EXECUTION

SEPTEMBER 7-13, 2009 MONDAY-SUNDAY SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 27

TEXT http://www.just1word.com/view/jesus-before-pilate-%2528matthew%2529

PARAPHRASE

“Silver, Responsible, Suicide & Bloody Field”

When Judas learned early that morning the religious leaders had decided to kill Jesus and had delivered him to Pilate, the Roman Governor; he became overwhelmed with shame and went to the religious leaders to return the thirty pieces of silver they had given him - confessing them as a sign of his horrible sin, his betrayal of the Son of God.

When the religious leaders told Judas they didn’t care how horrible his sin was, that he was responsible for himself; he tossed the silver pieces into their temple and went off and hanged himself. Acknowledging that the silver was money they had spent for the sole purpose of killing a man, the chief priests knew the silver was unclean so that by law it couldn’t be returned to the temple treasury. Therefore, they picked it up off the floor and used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners - a field bought with blood money that to this day is called the Field of Blood.

This happened in fulfillment of the combined prophecies of Zechariah and Jeremiah in which the one on whom the price of thirty pieces of silver was originally set is no longer the Prophet Zechariah (who when he threw the insulting amount of silver he was given into the temple it was given to a potter) but Jesus (who when he was betrayed by Judas who threw the insulting amount of silver he was given it was used to buy a potter’s field) – with both situations ultimately pointing to the destruction of Israel.

“Threat, Clean, Coward, & Responsible”

While Jesus remained silent when accused by the religious leaders, to Pilate’s amazement (Jesus didn’t answer a single charge against him), only responding to affirm he was the king of the Jews (a qualified affirmation since he wasn’t a king of this world). Pilate knew the real reason the religious leaders handed Jesus over to him was because they were threatened by him, not because he was a traitor to Rome. Because of this and his custom of releasing a prisoner each year at the time of the Passover Feast he asked the crowd who they wanted released – the notorious criminal Barabbas (who was really a national hero for rebelling against Roman authority) or Jesus.

Their response was interrupted by a message from Pilate’s wife who told him how much she had suffered on account of a dream about Jesus that day something she took as a sign he shouldn’t have anything to do with what the religious leaders were trying to do to this innocent man.

However, the religious leaders convinced the crowd that their national hero Barabbas should be released and that Jesus the blasphemer should be crucified. When Pilate asked them what crime Jesus had committed they shouted louder for him to be executed. Fearful of the chaos developing in the crowd, Pilate cowardly washed his hands like the Pharisees do to make themselves ceremonially clean before eating a meal as he also claimed to be innocent of Jesus’ blood and then surprisingly he said the exact same thing to the religious leaders that they had said to Judas – that they were responsible for themselves, i.e. with respect to what they were doing.
After they accepted responsibility for themselves and their children for Jesus’ blood, Pilate released Barabbas to the religious leaders and having flogged Jesus, handed him over to be executed.

“King & Suffering Servant”

Having been mocked by the religious leaders as the Christ, Son of the Living God, Pilate’s soldiers mocked him as the king of the Jews. This took place in the courtyard of Herod’s old palace where Pilate lived, with the company of soldiers gathering around Jesus, stripping him, putting a red robe on him, a crown of thorns on his head, a staff in his right hand and then kneeling before him and verbally mocking him by saying, “Hail king of the Jews!” After this they spit on him and struck him on the head repeatedly with the staff. And, when they were done they put his own clothes back on him and led him away to his execution.

“Stripped, Mocked & Executed”

On route to the site of execution, The Place of the Skull, they met Simon from Cyrene who they forced to carry the cross. Once there, Jesus is offered a drink of wine and myrrh that irritates his mouth so much he refuses to drink it. After nailing him to the cross, they cast lots for his clothes, place a written charge above his head: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS and then sit around waiting for him to die. Two robbers, probably other rebels to Roman authority, who like Barabbas were national heroes, were also crucified, one on his right and one on his left. Passersby shook their heads shouting insults, while sarcastically demanding Jesus save himself given his previous claim to be able to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

The religious leaders mocked him by pointing out that although he miraculously healed others he apparently was unable to miraculously heal himself – sarcastically calling him the King of Israel, abusively ordering him to come down from the cross so they might believe in him, and maliciously saying that God would rescue him if he wanted to since he was His Son. Even the two robbers, in the midst of suffering the agonizing death of crucifixion, used their remaining breathe to shout insults at Jesus as well.

“Torn, Split & Broke”

It became dark over the entire land from noon until 3pm at which time Jesus cried out loud “God, God, why have you abandoned me? Some of those present thought he was calling on Elijah to save him. Someone soaked a sponge with wine vinegar and after placing it on a stick offered it to him to drink. After crying out again in a loud voice, he died.

