Matthew
The Living Christ & A Long-Term Plan
April 21, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 28:16–20
The Bible is inspired. Matthew wrote exactly what God ordained for him to write. But if you understand inspiration correctly, then you know that his mind and his desires were at work in what he wrote. And so, I ask myself, “If you are Matthew, how do you end an account of the life of Jesus?” You are an eyewitness of many of the things you write about. You present the eyewitness accounts of others. You are presenting Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God, as the Israel’s King, as the Savior for the world — how do you end your account of His life and work and promises? Matthew ends this account in a very short space. It almost feels abrupt. But he has made his case, and as he ends, he chooses to do so in a way that explains where we are at the present time. This is where Matthew’s emphasis is when he finishes. HE TELLS US WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE — WHY WE ARE ABOUT WHAT WE ARE ABOUT. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE DISCIPLES HAVE DONE AND ARE DOING SINCE CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION? HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE FAITH OF THESE MEN WHO WOULD GO ON TO GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE TRUTHS THAT MATTHEW RECORDS? HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE CHURCH IS TO BE ABOUT FOR THE REST OF ITS EXISTENCE — UNTIL JESUS RETURNS. The answer is that our Lord’s meeting with His men, following His resurrection, SET THAT COURSE. Matthew ends by giving us the living Christ’s long-term plan for His disciples. It is a vital thing that we remember that genuine Christianity is not inventive, it is submissive. It is vital that we are always clear about the fact that any valid philosophy of ministry has not be created individually, out of the mind of man, but simply reflects the reception of revelation — that is, we have heard and believed what God has set forth in His word, and we are striving to obey it. SUBMISSION TO WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED EXPLAINS MINISTRY THAT PLEASES GOD AND IS POWERFULLY USED BY GOD. And all that goes back as far as the charge that Jesus gave to His disciples when He gathered them together in Galilee after His resurrection. We finish our journey in Matthew this morning by looking at Matthew’s close under two main headings. I. THE MEETING WITH JESUS (vs.16-17) Our Lord had sent news through the women — by the angel and from Himself personally — that His disciples were to meet Him in Galilee. The disciples obeyed. They made their way to Galilee and to a mountain which Jesus had designated. Matthew describes them as the eleven. He reminds us that Jesus chose these men for a special task. There were many followers of Jesus, many disciples of Jesus, but the eleven are now in a special class. They are the Lord’s apostles. It also reminds us that they are no longer “the twelve” because Judas had his good things, and threw his privileged place away for a lie. Matthew begins verse 16 with a mild adversative (de or but) and reminds us that this is the best answer to the lies of the council. THEY SAID HE IS STILL DEAD AND THAT HIS DISCIPLES STOLE HIS BODY, BUT HIS DISCIPLES MADE THEIR WAY TO GALILEE AND MET WITH HIM. The Lord is very much alive. The Lord’s choice to meet them in Galilee is instructive also. D.A. Carson — “Associating the Great Commission (vv. 18–20) with Galilee not only has nuances with Jesus’ humble background and the theme of Gentile mission (see comments at v. 10) but “ensures that the risen Christ and his teaching are not thought of as a substitute for, but as continuous with, Jesus’ ministry and teaching in Galilee” (Hill).#_ftn1 The one whom they meet with, and will spend their lives proclaiming, is the very same one they have been following throughout Galilee, and He does not need Jerusalem’s approval to save His sheep all over the world. I mentioned last week that I fear we become so accustomed to what we read in Scripture that sometimes we become insensitive to the wonder of it. We are so familiar with it that we don’t recognize how SHOCKING it would have been to the people who lived through these events — how shocking it would be to us right now! We have read about the resurrection. We have read about Jesus calling people, like Lazarus, out from death. BUT WE HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT, and we underestimate how DIFFICULT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WITHOUT WHAT WE ARE NOW PRIVILEGED TO HOLD IN OUR HANDS (the Bible). These people didn’t have the gospel accounts, they LIVED what became the gospel accounts. SO THAT MATTHEW HONESTLY COMMUNICATES THE FACT THAT THERE WAS SOME INITIAL DOUBT AMONG THE APOSTLES. MATTHEW TELLS US THREE THINGS. A. THOSE DISCIPLES SAW JESUS What Matthew doesn’t tell us is that the disciples would see Jesus on other occasions. He limits himself to this occasion but makes the point that the idea of Christ resurrected is not “a story that gained traction.” They don’t believe in a resurrection because a body went missing, and the story given to explain it was naively believed. NO, IN CONTRAST TO THAT, THESE MEN WERE EYEWITNESSES OF THE RISEN CHRIST. They saw Jesus alive. B. THOSE DISCIPLES WORSHIPPED JESUS The disciples bow before the Lord Jesus. What Matthew indicates by this is that they not only see Jesus, but they also BELIEVE WHAT THEY ARE SEEING. They worship their Master. C. SOME OF THOSE DISCIPLES STRUGGLED TO BELIEVE IT WAS REAL But then he says, “but some doubted.” The word διστάζω does not indicate settled unbelief. Rather it speaks of hesitation. SEVERAL QUESTIONS EMERGE FROM THIS. #_ftnref1 D. A. Carson, https://ref.ly/logosres/ebcrev09?ref=bible.mt28.16&off=637&ctx=in+26%3a32%3b+28%3a7%2c+10.+~associating+the+grea in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 663.
Enemies of The Resurrected Christ
April 21, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 28:1–10
Introduction: Matthew tells us of two disciples, two women, who met with the wonder of the resurrection through an encounter with an angel and then met with the resurrected Christ Himself. These women were characterized by devotion, amazement, worship, joy, and an immediate desire to obey the instruction they were given and to report the good news to the Lord’s disciples. But, as we have seen with the crucifixion of Jesus, and the burial of Jesus, we now meet with response of Christ’s enemies to the resurrection of Jesus. What do we see in the enemies of Christ as they respond to the reality that He has been raised from the dead? Tonight, we see four characteristics of these enemies of Christ as they respond to His resurrection. I. UNWILLING RECIPIENTS OF MERCY (vs.11) After all the ways that the chief priests, along with the other religious leaders of the Jews, had sinned — blasphemy, lying, manipulation, mockery, cruelty, MURDER — they are now receiving a report. The guards who had been charged with securing the tomb, now made their way to the chief priests to tell them about everything that had happened. These men now knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that everything Jesus promised about His death and resurrection was true. REMEMBER, they claimed that if Jesus was delivered from death, they would believe in Him. ESV Matthew 27:42 "He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" Yes, they were talking about Him coming down from the cross, but what they heard about now was even greater. HE WAS DELIVERED BY GOD AFTER DYING. THEY ALSO MADE CLEAR THAT THEY KNEW THAT JESUS CLAIMED THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN. They called that DECEPTION. They said that He was a deceiver. ESV Matthew 27:63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." WELL, NOW THEY KNEW THAT HE WASN’T A DECEIVER. THEY RECEIVED NEWS FROM THE GUARDS: They heard about the earthquake. They heard about the angel and his dazzling appearance. They heard about the empty tomb. IT WAS A TREMENDOUS MERCY THAT THESE RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE STILL ALIVE TO HEAR ABOUT THESE THINGS. God could have justly struck them dead for what they had done with His Son. But here they are given another opportunity. Here was their opportunity for repentance. Here was their opportunity to fall on their faces and admit their sinful foolishness and their need for forgiveness, and the truth — Jesus is the Messiah. II. BRAZEN OPPONENTS OF THE TRUTH (vs.12-13) What do they do instead? They prove themselves to be BRAZEN. Bold, without shame, when they should have been full of shame. The chief priests gather with the elders, and they decide to SPREAD A LIE. NOTE: THIS RESPONSE PROVES THAT IT WAS NEVER REALLY ABOUT EVIDENCE. This is one of the most amazing things the world has ever seen. A man is questioned about signs that would prove He is the Messiah. He answers that the sign will be His resurrection. They take steps to kill Him. He is then raised from the dead. You hear this from eyewitnesses who are not motivated to lie about this. YET YOU DON’T STOP YOUR OPPOSITION? IT PROVES THAT WHAT THE JEWISH LEADERS DID, THEY DID DESPITE EVIDENCE, NOT FOR LACK OF IT. This has never changed. People claim that they don’t believe because they don’t have enough evidence when the evidence that they have is already overwhelming to any honest mind. NOTE: NEVER THINK THAT PEOPLE ENTER THE KINGDOM BY INTELLECTUAL PERSUASION. THEY ENTER THE KINGDOM WHEN THEY ARE BORN AGAIN. What you see in these religious leaders is the fruit of their sinful natures. This is SINFUL UNBELIEF. This is STUBBORN UNBELIEF. This is DISHONEST, WILLFUL, UNBELIEF. And so, they choose to construct a lie and convince the guards to disseminate their lie. HOW DO THEY INCENTIVIZE THESE GUARDS TO SPREAD THEIR LIE? MONEY. AND IT WAS NO SMALL SUM OF MONEY. Whatever it took to get the guards to do it, they paid them. NOTE, ONCE AGAIN, THE INCREDIBLE BLINDNESS THAT SIN PRODUCES. WHAT AMOUNT OF MONEY IS WORTH YOUR SOUL? YOU JUST WITNESSED AN ANGEL. WHAT AMOUNT OF MONEY COULD EVER WORTH DENYING WHAT YOU JUST SAW? But mankind, in the blindness of his sin is willing to throw away FOREVER in order to have riches RIGHT NOW. THE LIE WAS LUDICROUS. “The guards are asleep, and the disciples came and stole him away.” “YOU MEAN THEY QUIETLY ROLLED THAT STONE AWAY FROM THE ENTRANCE OF THE TOMB?” “YOU MEAN YOU SLEPT THROUGH IT ALL?” THE LIE, FROM THEIR VANTAGEPOINT, ONLY HAD TO BE CONVINCING TO THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM IT MATTERED.
