events and the people involved (Simon, the soldiers, the
bandits), together with the ironical placard over Jesus' head
which sums up the Roman dismissal of his claims” – R. T.
France, The Gospel of Matthew. The New International
Commentary on the New Testament series. Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007.
• They found a man from Cyrene by the name of
Simon to bear Jesus’ cross.
• Matthew may mention this, for it’s great irony.
• Jesus was really bearing Simon’s cross by dying in his
place.
• Another Simon—Simon Peter—should have been
helping Jesus. After all, he had boasted about helping
Jesus.
• Simon was likely well-known to the early church (Mk
15:21; Rom 16:13).
• Golgotha is an Aramaic word meaning “skull.”
• Calvary comes from the Latin.
• Jesus was given sour wine mingled with gall to
drink.
• Mark records that Jesus was given sour wine mingled
with myrrh (Mk 15:23).
• However, anything bitter was called “gall.”
• The purpose of the myrrh was to decrease pain.
• Jesus, however, refuses this mixture to endure the
pain of the cross.
• What does this teach us about Jesus and the cross?
• One reason that Matthew changes the myrrh to
gall is probably to make the fulfillment of Psalm
69:20-21 even clearer.
• In context the psalmist is suffering reproach, shame
and dishonor from his adversaries (Ps 69:19).
• Why does a text about reproach, shame and dishonor
fit the cross so well?
• Is there reproach, shame and dishonor that comes from bearing the cross today?
• What are some ways that we can deal with that reproach,
shame and dishonor?
• The psalmist writes that “reproach has broken my
heart, And I am full of heaviness” (Ps 69:20).
• How did reproach break the heart of Jesus?
• How was He full of heaviness?
• The psalmist could find none to take pity (Ps 69:20).
• Did Jesus have anyone to take pity?
• Who should have taken pity?
• Should we take pity on Him?
• How might we show such pity?
• “Then they crucified Him” (v 35).
• Romans crucified their victims by tying or nailing
them to the cross.
• Crosses took three shapes: X, T, or, as in Jesus’ case,
the traditional T with cross extending above the
crossbeam.
• Sometimes the victims were only a few feet off the
ground, but Jesus appears to have been a few feet
off the ground (v 48).
• Normally the Romans crucified people naked.
• The executioners would then take the criminals’
clothing.
• In the case of Jesus, they cast lots for His garments.
• This was the fulfillment of Psalm 22:18.
• Psalm 22 is greatly Messianic and speaks about the
crucifixion.
• Let’s read the entire Psalm to get the context.
• Notice how rich Psalm 22 is in its Messianic language. • There is not much doubt but that Psalm 22 applies exclusively to Jesus.
• It’s possible that some situation in David’s life caused him to write this
Psalm and that God used that situation to write exclusively of Jesus.
• “Crucifixion was unspeakably painful and degrading. Whether tied
or nailed to the cross, the victim endured countless paroxysms as he
pulled with his arms and pushed with his legs to keep his chest cavity
open for breathing and then collapsed in exhaustion until the
demand for oxygen demanded renewed paroxysms. The scourging,
the loss of blood, the shock from the pain, all produced agony that could go on for days, ending at last by suffocation, cardiac arrest,
or loss of blood. When there was reason to hasten death, the
execution squad would smash the victim's legs. Death followed
almost immediately, either from shock or from collapse that cut off
breathing” – DA Carson, “Matthew.” In Matthew-Luke. Vol. 8 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary. 12 vols. Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984,
p. 574.
• The Romans reserved crucifixion for the worst
criminals from the lowest classes of society.
• Roman citizens were exempt from crucifixion unless
Caesar himself ordered it.
• Crucifixion was horrible, for a Jew, because it meant
that one was under God’s curse. • “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put
to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain
overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is
giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed
of God” (Deut 21:22-23).
• Verse 36 is unique to Matthew.
• Sometimes people would take criminals off the cross
to keep them from dying.
• Soldiers kept watch over Jesus to make sure that
didn’t happen.
• We know that Jesus would have remained on the cross.
• However, Matthew is saying that no one rescued Jesus
from the torture of crucifixion—He really did die.
• Often the Romans wrote the charge against a
criminal in black or red ink and attached it to the
cross.
• The title “King of the Jews” obviously means
“Messiah.”
• Pilate ironically states what Matthew wants the first
readers of his Gospel to understand.
• With the help of the other Gospels, the full title seems to have read “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews.”
• Warren Wiersbe said this was the first tract ever
written.
• Verse 37 is really the “key verse” in the Gospel of
Matthew—This verse succinctly gives us the theme
of Matthew’s Gospel.
• How is Jesus a king?
• What does it mean for our lives that Jesus is King?
• How should the realization that Jesus is king change
us? • It seems to me that many are happy to have a Savior, but few
want a King!
• It is possible that the two men crucified on either
side of Jesus were far more than robbers.
• We know that Barabbas was (Lk 23:19).
• It’s very likely that these Barabbas was a ring leader
& that these two bandits worked with him—they’re
being crucified together for their crimes.
• If that is the case, there’s irony here:
• Two bandits are dying who tried to bring about
God’s kingdom through rebellion.
• God’s king is dying to bring about the kingdom.
• Matthew likely has Isaiah 53:12 in mind.
• “I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He
shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He
poured out His soul unto death, And He was
numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the
sin of many, And made intercession for the
transgressors” (Is 53:12).
• How is Jesus “numbered with the transgressors”?
• The Romans crucified people publicly so that they
could be an example to others.
• In what way(s) is Jesus’ death an example for us?
• “What credit is it if, when you are beaten for your
faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good
and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is
commendable before God. For to this you were
called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us
an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Pet
2:20-21).
