Tag Archive for: Matthew

So, when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!” 

In Mark’s gospel in Mark 15:39 he wrote,

So, when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” 

Apparently, that Roman centurion, who was in charge of the actual crucifixion, stood beneath the cross. As he witnessed some of the miraculous events during this time and as he saw the Lord Jesus give up His spirit, this hardened Roman centurion, who’d probably supervised the death of many others by crucifixion, was moved to make the statement that this truly was the Son of God.

The crucifixion of Jesus was so striking that he knew there was something absolutely unique about Jesus.

Notice that it wasn’t just the Roman centurion who came to this understanding but those with him also. We’re not told how many people came to that realisation. It could have been three or four or a hundred.

Did the centurion become a saved man? Was this a confession that he now believed that Jesus Christ was Lord and Saviour, or was it just an acknowledgment that Jesus was more than just an ordinary man? We can’t be sure.

Maybe the word “was” is a clue indicating that the centurion saw Jesus’s death as being the end of Him and that He no longer is the Son of God.

Many think that these soldiers, our Saviour’s executioners, became believers through the miracles they’d witnessed and according to what Jesus had prayed for them in Luke 23:34,

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

We certainly hope this was the case.

To verses 55 and 56,

And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons. 

Special mention is made of the women who’d faithfully ministered to the Lord, and who’d followed Him all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem.

The fearless devotion of these women showed more courage, and affection for their Lord than the disciples did. They’d all promised to die with Him rather than forsake Him and yet, apart from John, the male disciples ran for their lives!

Now we move to Matthew 27:57-58,

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. 

Before this event, we didn’t hear about this man Joseph of Arimathea or know that he was a disciple.

Luke tells us in his account in Luke 23:50-51 that this man was a council member, a member of the Sanhedrin, and a good and just man who had not consented to the council’s decision and their acts against Jesus.

We’re also told here that He was waiting for the kingdom of God. He believed in Who Jesus was, the Messiah and the King of the new earthly kingdom which the Messiah had come to set up and reign over.

It’s interesting to see that the events of the arrest, the trial and the crucifixion had caused the disciples to scatter and run away and yet it drew out into the open others who, up to this time, would’ve been called secret disciples.

Joseph of the town of Arimathea stepped out and openly declared his faith.

Imagine the surprise to Governor Pilate, and the insult to the Jewish rulers, when a member of the Sanhedrin itself publicly took his stand for the Crucified Jesus.

Joseph buried himself economically, socially, and religiously when he approached Pilate and asked for buried the body of Jesus. This act forever separated him from the establishment that he was a part of and who had killed the Lord Jesus.

To verses 59 and 60,

When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. 

John tells us in John 19:39-40 that Nicodemus worked with Joseph in preparing Jesus’s body for burial and we read,

And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 

Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 

These two men, who had apparently been in the background up until then, now came out into the open as the disciples of Jesus.

Pilate had granted permission for Joseph to take the body and Joseph lovingly embalmed the body by wrapping it in a clean linen cloth, placing spices between the wrappings.

Then he placed it in his own new tomb, carved out of solid rock. The mouth of the tomb was closed by a large stone, shaped like a millstone and standing on its edge in a channel also carved out of stone.

Centuries before, Isaiah had prophesied in Isaiah 53 verse 9,

And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death…

His enemies had no doubt planned to throw His body into the Valley of Hinnom outside the city to be consumed by the ever-burning dump-fires or eaten by animals, but God again overruled the plans of man and used Joseph to ensure that He was buried with the rich to fulfil prophesy.

It’s interesting to note that only loving hands touched the body of Jesus after His death.

Verse 61,

And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. 

Again, these faithful women stayed on.

We move now to Matthew chapter 28.

The truth and the relevance of the Bible rests on two great events in the history of creation, the death of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Without the truth of these events the entire bible collapses and you and I are destined for an eternity locked inside our prison of sin.

The entire Gospel of Grace that we must hear and believe in to be saved is stated by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…

It’s that last portion “and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” that we see in Matthew chapter 28, and it’s here that we either accept the truth of this gospel of grace and are saved to eternal life or we reject it as a myth and a fable, and we accept the consequences of eternal death.

The unique fact of the gospel of grace is the Resurrection.

All other religions record the death of their leader. Only the Christian faith records the Resurrection of its Founder. All other religious leaders are dead. Only Jesus Christ is alive. This is critical for us to know.

Neither Matthew, Mark, Luke or John gives the entire record of the Resurrection, only the details that serve the purpose of that particular account.

Each one records an aspect or an angle of the Resurrection which contributes to the whole picture the way God intended.

All the four accounts need to be put together to get the total picture, and when we do that we see that there’s no conflict or contradiction among them.

We begin in Matthew 28:1,

Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

The other Gospel records tell us that they were bringing sweet spices to anoint the body of Jesus. It’s difficult to identify the “other Mary.” Tradition states that she was the mother of James and Joses.

Now, unless we see the whole picture of all the four accounts as we’ve already stated, we can miss an important factor here that poses some questions.

A great stone was rolled in front of the tomb, but these women are bringing more spices for Jesus body. How are they going to get into the tomb?

Well, we see this from reading the account of Mark in Mark 16:2-4 and we read,

Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 

And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 

We see here that these ladies had no idea how they were going to get the stone rolled back.

Their first motivation was to get to the tomb with the spices and they’d work on the other details later when they were there.

Now Matthew 28:2,

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.

Another earthquake! Does the earthquake cause the stone to be rolled away?

The text doesn’t actually say that. It attributes the earthquake more to the descending of the angel from heaven. It was he, the angel, who rolled the stone away.

Again, as in the previous earthquake, there’s no record of any damage to the city or it’s surrounds.

Verses 3 to 4,

His (the angel’s) countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.

His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 

And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 

The angel appeared clothed in white. This would be taken by the women to signify the angel as a good angel, as the Jews apparently believed that ministering angels were clothed in white.

The Roman soldiers responsible for guarding the tomb were terrified. The angel didn’t need to pull out a flaming sword, or even to have speak to the soldiers guarding the tomb but just the angel’s presence made these professional soldiers tremble and faint in fear.

This all happened, of course, before the women described in verse 1 had arrived at the tomb. How long before? We don’t know. It could’ve been a minute or two or hours before they arrived.

Why was it necessary to roll back the stone? To let Jesus out? No, He was gone when the stone was rolled back. The tomb was not opened to let Him out but to let them in.

