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You can turn to Matthew's gospel.
We're in chapter 27. We've been moving through the
passion narrative in Matthew's gospel for our Lord's Supper
services. Tonight, our focus is on verses
32 to 38, but I'll begin reading in Matthew 27 at verse 32, and
I'll read to verse 54. Now as they came out, they found
a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear his
cross. And when they had come to a place
called Golgotha, that is to say, place of a skull, they gave him
sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when he had tasted
it, he would not drink. Then they crucified him and divided
his garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among
them, and for my clothing they cast lots. Sitting down they
kept watch over him there. And they put up over his head
the accusation written against him, This is Jesus, the king
of the Jews. Then two robbers were crucified
with him, one on the right and another on the left. And those
who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying,
you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save
yourself. If you are the son of God, come
down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests also,
mocking what the scribes and elders said, he saved others,
himself he cannot save. If he is the king of Israel,
let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him.
He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him.
For he said, I am the son of God. Even the robbers who were
crucified with him reviled him with the same thing. Now from
the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was darkness over
all the land. And about the ninth hour, Jesus
cried out with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is, my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? Some of those who stood there,
when they heard that, said, this man is calling for Elijah. Immediately
one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and
put it on a reed and offered it to him to drink. The rest
said, let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come
to save him. And Jesus cried out again with
a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the veil
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth
quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and
many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
And coming out of the graves after his resurrection, they
went into the holy city and appeared to many. So when the centurion
and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and
the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying,
Truly, this was the Son of God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our
Father, we come to holy ground and we pray for the Holy Spirit
to guide us and to lead us and to direct us as we ponder, as
we meditate, as we consider the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We know that this was the greatest
travesty in terms of justice on the manward side that ever
has been. He was without sin, He was without
crime, and nevertheless He was executed. But as we read in the
prophet, it pleased Yahweh to bruise Him. We know that this
was the predetermined plan of God Most High, that the Son,
the surety of the covenant, would take upon himself the obligations
that his people had, that he would take upon himself their
sin and ultimately be punished in their place. God, what a glorious
truth this is, and what a blessed reality that you've included
us in this redemptive plan. Forgive us now for all of our
sins, wash us in that blood of Christ, and cause us to feast
upon your holy scripture. And we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Well, the section I read deals
with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Notice in verses 32 to
38, we have the crucifixion proper. In verses 45 to 54, the mockery
of Jesus while he is on the cross. I'm sorry, 39 to 44. We have the death of Jesus in
45 to 54. And I think the apostle was right
on in Hebrews 12 too. He says, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. So in verses
32 to 38, we highlight or we see highlighted the visible shame. And then in verses 39 to 44,
we see the verbal shame. So there was this violence perpetrated
upon the son of God, but it was accompanied by mockery, just
like the soldiers mistreated him, not only with physical pain,
but also with mockery. So do the children or rather
the people of Israel. So I want to look at this section,
verses 32 to 38 under two broad considerations. First, the way
to the crucifixion in verses 32 to 34, and then secondly,
the act of crucifixion in verses 35 to 38. So we're going to just
slowly move through each of these verses to see the meaning and
hopefully encourage our own hearts with reference to the Savior's
love on our behalf. So three things specifically
with the way to the crucifixion. We note first the bearing of
the cross, verse 32. Secondly, the location of the
crucifixion in verse 33. And then this offer of a drink
in verse 34. Seems a bit enigmatic to us,
seems a bit puzzling, but it was a fulfillment of scripture
and it was the common practice at that time. But notice with
reference to the bearing of the cross. Verse 32 says, now as
they came out, The idea is not that they've come out of the
praetorium where Pilate heard the case and where Pilate sort
of made his determination concerning the execution, but rather they
came out of the city. Executions occurred outside the
city walls. The idea being that the blood
of the criminal would defile the holy city. And they certainly
did not want that. In the Old Testament, for instance,
when the blasphemer was to be stoned to death, he was to be
driven outside of the city. Remember in that situation in
Acts chapter 7. When they undertake to get rid
of Stephen, they do the same thing. They drive him outside
of the city. But perhaps the most pointed
commentary on this is found in Hebrews chapter 13. It does reflect
the custom in the Old Testament of taking the victim's ashes