Christ Disciples & His Resurrection
April 21, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 28:1–10
Introduction: God is giving testimony to His Son. He does so at the cross. He does so at His burial. He does so through the means of providence. He does so through the means of miracles. In every case He is fulfilling His Word. His testimony to His Son a testimony of fulfilled Scripture. In each case, we are presented with two responses. We are told how the disciples of Jesus are responding, and we are told how the enemies of Jesus are responding. Now we arrive at the greatest sign of all. Was Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God? Was Jesus the King of Israel? Was Jesus the Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away sins? IS THERE A WAY FOR ALL OF OUR SINS TO BE FORGIVEN? IS THERE A WAY FOR US TO BE RECONCILED TO OUR CREATOR? IS THERE A WAY TO HAVE ETERNAL LIFE — TO LIVE WITH SALVATION’S LIFE FOREVER? GOD’S ANSWER IS YES, AND THE PREEMINENT WAY THAT HE SAYS “YES” IS BY RAISING HIS SON FROM THE DEAD. You will remember that Jesus made reference to the prophet Jonah in the belly of the fish, and compared that to His resurrection, and HE CALLED IT A SIGN. The sign of the prophet Jonah. ESV Matthew 12:39 But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Today we look at THAT SIGN — the resurrection of Jesus — and as we do, we will once again see two responses. This morning, we look at the response of disciples; tonight, we will look at the response of His enemies. We look at verses 1-10 under three headings. I. HEAVENLY WONDERS WITH GREAT FEAR (vs.1-4) The Sabbath day was over. The first day of the week (Sunday), which began with sundown the previous day, had reached the time when the sun dawns. Matthew tells us about two women. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph (27:56). John tells us that these two women came when it was still dark (20:1). Mark (16:1-8) and Luke (24) told us the sun was just coming up. Morning is breaking and a new day is dawning in every sense of the word. These two women were not alone. Mark tells us that Salome was with them, Luke mentions Joanna, and other women (Luke 24:10), but Matthew focuses on these two Mary’s. Why were they coming? They were bringing spices to anoint the body of Jesus (Mark 16:1). WHY? WHEN NICODEMUS BROUGHT SPICES FOR CHRIST’S BURIAL? Perhaps these two women had watched that preparation and recognized that it was rushed, due to time, and wanted to do it more carefully. Or, maybe they simply wanted to demonstrate their own love for Jesus, honoring Him this way as well. BUT WHEN THEY ARRIVE AT THE TOMB, IT IS NOT AS THEY EXPECTED. Now, let me say that when you look at the four gospel accounts and the details concerning what these women met with at the tomb, it can be a bit confusing. And EVERYONE trying to put a timeline together of the events, can put one together that makes sense of the differences, but NO ONE can know for certain if they have reconstructed things exactly. You have four different accounts, reflecting eyewitness testimony, that you can be sure is inerrant (it is God’s Word), but differing due to the differing roles and circumstances of the people involved. So, instead of doing a harmony of these events, I simply want to focus on what Matthew emphasized in his account. A. BEFORE THE WOMEN ARRIVED
The Burial of Jesus Part 2
April 14, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:62–66
Introduction: One of the ways that our God is exalted in Scripture is with the recognition that no one can withstand His will. ESV Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. “The peoples plot in vain.” “He who sits in the heavens laughs.” David amplifies a general truth, but looks forward to a specific situation. ANYONE who plots against the will of God, plots in vain. NO ONE is a threat to God’s will. He laughs at imagined rivals. But that truth was demonstrated in the life of God’s Son. That Psalm is magnified by the early church when Peter and John are threatened by the council. ESV Acts 4:21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old. 23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, "'Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. As I said, this is a general truth about God that the Scriptures celebrate. God exalts Himself through Isaiah when He draws a contrast between the so-called gods of false religion that have no real existence, and living God whose will is irresistible. ESV Isaiah 46:3 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; 4 even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. 5 "To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? 6 Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! 7 They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. 8 "Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. When Nebuchadnezzar was restored to his right mind, this is what he confessed. ESV Daniel 4:34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" Well, as we look at the burial of Jesus, we see this very truth on display. At His burial our Savior was honored by His disciples. But we also see our Lord, unwittingly, honored by His enemies. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE JEWS, THOSE WHO HAD WORKED FOR THE MURDER OF JESUS, WOULD HAVE NEVER INTENTIONALLY PAID HIM HOMAGE. And yet, in a strange way, that is exactly what they did — by the way they responded to His burial. OUR LORD’S BURIAL EXPOSES HIS ENEMIES. HE EXPOSES THEIR SPIRITUAL CONDITION. HE EXPOSES THEIR FEARS. HE EXPOSES THE FUTILITY OF THEIR DESIRE TO STOP WHAT HE PROMISED HE WOULD DO. Tonight, we look again at the burial of Jesus, and as we do, we see the fear and the futility of His enemies. I. A FEARFUL REQUEST (vs.62-64) Jesus was crucified on a Friday. The day after the preparation for Sabbath — the next day, Saturday, the Sabbath day — the chief priests and Pharisees met with Pilate. ESV Mark 15:42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Pilate must have thought to himself, how many more meetings about this Jesus? But here they were, and they wanted something additional. What they wanted was very revealing. As we said, they were exposed by our Lord’s burial. A. THEY REVEAL THEIR GODLESS ALLEGIANCE They address Pilate as Lord. It is true that the word can simply be used as a term of respect, as it is rendered here — “sir.” But in the context of the gospel of Matthew it is certainly striking. John Nolland —"Except in a few parables, where the ‘Lord’ of the parable functions metaphorically as an image of Jesus and/or God, the address κύριε (‘Lord/master’) has been reserved exclusively for Jesus elsewhere in the Gospel. Against this background, the use of κύριε here on the lips of the chief priests and the Pharisees, and addressed to Pilate, has an impact not unlike that of Jn. 19:15, where the chief priests say, ‘We have no king but Caesar’.:#_ftn1 But even if you say, “I think that is reading too much into that term of respect” then simply look at how these men continue to make use of Pilate. They wanted Pilate to shield them from losing their place of influence to Jesus, by crucifying Jesus. Now they want Pilate to shield them from losing their place (in their own words, an even worse situation), by keeping Christ’s body in the tomb. These men are not aiming to please God, they are aiming to please themselves. B. THEY REVEAL THAT THEY HEARD CHRIST’S CLAIMS OF RESURRECTION (vs.63) Remember that one of the key arguments made against Jesus during the Jewish phase of His trials, was that He had claimed that He would destroy the temple, and then could raise it up. Jesus was never talking about the temple in Jerusalem. He was talking about the temple of His body. #_ftnref1 John Nolland, https://ref.ly/logosres/nigtcmt?ref=bible.mt27.63&off=6&ctx=he+situation.%0a27%3a63+~except+in+a+few+para, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 1236.