To verses 5 and 6,

But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 

He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

He’s not in the grave where he’d been laid, and where these women saw him laid. He was dead, but now He’s alive. He was certainly laid in the grave, but God wouldn’t leave him there, nor suffer him to see corruption as the prophecies in Psalm 16:10 and Psalm 49:9 stated all those centuries before.

He is risen, as He said; not stolen or removed to another place, as Mary Magdalene first thought, when she found him gone; but He was risen from the dead, by the power of God, His own power, as He had said He would.

“Come on inside and see for yourselves where He laid,” the angel says to the women.

These faithful women heard what they didn’t expect to hear, that Jesus was not in the tomb, but risen to resurrection life.

They not only heard, but they were also invited to see the place where He lay, now empty, and the invitation was given to the same people who’d watched the body being buried in the tomb, so there’s no possibility of a mistake.”

What was spoken here by the angel reminded these women, and all the disciples, that they should’ve expected this. It was just what Jesus had promised.

Jesus had left the tomb before the stone had been rolled away. Later He would enter a room with a locked door. The glorified body of Jesus was radically different from the body in which He was born.

Verse 7 now,

And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.

Angelic announcements ceased at this point.

From here on the message would be told by human lips. But before any of us attempts to tell the story we first need an unshakable conviction of the truth of the Resurrection.

Now to Matthew 28:8-9,

So, they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So, they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 

Notice the mingled feelings of the women, fear and great joy.

Verse 9,

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So, they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.

This seems at first to contradict the record of this encounter in John 2 verse 17 which says this,

“Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” 

Obviously there were two encounters with the ladies and Jesus and between these two encounters Jesus did in fact ascend to His Father and present His precious blood in heaven’s Holy of Holies.

See we can’t just assume that all these events ran in time order which is how we sometimes read them.

Now verse 10,

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” 

He was making an appointment to see them in Galilee.

We want to take a look now at the fifth of the six miracles of Calvary.

However, we don’t see this miracle in Matthew but in the account of John.

Because of what we’ve already said that we need to get all the accounts of Jesus’s death, burial and resurrection in order to get the complete picture, we’re going to look at this fifth miracle now.

In John 20:6-8 we read this,

Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief (meaning the napkin or towel) that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 

Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 

The fifth of the Calvary miracles was the marvellous arrangement of things in the grave of the just risen Jesus.

Firstly, why doesn’t Mathew record this bit?

Well, Matthew’s account is quite striking in how he sequences the events. After mentioning the darkness, the sign of the sufferings of the cross, he speaks of the signs of the victory of the cross, starting at the second of the two loud cries from the cross and limiting his remarks to the effects of that cry of victory which tore the veil of the Temple, and shook the earth, and opened the graves.

Matthew states that many bodies of saints arose and came out of the tombs after the Lord had risen. That’s the sixth miracle and we’ll look at this shortly, but it would’ve broken this sequence to jump forward three days to a description of the inside of the deserted tomb because it wasn’t brought about by that cry of victory that he was writing about.

What Matthew leaves out, John tells us about, but John doesn’t mention the other the Calvary miracles.

So, according to John, these are the sequence of the events around the disciples coming to the tomb.

Very early on Sunday morning, Peter and John heard from Mary Magdalene that Jesus’s body, which was placed in the tomb on the day before the High Sabbath of Passover, wasn’t there any more.

Now, during the week of Jesus’ crucifixion, there were two Sabbaths. The first was the special “High Sabbath”, The Passover which is associated with the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread.

The Passover always fell on Nisan 15.

Nisan, also known as Nissan, is the first month in the Jewish calendar. It typically corresponds to March-April on our modern western calendar.

This special Sabbath was in addition to the normal weekly Saturday Sabbath.

The day before this special Sabbath was called the Day of Preparation, when the necessary tasks were completed for the following Sabbath day of Passover.

So, both Friday (Nisan 15) and Saturday (Nisan 16) were Sabbaths in the week Jesus was crucified with the day before the Passover sabbath being the day of preparation.

Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation, the day before Passover. The Gospel of John specifically mentions this timing, aligning Jesus’ death with the slaughtering of the Passover lambs which was carried out on the Day of Preparation.

This is where we get 3 days and 3 nights that Jesus was in the earth in accordance with what Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 12:40.

So, Mary tells Peter and John that Jesus’s body was no longer there in that tomb.

Her conclusion was that enemies had taken the body away.

Peter and John race off to the tomb with John outrunning Peter and arriving first. However, it’s Peter who goes inside the tomb first.

He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that’d been wrapped around Jesus’s head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally, the other disciple, John, who’d reached the tomb first, also went inside and He saw and believed!

When Peter and John entered they didn’t see the body of Jesus; but they did see the graveclothes, and they saw that those the clothes were in a certain order, quote, “strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.”

This description takes up nine verses of John’s gospel. Such a great a chunk dedicated just to this shows us how important it was, and we also see the impression it had on John. He “saw and believed!”

But what did he believe?

Did he believe Mary’s story of the body not being there? After he’d seen that the body wasn’t there, he hardly needed to add that he believed it wasn’t there! Besides, what did the arrangement of the grave clothes have to do with his seeing that the body wasn’t there?

See, it was that arrangement of the clothes which caused him to believe.

Does the passage mean that John believed, like Mary, that since the body wasn’t there, Jesus’s enemies had stolen it?

No, that wasn’t it because the order and arrangement of the clothes showed this wasn’t the case. It’s inconceivable that if the body had been stolen, an enemy would have spent the time to remove it from the clothes and then go to the trouble of arranging them back again in the exact placement as they were in when they were wrapped around the body.

There’s only one meaning. John saw that arrangement of the clothes, and he believed that Jesus was risen.

So telling was that arrangement that he became an instant believer to the truth of the Lord’s resurrection even though until then, as we see from the next verse, John 20 verse 9, that he didn’t understand the Scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead.

John saw “the linen clothes lying,” that is, not just strewn on the floor of the tomb, but lying there precisely as the body had lain there inside them.

They were in exactly the position they were when the body’d been inside them.

The verse, John 20:7, says,

and the handkerchief (the towel or napkin) that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 

You see it wasn’t just mixed in with the other body-clothes, but on the very spot where Jesus’s head had rested.

In other words, the head cloth wasn’t removed, it just collapsed as Jesus’s head just disappeared from inside it. It hadn’t been unfolded, and none of the fastenings were undone, showing that it hadn’t been unwrapped and taken off the head but that the head had been taken from out of it.

The rest of the linen clothes and burial cloths had not been undone or unwrapped either. They weren’t disturbed, only folded as they’d been applied to the dead body. The body had just disappeared from inside the wrappings.