At the moment of his death the temple curtain tore from top to bottom, signifying the destruction of the temple; an earthquake occurred splitting the rocks, signifying glory & judgment; and tombs broke open, signifying victory over death (with the bodies of many holy people being raised to life after Jesus’ resurrection at which point they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many people).

All of this terrified the soldiers who were guarding Jesus causing them to proclaim that Jesus was indeed the Son of God – (seen most clearly in his suffering and death on the cross).

Many women had followed Jesus from Galilee helping to care for his needs were watching all of this from a distance including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of James and John.

“Rich Burial”

Around 6 pm at the start of the Sabbath, a rich man who had become a disciple of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, went to Pilate asking permission to take Jesus’ body down from the cross for proper burial (something that was never allowed in cases of high treason which Pilate knew Jesus wasn’t guilty of). Taking Jesus’ body down, Joseph wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, placed it in the new tomb he had cut out of rock for himself and rolled a large stone in front of the entrance while Mary Magdelene and the other Mary sat opposite the tomb watching him.

“Tomb Security”

The next day the religious leaders remembered Jesus saying that after three days he would rise from the dead and so went to Pilate asking him that the tomb be made secure with soldiers for three days because they feared the disciples would steal his body, tell everyone he had been raised from the dead and greatly deceive the people as a result of this. Pilate told them to secure the tomb with their own temple guards and so they left and made the tomb secure by posting their temple guards and by sealing the stone.


PRINCIPLES

The Gospel writer Matthew told his readers during the first Century (as he tells us today) that Jesus was truly the Christ, the Son of the Living as revealed in his suffering and death on the cross.

How does Matthew reveal Jesus as the true Christ, the Son of the Living God in his suffering and death on the cross?

-in a field being bought with blood money

-in hands washing off innocent blood

-in a King being flogged and mocked

-in a Messiah being stripped, insulted and crucified

-in a Son’s loud cry of abandonment

-in a temple curtain tearing, rocks splitting and tombs breaking

-in soldiers’ proclamations

-in women’s following, caring, and watching

-in a rich man’s tomb

-in religious leader’s fear

PRAYER

Our Father, We praise You for revealing Your Son as the Christ through his suffering and death on the cross. We praise you that this is not just a story but is true and there were witnesses who have written about what happened to Your Son according to Your will. We praise You for providing us a way out of the eternal suffering and physical and spiritual death we would otherwise face were if not that Your only Son took on our suffering in this way, Liberating us from our Sin and setting us Free.

Our Father, We thank You for revealing Your Son as the Christ through his suffering and death on the cross - through his becoming the new Zachariah bought with the insulting 30 pieces of silver; through his being traded for death for a national hero a rebel against the authority of Rome; though his kingship with a crown of thorns and a staff full of blows to his head; through his earthly reign as Messiah with its mockings and floggings, through his being stripped naked and nailed to a cross; through passersby, religious leaders and even thieves hurling insults at him as he was dying; and through his feeling totally abandoned even by You as he let out one last cry.

Our Father, We thank You for all of this. We thank Him for all of this. Because through it, not only are we set free, not only are we healed, are we saved, but we have a Shepherd who looks after us who has suffered more than we ever will and so knows what our sufferings are like and therefore is able to protect us from all harm and is able to comfort us and through his blood heal us when we are ill, are injured, are all alone or are dying.

Our Father, We thank You for tearing the temple curtain at the time Your Son died and became the New Temple. We thank you for splitting the rocks with an earthquake at the time Your Son died revealing His Glory and coming Judgment. And, we thank you for breaking the tombs at the time of Your Son’s death revealing the victory over death that was shortly to come.

Our Father, We thank You for the soldier’s proclamation that Jesus was Your Son, the women’s faithfulness to Your Son unto death, the rich man’s courage in taking Your Son down for burial, and the religious leader’s fear of fraud so that the tomb was sealed and guarded.

Our Father, Forgive us when we think we can be responsible for ourselves like Judas and the Religious Leaders. Forgive us when we think we can wash our money or our hands and make them clean like the Religious Leaders and Pilate thought they could.
Forgive us when as cowards we please the crowd rather than You. Forgive us when we chose to follow a national hero, a man of this world over You. Forgive us any time we make a mockery of what Your Son has done for us by what we say or do.

Our Father, We ask that you remove our fear, that you strengthen us, and give us courage so that we will proclaim Your Son as the Christ, the Son of the Living God to those in this world who have yet to hear about him. We ask that our faith be like that of the women who remained with Your Son even through his death and to the grave.

And we pray all of this Our Father in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


PRAISE Listening to Fike & DanaFik ‘Not Just a Story’ on @purevolume.com http://www.purevolume.com/fikeanddana (click on song to start)