The Burial of Jesus Part 1
April 14, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:57–66
Introduction: “God spoke to me,” “I thought I heard God saying to me,” — you often hear people talk like that. But how does God speak to people (characteristically) and how does He speak to us in our day? The Bible tells us that He has spoken at many different times and in many different ways, but that His preeminent communication of truth has come in His Son. ESV Hebrews 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. WHERE DO YOU FIND THAT MESSAGE? WHERE DO YOU FIND THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST? WE FIND THAT MESSAGE — THE MESSAGE OF CHRIST — IN SCRIPTURE. This is how God has preserved it, and chosen to communicate it, for the rest of time. The desire that many professing Christians have for communication from God that comes from outside the Scriptures, reveals a very real ignorance OF the Scriptures. Why do I say this? Because even when the Son of God was on the earth, He constantly pointed people to the Scriptures to understand who He was. And when THE FATHER testified to His Son at the cross, He did so, by providence and by supernatural activity, in WAYS THAT FULFILLED THE SCRIPTURES. The testimony of Christ pointed to the Scriptures. The testimony of His Father pointed to the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit of God is the AUTHOR OF THE SCRIPTURES. ESV 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. ESV Acts 1:16 "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. Even before the closing of the canon, new revelation was authenticated by its relationship to previous revelation. GOD HAS NEVER HAD A COMMUNICATION PROBLEM. GOD’S ONLY LIMITATIONS, WHEN IT COMES TO THE MEANS BY WHICH HE CHOOSES TO COMMUNICATE, ARE SELF-IMPOSED. HE COULD COMMUNICATE ANY WAY HE WANTS. So that, we must ask why God bothered giving the Scriptures? It is because this is how He has chosen to speak to us. THIS ANSWERS QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT GOD HAS SAID IN THE SCRIPTURES ABOUT THE SCRIPTURES. Why has God ascribed such honor to the Scriptures? ESV Psalm 138:1 Of David. I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word ESV Isaiah 42:21 The LORD was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his law and make it glorious. Why does He emphasize the TREASURED NATURE of the Scriptures? ESV Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Why does He emphasize the SUFFICIENCY of the Scriptures? ESV Luke 16:24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' 27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house-- 28 for I have five brothers-- so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'" Why does He commend our SANCTIFICATION to the Scriptures? ESV John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. IT IS BECAUSE GOD HAS CHOSEN TO SPEAK TO US THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES. I bring this up because we see this once more as we come to the burial of Jesus. We saw this at the cross. God working through providence, and God working through miracles, but everything related back to the Word of God. Now we see the same when we come to the burial and resurrection of Jesus. We will see God working in amazing ways through providence, and we will see miracles on display in His resurrection, and through it all, God’s Word is being fulfilled. In the case of Christ’s burial, God’s providence is especially on display again. But there is something else on display in the burial of Christ. There is a clear contrast between the disciples of Christ and the enemies of Christ. I. THE PEOPLE OF GOD AND THE BURIAL OF CHRIST (vs.57-60) In the Jewish accounting of time, each day ended and began at sundown. The new day would begin AFTER THE EVENING. The evening time continued until about 6:00 pm around that time of year. Jesus died at 3:00 pm, and something had to be done with His body. It was unlawful to leave a corpse on a tree overnight. ESV Deuteronomy 21:22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. That was true on ANY day, but it would have especially been concerning on THAT day, because the Sabbath was approach. And it wasn’t just any Sabbath, it was also the Passover. That meant it was a “high day.” You’ll remember that this is why the Jews asked for the legs of the victims, including Jesus, to be broken — to hasten their deaths. NOTE: THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE JEWS PUT THEIR HYPOCRISY ON DISPLAY ONCE AGAIN, BECAUSE THEY HAD NO CONCERN ABOUT DISOBEYING THE WORD OF GOD IN THE WAY THAT THEY SOUGHT THE DEATH OF CHRIST. BUT NOW THEY ARE SUDDENLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD WHEN IT COMES TO THE SABBATH. This is the leaven that Jesus warned about. The leaven of hypocrisy. It is a soul condemning blindness. You do not see because you are unwilling to see. You are selective in what concerns you — not out of concern for God but based on what serves your purposes. Well, these men were hypocrites. And they prove it yet again. ESV John 19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness-- his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth-- that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced." 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. John pointed out that this fulfilled Scripture. Our Lord’s supernatural death, and the things that took place with those victims, fulfilled the Word of God. But now something had to be done with Christ’s body. The bodies of criminals were not usually treated with dignity. The WAY they died was meant to be a deterrent. The way their body was disposed of was sometimes also used as a deterrent. John MacArthur — “The body of a victim normally would be given only to a family member. Often, however, even that humane consideration was not permitted, because public desecration of the body by throwing it into an open grave or onto a garbage heap was sometimes used as an additional warning about the serious consequences of opposing Rome.”#_ftn1 Craig Blomberg — “… a rich man named Joseph boldly approaches the Roman governor to ask for permission to give Jesus’ body a more decent burial than executed criminals would otherwise have received (vv. 57-58).” #_ftn2 So, it seems clear that there were no prior plans made for the burial of Jesus. All His disciples have fled. There is no one attempting to claim His body. When STEPPING FORWARD IS A MAN NEVER SPOKEN OF OUTSIDE THIS CONTEXT. Joseph of Arimathea. A. A MAN WHO CARED FOR JESUS (vs.57-59) Who was this man? 1. WHO HE WAS Matthew tells us a few things about him. a. HE WAS RICH He was a wealthy man. Keep that in mind (because we will see in a moment), that his wealth will prove to have biblical significance. b. HE WAS A JUDEAN Matthew tells us that he was from Arimathea. No one is certain of exactly where that was, but most scholars believe it was just north of Jerusalem. That would mean that Joseph was not a Galilean. There are other clear indicators that he was from Judea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. ESV Mark 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. His tomb, which we will learn in a moment was the burial place for Jesus, was right there in Jerusalem, and near the place of crucifixion. ESV John 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. Joseph’s wealth allowed him to own a tomb like that. c. HE WAS INFLUENTIAL We will talk more about this in a moment, but even without accessing the other gospel accounts we can see that he was an influential man because he somehow has access to Pilate, the Roman governor. d. HE WAS A DISCIPLE OF JESUS But Matthew tells us something else, very important. HE HAD BECOME A DISCIPLE OF JESUS. #_ftnref1John MacArthur, Matthew 24–28, https://accordance.bible/link/read/macarthur_ntc-2#10864. Accordance electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 295. #_ftnref2Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew, ed. E. Ray Clendenen and David S. Dockery, vol. 22 of https://accordance.bible/link/read/nac#111080. Accordance electronic ed. (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 423.