Luke, in his gospel in chapter 24 verse 12 also says that John saw the linen cloths lying by themselves.

These descriptions of the grave clothes just lying there minus the body are what affected John so much and caused him to believe in the resurrection of the Lord.

Jesus’s natural body had dissolved within its wrappings and became merged in His spiritual body that no ties or fastenings or wrappings could keep enclosed.

His body just vanished from within the grave clothes and moved through the great stone at the door of the tomb which, as yet, hadn’t been removed.

This is the picture of the resurrection that was left behind in the grave clothes of the risen Jesus, even though it’s not a description of the act of the resurrection itself. The Lord’s resurrection is everywhere in Scripture, but the act itself is never described. We don’t read even as much as, “Then he arose and left the tomb,” but only, “He has risen!”

The fact remains that if Jesus’s friends had taken His body away they would hardly have removed the clothes from His body. If enemies had taken Him, they’d have hardly arranged the clothes, even if they had taken the time to strip the body, which is pretty much inconceivable as well. No human hands could’ve removed that body from its clothes without leaving behind marks and evidence on them.

It was God who’d been there! Those shrivelled, undisturbed clothes that still clung to the body that had vanished is as much a testimony to the presence and power of God, as are any of wonders of nature all around us. The difference in this case, is that the power of God was present in a miracle.

The arguments supporting the fact of Jesus’s resurrection are powerful.

Jesus really had died and was buried. The Jews, the Romans, and the disciples were all equally in agreement that this happened.

On the third morning His body was missing from the tomb, and again all were in agreement.

That Jesus’s body was not taken away by His disciples was also evident to all. It would’ve been impossible for them to break through and overpower the Roman guard, even if they did have a reason to. Remember, the disciples had no understanding of the resurrection so why would they steal the body? What would they do with it?

There are other confirming arguments, but these three in themselves alone, demonstrate the truth of the event as much as any fact in history has ever been demonstrated.

Scripture tells us that the resurrection of Christ is the model of our own resurrection. As with Jesus, the spiritual, incorruptible body will come from the base of our natural and corruptible body, but, at a time that’s still future.

However the particles of our bodies may be scattered, the mysterious identity of them remains perfectly known to God Who created them.

Our resurrection body, just like Jesus’s resurrection body, is still a body, but it’s a body not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. It’s a real material body, but at the same time spiritual. It isn’t turned into spirit, but it’s reconstructed, and refined and perfectly fitted to the human spirit but not bound by the natural earthly dimensions of matter, energy, space and time that we live in today.

We see this in the vanishing of Jesus’s body from out of those grave wrappings!

The resurrection of Jesus is much different from the resuscitation of Lazarus that we read about in John 11.

Jesus left the grave clothing in the tomb, but Lazarus came out of the tomb “bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth” as John 11:44 tells us.

The difference with Lazarus was that he returned to the same life as before. Jesus didn’t. Lazarus came back to a body of flesh, with the same natural abilities and obstacles as before. Jesus’ body did not. Lazarus died again; Jesus will never die again. Those bodiless grave clothes in the Lord’s tomb shows us this!

After Jesus was risen, He talked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, but when their eyes were opened to recognise Him, He vanished out of their sight, exactly as He had vanished from within those grave wrappings, without disturbing them.

A true resurrection is very different from a mere revival. Lazarus, though in one sense risen from the dead, was still a mortal man living among other mortals.

The true resurrection body, while still a recognisable body, is a body not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. When Jesus Christ left behind His grave wrappings, it was a symbol that He’d got rid of the flesh as it’s born into this world.

Emptying Himself and vanishing from within the cloths, displayed that His body was now different, a spiritual body, not subject to the laws of matter, energy, space and time. This is the state of an incorruptible body like us believers’ll have some day.

Even now, in our present state, through faith in Jesus Christ, our life is hid with Christ in God, and our citizenship is in Heaven, and we look to the blessed hope of the changing of our body of sin to be like His own glorious body!

When we look to this blessed hope, we realise how false and temporary the pride and self-sufficiency of our natural man is! We’re consumed with progress and improvement, personal and social advancement, and from a natural point of view, that’s fine, but there’s never any getting above the ills and weaknesses of this mortal life, and so nothing’s ever a long-lasting radical, satisfying improvement. Our perfecting is only in Christ and in the hope that faith brings.

Next time friends, we finish our study of the Gospel of Matthew. We’ll see how the religious rulers got around explaining the empty tomb by bribing the Roman guard and we’ll also look at the last of the six miracles of the cross. May the Lord give us revelation knowledge of all these truths that’re recorded for our learning.

Therefore, though the decision to condemn Jesus was already made, and we see that in Luke 22:66-71, they conducted a second trial in daylight, because they knew the first one – the real trial – was illegal.

It was all a sham, concocted to feed their hatred and their obsession to kill Jesus and be rid of Him forever.

How utterly wrong can the mind of man be?

Conducting this trial at nighttime was only one of many illegal actions made in the trial of Jesus.

According to Jewish law, only decisions made in the official meeting place were valid. The first trial was held at the home of Caiaphas, the high priest.

Also, criminal cases could not be tried during the Passover season.

According to Jewish law, only an acquittal could be issued on the day of the trial. Guilty verdicts had to wait one night to allow for feelings of mercy to rise.

Aso, according to Jewish law, all evidence had to be guaranteed by two witnesses, who were separately examined and could not have contact with each other.

Then, false witness was punishable by death. Nothing was done to the many false witnesses in Jesus’ trial.

A trial always began by bringing forth evidence for the innocence of the accused, before the evidence of guilt was offered. This wasn’t done here.

All these were the Sanhedrin’s own rules, and it’s clear that, in their eagerness to get rid of Jesus, they broke their own rules.”

After all the false witnesses had their say, Jesus was finally charged with threatening to destroy the temple, like a modern-day bomb threat. Clearly, Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…” John 2:21 makes it clear that He was speaking of the temple of His body, but this glorious prophecy of His resurrection was twisted into a terrorist threat.

It was remarkable that Jesus kept silent and answered nothing until it was absolutely necessary out of obedience for Him to speak.

Jesus could have mounted a magnificent defence here, calling all the various witnesses to His Deity, His power and His character. The people He taught, the people He healed, the dead who had been risen, the blind who could now see, even the demons themselves testified to His deity.

But Jesus didn’t open His mouth in defence. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth, just as Isaiah 53:7 prophesied.