• Apparently, the place Jesus was crucified was
beside a road—“those who passed by….”
• The Jewish leadership had previously charged Jesus
with blasphemy (Matt 26:64-66).
• Those passing by are hurling abuse.
• This derision fulfilled prophecy.
• Ps 22:7; 109:25; Lam 2:15.
• Do people still hurl derision at Jesus?
• How?
• How might we keep from doing so?
• Just like Satan did, these people are wanting Jesus
to prove that He is the Son of God by performing
the miracle they want.
• How did Jesus prove He is the Son of God?
• Why did Jesus not take Satan’s bait to jump off the
pinnacle of the temple or the bait here to come off
the cross?
• Jesus saved others; Himself He could not save.
• The mention of Jesus’ saving others apparently refers
to His healing ministry.
• Perhaps the Jewish leadership wishes to throw doubt
on Jesus’ healing ministry by showing that He cannot
even save Himself.
• It’s possible that this is also a reference to the cries at
the Triumphal Entry.
• “Hosanna” means “Save us now” (21:9, 15).
• The hierarchy could be saying, “Others cried for Him to save
Him, but He can’t even save Himself.”
WHY DID JESUS NOT SAVE HIMSELF?
WHAT LESSON(S) SHOULD WE LEARN?
• It also seems that the Jewish hierarchy is making
fun of Jesus’ believers.
• They seem to be saying, “Only if Jesus comes down
from the cross will we believe in Him.”
• Why is believing in Jesus often a source of ridicule?
• What are some ways that people today ridicule
believers in Jesus?
• How can we appropriately deal with such ridicule?
• The Jewish hierarchy also seem to claim that their
failure to believe on Jesus was His own fault.
• “If only He’d come down, we’d believe on Him.”
• How do people today claim that their failure to
believe is God’s fault?
• At verse 43, the Jewish leaders quote Ps 22:8.
• “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him
deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
• It’s unlikely that it’s an intentional quote (Why would
these leaders purposefully quote a Messianic Psalm
in reference to Jesus?).
• It’s quite likely that they’re quite familiar with this
Psalm and they quote it without any reference to
Jesus’ Messiahship.
• The Jewish hierarchy likely mean that Jesus cannot
be the Messiah, for god does not delight in Him.
• Were Jesus the Messiah, the chief priests, scribes and
elders are thinking, God would rescue Him from
death.
• The problem is that God is going to rescue Jesus, just
not the way the Jewish hierarchy thinks.
• Aren’t there serious problems in expecting God to act the way we want?
• What are some common ways that people want God
to act in their own way?
• Those crucified with Jesus also reviled Him.
• It’s interesting to notice that Matthew does not
mention that anyone spoke in Jesus’ defense.
• Matthew’s purpose seems to be to demonstrate
Jesus as One suffering alone and unjustly—One who
does not return evil for evil.
• The land of Palestine became dark from noon until
three in the afternoon.
• This was a supernatural darkening of the sky.
• There is no way that this could have been a solar
eclipse.
• The Passover was celebrated during a new moon; solar
eclipses cannot occur at a full moon.
• Darkness in Scripture often represents
tragedy/judgment (Amos 8:9-10).
• Should we see Jesus as being judged?
• Why or why not?
• It’s interesting to compare the three days of
darkness (Ex 10:21-23) with the three hours of
darkness.
• There seems to be a strong sense of impending
disaster in Matthew’s description.
• How is there impending disaster?
• For whom is disaster coming?
• Jesus cries out with the words of Psalm 22:1.
• The Father had abandoned Jesus.
• Without much doubt, the abandonment from the
Father had to be the worst part of the cross for Jesus.
• Why did the Father abandon Jesus?
• Rom 3:21-26.
• “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).
• “Eli” is Hebrew for “My God.”
• The NIV reads “Eloi” here, the Aramaic for “My God.”
• The rest of the statement is Aramaic, the language
Jesus would have spoken.
• Mark reads “Eloi” (Mk 15:34).
• The fact that Jesus was speaking Aramaic is
interesting.
• It’s the language that most Jews spoke in Jesus’ day
(Jesus’ dialect would have been different from the
dialect in Jerusalem, but the language would have
been the same).
• Hebrew was still the language of the synagogue,
and Greek was a nearly universal language.
• Palestinian Jews in Jesus’ day commonly spoke all
three of those languages.
• If the Jews primarily spoke Aramaic, why would
some of those standing around believe that Jesus
was calling for Elijah?
• Could the reason be an ignorance of Scripture?
• Jesus, after all, quotes directly from Psalm 22.
• There was a belief common among Jews that Elijah
would come to rescue the righteous from distress.
• There is no basis for that in Scripture, but it didn’t keep the Jews from believing this.
• Are there lessons for us here?
• The Greek word translated “sour wine” means
vinegar.
• It probably describes the wine that had been
strengthened with vinegar.
• This was the drink that soldiers and lower classes of
people drank themselves.
• This is simply another way of mockery.
• Jesus’ being offered “sour wine” to drink is the
fulfillment of Ps 69:21:
• “They also gave me gall for my food, And for my
thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
• This drink was considered the thirst quencher of the
day; it has been compared to Gatorade.
• The other soldiers say, “Let Him alone.”
• Apparently, they are interested in seeing what the
“sour wine” might do.
• In mock piety, other soldiers say to wait for Elijah.
• Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded
up His spirit.
• “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Lk
23:46).
• Matthew makes clear that Jesus had power over His
own life (“yielded up His spirit”).
• John 10:18.
• Jesus obviously did not commit suicide as Judas had done, but He willingly laid down His life for sins.
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