At The Cross Part 3
April 7, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:45–56
Introduction: Our God was giving His testimony to His Son at the cross. He was testifying regarding His Son providentially. He was testifying regarding His Son supernaturally. Last week and this morning we have been looking at that supernatural testimony. So far, we have seen three. I. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF JUDGMENT (vs.45-49) II. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF AUTHORITY (vs.50) Our Lord dies in a way unlike anyone else who has ever lived. God gives us truth that allows us to see that Jesus dismissed His life in a way that was sovereign. III. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF FORGIVENESS (vs.51a) When Matthew tells us about the veil of the temple being torn in two from top to bottom, we are now looking at what follows the death of Christ. God was testifying WHILE JESUS WAS DYING, and now we see that God’s testimony continue AFTER JESUS DIED. The first two supernatural testimonies had to do with who Jesus was and what He was doing. What follows testifies to what He accomplished. With the rending of the veil the message of open access to God through the work of His Son is clearly communicated. It represents the ending of one era of redemptive history, and the opening of a new era of redemptive history. Salvation has always been by the grace of God. Salvation has always been by God’s provision for man’s sins in His Son. But now the payment for sins was offered. No more need for a temple and the sacrifices offered there. No more need for Israel’s priesthood. Jesus is the sacrifice and Jesus is the priest — the one mediator between God and men. Now those have been forgiven have direct access to God in Christ. IV. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF LIBERATION (vs.51b-53) That brings us tonight to the 4th supernatural testimony that God gave to who His Son is and what He accomplished. It was a testimony of liberation. WHAT HAS CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED FOR US? HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED DELIVERANCE FOR US. HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED A GREAT VICTORY FOR US. HE HAS DEFEATED OUR GREAT SPIRITUAL ENEMIES The enemy of Satan. The enemy of sin. The enemy of death. The result is that we are FREE. But that freedom has more than one aspect. We are immediately free in the sense of slavery. But we are also looking forward to the day when that freedom is fully manifested — when the spoils of Christ’s victory are fully experienced by His people. This is why the New Testament speaks to us concerning our hope. ESV Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. That includes the hope of resurrection. ESV 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened-- not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. What happens just following the death of Christ speaks of who He is and the liberation He has won. A. THE EARTHQUAKE AND THE SPLITTING OF ROCKS SPEAKS OF WHO JESUS IS (A MESSAGE OF JUDGMENT) Matthew is the only one of the gospel writers who mentions this earthquake. When we remember that he is specially making a case to the Jewish people, we remember that what he chooses to include often calls OT Scripture to mind. What does this earthquake bring to mind? Passages like these. ESV Nahum 1:1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. 2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. 5 The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. 7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness. ESV Micah 1:2 Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. 5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. 7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. 8 For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. ESV Zechariah 14:1 Behold, a day is coming for the LORD, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
At The Cross Part 2
April 7, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:45–56
Introduction: The cross of Christ is glorious to the believer. We boast in our Savior and in His death for us, so that an emblem of shame is for us THE EMBLEM OF GLORY. The message of Christ crucified and raised from the dead is what we have believed to the saving of our souls, and it is what we proclaim for the salvation of other souls. And at that cross we see God’s testimony to Jesus. We have seen Scripture fulfilled in ways that magnify the providence of God. God’s accomplishment of extraordinary things through ordinary means. Now we are witnessing God’s supernatural testimony to His Son at the cross. Last Sunday we began looking at 5 ways that the Father testified to His Son’s person and work at the cross. I. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF JUDGMENT (vs.46-49) We considered the supernatural darkness that was on display. For three hours Jesus suffered while the sun was darkened. We noted the many places in the OT where darkness is used by God to speak of His judgment against sin and sinners. We noted that the primary message of judgment on display in THIS darkness, was God’s judgment upon our sins in the body of His Son. Christ, the righteous one — the just one — was suffering in the stead of the unrighteous ones, so that we would be made righteous in Him. NAS 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; ESV 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This message of judgment was on display in two ways — by CREATION and by CHRIST’S CRY. Our Lord cried out Psalm 22:1, and as a result we recognize that He suffered God’s wrath upon Himself to rescue us from that wrath. One thing we are told about that cry is that some who were listening responded to it. Some thought that He was calling for Elijah, or at least MOCKED Him with the idea that He was calling for Elijah. According to some scholars, there was a legend that because Elijah had been transported into heaven while still alive, he would return to offer help when needed for the righteous. D.A. Carson — “According to 2 Kings 2:1–12, Elijah did not die but was taken alive to heaven in a whirlwind. Some Jewish tradition, perhaps as old as the first century, held that he would come and rescue the righteous in their distress (cf. TDNT, 2:930–31; Str-B, 4:769–71).”#_ftn1 Did they sincerely confuse what Jesus was saying, or were they mocking Him as they had earlier when they said that perhaps God would remove Him from the cross? I don’t think we can be certain. Matthew tells us that they offered Jesus “sour wine.” Sour wine was wine vinegar diluted with water. It was cheap and was the drink of laborers and soldiers. QUESTION: WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MATTHEW INCLUDING THIS? Again, this brings Psalm 69:21 to mind. Psa 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Remember they had offered Him sour wine (vinegar wine) to drink earlier, but they put myrrh in it (Matthew called it gall to describe its taste). The myrrh made it undrinkable. It was AN ACT OF MOCKERY. They knew Jesus wouldn’t drink it. Jesus was willing to take it the first time, until He tasted it, then He refused it. Now they offer Him the wine, apparently without the myrrh, and Jesus took it from the sponge. II. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF AUTHORITY (vs.50) After taking that drink to His mouth, Jesus dies. WHAT MATTHEW DOESN’T TELL US, BUT JOHN DOES, IS THAT JESUS SAID HE WAS THIRSTY. HE SAID THIS KNOWING THAT EVERYTHING HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED. The three hours of darkness had come to an end. The Son of God had absorbed the wrath of God up to the point of His death. And John tells us that Jesus was conscious of this, and that He asked for something to drink to fulfill the Scripture. ESV John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. THIS IS A DEATH UNLIKE ANY OTHER IN HUMAN HISTORY. ESV John 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." When Jesus was conscious of having FINISHED His work on the cross, Matthew says that He CRIED OUT again, with a loud voice, and then “yielded up His spirit.” Whatever the sense of abandonment was, indicated by His cry, the Son continued in His love for His Father, and in His confidence in His Father. HIS FATHER WAS STILL HIS GOD, EVEN IN HIS CRY OF DERELICTION. And now, when He has reached the end, He cries out and YIELDS His spirit. HE “DISMISSES” HIS SPIRIT. JESUS CHOOSES DEPARTURE. The suffering of Christ was real, and it was horrific, but He did not die the usual death of a crucifixion victim. #_ftnref1 D. A. Carson, https://ref.ly/logosres/ebcrev09?ref=bible.mt27.47&off=3&ctx=+of+desolation!%e2%80%9d%0a47+~according+to+2+kings in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 648.
At The Cross Part 1
March 31, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:45–56
Introduction: It is a strange thing, from every human point of view, that the boast of Christianity looks to a cross. ESV Galatians 6:14 But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. The cross represents the very point at which the believer is now dead to world system out of which he has been saved. ESV 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ESV 1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Paul GLORIES in the cross. Christianity GLORIES in the cross. WHAT A STRANGE THING THAT A CROSS SHOULD BE THOUGHT GLORIOUS! The cross is a symbol of judgment. It is, by Scripture, identified with God’s curse. ESV Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"-- ESV Deuteronomy 21:22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. It is, by any human estimation, a mark of shame. It was a shameful, horrific, way to die. A cross was not a place where power or strength is displayed; it was a place of public humiliation — the one who was hung there was a public spectacle of rejection, helplessness, and weakness. And yet, believers BOAST IN THE CROSS OF CHRIST. Far from being ashamed of His cross, we glory in it. Our salvation is traced there. Our Savior rescued us there. There was a substitutionary, atoning, sacrifice that was offered there. The wisdom of God is displayed there. God’s wrath and mercy met there. And though our Savior was stripped bare and was humiliated, His majesty and His mercy were clearly on display at the cross. EVEN MORE, GOD’S TESTIMONY TO HIS SON IS ON DISPLAY AT THE CROSS. We saw, last Lord’s Day, that our God testified to His Son in a powerful, yet “quiet” way, as the Word of God was fulfilled, in Christ’s execution, through God’s providence. God was doing something extraordinary, through ordinary means, and Scripture was being fulfilled. But what we read in our verses this morning is different. God now testifies to His Son in ways that were anything but normal. He testified to His Son in miraculous ways that arrested the senses, that left even the most blinded, the most hardened, aware that something unusual was taking place. Events were taking place that should have called forth immediate repentance. GOD WORKED IN A WAY THAT PAGANS WERE SEIZED WITH FEAR. Beginning this morning, we see FIVE WAYS THAT GOD TESTIFIED to Christ’s saving work at the cross. We see