When the high priest says in Matthew 26:63, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”, He’s using a rare and very formal expression used in 1^st Kings 22:16, invoking the name of God in order to force a true answer. This is the high point of the hearing.

The high priest was frustrated by Jesus’ silence and tried a strategy of the direct approach. Was Jesus the Messiah or not?”

The trial had been a failure up to that point, and the high priest knew it, and he was in a rage. He bullies Jesus in order to get some declaration from Him which would save all the trouble of more witnesses, and put an end to the matter.

“It is as you said,” Jesus says. Instead of defending Himself, Jesus simply testified to the truth. He was the Christ, the Son of God. He answered briefly, directly and as matter of fact as possible.

Jesus adds, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power: Jesus added this one word of warning. He warned them that though they sat in judgment of Him now, He would one day sit in judgment of them – and with a far more binding judgment.

“Power” is a name often by the Jews to avoid speaking the sacred name of God.

The Sanhedrin react to Jesus’s answer with horror and brutality.

Now come to Peter’s denial of the Lord in Matthew 26:69-73,

Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” 

But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” 

And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 

But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” 

And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” 

The Galilean accent were a bit different to the Judean and Peter had a Galilean accent making him stand out!

Verse 74,

Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed.

Just like you and me, the poor bloke didn’t realise how weak he really was! But the Lord had prayed that his faith wouldn’t fail, and in the end it didn’t.

To verse 75,

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter’s denial grew worse each time. First, he just lied; then lied on oath; then he cursed and swore.

Peter finally remembered what Jesus had predicted, but it was too late.

For now, all he could do was to weep bitterly. And yet Peter would be restored. This is the difference between Judas’s betrayal and Peter’s.

With that we now move to Matthew chapter 27 where we see the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus.

We’ve come to the central fact of the gospel and, really the apex, of the Word of God, the crucifixion of Christ.

When Paul defined the gospel to the Corinthians in 1^st Corinthians 15 verse 3, he said,

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 

and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 

We’ve now come to the record of that monumental event.

We’ll see that Matthew doesn’t give a record of the actual crucifixion. In fact, no Gospel writer does. They just tell us what went on around the Cross.

Some people explain in graphic terms how the nails were driven into the quivering flesh and how the blood spurted out, but that’s not in the Bible. In God’s Word it’s as if God placed the mantle of darkness over the last three hours of the life of Jesus on the Cross and said, “This is something you cannot look at. It’s beyond human comprehension. The suffering cannot be fathomed.”

It was between the Father in heaven and the Son on the Cross. The Cross became an altar on which the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, was offered.

The simple statement of Matthew is, “And they crucified him.”

This chapter begins with the morning after Jesus had been arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, after He had been brought before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, after false witnesses had testified against Him, after He had been beaten and ridiculed, and after Peter had denied Him.

Matthew 27:1,

When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. 

This was the official gathering of the Sanhedrin following the informal (and illegal) night session. Luke, in Luke 22 verses 66 to 71, shows that this morning trial was virtually the same as the night one.

They’ve formulated a charge against Jesus, and they’ll now take Him to the supreme court. They think they have a case which’ll stand up before the Roman court.

Verse 2,

And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 

Pilate had a palace in Jerusalem, although his headquarters were in Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea. He was in Jerusalem at the Passover season because the city was crowded with Jews who had come to the feast, and generally there were riots on these occasions.

To Verse 3,

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

We see that the Lord Jesus was there when Judas came. As the chief priests and elders were leading Him through that hall to take Him to Pilate, here comes Judas.

Why doesn’t Judas turn to the Lord Jesus and ask forgiveness?

Instead of doing that, he addressed the religious rulers in verse 4,

saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” 

In other words, they say to Judas, “You did the job, and it’s over with. We have the One we’re after. We’ve paid you off, and we’ve no need of you anymore.”

Perhaps Judas expected that Jesus would miraculously deliver himself from his captors, and begin to overthrow the Roman rule and start the process of bringing in the Kingdom, just as the other disciples thought. None of them understood the necessity for Jesus’s death to save the world from sin.

When he saw that this wasn’t happening and Jesus was condemned, remorse and revulsion at what he’d done overpowered him. He tries to give back the blood money, maybe hoping that in doing so he moves at least some of the burden onto the rulers.

Before we condemn Judas we should realise the state of mind of the world today. Judas and the other disciples of Jesus didn’t understand the full plan of God, that the Christ must die for the sins of the world, but today we have the convenience of the written word fully and clearly explaining it all its detail. Still, with all this explanation that the disciples never had, the world rejects and hates Jesus Christ, and you and I were no different before we heard the Word of God and believed.

Furthermore, we believers, and even the most ardent amongst us will constantly turn from the Lord as we turn our eyes away from His Word and focus on the trials and troubles this world brings.

Judas had been with the Lord in public and in private. If he could have found a flaw in Christ’s character, in Who He really was, this would have been the time to mention it. However, even this traitor, in his dying speech, declared that Jesus was innocent.

To Matthew 27:5,

Then he (Judas) threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. 

This man leaves the temple area, goes out, and hangs himself, yet at any time he could’ve turned to the Lord Jesus and would’ve been forgiven!

Now verse 6,

But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” 

How pious and self-righteous these priests are! They won’t put the silver pieces into the temple treasury because it is blood money, and they’re such righteous individuals, so mindful of the laws of God.

It almost makes a person sick, but it’s the epitome of the sickly virtue signalling we have everywhere today. Acts are performed and words are spoken with the goal of trying to make a person look good, caring and righteous. “Look at me I’m so good”. But, at the same time rejecting the very source of goodness and righteousness, God and the Christ.

Now verses 7 and 8,

And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 

Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

This was yet another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy which see in verses 9 and 10,

Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “AND THEY TOOK THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER, THE VALUE OF HIM WHO WAS PRICED, whom they of the children of Israel priced, AND GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER’S FIELD, AS THE LORD DIRECTED ME.” 

We find this prophecy in Jeremiah 18:1-4 and from Zechariah 11:12-13.

It is credited to Jeremiah simply because in Jesus’ day Jeremiah was the first of the books of the prophets, and that section was identified by the name of the first book.

The significant thing is that Jesus was present when Judas returned with his thirty pieces of silver. In fact, Jesus was on His way to die—even for Judas. Our Lord had given him an opportunity to come back to Him there in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He had said, “Friend, why have you come?” Even at this time, Judas could’ve turned to the Lord Jesus and would have been forgiven.

Now we move to Matthew 27:11,

Now Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 

You see, the religious rulers wanted to get rid of Jesus because of what they considered blasphemy.

