THE CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF THE KING - PART 2 (Matthew 27)

THE CONDEMNATION AND DEATH OF THE KING - PART 2 (Matthew 27)

H. A. IRONSIDE

MATTHEW 27:33-38 - It was customary to give one who was being put to death by crucifixion a stupefying draught to make it easier for him to endure the fearful ordeal through which he was called to pass. Such a drink, composed of sour wine (or vinegar) mingled with gall, or myrrh, was offered to Jesus, but He refused it. He would not take anything that might benumb His mind or alleviate the sufferings He was undergoing. 

  Below the cross the soldiers who were responsible for His execution divided His garments among themselves and cast lots, gambling, for His seamless tunic, in accordance with David’s prophecy uttered a thousand years before (Psalm 22:18). During these six hours one prophecy after another was fulfilled. 

 MATTHEW 27:39-44 - The hearts of those passing by were untouched by the Lord’s affliction. They even challenged Him to descend from the cross if in very truth He was the Son of God. The religious dignitaries also joined with the rest in belittling and ridiculing Him. Our Christian poet was right when he wrote:

“Himself He could not save;

He on the cross must die,

Or mercy could not come

To ruined sinners nigh.”

They even quoted from Psalm 22 without seeming to realize it, saying, “He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him.” He had said He was the Son of God. They called upon Him to demonstrate it by descending from the cross. Up to this point, which takes in a period of three hours, from 9:00 o’clock A. M. to 12:00 o’clock noon, Jesus had been suffering at the hands of men. It was not these sufferings that put away sin. The next few verses summarize the awesome events of the last three hours, when He endured the wrath of God, as the great Trespass Offering, able to say, “Then I restored that which I took not away” (Psalm 69:4). 

MATTHEW 27:45-49 - No finite mind can fathom the depths of woe and anguish into which the soul of Jesus sank when that dread darkness spread o’er all the scene. It was a symbol of the spiritual darkness into which He went as the Man Christ Jesus made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. It was then that God laid on Him the iniquity of us all—that His soul was made an offering for sin.

“The tempest’s awful voice was heard;

O Christ, it broke on Thee.

Thine open bosom was my ward;

It bore the storm for me.”

He took our place and endured the wrath of God our sins deserved. This was the cup from which He shrank in Gethsemane; now, pressed to His lips, He drained it to the dregs.

“His the wormwood and the gall:

His the curse; He bore it all;

His, the bitter cry of pain,

When our sins He did sustain.”

 MATTHEW 27:50-56 - John tells us what He said—“It is finished.” Then He dismissed His spirit. He did not die of exhaustion, but He laid down His life voluntarily when His work was done.

The veil in the temple, separating the holy from the most holy place was immediately rent in twain from the top to the bottom, the unseen hand of God tearing that curtain apart to signify that the way into the holiest was now made manifest. No longer would God dwell in the thick darkness. He could come out to man, in the light; and man, redeemed by atoning blood, could enter with boldness into the very presence of God.

Certain natural phenomena also occurred, which Matthew alone mentions—a great earthquake, rending rocks and opening graves. Saints whose bodies had been sleeping in the tombs were raised and came out of the graves after His resurrection and appeared unto many.

It is worthy of note that as long as our blessed Lord was taking the sinner’s place in His vicarious offering of Himself unto God, His enemies were permitted to heap upon Him every kind of shameful indignity. But from the moment the blood and water—which were, with the Holy Spirit, the witnesses to accomplished redemption (1 John 5:6, 8)—flowed from His wounded side, God seemed to say, as it were, “Hands off.” From that instant no unclean hand touched the body of His holy Son. Loving friends took it down from the cross, wrapped it in the new fine linen clothes, and laid it in the bed of spices sent by Nicodemus (John 19:39, 40), in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. It was the burial of a King (see 2 Chronicles 16:13, 14).

 MATTHEW 27:57-61 - “A rich man … named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple.” He was one of the few of those who had riches who waited for the kingdom (Matthew 19:23, 24; Mark 15:43), but he had not, hitherto, openly proclaimed himself a follower of Jesus (John 19:38). He had been a secret disciple, but he proved loyal and brave when the test came.

“Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.” Thus the body of Jesus was preserved from further indignity, and Isaiah 53:9 was fulfilled. He must be with the rich in His death.

“He wrapped it in a clean linen cloth.” As was customary in Jewish burials, the body was entirely swathed in long, linen strips, not simply covered with a shroud.

“Rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre.” This stone covered the entire entrance and was probably like a great millstone, fitted into a groove cut in the face of the cliff.

MATTHEW 27:62-66 - It is evident that His own declaration that He was to rise again the third day (20:19) had made a deeper impression upon the minds of His enemies than upon the hearts of His own disciples. Although He had mentioned it on several occasions, they never seemed to enter into the meaning of His words. They wondered what the rising from the dead could mean (Mark 9:10, 31, 32; Luke 18:33, 34). So even after He was crucified they had no expectation of His resurrection (John 20:9). But the leaders of the people, who had so definitely opposed Him, remembered His words; and while they did not expect them to be fulfilled, they were fearful that by some kind of trickery His disciples might be able to persuade the credulous populace that He had actually triumphed over death; hence their errand to Pilate and their request that every precaution be taken to prevent the disappearance of His body from the tomb. But all in vain, for in spite of the sealing of the stone, which covered the entrance to the sepulcher, and the watchfulness of the Roman guard, the stone was rolled away and the Saviour arose from the dead and appeared unto many reputable eyewitnesses, who testified to the reality of His resurrection.