five ways that the Father was bearing testimony to His Son, while His Son was dying to save us from God’s wrath and to secure us as God’s people. I. A SUPERNATURAL TESTIMONY OF JUDGMENT (vs.45-49) — Darkness As we said last time, God’s work through providence is no less a demonstration of His sovereignty, and wisdom, and power, than miracles. But that doesn’t mean that God’s work through providence can’t be distinguished from the miraculous. What Matthew describes in verse 45 is clearly supernatural — it is not able to be explained by anything ordinary. Let me say a few things about this darkness. First, the Bible makes no attempt to explain how it happened. Luke simply says that the sun’s light “failed.” ESV Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Second, the darkness cannot be explained by a normal solar eclipse. The position of the moon at Passover doesn’t allow for it. In addition, it wasn’t darkness for 7 minutes, or 15 minutes, or 30 minutes, or even an hour, it was darkness for 3 hours. The sixth hour is noon as the Jews accounted time. The ninth hour is three in the afternoon. From noon until three there was darkness over all the land. Indeed, the word γῆ can be translated earth. Was this local to the land of Israel, or was it worldwide? The Bible doesn’t say, but regardless, it is a testimony to all mankind. There are reports from sources outside Scripture that seem to refer to the darkness that occurred at this time. Tertullian (writing approximately AD 197) — “But the Jews were so exasperated by His teaching, by which their rulers and chiefs were convicted of the truth, chiefly because so many turned aside to Him, that at last they brought Him before Pontius Pilate, at that time Roman governor of Syria; and, by the violence of their outcries against Him, extorted a sentence giving Him up to them to be crucified. He Himself had predicted this; which, however, would have signified little had not the prophets of old done it as well. And yet, nailed upon the cross, He exhibited many notable signs, by which His death was distinguished from all others. At His own free-will, He with a word dismissed from Him His spirit, anticipating the executioner’s work. In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn, when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives.”#_ftn1 So, Tertullian (a believer), in his “apology” — making his case for Christ — argues that that Romans have this time of darkness mentioned in their archives. Paul Maier — “Phlegon, a Greek author from Caria writing a chronology soon after 137 a.d., reported that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e., 33 a.d.) there was “the greatest eclipse of the sun,” and that “it became night in the sixth hour of the day [i.e., noon] so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea.”#_ftn2 NOTE AGAIN THAT GOD’S WORD SAYS THAT IT WAS DARK FOR THREE HOURS. I read recently that the longest total solar eclipse on record was 7 minutes and 28 seconds on June 15, 743 B.C. according to calculations by NASA. I also read that the longest possible eclipse, according to mathematics, is just a few seconds over that number.#_ftn3 ADD TO THAT, THE FACT OF EVERYTHING ELSE THAT OCCURRED AT THE SAME TIME (the earthquake etc.), TELLS US THAT THIS WAS GOD COMMUNICATING A MESSAGE THROUGH THE CREATION THAT HE CONTROLS. #_ftnref1 Tertullian, https://ref.ly/logosres/anf03?ref=page.p+35&off=2090&ctx=e+one+and+the+same.+~but+the+jews+were+so in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. S. Thelwall, vol. 3, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 35. #_ftnref2 Paul L. Maier, https://ref.ly/logosres/pontiuspilate?ref=page.p+377&off=687&ctx=%e2%80%9d+or+%e2%80%9cworld+event.%e2%80%9d+~phlegon%2c+a+greek+aut, Second edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2014), 377. #_ftnref3 https://http://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/whats-the-longest-solar-eclipse-in-history-and-how-does-the-april-2024-total-eclipse-compare
An Extraordinary Ordinary Execution Part 2
March 24, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:32–44
Introduction: God accomplishes extraordinary things through ordinary means. This is the wonder of God’s providence. When we talk about the providence of God, we are talking about God’s sovereign activity through what seems ordinary to us, bringing about His purposes — a work that is greater than the simple sum of those ordinary means. God uses ordinary means to accomplish what could never be explained, merely, by those ordinary means. John Piper — “The word providence … means “to supply what is needed”; “to give sustenance or support.” So in reference to God, the noun providence has come to mean “the act of purposefully providing for, or sustaining and governing, the world.”#_ftn1 When God works a miracle, it represents an interruption of what we would call natural processes. It is something SUPERNATURAL breaking into the world of NATURAL MEANS. This is why miracles were SIGNS for Christ and His apostles. They don’t represent what is normal. But when God does His work through ordinary means, it is no less a demonstration of His power. God’s sovereignty over EVERY detail of what we consider our ordinary lives — directing all those ordinary events to accomplish EXACTLY what He purposed from all eternity — is JUST AS AMAZING AS ANY MIRACLE. BUT BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN ORDINARY WAYS, PEOPLE OFTEN MISS IT. God is doing amazing things all around the unregenerate person, but the unregenerate person is blind to that work, and even what he CAN see that something amazing has happened he refuses to ascribe to God. In fact, the lost man is even willing to ascribe it to impersonal forces — luck, chance. When we look at the crucifixion, we see the wonder of God’s amazing providence. We see God’s sovereignty on display in a way that is extraordinary in the midst of so much that was ordinary. This morning, we look at our Lord’s crucifixion, the wonder of God’s love for us, and we will consider three examples of the extraordinary work of God through what would have seemed ordinary. In fact, I think one interesting aspect of this section is that Matthew is telling us of events that were fulfillments of Scripture, and yet he never mentions that they were fulfillments of Scripture. He just tells us what happened. Do we RECOGNIZE that God was at work fulfilling Scripture? So, three examples of the extraordinary work of God through what would have seemed ordinary. I. AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY IMPOSITION (vs.32) A criminal who was to be crucified would carry his cross to the place of execution. John tells us that Jesus started out carrying His cross. ESV John 19:16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. But the fact that the Roman soldiers assigned to Christ’s crucifixion felt the need to compel someone to carry His cross, says that our Lord reached a state in which He was not able. Due to the enormity of the load that He was under — the physical suffering, met together with the emotional and spiritual burden that He carried — He was not able to carry that cross to the place where He would be crucified. So, as they make their way outside the gate of the city, and make their way to the place of crucifixion, they find a man whom they compelled to carry the cross. CRUCIFIXION HAD BECOME COMMONPLACE IN ROMAN SOCIETY. It was not unusual for people to be crucified. From about the 6th century BC to the time of Jesus, crucifixion had been practiced by the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and then the Romans.#_ftn2 And the Romans had taken it a step further than the cultures that taught them the practice. South African Medical Journal (2003) — “Originating in Mesopotamia and Persia, crucifixion was perfected by the Romans, who saw it as a most shameful mode of death, with Cicero once exclaiming that it was inappropriate for a Roman even to be confronted with the word ‘cross’… The Romans perfected crucifixion for 500 years until it was abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century AD. Crucifixion in Roman times was applied mostly to slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians and foreigners — only very rarely to Roman citizens. … Under Roman occupation crucifixion became commonplace in Palestine, Varus crucifying 2 000 Jews in 4 BC and Josephus reporting on mass crucifixions during the Jewish War.”#_ftn3 John MacArthur — “It is estimated that by the time of Christ the Romans had crucified some 30,000 men in Israel alone, primarily for insurrection. The crucifixion of only three men outside Jerusalem was therefore virtually insignificant in the eyes of Rome.”#_ftn4 ROMAN SOLDIERS COMPELLING BEHAVIOR WAS ALSO COMMONPLACE. Our Lord used such a thing to teach against retaliation. ESV Matthew 5:41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Who could do that? Who could force you to go one mile (carrying something)? A Roman soldier could do that. R.T. France — “Forces you to go (angareuō) is a specific term for the Roman soldier’s practice of ‘commandeering’ civilian labour in an occupied country. (It is used similarly in 27:32.) Here enforced service as a porter is envisaged. The Jews fiercely resented such impositions, and Jesus’ choice of this example deliberately dissociates him from militant nationalists. Rather than resisting, or even resenting, the disciple should volunteer for a further mile (the Roman term for 1,000 paces, rather less than our mile).”#_ftn5 So, as they are making their way to a common place for execution, to carry out a common form of execution, Roman soldiers do something that wasn’t unusual for them to do, they COMPEL someone to do something they wanted done. The man they chose was AN ORDINARY MAN. He was a man named Simon, who was from the North African city of Cyrene. Matthew says, “they found” him, which indicates they were looking for someone who would be strong enough to do what they wanted done. Mark and Luke tell us that he just happened to be passing by at that very moment. Luk 23:26 And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. But Mark goes further. He doesn’t just tell us he was a passerby; he tells us the names of his sons. Mar 15:21 And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. HOW? HOW DO WE KNOW HIS NAME? HOW DO WE KNOW WHERE HE WAS FROM? WHY DOES MARK MENTION THE NAMES OF SONS LIKE WE WOULD KNOW WHO THEY ARE? #_ftnref1 John Piper, https://ref.ly/logosres/providence?ref=page.p+30&off=124&ctx=re+is+a+suggestion.%0a~the+word+providence+ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 30. #_ftnref2 https://www.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishmenthttp://www.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishment #_ftnref3 http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/2462/1710 #_ftnref4John MacArthur, Matthew 24–28, https://accordance.bible/link/read/macarthur_ntc-2#10632. Accordance electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 254. #_ftnref5 R. T. France, https://ref.ly/logosres/tntc61mtus?ref=bible.mt5.41&off=4&ctx=s+and+property.%0a41.+~forces+you+to+go+(an, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 132.