Remember that when the high priest put Him on oath and asked Him if He was the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus said that He was. And furthermore, He said, as we saw in chapter 26 verse 64, “…hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven”.

To the religious rulers that was blasphemy, and they would’ve stoned Him on that charge, but Rome didn’t allow the Jews to carry out the death penalty, so they had to deliver Jesus to Pilate with a charge that would stick in a Roman court.

The charge of treason would be one that would stick, and so Jesus was charged with claiming to be the King of the Jews.

The answer of Jesus to the charge was, “It is as you say.” 

To verse 12 now,

And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.

Jesus doesn’t even bother to answer the false charges brought against Him.

In verses 13 and 14 we read,

Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” 

But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marvelled greatly.

Again, prophecy is being filled by His refusal to answer. This time Isaiah 53 verse 7,

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

You see, He was the prophesied Lamb of God, who before the shearers was silent.

We go on to Matthew 27:5-16,

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. 

And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.

Matthew doesn’t give us the details. The other Gospels add a lot of detail about this, but Matthew just states the raw facts.

Obviously, Pilate felt that the religious rulers had no basis for requesting the death penalty. Jesus had not incited rebellion against Rome. Others had, but Jesus had not. Pilate had a problem on his hands. He wanted to please the religious leaders in order to maintain peace in Jerusalem, but he felt that he could not sentence the Lord Jesus to death for no reason, so he comes up with a solution.

Since it was his habit to release a Jewish prisoner during the Passover celebration, he would offer the crowd a choice: Jesus; or a very notorious prisoner called Barabbas, who was guilty of murder, robbery and treason and this was well known to the people.

To verse 17,

Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 

Pilate was sure that the crowd would ask that Jesus be released. The difference between Him and Barabbas was huge and evident to all.

Verse18,

For he (Governor Pilate) knew that they had handed Him (Jesus) over because of envy.

Pilate was a politician and a clever one at that. He could see what was taking place, and he was sure that the crowd would ask for Barabbas to be crucified and Jesus to be released. This would give him a “way out” of this situation.

To Verse 19,

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.” 

Pilate’s wife was very superstitious. Perhaps she was tied up in the Roman religions, but most probably this was not some sort of warning that came from God. If she’d been a truly just woman, she would’ve investigated Jesus and found out more about Him. She did not. She was simply superstitious and asked her husband to have nothing to do with all this.

Verse 20,

But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 

We see that the religious rulers were also clever politicians. They circulated among the crowd urging them to ask that Barabbas be delivered, and Jesus be destroyed.

This should serve as a warning to you and me of the power of both politicians and church and religious leaders to influence crowds.

To verse 21,

The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!” 

Pilate was stunned. How could this possibly be? Probably Pilate himself learnt some lesson that day about just how easy crowds and social groups could be led to make a decision when all logic and common sense spoke otherwise. He also learned how low religion could and would stoop.

Now Matthew 27:22,

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” 

Imagine how odd it would’ve been for a powerful Roman judge asking a crowd of Jews under his control what he should do with a prisoner! Pilate was supposed to be the judge, and he should have made the decision.

The Gospel of John tells us that Pilate repeatedly called Jesus inside the judgment hall and questioned Him privately.

His thought seemed to be, “Jesus, if You’ll cooperate, I can get You out of this, and it’ll get me off the hook as well!”

But the Lord Jesus wouldn’t defend Himself. We see through this whole farce that Pilate was the one on trial and Jesus was actually the Judge.

Pilate had to make a decision about Him, so he asked the crowd, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

The answer came back to him, “Let him be crucified,” and it would have shaken him to his core.

Verse 23,

Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” 

We see here that mob rule, mobocracy, never has a reason and is seldom wise or logical.

Moving to verse 24,

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” 

Pilate called for a basin of water and washed his hands, declaring that he’d have nothing to do with the execution of Jesus.

But it wasn’t as easy as that. He had to make the same decision every person must and that is, “What will I do with Jesus Christ?”.

Pilate may have washed his hands but right down through the last 2000 years the words of the oldest creed of the church say, “ … crucified under Pontius Pilate.”

The blood of Jesus was on his hands no matter how much he washed them.

Verse 25 now,

And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” 

Unfortunately for the Jewish nation that’s clearly been the case for the last 2000 years.

Verse 26,

Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. 

Pilate was willing to stoop this low himself. He had to make a decision, and his decision, of course, was rejection.

Now to Matthew 27:27,

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 

The soldiers were free to do with Him as they pleased. He became a plaything for this brutal, cruel crowd.

They only needed a regular group of four soldiers – called a quaternion – to carry out the execution, and yet they gathered the whole garrison around Him. It wasn’t to prevent His escape. It wasn’t to prevent a hostile crowd from rescuing Him. It wasn’t to keep the disciples away.

Think of whose hands our Lord is now in. Truly, at this time, He was surrounded with dogs, and enclosed with the congregation of the wicked, just as Psalm 22:16 prophesied.

To verses 28 to 30 now,

And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 

When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 

The soldiers had their fun with Him before He was crucified. Since He was going to die anyway, they could mutilate Him and do anything their twisted minds could conceive with Him.

They played a cruel Roman game known as “hot hand” where the soldiers would show the prisoner their fists, blindfold the prisoner, and all but one would hit him as hard as they could. Then they’d remove the blindfold, and if the prisoner was still conscious, he was supposed to guess which soldier didn’t hit him. Obviously, the prisoner could never guess the right one. They would continue this until they had beaten the prisoner to a pulp.

The Lord Jesus was so mutilated that He couldn’t even be recognized, again just as Isaiah 52 verse 14 prophesied,

Just as many were astonished at you, So His visage was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men.

Now we move to Matthew 27:31-32,

And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. 

Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. 

Jesus was subjected to untold suffering. We’re given the impression here that He was too weak to carry His cross because of the ordeal to which the soldiers had subjected Him.

Verse 33,

And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull, 

That place is identified as Gordon’s Calvary, named after General Gordon, who selected it as the probable site of Golgotha, but it’s difficult to be sure, although Gordon’s Calvary is close to the biblical description of Golgotha. It’s a place that resembles a skull.

Verse 34,

they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. 

This is yet another fulfillment of prophesy, this time Psalm 69:21,

They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

To verse 35,

Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”

This prophecy, again from Psalm 22 is fulfilled, which presents a graphic picture of death by crucifixion.

Then verse 36,

Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 

Here we see humanity reaching its lowest depth as we see these people sitting down watching.

