Jesus, Crucified (Matthew 27 - P 73)

We read today of the pivot point in all history.  Read carefully.  Read slowly.

Matthew 27: 32 - 56

Some observations to consider:

1.  Golgotha.  We are such products of our western art  - the painting of 3 crosses standing alone on a hillside.  We also sing; "On a hill far away ... " and I had always envisioned an isolated scene away from the masses of a busy city.  But that is not the way things happened in Jerusalem under Roman occupation.  Crucifixion was used as execution.  But crucifixion was also used as a deterrent to all people.  It said to the occupied territories, "Don't cross Rome or this very thing could happen to you."  The place of the skull marked one of the main thoroughfares that led out of the city of Jerusalem.  It was highly traveled.  It was not "far away".  Perhaps the writer of that hymn meant far away from our Western world.  But it was not far away from Jerusalem.  I live in Houston, TX.  It would be as if these crosses were put up on I 45 going out of the city ... seen by masses of humanity coming into and going out of the city.  And remember, it is Passover week.  Very public.  The humiliation beyond anything I can even comprehend.  

2.  Jesus refused the wine with gall offered him.  I read that some of the wealthy women of Jerusalem offered this drink as a drug - something to dull the pain - an act of mercy.  Why did he refuse that help?  Perhaps it was so that he would accept death at its most bitter and most grim - so that he would know physical pain at its most grim - so that he could stand by you when you must suffer physical pain.  

3.  Jesus cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Why did he cry such a thing?  

     a.  Perhaps he cried out because he truly felt the weight of all human sin at that moment.  Perhaps  as he became sin he felt the inevitable separation from God that sin causes.  Paul expressed it well in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

     b.  Or perhaps there was something more human happening here.  Perhaps at this moment Jesus  felt that ache of abandonment that we often feel when we it seems that life cannot get worse - when we feel that God has abandoned us.  William Barclay expresses it well:

Here we see Jesus plumbing the uttermost depths of the human situation, so that there might be no place that we might go where he has not been before.

4.  The "loud voice cry" in verse 50 is further explained by John in his gospel writing.  He tells us in John 19:30 that Jesus' cry was "It is finished!"  In Greek, this is one word - tetelestai.  This word is a victor's shout.  It is the cry of someone who has completed their task.  It is the cry of someone who has won through a struggle.  Jesus died a victor - with the cry of victory on his lips!

5.  The torn curtain in the Temple and the opened graves.  Some scholars read this as literally happening.  Others believe it is figurative language.  If it is symbolic ... notice what is revealed:

     

     a.  The way to God is now open!  No longer a curtain, a barrier, between mankind and the  presence of God.  The life and death of Jesus show us what God is like.  We can know ... we can see.

     b.  Death is conquered.  The grave no longer holds terror and tragedy.  That door has been opened.

6.  The first fruit of the cross was a Roman centurion.  Jesus had said "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32).  The way for the Gentile has been opened and we see evidence of the opening through a Roman soldier.  

7.  There was a band of women that did not abandon the scene - they did not abandon their master.  Why did they have the courage to stay?  We don't know for certain.  Perhaps they did not run because they were women ... and considering the insignificant place women held in that society ... perhaps they posed no threat and so had no reason to be afraid.  Or ... perhaps ... it is as John writes in 1 John 4:18:  "There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drive out fear ...".  Perhaps these women did not run because they loved Jesus purely, deeply, and, therefore, refused to be afraid.

Let's close this reflection by meditating on some questions for ourselves:

*  Do I look to Jesus when my own pain sears its way into my very being?  Do I hold His hand?

*  Do I recognize the incredible companionship that I am offered in Jesus?  There is truly

NOTHING I must bear that He has not already born.

*  How is my love relationship with Jesus?  Is it strong enough to "cast out fear"?  

What am I currently afraid of?  How can loving Jesus deal with that fear?

Lord ... we are stunned into silence at the foot of the cross.  Help us comprehend more fully.  Help us understand more deeply.  How can our lives express gratitude for this incredible gift?  Help us ...

The Roman Trial (Matthew 27 - P 72)

The Sanhedrin condemned Jesus.  His crime?  Blasphemy.  That offense was enough to condemn him to death.  However, the Jews did not have the power or authority to pronounce a death sentence.  Therefore they had to get the Roman authority to weigh in - only Roman authority could carry out execution.  So Jesus is dragged before Pilate, the Roman governor of the region.