outside the camp. And in Hebrews 13 at verse 11
or verse 10, we have an altar from which those who serve the
tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also that
he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered outside
the gate. So this was purposeful. This
was in accordance with the law. This was in accordance with what
God had determined. Now notice that the Lord carries
the cross beam to the gate of the city. Now the vertical pole
was already at the execution site, so the victim, or rather
the criminal, would have sort of the horizontal beam and it
would be his responsibility to carry that to the execution site. This accords with the Greek historian
Plutarch. He said each criminal as a part
of his punishment, carries his cross on his back. So he takes
that to the site, and then when he gets there, the condemned
criminal bore it on his shoulders to the place of execution, where
the upright beam of the gibbet, you've probably seen that word
before, it simply means the upright or vertical beam, was already
fastened in the ground. The victim was then made to lie
on his back on the ground where his arms were stretched out and
either tied or nailed to the cross member. The cross member
was then hoisted up along with the victim and fastened to the
vertical beam. Now, I'm going to make the point
in a few moments that the gospel writers don't do what so many
in the history of the church have done. They celebrate the
physical torture of our Lord Jesus, or if not, celebrate,
actually highlight it and rehearse it in great and vivid detail. The gospel writers don't do that,
but nevertheless, it is helpful and important for us to understand
Christ according to his humanity, what he went through on our behalf,
not in some stations of the cross in a Roman Catholic sort of a
situation, but to have at least a general idea of the significance
of crucifixion. Notice as well that the soldiers
compel Simon to carry the crossbeam. Most likely that was due to the
sleep deprivation of our Lord. Again, he is truly man. He got tired like we would get
tired. He got thirsty like we would
get thirsty. He got hungry like we would get
hungry. True humanity, everything that
is true of us was true of him, except of course, the sin. And
so Jesus had been sleep deprived. Remember, he's up all night,
all Thursday night, all morning, early Friday morning, he's before
the Sanhedrin, and then about six or seven in the morning,
they take him over to Pilate. So he had had no sleep, he had
already been scourged by this time, and he had been physically
abused by these soldiers as well. So they compelled this man, Simon,
to carry the crossbeam at least for a while. Now Cyrene, notice
in the text, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Cyrene was a Greek city on the
coast of North Africa, in what is today Libya, with a Jewish
population. It's referred to in Acts 2, and
as well in Acts 6. Mark 15.21 refers to his sons
as Alexander and Rufus, which may indicate that they were known
by the Christian community. In fact, in Romans 16.13, as
Paul is sending his greetings, there is a particular fellow
there by the name of Rufus. Now, France makes this observation,
and I think it's fitting. He says, Jesus' known disciples
whom he had earlier told to be ready to carry their own cross
after him, he says that in chapter 10, he says that in chapter 16,
were nowhere to be seen now that the moment for literal obedience
to the demand had come. Remember that the disciples had
departed from Him. Jesus is all alone. There's no
outward support. There's no humanity. There's
no assistance. There's no friend going with
Him to the very final point. It's Christ and Christ alone
doing what He does for the salvation of His people. So the bearing
of the cross then leads secondly to the location of the crucifixion. Notice in verse 33, and when
they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say place
of a skull. Now the parallel in Luke's gospel
at 23, 33, it simply says skull. If you're using the New King
James Bible, it's translated there as calvary. Well, that
reflects the Latin word for skull, which is calva. And so in Luke's
gospel, it simply refers to the place called skull. Here it says
specifically the place of a skull, translating what Golgotha means. And it was probably called that
because of its topography. It may have looked like the place
of a skull. As well, its use. It was the
place of execution. So that would be a fitting and
appropriate thing to identify it as. But I think a careful
reading of the passage, what we spoke of this morning in the
Sunday school hour, not just the analogy of scripture, but
the analogy of faith ought to intimate or indicate something
we know about the Messiah and skulls. In Genesis chapter 3
at verse 15, the first announcement of the gospel is given. God says
to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her seed, he shall bruise your head and
you shall bruise his heel. So it is quite fitting and appropriate
that at the place of the skull, Jesus is going to deal the death
blow to the devil himself. And so this place of execution
is specifically notorious in terms of the historical context,
but it's also something that reeks of, or smacks of, or is
reminiscent of a whole great deal of biblical revelation. Now you've got to remember, after
God gives that promise in Genesis chapter 3, there's a lot of enemies
of God that meet their end with fatal head wounds. There are
a lot of enemies of God, as you trace through the Old Testament,
that meet their end with fatal head wounds. David cut Goliath's
head off. That is the typology of the skull
crushing seed of the woman. You have jail, take that tent
peg and drive it through the head of Sisera, that man who
was coming to do great damage to the people of Israel. You
had that woman up in the tower who throws that big stone off
and it deals a death blow to the man of Bimelech. You see
reminiscence of this or allusions to this all throughout the Old
Testament. And so this is not a stretch.