More than likely Saul of Tarsus, who would later become the apostle Paul and who would write the 13 epistles of the bible that relate to us today, was in that crowd who watched Jesus in mortal agony.

Later on, when he wrote to Timothy in 1^st Timothy 1:15, he called himself the chief of sinners and he probably called himself that because he was the chief of sinners.

Now to verses 37 to 40,

And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. 

And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

“If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Notice how they raise doubts? “If You are the Son of God …”

Little did they know that because He is the Son of God, He’ll not come down from the Cross. This is the whole purpose he had come to His fallen creation, to free it from the curse of sin and to do it He must give His life. He’s now dying for the sins of the world.

He’d came all the way down to the deepest of humiliation and suffering to accomplish our salvation. He let go of absolutely everything from His deity, His Godship, even His clothes, becoming completely poor for us, so we could become completely rich in Him.

And yet even in all this sin, pain, agony, and injustice God guided all things to the fulfilment of His purpose and so that many prophecies were specifically fulfilled. It may seem that Jesus had no control over these events, but He was in control of the whole thing.

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS, read the sign that Pilate had ordered placed over His head.

In John 19:21-22 we read that the religious leaders objected to this title. They felt it was false, because they didn’t believe that Jesus was the King of the Jews, but Pilate wouldn’t alter this title, saying when asked to take down, “What I have written, I have written.”

Two robbers were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and another on the left and as we’ll see in a couple of verses, even these robbers reviled Him with the same thing as the priests and rulers and those who were passing by saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Matthew 27:41,

Likewise, the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 

You’d think that after this pack of religious bloodhounds, including the chief priests, had succeeded in getting Him on the Cross, they’d go home and let Him die in peace, but of course they didn’t. They stayed there taunting Him while there was still life in His body.

Verse 42,

“He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 

Continuing the relentless mocking, these scribes and elders and probably pharisees as well, said, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him come down from the cross, and we’ll believe Him. He trusted in God; let God deliver Him now, this person Who said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

The mocking inferred that if Jesus did what they said, they’d believe Him. Yet it’s precisely because He didn’t save Himself that He can save others. Love kept Jesus on the cross, not nails! Jesus did greater than come down from the cross; He rose from the dead, and yet they didn’t believe even then.

To verse 43,

He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

One thing that we can clearly see from the abuse of that crowd is that they understood that Jesus claimed deity, He claimed to be God. There are many today who claim the title of Christian who don’t believe that Jesus ever claimed He was deity, that He was God.

In verse 44 we see this,

Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Matthew calls our attention to the thieves who were crucified with Jesus and the fact that they joined with the religious rulers in mocking Him, however he doesn’t call our attention to the fact that one of the thieves finally turned to Jesus. We see that in the account of Luke 23:39-43.

Next time friends, we see the final hours of Jesus’s life in the flesh and may God give us all the revelation of all that He’s done for us.

God revealed his Law in the Bible and yet one place tells us that we’re subject to that law, while another place tells us we’re not under it at all.

We can see this if we compare Matthew 5:17 to Romans 6:14, and if we compare Deuteronomy 6:25 to Romans 10:4.

In one verse circumcision is a matter of salvation, while on another page circumcision voids the cross of Christ!

We see this when we compare Genesis 17:14 with Galatians 5:2.

What about the Sabbath day? In one section it’s a commandment. In another the Lord of the Sabbath supersedes it. In yet another we’re not to let anyone judge us about it.

See Exodus 20:10, Mathew 12:2 and Colossians 2:16.

Is our justification based on our works or not? Compare Romans 4:5 with James 2:24.

No wonder it seems confusing. Confusion is compounded when preachers don’t rightly divide the Word.

Often pastors and teachers make excuses, avoiding, or distorting the passages to try and make sense out of from what they know or think they know, but what’s really needed is the correct dividing of scripture between the ages.

The Bible was inspired over the course of 1400 years and its content spans from eternity to eternity. It’s because of this great span of time, where we have different audiences who’re being dealt with by God in different ways, that we need to pay close attention to exactly what God’s done, what He will do and what He’s doing now!

This is called dispensational Bible study, and it’s a method described in 2 Timothy 2:5 as “rightly dividing the word of truth”.

A new dispensation or age can change what we know about God’s will and how we respond. These changes need to be clearly understood.

Now, of course, we know God Himself never changes. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever, but the way He deals with mankind, with us, does change according to theses time and ages.

A common mistake in Bible study is reading future revelations into passages where it wasn’t yet revealed.

Also, future revelations can replace or change instructions given in older revelations.

For example, Moses didn’t know the later promise made to David. Abraham knew nothing of water baptism by John the Baptist.

Likewise, the Apostle Peter didn’t need to follow the previous instructions to build an ark given to Noah. You see, instructions and how God was dealing with mankind had changed.

God treats each man on the basis of what He’s revealed in that age. It’s man’s responsibility to know God’s revelations, or dispensations, and respond in faith and obedience.

All scripture is profitable for our learning, but not every instruction is for us to carry out today. It’s vital to understand who God’s revelations are intended for. To whom was God speaking?

While we can find the instructions for the church in Paul’s letters, there’re many instructions to past saints, or future Israel, that don’t address any one of us in the church, The Body of Christ, today.

It would be wrong to claim that these instructions are for us to enact today. We can understand the Bible if we follow Paul’s advice and rightly divide it.

When we study Jesus’ ministry to Israel, as we are in Matthew, we must also study the prophets if we’re to have any idea of what’s happening because Jesus ministry on earth was to fulfill the law and prophecy.

One example is the account of the distressed disciples in a boat during a storm, but the Lord was sleeping through it.

Luk 8:24,

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 

What an amazing event, but what’s more amazing is knowing the prophecy of Psalm 107 verses 28 and 29,

Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. 

He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. 

This Psalm was written hundreds of years before the Lord appeared to Israel and calmed the waters. This, and hundreds of prophecies like it would have been strong evidence to Israel, who knew these scriptures well, that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

As we’ve already said, this chapter, Matthew 25, further explains the answer Jesus gave to the question the disciples asked in Matthew 24:3, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

This time Jesus is going to use three parables or word pictures to expand on what He’s already told them.

Let’s remember that Christ’s earthly ministry is still under the Law. The Temple’s still operating, and Jesus is not permitting Gentiles to participate in His ministry.

All the Abrahamic Covenants and promises are still in effect so it’s Jew only. Our basic doctrine in the Body of Christ, The Church today, is that salvation is by faith alone in the finished work of the Cross.