An Extraordinary Ordinary Execution Part 1
March 24, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:32–44
Introduction: God accomplishes extraordinary things through ordinary means. This is the wonder of God’s providence. When we talk about the providence of God, we are talking about God’s sovereign activity through what seems ordinary to us, bringing about His purposes — a work that is greater than the simple sum of those ordinary means. God uses ordinary means to accomplish what could never be explained, merely, by those ordinary means. John Piper — “The word providence … means “to supply what is needed”; “to give sustenance or support.” So in reference to God, the noun providence has come to mean “the act of purposefully providing for, or sustaining and governing, the world.”#_ftn1 When God works a miracle, it represents an interruption of what we would call natural processes. It is something SUPERNATURAL breaking into the world of NATURAL MEANS. This is why miracles were SIGNS for Christ and His apostles. They don’t represent what is normal. But when God does His work through ordinary means, it is no less a demonstration of His power. God’s sovereignty over EVERY detail of what we consider our ordinary lives — directing all those ordinary events to accomplish EXACTLY what He purposed from all eternity — is JUST AS AMAZING AS ANY MIRACLE. BUT BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN ORDINARY WAYS, PEOPLE OFTEN MISS IT. God is doing amazing things all around the unregenerate person, but the unregenerate person is blind to that work, and even what he CAN see that something amazing has happened he refuses to ascribe to God. In fact, the lost man is even willing to ascribe it to impersonal forces — luck, chance. When we look at the crucifixion, we see the wonder of God’s amazing providence. We see God’s sovereignty on display in a way that is extraordinary in the midst of so much that was ordinary. This morning, we look at our Lord’s crucifixion, the wonder of God’s love for us, and we will consider three examples of the extraordinary work of God through what would have seemed ordinary. In fact, I think one interesting aspect of this section is that Matthew is telling us of events that were fulfillments of Scripture, and yet he never mentions that they were fulfillments of Scripture. He just tells us what happened. Do we RECOGNIZE that God was at work fulfilling Scripture? So, three examples of the extraordinary work of God through what would have seemed ordinary. I. AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY IMPOSITION (vs.32) A criminal who was to be crucified would carry his cross to the place of execution. John tells us that Jesus started out carrying His cross. ESV John 19:16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. But the fact that the Roman soldiers assigned to Christ’s crucifixion felt the need to compel someone to carry His cross, says that our Lord reached a state in which He was not able. Due to the enormity of the load that He was under — the physical suffering, met together with the emotional and spiritual burden that He carried — He was not able to carry that cross to the place where He would be crucified. So, as they make their way outside the gate of the city, and make their way to the place of crucifixion, they find a man whom they compelled to carry the cross. CRUCIFIXION HAD BECOME COMMONPLACE IN ROMAN SOCIETY. It was not unusual for people to be crucified. From about the 6th century BC to the time of Jesus, crucifixion had been practiced by the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and then the Romans.#_ftn2 And the Romans had taken it a step further than the cultures that taught them the practice. South African Medical Journal (2003) — “Originating in Mesopotamia and Persia, crucifixion was perfected by the Romans, who saw it as a most shameful mode of death, with Cicero once exclaiming that it was inappropriate for a Roman even to be confronted with the word ‘cross’… The Romans perfected crucifixion for 500 years until it was abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century AD. Crucifixion in Roman times was applied mostly to slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians and foreigners — only very rarely to Roman citizens. … Under Roman occupation crucifixion became commonplace in Palestine, Varus crucifying 2 000 Jews in 4 BC and Josephus reporting on mass crucifixions during the Jewish War.”#_ftn3 John MacArthur — “It is estimated that by the time of Christ the Romans had crucified some 30,000 men in Israel alone, primarily for insurrection. The crucifixion of only three men outside Jerusalem was therefore virtually insignificant in the eyes of Rome.”#_ftn4 ROMAN SOLDIERS COMPELLING BEHAVIOR WAS ALSO COMMONPLACE. Our Lord used such a thing to teach against retaliation. ESV Matthew 5:41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Who could do that? Who could force you to go one mile (carrying something)? A Roman soldier could do that. R.T. France — “Forces you to go (angareuō) is a specific term for the Roman soldier’s practice of ‘commandeering’ civilian labour in an occupied country. (It is used similarly in 27:32.) Here enforced service as a porter is envisaged. The Jews fiercely resented such impositions, and Jesus’ choice of this example deliberately dissociates him from militant nationalists. Rather than resisting, or even resenting, the disciple should volunteer for a further mile (the Roman term for 1,000 paces, rather less than our mile).”#_ftn5 So, as they are making their way to a common place for execution, to carry out a common form of execution, Roman soldiers do something that wasn’t unusual for them to do, they COMPEL someone to do something they wanted done. The man they chose was AN ORDINARY MAN. He was a man named Simon, who was from the North African city of Cyrene. Matthew says, “they found” him, which indicates they were looking for someone who would be strong enough to do what they wanted done. Mark and Luke tell us that he just happened to be passing by at that very moment. Luk 23:26 And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. But Mark goes further. He doesn’t just tell us he was a passerby; he tells us the names of his sons. Mar 15:21 And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross. #_ftnref1 John Piper, https://ref.ly/logosres/providence?ref=page.p+30&off=124&ctx=re+is+a+suggestion.%0a~the+word+providence+ (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 30. #_ftnref2 https://www.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishmenthttp://www.britannica.com/topic/crucifixion-capital-punishment #_ftnref3 http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/2462/1710 #_ftnref4John MacArthur, Matthew 24–28, https://accordance.bible/link/read/macarthur_ntc-2#10632. Accordance electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 254. #_ftnref5 R. T. France, https://ref.ly/logosres/tntc61mtus?ref=bible.mt5.41&off=4&ctx=s+and+property.%0a41.+~forces+you+to+go+(an, vol. 1, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 132.
God & King In The Hands of Men
March 17, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:27–31
Introduction: The section we look at tonight is brief, but vitally important. Why do the gospel writers tell us of the treatment of Jesus during His trials and how He was treated on the way to His crucifixion? Why do they tell us that Jesus was mocked and brutalized? Why do they record for us the questions about Jesus as King, and the terrible treatment of Jesus that included the mockery of His royalty? They tell us about these things because what Jesus endured testifies to who Jesus truly was and is — the great King promised in Scripture — and these things also testify to us about our need for Him. THE TRUE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF MANKIND IS ON DISPLAY IN THE TREATMENT OF THE DIVINE KING. THE TRUE SAVING COMMITMENT OF THE DIVINE KING IS ON DISPLAY IN THE TREATMENT THAT GOD’S SON WILLINGLY ENDURED. BUT IF THESE TWO THINGS ARE TRUE, IF MAN KNOWS HATRED FOR GOD AND HIS KING, AND IF GOD AND HIS KING ALLOWED HATEFUL TREATMENT ON THE WAY TO CHRIST’S SAVING WORK, THEN THE END OF ALL THINGS, AND THE FINAL JUDGMENT AT THE HANDS OF THAT KING, IS ALSO PROVEN TO BE CERTAIN. If Jesus is the suffering servant and the only Savior, then He is also the sovereign judge. If you do a simple Bible search on your computer, looking for verses where God is referred to as King, you will see that this is no small theme in Scripture. God is the true king. Israel’s king is God. The world’s king is God. The church’s king is God. The believer’s king is God. You will also see that Jesus is the eternal Son of God (God in human flesh) and the promised King of Israel and of the World. God has determined to demonstrate His rule in and through His Son. GOD IS KING, AND GOD’S KING IS GOD’S SON. Psalm 2 is just one example. ESV Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. The elements of that Psalm are instructive. Yahweh and His King (his anointed) are rebelled against and plotted against (vs.1-3) Yahweh and His King are not threatened nor defeated as a result (vs.4-9) The world and its kings are warned to serve the Lord and His King — to kiss the Son — before the day of judgment arrives (vs.10-12) THOSE THREE REALITIES WERE ON DISPLAY DURING THE EARTHLY MINISTRY OF JESUS. The humiliation of Christ was real, but the humiliation of Christ is not the end. The humiliation of Christ leads in God’s sovereign plan to the exaltation of Christ. The humiliation was necessary for salvation. The humiliation belongs to the mission of redemption. But the same one who embraced the shame will be exalted in glory. The one who suffered at the hands of human authorities did so according to the predetermined plan of God, and He will one day judge ALL MANKIND with ALL AUTHORITY in Heaven and on earth. The Holy Spirit of God, through the gospel writers, present us with the evidence of man’s guilt, Christ’s innocence, and therefore the CERTAINTY of Jesus of Nazareth as Savior and judge. ALL OF THIS IS ON DISPLAY, BUT IN OUR TEXT IT BEGINS WITH THIS RECOGNITION. HOW WOULD MANKIND TREAT GOD AND HIS KING IF GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE THAT KING IN HIS HANDS? Our text tonight testifies. I. THE MOCKING OF THE DIVINE KING The answer to that question is seen in the treatment of Jesus. If God’s King is put into the hands of sinners, they will vent their hatred upon Him. MEN ARE HATERS OF GOD. AS A RESULT, THEY ARE ALSO HATERS OF EACH OTHER. NAS Romans 1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ESV Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. ESV Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, ESV Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. Put God into the hands of lost humanity and they would attempt to do what they imagine they can do — destroy God. THIS WAS DEMONSTRATED DURING BOTH PHASES OF CHRIST’S UNJUST TRIALS.