It's not allegorical. It makes perfect sense in light
of that first promise concerning the mission of the Messiah that
he would be crucified at the place of the skull. Now notice
thirdly, under the way to the crucifixion, the offer of a drink
in verse 34. It says, they gave him sour wine
mingled with gall to drink. But when he had tasted it, he
would not drink. Now again, this was a compassionate
practice during execution. Jewish writings tell us this.
When one is led out to execution, he is given a goblet of wine
containing a grain of frankincense. In order to benumb his senses,
for it is written, give strong drink unto him that is ready
to perish, and wine unto the bitter of soul. It is written
in the Proverbs. And so they understood that,
particularly with reference to this. And it does underscore
the reality that at least to some degree, when the Jews crucified
or rather executed people in their society, they showed a
degree of compassion. But that compassion is gone now.
That compassion is nowhere to be found. The they, the subject
of the verb, the ones giving him the drink, were the soldiers. There were four in total that
actually administered the crucifixion to our Lord Jesus. We learned
that from the parallel in John 19. Notice that Jesus refuses
this. What the emphasis suggests is
that this was in fact nasty. They gave him sour wine mingled
with gall to drink. This basically means a substance
with an unpleasant taste, something bitter, something galling. So
Jesus refuses their perverse attempt at compassion. He'd rather
not have that. But as well, if you listen to
the definition or you listen to the particular custom, it
was to benumb the senses. It was an act of compassion,
not just to satiate the desire for thirst, but to numb him to
some degree so that the horrors of crucifixion wouldn't be as
acute. Jesus refuses that. Jesus does
not opt for that. Jesus rather takes the very wrath
of God and the wrath of man unto himself. But as I mentioned earlier,
there is a scriptural allusion. While it's not given a fulfillment
formula here, we have Psalm 69, 21. They also gave me gall for
my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. France
says the allusion to Psalm 69 identifies Jesus as the righteous
sufferer who in that psalm is ill-treated because of his loyalty
to God. And that's something conspicuous
as you move through each of the gospel records, Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John. One of the things that they take
pains to demonstrate is that this was in fact the fulfillment
of the scripture. You're not supposed to ever think,
well, this was a plan B. You're not supposed to ever think
that Jesus somehow failed and this is the alternative. You're
not supposed to ever think that Jesus came and offered the kingdom
to the Jews and the Jews refused it. And so Jesus turned his attention
to the Gentiles. You're not supposed to think
that. There was never a plan B in the mind of God. Everything
that Jesus does in terms of his life, his suffering, his death,
his resurrection, had been prophesied after the giving of the first
gospel promise in Genesis 3.15. You see that built upon, you
see it amplified, you see it explicated, you see it applied
to the coming Messiah. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
is not engaged in an afterthought, rather the Lord Jesus Christ
is fulfilling scripture every jot and tittle. Now notice secondly,
by way of a broad observation, the act of crucifixion. And here
we have five points. First, the act of crucifixion
proper, verse 35a. Secondly, the division of the
garments in 35b, the observation of the guards in verse 36, the
charge above his head in verse 37, and then the company of criminals
in verse 38. Again, all of these things have
their taproot in the Old Testament scriptures. But notice the act
of crucifixion. Verse 35a. Then they crucified
him. That's it. They don't get into
a celebration or a rehearsal of every jot and tittle of the
physical torment perpetrated against our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again, France makes the observation. The over-enthusiastic attempts
to draw out the physical horror of crucifixion, which disfigures
some Christian preaching, and at least one recent movie, the
movie he's referring to at the time that he wrote his commentary,
would have been The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson. So he says, the over-enthusiastic
attempts to draw out the physical horror of crucifixion, which
disfigure some Christian preaching and at least one recent movie,
find no echo in the Gospels. Perhaps the original readers
were too familiar with both the torture and the shame of crucifixion
to need any help in envisaging what it really meant. When you
watch or rather think through these things, again, if you were
not brought up Roman Catholic, you don't understand this point.