But here, the finished work of the Cross hasn’t been accomplished yet, so they couldn’t be preaching that, nor were they supposed to preach that.

Luke 9:44-45 shows that even the Twelve, after being with Jesus for nearly three years, didn’t understand the Cross. Here Jesus is speaking.

“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” 

But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying. 

They couldn’t even get up the courage to ask Him, “What are you talking about?”

Turn to Luke 18:31-34 for more,

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 

For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 

They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” 

But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken. 

They had no idea that in a few days Jesus would be crucified. Look at John Chapter 20 verse 9,

For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 

You see, after the Crucifixion they’re now at the tomb on Resurrection morning and the Scripture again makes it plain that they didn’t know. The setting here is Peter and John running to the sepulchre after Mary had told them that it was empty. And they look in and are amazed.

If they had no idea that Jesus was going to be crucified, and that He was now raised from the dead, how could they’ve been preaching our Gospel of Grace back there in His earthly ministry.

Yet this is what’s been shoved down our throats. Most of us have been taught that our Gospel came on the scene as soon as Jesus did, but as you can see, that’s impossible.

The Old Testament was full of prophecy of Christ’s first coming; His death, burial, and Resurrection; His ascension and His Second Coming. But we’ve always got remember it was in such veiled language they didn’t know what it was. The prophets themselves couldn’t understand. We can now, since we have the whole Book. But they couldn’t.

So, Jesus is going to expand on the answer He gave to the disciples about the signs of His second coming and He’s going to use parables to do it.

Now, there are two mistakes people make when trying to understand the parables of Jesus.

1. They think they’re intended to make things clearer.
2. They think they were given to reveal truth about the church today.

A parable is not a children’s story, an illustration, or a proverb. A parable is not intended to make things clear, but to teach a hidden meaning through fiction, or allegory, like a riddle.

Why would someone, especially Jesus, speak in parables?

This is exactly what the disciples asked Jesus after he told the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:10.

His response was so that certain people would not see, hear, and know see Matthew 13:11-15.

The disciples of Jesus repeatedly asked Jesus to explain the parables after they were spoken and Jesus did give them, and by extension us, a clearer explanation, but to the others that explanation was not given. Jesus explained that understanding these mysteries was a gift granted to some but not to all

The parables of Jesus were hidden teachings to the crowd that he taught clearly at other times to his disciples.

The parables weren’t mere everyday stories. They contained spiritual mysteries about the Kingdom of God.

All Jesus’s parables relate to this coming kingdom. Almost all start with “the kingdom of heaven is like”.

Jesus is speaking directly to the disciples in these parables on the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 25:1-5,

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 

Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 

Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 

But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 

Notice the first word, “Then”, which is referring back to and carrying on from chapter 24, and the illustration of the evil servants and the master. It clearly places this parable in the time preceding and during the King’s return to earth.

Jesus here likens the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise and had oil for their lamps; the others had none. While waiting, all fell asleep.

Weddings in ancient Jewish culture were joyous occasions, often lasting several days.

Virgins, or bridesmaids, or torchbearers, played a crucial role in the wedding procession.

Their lamps symbolised readiness for the bridegroom’s arrival. Extra oil represented preparedness for unexpected delays.

The bridegroom represents Jesus, who will return to His people, the nation of Israel, and the virgins symbolise Israel waiting for His coming. His delay symbolises the period between His two comings, so far, 2000 years.

The oil signifies faithfulness, spiritual readiness, and the Holy Spirit.

The foolish virgins lacked true preparation and missed the opportunity to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Why did they lack? Through unbelief. Through lack of faith. They didn’t believe enough to be ready.

The five wise virgins represent the true disciples of Christ in the Tribulation, the believers.

The foolish virgins represent those who outwardly profess to hold the Messianic hope but who’ve never truly believed and so don’t have the Holy Spirit.

The fact that all ten virgins slept shows that outwardly there wasn’t much to differentiate them.

This parable emphasises Israel’s need for vigilance and readiness for the King coming back to set up His kingdom.

Matthew 25:6-7,

“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 

Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 

At midnight the announcement rang out that the bridegroom was coming. In the previous chapter we learned that His arrival will be heralded by awesome signs.

At an unexpected hour the bridegroom came for the wedding. Jesus returned in His second coming to set up the Kingdom. The wedding party, all those virgins, representing the entire nation of Israel, immediately began to prepare their lamps for lighting.

The term “Trimmed their lamps” is literally “put their torches in order”.

It’s a warning addressed specifically to the nation not to assume that their future in the kingdom is unconditionally assured just on the basis of their lineage from Abraham. Romans chapters 9 and 11 describe that in detail.

All ten are expecting to be at the feast. All Israel are expecting to enter the kingdom when it comes, and until that moment comes, there’s no outwardly appearing difference between them. The crisis is that there is a divide, a separation between the ready and the unready.

The foolish virgins were unprepared because they lacked oil for their lamps. Oil is an emblem of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost. He was given to Israel according to the end time prophecy of Joel chapter 2, which the Apostle Peter quoted as happening at that time of Pentecost, as we see in Acts chapter 2.

The nation was given the New Covenant which Christ ratified in His blood. He was the testator of that New Covenant.

Through the now arrived Holy Spirit, God’s law would no longer be a matter of self-discipline and personal effort, it would be written on their hearts and minds. They would all know God and do His law in a perfectly natural way. It would be in their hearts and minds it what they would feel and think!

The only condition is faith! They had to believe that these things clearly given in God’s Word were true. They had to trust God.

If the nation had not rejected their Messiah way back 2000 years ago, those end time prophecies of Joel would have happened back then as Peter said in his preaching at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. But Israel did reject their Messiah! Now, because of that rejection, the setting up of the kingdom has been on hold for 2000 years while a new age, the dispensation of Grace, the age you and I live in today, was slotted into God’s prophetic timeline.

Without the oil, the Holy Spirit and the New Covenant in their hearts and minds the wedding party was not ready for the bridegroom. They aren’t ready for the return of Jesus and the kingdom.

To verses 8 to 10 now,

And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 

But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 

Our lamps are going out.

So, it’s obvious that if they’re going out they were once lighted.

Their hearts had once been illuminated and faithful, but they’d backslidden and are excluded from the kingdom. They’ve let the light that was in them become darkness, and haven’t turned back to the faith they once had.

They find they can’t get that faith from another person’s supply; it must be their own.

The saddest, and I guess most horrific part of this parable, is while the unwise virgins were desperately trying to get the required oil, trying to get back to their faith and belief, The Lord came, and they were too late. That lateness is now eternal.