The Sorrow That Doesn’t Belong To Salvation
March 10, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:11–26
Introduction: The only Jesus who is real — the only Jesus who can save — is the biblical Jesus. Let this speak LOUDLY to all people trying to find Jesus in their dreams, or in their feelings, or in their imaginations. If the Jesus you believe in, the Jesus you prefer, does not MATCH THE SCRIPTURES, if He does not FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES, if you have not FOUND HIM IN THE SCRIPTURES, you have a false Jesus. This is something we meet with again and again as Jesus is presented to us by the witness of the apostles — they knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah because HE FULFILLED THE SCRIPTURES. They make their case to us FROM THE SCRIPTURES. BUT WHEN THE APOSTLES DO THIS, WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT THEY ARE ONLY FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS HIMSELF. Jesus kept pointing people — EVEN BELIEVING PEOPLE — to the fact that His mission was fulfilling the Scriptures. ESV Matthew 26:52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" WELL, THAT TESTIMONY DOESN’T JUST CONSIST OF THE SIGNS OF SUPERNATURAL DELIVERANCES (healings, demon deliverances etc.). THE TESTIMONY ALSO INCLUDES THE SIGNS OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS. It isn’t just THE FACT of His suffering. It is also the MANNER of His suffering. The Old Testament Scriptures promised a Messiah who would SUFFER TO SAVE US, and in a way that He willingly submitted Himself to that suffering. ESV Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. It is THAT Savior that sinners meet with in the gospel message. The suffering servant, the Lamb of God, who goes to the cross joyfully. ESV Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He goes to the cross in a way that serves as our own example for the suffering that we must endure. ESV Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. HE HASN’T JUST SAVED US — HE SAVED US IN A WAY THAT NOW INSTRUCTS US. ESV 1 Peter 2:23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. WE SEE THAT SUFFERING IN HIS TRIAL BEFORE PONTIUS PILATE. We have seen Christ’s mistreatment during the Jewish phase of His trials. Now Matthew tells us about Christ’s treatment before Pilate. Jesus has been on trial before His own people — a trial held in a religious context. Jesus is now on trial before the Romans — a trial held in a political context. Once again, He passes the biblical tests. Once again, He fulfills the Scriptures. We will organize our study of Christ’s trial before Pilate around five questions. I. A QUESTION ABOUT ROYALTY (vs.11) Why would Pilate ask this question? It is because this was a part of the case that the Jews were making to the Romans. “Jesus is an enemy of Caesar.” ESV Luke 23:1 Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, "We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king." 3 And Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he answered him, "You have said so." This is an intentional distortion. THEY KNOW BETTER. There is nothing that Jesus has done, in His claims as the Messiah, that have spoken of or encouraged the thought that He wanted to lead an insurrection. But they are seeking His death, and this was a way that they thought they could achieve it. John MacArthur — “Had Jesus been guilty of any one of those allegations, Pilate would have known of it and would long since have arrested and executed Him. As virtually every Jew and many Gentiles in Palestine well knew, however, Jesus was a man of peace and was in total submission to Roman political authority. He willingly paid taxes and taught His followers to do likewise. He even taught that if a soldier commanded a person to carry his gear for a mile, which by Roman law he was permitted to do, the person should carry it two miles (Matt. 5:41). Jesus not only did not rebel against the emperor but had publicly declared that citizens should “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matt. 22:21). And when His admirers had wanted to make Him king by force He had disappeared from their midst (John 6:15). The accusations against Jesus were such obvious lies that one wonders what sort of fool the Jewish leaders thought Pilate to be.”#_ftn1 JESUS MADE PLAIN TO PILATE THAT HE WAS INDEED A KING. Even here he affirms Pilate’s words to the extent that Pilate understood what he was saying. JESUS IS, INDEED, THE KING OF THE JEWS, BUT IN A MUCH MORE PROFOUND WAY THAN PILATE WOULD EVER UNDERSTAND. Jesus made this clear to Pilate. In fact, He made this clear in a way that was also searching. #_ftnref1John MacArthur, Matthew 24–28, https://accordance.bible/link/read/macarthur_ntc-2#10521. Accordance electronic ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 235.
The Sorrow That Doesn’t Belong To Salvation
March 10, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 27:1–10
Introduction: It is not accidental that the sorrow of one of Christ’s disciples is described, followed by the sorrow of another. IT IS TRUE THAT BOTH OCCURRED IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO ONE ANOTHER IN TERMS OF TIME. BUT IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT MATTHEW CHOSE TO DESCRIBE THE GRIEF OF BOTH, PLACING THEM BACK-TO-BACK. He wants us to see something. There is a comparison that he wants us to see. The first disciple was genuine. The second disciple was an apostate. The first disciple was a lover of Christ. The second was a lover of money. The first disciple betrayed his master out of sinful weakness. The second betrayed his teacher out of Satanic worldliness. The first disciple was sorrowful in a way that led to repentance and life. The second was sorrowful in a way that led to empty remorse and death. WE SEE TWO KINDS OF SORROW. And it is the second that we set our attention on tonight. Tonight, we think about the sorrow that doesn’t belong to salvation. This is an issue of tremendous importance to consider. We noted in the previous passage that one of the marks of genuine salvation is sorrow over our sins. The sins of a believer are a cause of great grief to the believer. Sometimes, as in the case of Peter, it is shocking sorrow — it is coming face to face with your capacity for failure — and the aftermath is deeply bitter. This is a TRUE MOURNING over our sins. It is a mourning explained by genuine faith. The result is that mourning is not the end. It is a SORROW that leads to repentance and obedience. It is a sorrow that leads to Christ. It is a sorrow that belongs to salvation. Matthew tells us that Judas Iscariot ALSO KNEW SORROW after his great betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ. Judas knew grief, and it was exceedingly bitter. BUT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS TRULY. GENUINE FAITH WAS ABSENT. His sorrow did not lead upward. It did not look to God and His Son. There was no hope PRESENT IN HIS MIND AND HEART for the need that he had of forgiveness. IF YOU DO NOT LOOK TO CHRIST, THERE IS NOWHERE ELSE TO LOOK AND NO ONE ELSE TO HELP. Judas also came face to face with himself, but then he was LEFT TO HIMSELF. THE SINNER, LEFT TO HIMSELF, MEETS WITH SOMEONE DESERVING OF THE WRATH OF GOD, WITH NO POWER TO CHANGE THAT STATUS. The result is despair. I. THE DECISION REGARDING JESUS (vs.1-2) As we noted in previous sections, this was the Jewish phase of His trials come now to a conclusion. To dot their I’s and cross their t’s, they waited until morning before the Sanhedrin pronounced their final decision. Then they bound him and led Him away to Pilate. But Matthew now turns his attention to something else. What ever happened to Judas? He agrees to the most heinous act of betrayal in the history of the world. In fact, he did not just agree to it, HE ARRANGED IT. But what happened afterwards? II. THE DESPAIRING REVERSAL OF JUDAS (vs.3-5) What happened is a sad testimony to the nature of man in his estrangement from God, but also a testimony to the nature and character of the deceiver. Satan, the god of this world, the ruler of the darkness of this age, LOVES to lie to men in a way that promises them some kind of pleasure or gain, sometimes giving them pleasure for a season, but in the end, HE IS A MURDERER. Man, in his estrangement from God, not only walks according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, he believes the devils lies because they accord with his own sinful desires. BUT IN THE END, MAN HAVING CHOSEN WHAT APPEALS TO HIS OWN HEART, DISCOVERS THAT WHAT HIS HEART AND FLESH LONG FOR ARE THE VERY THINGS THAT LEAD TO DESTRUCTION. A. WHAT JUDAS SEES (vs.3a) He sees Jesus condemned. B. WHAT JUDAS FEELS (vs.3b) He feels remorse. Note this, feeling remorse for sin does not necessarily mean that someone is regenerate. It is possible to feel great sorrow, great regret, great shame, great bitterness, over your sin EVEN WHEN YOU ARE ESTRANGED FROM GOD. Judas felt this over Jesus. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE SAVED SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY FEEL SORRY OVER WHAT THEY HAVE DONE WRONG. BUT JUDAS A GREAT WARNING TO US. There are at least two things we need to know about feelings of guilt by which we can distinguish the sorrow that Judas knew from the sorrow that believers know. 1. GODLY SORROW SEES SIN IN A WAY THAT BELONGS TO SALVATION. 2. GODLY SORROW SEES THE SOLUTION IN A WAY THAT BELONGS TO SALVATION. There really are two differences here. How we see the sin itself, and how we understand the hope for such sinners.