They do celebrate it. They do rehearse every jot and
tittle, every step of the way, every bit of the nitty-gritty.
That's not what the gospel writers do. Ritterbos, Herman Ritterbos
makes the similar observation. The New Testament has no trace
of any passion mysticism oriented to the physical torture of Jesus. Now having said all that, it
is imperative that we at least scratch the surface and understand
what is involved in crucifixion. Remember, true humanity, true
divinity. One person, two glorious natures. Well, according to his humanity,
Christ suffered, and Christ suffered severely. And I'll let D.A. Carson
describe for us what crucifixion in the first century looked like.
He said, in the ancient world, this most terrible of punishments
is always associated with shame and horror. It was so brutal
that no Roman citizen could be crucified without the sanction
of the emperor. You see that? It was so bad that
you could not be crucified if you were a Roman citizen at the
command of the emperor unless you were especially notorious. It was typically reserved for
revolutionaries. It was typically reserved for
insurrectionists. it was typically reserved for
traitors to the civil state. That's the way you crush the
opposition. Again, back to Carson. He says, stripped naked and beaten
to pulpy weakness, the victim could hang in the hot sun for
hours, even days. To breathe, it was necessary
to push with the legs and pull with the arms to keep the chest
cavity open and functioning. Terrible muscle spasm wracked
the entire body. But since collapse meant asphyxiation,
the strain went on and on. This is also why the sedecula,
that's a little piece of wood that you see at the feet. I mean,
you know, we've seen the art, we've seen the pictures to be
sure. But when they hung a man, they had a little block of wood
so that he could find purchase on that and prolong his suffering. See, asphyxiation meant you would
basically strangle. You would die of no air intake,
no oxygen. But that little block of wood
kept you fighting. It kept you in the fight. It
kept you, you know, pushing upward and still getting gasps of air
into your body. He says, this is also why the
sedecula prolonged life and agony. It partially supported the body's
weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on. So that's
why when it comes time to determine whether the subject was dead
or not, if he wasn't, they would break his legs. They would break
his legs in order to hasten his death, because he would no longer
be able to fight. But of course, when they come
to the saver, they recognize that he's already dead, so they
don't have to break his legs. Again, that is in fulfillment
of the Old Testament scriptures. Now notice secondly, in terms
of the division of his garments, verse 35b. Then they crucified
him, this is again the Roman soldiers, and divided his garments,
casting lots. Now, if you're using a non-King
James tradition Bible, the rest of verse 35 is not present. Verse
35 in the King James tradition says that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among
them, and for my clothing, they cast lots. Now that is the fulfillment
formula while absent in the modern translations based on a particular
text type, it is present in John 19. So again, this is fulfillment
of Scripture. But let's look at it for a moment.
Then they crucified him, verse 35, and divided his garments.
What does that mean? It means he's naked on the cross. It means that it's not just the
physical abuse and the torment, but it's the shame. Who? Despising
the shame, the apostle says in Hebrews chapter 12 at verse 2.
When it comes to the crucifixion, again, we don't celebrate it
with the sedations on the cross, but we must understand what happened
in order to appreciate even more fully the Savior's work on our
behalf. So the division of His clothes
necessarily implies that Christ is naked on the cross. And that
was the common practice. That's the way they did it. And
in addition to that, the division of his clothes was a perk for
the Roman soldiers. They each got a portion of the
clothing. That's how we know there were
four of them, because in John's gospel it says that the garment
was separated into four, and they were given each to a soldier.
And so this was a perk, again, the common custom at that time.
But Matthew's particular purpose, John's particular purpose is
to show us that this is a fulfillment of Psalm 22. Now, as far as Psalm
22 goes, Psalm 22 was written several hundred years before
the crucifixion of our Savior. Notice that it was written about
the crucifixion of our Savior. At that particular time, there
was no Roman Empire. At that particular time, as far
as we know, there was no practice of crucifixion in Israel. And
nevertheless, David, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes concerning
his greater son that he will be crucified, that he will be
hung on a cross. Not in those terms, but in that
concept, or in those themes, he presents that material several
hundred years before it comes to pass. Now, notice thirdly
the observation of the guards. Two things we ought to appreciate
here. First, there's a contrast. And secondly, Matthew might have
an apologetic mindset. Notice the contrast in verse
36. Sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Sitting down. He's suffering. He's tormented. He's naked. He's the subject
of mockery and brutality. He is the subject of the grossest
form of punishment that the world has ever known, and these guards
sit out. There is a contrast between the
suffering of the son of man and the comfort of the non-sons of
men, or rather the soldiers that were just having their late leisure. But notice what Matthew says,
they kept watch over him there. I believe that to be an apologetic
thrust. Why? Because there have been
those who have suggested that Jesus really didn't die on the
cross, that his disciples came and they pulled him down from
there and they shimmied him off. And there he recovered and there
he went about doing things. And it was ascribed to him that
he had been raised from the dead. that can't fly in light of a
passage, were guards whose job it was to make sure that very
thing didn't happen, were sitting and watching and observing the
whole entire situation. The soldiers guard the scene.