Now to verses 11 to 13,

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 

But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. 

The door was shut!

“Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you” what chilling words!

The penalty was severe for the foolish ones.

They’re not allowed in; the door was shut against them in the strongest terms.

The girls’ appeal and the bridegroom’s response recall the chilling words of Matthew 7:22-23,

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 

I do not know you! This must be the ultimate rejection.

When that door’s shut, it’ll never be opened. Many people dream about an opening of that door, after death, for those who have died without faith in God and His finished work on the cross of Christ, but there’s absolutely nothing in the Scriptures to support that.

Any ‘greater hope’ than what’s revealed in the Word of God is a delusion and a trap.”

Watch therefore say’s verse 13, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

The whole point of this parable to Israel during and near the end of the tribulation period is simple – be ready.

The price for failing to be ready is too high.

There’s no Body of Christ language here in this or any of the other parables. Nothing of the completed work on the cross, salvation by God’s free gift, without works to the whole world both Jew and Gentile. A gift available through faith alone, believing God and His Word.

This is law, not the grace we freely have today. This is enduring till the end or else you’ll lose. This is the language of the tribulation just before Christ’s return.

We mustn’t try and somehow fit the Body of Christ into this parable apart from the instruction and learning we get from it.

Now we move to the next parable and again we’re still on the Mount of Olives and Jesus is continuing to expand his answer to the disciples about the signs of His second coming.

This is another parable for that future generation that’ll be waiting for our Lord’s return to earth.

Matthew 25:14-18,

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 

And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. 

But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 

We notice again the opening. “For the kingdom of heaven is like”.

This parable also teaches that when the Lord returns, there’ll be true and false servants.

The story revolves around a man who, before going on a long journey, assembled his own servants and gave to each varying amounts of money, according to his own ability. One got five talents, another got two, and the last, one. They were to use this money to bring income to the master.

The man with five earned another five talents. The man with two doubled his also. But the man with one went and dug a hole and buried it.

It is not difficult to see that Christ is the master and the long journey is the period between His first and second coming. The three servants are Israelites living during the Tribulation, responsible to represent the interests of the absent Lord. They’re given responsibility according to their individual abilities.

Matthew 25:19-23,

After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 

“So, he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 

He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

After a long time, the Lord … came back and settled accounts with them. This depicts the Second Coming of Christ.

The first two received exactly the same commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

The test of their service was not how much they earned, but how hard they tried.

Each used his ability fully and earned one hundred percent. These represent true believers whose reward is to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom. What motivated these two to do what was expected of them? Belief, faith. They believed that the Master, The Lord, would return and that they would receive benefit from that return if they did what was required of them.

To verses 24 and 25 now,

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 

And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 

The third servant had nothing but insults and excuses for his master. He accused him of being hard and unreasonable, reaping where he’d not sown, and gathering where he’d not scattered seed.

He excused himself on the basis that, he was fearful, so he buried his talent.

This servant was an unbeliever. He had no faith in Who the Lord was and in His inevitable return in judgement.

Verses 26 and 27,

“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 

So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 

The Lord rebuked him as wicked and lazy. Having such thoughts of his Master, why hadn’t he deposited his money with the bankers to earn interest? Incidentally, in verse 26, the lord’s not agreeing with the charges against him. Instead, he’s saying, “If that’s the kind of master you thought I am, all the more reason to have put the talent to work. Your words don’t excuse you; they condemn you.”

Now to Matthew 25:28-29,

So, take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 

‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 

If this man had earned just one talent with his talent, he would’ve received the same commendation as the others.

Instead, all he had to show for his life was a hole in the ground! His talent was taken and given to the man with ten talents. This follows a law in the spiritual realm: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”

Those who desire to be used for God’s glory are given the means. The more they do, the more they’re enabled to do for Him. On the other hand, we lose what we don’t use.

The mention of the bankers in verse 27 suggests that if the wicked and lazy servant couldn’t use his talent for the Lord, he should’ve turned it over to others who could. There’s an application here for us today, even though this parable is for tribulation Israel. The bankers in this case may be missionaries, Bible societies, Christian publishing houses, gospel radio programs, etc.

In a world like ours, there is no excuse for leaving money idle.

To Matthew 25:30 now,

And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 

The unprofitable servant was cast out. He was excluded from the kingdom. He shared the fate of the wicked and the unbeliever, because, ultimately, he was an unbeliever. It was not his failure to invest the talent that condemned him; rather his lack of good works showed that he lacked the faith required to enter the kingdom.

Notice again the lack of any mention of salvation through the shed blood of Christ and free grace apart from works. This is a works-based program and does not speak of the Body of Christ today.

Now to the judgement of the nations in Matthew 25:31-32,

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

This section describes the Judgment of the Nations, which is different from the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Judgment of the Great White Throne.

The Judgment Seat of Christ, a time of review and reward for believers only, takes place after the Rapture of the Body of Christ.

We see that judgement in Romans 14:10, in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; and in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10.

An important point to realise in this judgement is that 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 say this,

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 

If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 

If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. 

You see we should understand that this judgment is not for our salvation. If we’re here at this judgment we’re saved. And even if our works are such that they’re burnt up, we are not.

The Judgment of the Great White Throne takes place in eternity, after the Millennium.

The wicked dead will be judged and consigned to the Lake of Fire, and we see that in Revelation 2:11-15.

Anyone finding themselves at this judgment is totally without hope.

These two judgements are both judgments of individuals and according to Romans 14 verse 10, We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

But the passage we’re reading here in Matthew 25:3-32 relates to nations.

The Judgment of the Nations, or Gentiles (the Greek word can mean either), takes place on earth after Christ comes to reign, as verse 31 clearly states: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him.”

Joel 3:1-2 refers to this happening in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, outside Jerusalem and we read,

I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land.

The nations will be judged according to their treatment of Christ’s Jewish brethren during the Tribulation as we see in Joel 3:1-2, Joel 3:12-14 and the rest of this chapter of Matthew.

There are actually three classes of nation mentioned: sheep, goats, and Christ’s brethren. The first two classes, over whom Christ sits in judgment, are Gentiles living during the Tribulation. The third class is Christ’s faithful Jewish brethren who refuse to deny His Name during the Tribulation in spite of incredible persecution. The judgement of the nations is going to be about how those nations treated the horrendously persecuted Jewish nation in the tribulation.

Until next time friends when we finish up Matthew chapter 25 and begin chapter 26, may God bless you and keep you and may you come into the knowledge of the truth.