Meeting Your Capacity For Failure
March 10, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 26:69–75
Introduction: One of the clearest evidences of the forgiveness of your sins, is the knowledge of your sins. A knowledge that belongs to godly sorrow — a knowledge that leads to Christ. A knowledge unlike worldly sorrow — a knowledge of sin that produces a guilt that simply leads to death. 2 Corinthians 7:10 (LSB) 10 For godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world brings about death. Saved people are characterized by humble faith — GOD HUMBLES THE PEOPLE HE SAVES. That humility has sensitized us TO OUR OWN SINS. We have been taught by God about our sin, and we BELIEVE HIM. The proud person — the lost person — is different. The proud person is oftentimes alert to what he sees as the failings of everyone BUT HIMSELF. He often misses the mark on what sin is, but WHATEVER HE THINKS IT IS, he thinks it characterizes others more than him. The saved person has been ENLIGHTENED as to the true nature of sin, and therefore sees himself more clearly. This points to the fact that God’s saving work in His people is never just legal in nature — it is experiential as well. You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. You are a part of a new humanity formed in God’s Son. You have been given a new life. You have a renewed mind. You are no longer in spiritual bondage — you are now free to love and serve God. You have come to Christ in penitent faith — a faith that sees sin and is contrite over sin and forsakes sin — because of the Holy Spirit’s work. OUR LORD SPOKE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WORK IN EVANGELISM. John 16:8–11 (LSB) 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. WELL, HIS WORK DID NOT END UPON CONVERSION. HIS WORK OF CONVINCING CONTINUES THROUGHOUT OUR SANCTIFICATION. He goes on teaching us, convincing us of all that is true. THIS MEANS THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD HAVE A NEW RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR OWN SINS. We see our own sins. We are convicted over our own sins. We GRIEVE over our own sins. We CONFESS our sins. SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT MOURN OVER HIS OWN SINS IS SOMEONE WHO IS A STRANGER TO THE GRACE OF GOD. 1 John 1:5–10 (LSB) 5 And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. THIS IS A GREAT TEST FOR YOU. ARE YOU A CONFESSOR OF YOUR SINS? AND YET, even after being initially enlightened as to our sins, and even though we experience the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives, there are times when we are SURPRISED BY OUR OWN SINFULNESS. We are guilty of overestimation. We are falsely confident regarding our ability to stand. We think ourselves beyond the reach of what we have been warned about. Sometimes we have even turned a deaf ear to what someone has loved us enough to try and help us with. The result is that we are eventually humbled by MEETING OUR CAPACITY FOR FAILURE in a way that shocks us and is deeply bitter to us. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN SHOCKED BY YOUR OWN SINFULNESS? What we thought ourselves incapable of, we find ourselves guilty of. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH PETER. THIS MORNING WE SEE A MAN WHO MET WITH HIS CAPACITY FOR FAILURE IN A WAY THAT HE WOULD HAVE NEVER BELIEVED AND WOULD NEVER FORGET. And, as we LOOK AT PETER’S SHOCKING FAILURE, may WE LEARN FROM IT. 1 Corinthians 10:12 (LSB) 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. But we will also see that, even where believers meet with bitter failure, we also meet with the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ. I. THE SETTING (vs.58, 69) Peter was following at a distance and made his way into the courtyard where he could watch what was taking place (vs.58). Remember that all the disciples fled (vs.56), so Peter had to have remained close, kept his eyes on the arresting group as they led Jesus away from the garden. He had to have remained close as they took Him to Annas, and then followed Him to the house of the high priest Caiaphas. Now, something we want to recognize on the part of Peter is that there is no reason to have done this except love and concern. PETER’S DISCIPLESHIP IS ON DISPLAY EVEN DURING THE NIGHT OF ONE OF HIS WORST FAILINGS. NOTE: EVEN WHEN BELIEVERS FAIL MISERABLY YOU CAN STILL FIND THE FRUIT OF GENUINE FAITH. There is a measure of COURAGE on display in Peter. He walks himself right into the lion’s den by following Jesus into the courtyard. There would have been a wide range of “servants” present in Peter’s situation. Everything from temple police to slaves.
Religious Wickedness Meets Perfect Righteousness
March 3, 2024 • Richard Caldwell Jr. • Matthew 26:57–68
Introduction: Jesus has been arrested in the garden, and now He will endure two trials, each trial having three phases, within the span of just a few hours. Our God not only tells us that Jesus was taken through trials — He shows us WITH DETAILS that these trials were a mockery of justice and an attack on righteousness. What does He mean for us to see? Well, as we will be reminded throughout our study of these trials, the innocence of God’s Son is being demonstrated and documented. The facts are set before us that demonstrate that though He died the death of a criminal, there was no guilt in Him. As an apologetic for the gospel, as answer for unbelieving critics of Christianity, the record must be clear concerning what Jesus was charged with and what the truth was about those charges, and the gospel writers provide us with that clear record. But something else stands out at the same time. We see the wickedness of those who wanted Him dead. AND THAT WICKEDNESS WAS ON DISPLAY IN THE LIVES OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS. IT ALERTS US TO THE FACT THAT GREAT WICKEDNESS CAN EXIST IN THE RELIGIOUS REALM. IT ALSO TELLS US HOW THAT RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS BEHAVED. IT WAS NOW RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS THAT HAD ITS HANDS ON PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS HAD ITS HANDS ON THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. How does religious wickedness treat perfect righteousness? ESV Acts 2:23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. This is what you see in the trial that was held before Caiaphas the high priest. There are two distinct phases to the trials of Jesus prior to His condemnation and crucifixion. There is the Jewish phase, and then the Roman phase. The Jewish phase represents RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS. The Roman phase represents CIVIL WICKEDNESS. And as we look at the Jewish phase of Christ’s trials there are five things I want us to see about religious wickedness when it is met with perfect righteousness. Now, something I want to say before we look at these five things. THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST HAS ALWAYS KNOWN AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WICKEDNESS OFTEN DRESSES IN THE ROBES OF RELIGION. Lost humanity wants to group all religion together. Lost people want to believe that ALL THAT CALLS ITSELF CHRISTIANITY IS CHRISTIANITY, and that Christianity is no different than any of the world’s religions. Lost people also want to believe that Christians would defend anything and everything that is dressed in religious garb. This is not true, and it has NEVER been true. THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR FROM BEGINNING TO END THAT THERE IS TRUE RELIGION AND FALSE RELIGION. THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT SATAN OFTEN COMES AS AN ANGEL OF LIGHT. THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT FALSE PROFESSORS EXIST, HAVE ALWAYS EXISTED, AND JUDAS IS JUST THE MOST HEINOUS EXAMPLE OF THAT. Paul was warning churches in the first century about false Christs. ESV 2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. THE TRIALS OF OUR LORD DEMONSTRATE THE HATEFULNESS, THE CRUELTY, THE DISHONESTY, THE DISREGARD FOR JUSTICE, THAT CAN EXIST IN THE REALM OF PUBLIC RELIGION. What do we see in Christ’s trial before Caiaphas? I. RELIGIOUS WICKEDNESS ON DISPLAY IN THE CONDUCT OF THE TRIAL (vs.57-58) The first place where religious wickedness is on display is in the way that Christ’s trial was conducted. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CHRIST’S JEWISH TRIAL, JUST KNOW THAT WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS SOMETHING THE JEWS KNEW TO BE PRELIMINARY TO THE CASE THEY WOULD HAVE TO MAKE TO THE ROMANS. This, then, is more like a trial before the trial. As we noted already, this part of Christ’s trials had three phases. First, they took him before Annas. ESV John 18:12 So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him. 13 First they led him to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people. Both Annas and Caiaphas are called the high priest because Annas held the office in the legitimate way (and it was lifelong), and Caiaphas was the latest of the handpicked office-holders by Rome. James Montgomery Boice — “The first part of the Jewish trial was a preliminary hearing before Annas. This seems to be what John describes in his Gospel (John 18:19–24), though the issue is somewhat confusing because John calls both Annas and Caiaphas “the high priest.” The reason he does so is because Annas was the true high priest, appointed for life as high priests were. But the Romans had replaced him with Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas, so that both held the title at the same time.” #_ftn1 ESV Luke 3:2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. Annas was the first stop, likely, for two reasons. One, he still has authority in the eyes of the Jewish people. He seems to be the power behind the power. So, this would be the logical first stop. But there is likely a darker purpose behind this first phase. They start with Annas in the hopes that Jesus might incriminate Himself, but Jesus’ answers frustrated Annas. ESV John 18:19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, "I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said." 22 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?" 24 Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Jesus is treated violently, and as He points out, without cause. #_ftnref1James Montgomery Boice, The Triumph of the King (Matthew 18–28), vol. 13 of https://accordance.bible/link/read/boice_commentary#45810. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2001), 582-583.