There was no exchange of Jesus with someone else. There was
no removal of Jesus from the cross prior to his death. There
was nothing out of the ordinary in this execution as far as the
guards were concerned. They put him on the cross, they
divide his garments, they then sit down and there they supervise
the scene. There was no monkey business.
This was an ordinary crucifixion. Everything went according to
plan, not just in terms of the divine plan, but in terms of
man's plan. That was what they did. If these
four men supervise the execution, you better believe they had done
it before. They were good at it. This was
their job. This was their task. This was
their assignment. And so here they sit, they guard
the scene, and nothing out of the ordinary transpires. Carson
says, perhaps Matthew gives us this detail to eliminate any
suggestion that Jesus was removed from the cross without dying. But as well, there is this allusion
to Psalm 22, 17. I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. So even when one of these authors
don't give us the exact fulfillment formula, when one of these authors
don't say, this is what was spoken in the prophet whoever, that
doesn't mean there's not allusion. That doesn't mean we're not supposed
to think theologically in terms of Genesis to Revelation. That
doesn't mean we're not supposed to consider the implications
of Psalm 22. and it's teased out and fleshed
out in other parts of the passion narrative. Now, notice, fourthly,
the charge above his head. They put up over his head the
accusation written against him. Now, they would do this as a
deterrent. They would do this as a means
of publishing to the body politic, if you do what he did, you're
going to get what he got. So, there was a reason that the
charge was placed overhead. There was a reason that the charge
was published. It was to, hopefully, de-incentivize
anybody from ever going that particular route. And so, again,
common custom that obtained at that particular time. As well,
notice the taunting effect that this would have had both on Jesus,
the supposed criminal, and as well, the Jews themselves. This
is Jesus, the king of the Jews. France says, placed over a man
dying in agony and disgrace, it was both a cruel joke and
a powerful deterrent. Matthew Poole, the 17th century
commentator, says there was nothing more pleasing to Pilate than
this, as he thought, to deride the Jews as having such a despicable
person as, he judges him, their king. So it was a dig at Jesus
and it was a dig at the Jews and it was a deterrent for the
body politic that they themselves should never make a claim to
kingship in that empire. But one of the things that happens
in the gospel narratives, one of the things that happens is
a fulfillment of Psalm 76. In Psalm 76, the psalmist says
that the wrath or even the wrath of man shall praise you. There
are instances and times where the enemies of Christ speak much
better than they know. For instance, in Luke's gospel,
chapter 15, when all the tax collectors and the sinners drew
near to hear Jesus, the scribes and the Pharisees, they complain,
they murmur, they grumble, and they say, this man receives sinners
and eats with them. That was meant as a derision.
That was meant as an insult. But for those of us who have
eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to receive, we rejoice
in that. We bless God that this man receives
sinners and eats with them. There's another instance, look
at John chapter 11. John chapter 11, just underscoring
that at times the enemies of Christ spoke better than they
knew. John chapter 11, they're wondering,
this is pre-cross, pre-crucifixion, what are we gonna do with Jesus?
So in 1145, then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and
had seen the things Jesus did, believed in him. But some of
them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus
did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council
and said, what shall we do? For this man works many signs.
If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him
and the Romans will come and take away both our place and
nation. And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year,
said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that
it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people
and not that the whole nation should perish. Now those of us
who love the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, we do one of these
at this point. We're very thankful that that
is what Caiaphas says concerning the Lord. It was expedient, especially
for guilty, vile, helpless sinners like us, that the one would die
for us. Caiaphas isn't speaking in terms
of a positive commendation of substitutionary atonement. Notice
in verse 51, now this he did not say on his own, but being
high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the
nation and not for that nation only, but also that he would
gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
Here was an enemy of Christ who spoke much better than he knew.
So going back to Matthew chapter 27 at verse 37, and they put
up over his head the accusation written against him, this is
Jesus, the King of the Jews. There is a universal testimony
here, both in Luke and in John, it indicates that this was published
in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin. So every language at that time,
in that region, not at that time, but in that region, was able
to see the charge specified. As well, Pilate insisted upon
this. In John's gospel, in chapter
19, around 20 to 22, the Jews say, oh, no, no, right, this
is the king of the Jews. say that he claimed to have been
the King of the Jews. And Pilate insists, what I've
written, I have written. And then as well, it's an accurate
testimony. This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. Again, not meant as a commendation
of his life, death, and resurrection, not meant as a commendation of
his gospel, not meant as a commendation of his mission, meant rather
in derision, meant rather as a deterrent meant rather as a
mockery against him and against the Jews. But nevertheless, even
the wrath of man shall praise you. Matthew Henry said, so Pilate,
instead of accusing Christ as a criminal, proclaims him a king. And that three times in three
inscriptions. Thus God makes men to serve his
purposes quite beyond their own. Another thing that you see as
you move through the passion narrative, yes, the fulfillment
of scripture, but always and constantly the sovereignty of
God. It wasn't like this was a glitch
in the system. It wasn't like for this timeframe,
for this horrid and wretched day, it was as it were, God left
the throne and man went to seed in terms of just how wicked and
how bad he is. No, God's sovereignty is conspicuous
all throughout this And then notice finally, the company of
criminals. Verse 38, then two robbers were
crucified with him, one on the right and another on the left. If you would have seen that,
who would you have thought was the most notorious of that? Probably
the one in the center. Probably the one in the center,
which would have been Barabbas if the Jews had not said, give
us Barabbas. And when Pilate says, what shall
I do with Jesus, your king? They said, away with him, away
with him, crucify him. There was going to be three crucifixions
that day. These two robbers on either side
of Jesus. Robbers, I think I've explained
before, isn't just somebody who deprives another person of their
goods. That would not have been a capital
offense. That would not have been a crucifixion
offense. They were insurrectionists. They
were traitors. Along with Barabbas, they were
probably trying to overthrow the empire. There was that vein. There was that spirit at that
particular time. So these are two bad dudes. But
the one in the middle, you would conclude, was the ringleader.
You would conclude that he was the worst of the bunch. Calvin
says that this underscores further the indignity inflicted upon
the Son of God. He says, for they assigned him
the most prominent place, as if it had been, as if he had
been rather, the prince of robbers. And then this again fulfills
scripture. The two robbers were crucified
with him, one on the right and another on the left. Again, no
fulfillment formula. Mark has fulfillment formula,
but the particular text is Isaiah 53. We read that at the outset.
Because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered
with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made
intercession for the transgressors. So brethren, as we walk through
the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we understand that it
was horrific. It was horrendous. It was such
a punishment that a Roman citizen without the special permission
of the emperor could not receive this as their punishment. Christ
had never done anything. The apostle celebrates that in
Hebrews chapter seven. He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. This is the length to which he
went in order to save us from our sins. We don't like it when
somebody doesn't smile at us. We don't like it when somebody
doesn't treat us with the dignity and the respect that we feel
is owed to us. We don't like it when there's
a bit of shame in our life. Look at what Christ went through
on behalf of guilty people like us. It truly is amazing and should
underscore to us how important it is that we worship and we
glorify and we honor Him. Some concluding thoughts. In
the first place, the testimony of Pontius Pilate. He's a wretch. We dealt with him as a wretch
as we moved through the Passion narrative. He wasn't a minister
of Christ. He wasn't set apart by the church.
He wasn't one identified and qualified and given the spirit,
but nevertheless, Pilate testified truly concerning our Lord Jesus. He confessed three times the
guiltlessness of the Savior at the time of the trial. And here
in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, he publishes the truth that this
is the King of the Jews. The testimony of Pilate, he spoke
better than he knew. Secondly, the triumph of the
skull-crushing seed of the woman. The promise made, as I've already
rehearsed, I will put enmity between you and the woman and
between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and
you shall bruise his heel. I think it's good for us to rehearse
this once again. This is pivotal in redemptive
history. The identity of the seed of the
woman. There's a collective sense, all
of the people of the of God, but there is one identifiable
seed, Galatians 3.16, it is Jesus. The nature of the seed, he will
be born of a woman, he will be a man. The Redeemer, the victor,
the one who brings triumph to his people, isn't an angelic
being, rather clothed with our humanity, he comes, he lives,
he dies, he's raised again. And then the victory of the seed,
he crushes the head of the serpent. That was prophesied in Genesis
3 at verse 15. It's furthered along typologically
with the death of the enemies of God all throughout the Old
Testament. It comes to fruition at the place
of the skull wherein Christ deals the death blow to the devil.
John 12, 31 affirms that reading. Acts 26, verse 18 affirms that
understanding. Colossians 1, 13. Colossians
2, 15. Hebrews 2 at verse 14. 1 John 3, verse 8. Revelation 12. Revelation
20. We have the skull crushing seed of the woman who
delivers the death blow through his death at the cross. And then
in that prophecy in Genesis chapter 315, there's even an allusion
to the crucifixion. Again, not detailed the way we
get it here in Matthew's gospel, but notice what the text says.
I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your
seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head. He
shall crush your head. He shall destroy you. That's
the prophecy. But then notice, and you shall
bruise his heel. It's a comparative statement.
The head of the serpent is gonna be crushed. the heel of the Savior
is going to be bruised. So we see or can conclude or
infer that it will come through suffering, that this deliverer
will render the death blow. But where does a serpent typically
bite? The serpent typically bites at
the heel, and the particular serpent in view was most likely
a venomous and poisonous serpent. Listen to Michael Reitlnick. He says, since in the context
the tempter has taken the form of a serpent, it is likely that
the tempter's blow would be equated with a serpent's bite. And in
the case of this animal, the Hebrew generally uses it to speak
of a venomous and lethal snake. Most likely, therefore, the text
is speaking of two comparable death blows. The future Redeemer
will strike the head of the tempter and thereby kill it. And at the
same time, the tempter will strike the heel of the Redeemer and
kill him. So Genesis 3.15, the proto-gospel,
contains in seed form all that the rest of the scripture is
going to amplify and apply to our Lord Jesus Christ, that he
would be the seed of Abraham. that he would be a man born of
a woman, that he would render full and decisive victory for
the people of God in conquering the devil, and that he would
do that through his own suffering and his death. So Genesis 3.15,
foundational to biblical revelation, and we see some practical fulfillment
here that Christ is crucified at the place of the skull. And
then finally, the immeasurable love of the Savior. the immeasurable
love of the Savior. You see that very clearly in
the Passion. In the first place, He was stripped
naked so that we might be clothed with His righteousness. He was
stripped naked so that you and I might be clothed with His righteousness. Calvin says, for the evangelists,
exhibit to us the Son of God stripped of His garments in order
to inform us that by this nakedness we have obtained those riches
which make us honorable in the presence of God. Secondly, he
was numbered among the transgressors that we might be received in
glory. Brethren, if you think biblically
for, oh, about a half a second, you will see that's what you
deserve. That's what I deserve. My sin,
your sin against a holy God, we should be publicly shamed. We should be publicly vilified. We should be publicly crucified
for our crimes against the majesty of God. But Christ takes our
place. That's the beauty of substitutionary
atonement. The righteous one suffers for
the unrighteous many. Caiaphas was right. It is expedient
that one dies for the nation. Only he didn't mean it the way
the prophet Isaiah does in Isaiah 53. So he's numbered with the
transgressors so that we might be received in glory. And then
thirdly, he was crucified that we might have everlasting life. Matthew Henry says, and when
we behold what manner of death he died, let us in that behold
with what manner of love he loved us. When we behold the manner
in which he died, let us behold in that the manner of what love
with which he loved us. That, my brothers and sisters,
is a great exhibition of the love of Christ for his people. The altogether lovely one, the
chief among 10,000, went to these lengths in order to save us from
our sins. Well, let us pray. Our Father,
thank you for your word. Thank you for its clarity concerning
the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus. Thank
you for these fulfillment passages that indicate and show us the
consistent testimony of Holy Scripture that sets forth the
scope of the whole, that demonstrates that it's God's glory and the
salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ. And Lord, thank you again
for including us in this plan. Thank you for your mercy and
for your grace. Thank you that tonight, as we
come to this supper, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Thank you for this privilege. Thank you for the spiritual blessings
that you have conveyed upon us. And God, continue with us now,
we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.