Read Matthew 27: 1 - 2, 11 - 31

The Jews knew very well that Pilate would pay no attention to the accusation of blasphemy.  Pilate had disdain for the Jews and what he considered their irrational and fanatical religious practices and beliefs.  If they had approached Pilate with a charge of blasphemy, he most likely would have sent them on their way and told them to settle their own religious disputes elsewhere.  

Matthew does not tell us what the charges brought against Jesus before Pilate were ... but Luke does.  From Luke (Luke 23: 1 - 2) we learn what was officially charged against Jesus.  They accused him first of being a revolutionary.  Second, they accused him of inciting people to not pay their taxes.  And third, they said he claimed to be king.  

Pilate knew it was made up stuff.  He was warned - by his own impressions of Jesus and then by the troubled dream of his wife.  He tried to cause the whole mess to go away.  Then he tried to wiggle out of responsibility.  But he could not/would not stand against the mob scene in front of him.  

Listen to Michael Wilkins as he writes about this scene:

Pilate's infamous act of ordering Jesus' execution was carried out in the political backwaters of  first-century Palestine.  His actions were conducted in relative obscurity, wit no thought that they would have historical and spiritual consequences for all of humanity for all time.  But Pilate is know forever as one whose political machinations perverted his integrity. ...  When the opportunity presents itself, each of us must contend for what we know to be right and for those for whom we are responsible, regardless of whether we think that the outcome will ever be known by others.

Remember the words from Proverbs 21:1 - 3

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord;  he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.  All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.  To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Is there a price tag on your integrity?  It is a question worthy of much consideration.  

I learn a couple of lessons in this reading that I never want to forget:

•  God's will WILL be done.  The question becomes what part will I play in the scene.  Will I stand for what is right and just?  Or is expediency and comfort more important to me?  
• It is impossible to abdicate responsibility for something that you are responsible for.  It can't be done. I may want to walk away from a responsibility that I feel ill equipped for or that I just don't want to carry the consequences for ... but it can't be done.  Mothers.  Fathers.  Teachers.  Workers.  Bosses.  

As we close today, plant the following sentence firmly in your mind and heart ... never forget it ...

I am responsible for the purity to my motives

and the integrity of my behavior.  

Peter Collapses (Matthew 26 - P 71)

While the excuse for a "trial" was taking place inside the home of the high priest, Peter was in the courtyard.  Peter had been in the Garden of Gethsemane with Jesus and the others.  When Jesus was arrested, Matthew told us that someone drew a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest (26:51)   John tells us in his gospel record that the one who drew a sword in the Garden was Peter.  And while all Jesus' companions fled from the scene ... Peter follows and we find him in the courtyard of the home of the high priest ... enemy territory ... dangerous place to be!

Read Matthew 26: 69 - 75

Jesus had warned Peter about this.  (26: 31 - 35)  Of course, Peter could not - in the furthest stretches of his imagination - believe such a thing could happen.  Not to him.  Courage was part of his make up.  Hadn't he been one of the first to be a disciple?  Hadn't he walked with Jesus for 3 years?  Wasn't it he who was willing to step our on the Sea of Galilee during a storm?  Wasn't he the first to say out loud that Jesus was the Jews' long awaited Messiah?   Others may deny ... fail ... run ... but not Peter.

However, as with all of us, we are most vulnerable when we think we are not.  And his courage fails him.  He cannot stand under the pressure.  And fear rushes in.  

Have you ever walked in Peter's shoes?  We deny Jesus as well whenever we want to be sure that no one knows to whom we belong.  Therefore, we don't want our words to give us way.  So we can be as worldly as the next guy with our language!  We don't want our look to give us away as being Jesus followers.  So we can copy the world with inappropriate clothing or ungodly behaviors.  Ever deny Jesus?  

Follow Peter's example ... weep over that failure!  Confess it ... take it to Jesus ... he knows your heart.

Let's not quit reading and thinking today until we go to ...

John 21: 15 - 19

Also, listen to Peter himself as he tells us how to deal with collapses of resolve and with personal failures:

1 Peter 5: 6 - 11 ( New Living Translation)

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.  Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.  Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.  In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.  So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.  All power to him forever!  Amen.

The Jewish Trial (Matthew 26 - P 70)

Jesus and his disciples leave the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is night time.  That is why Peter and James and John had such a hard time staying awake while Jesus prayed.  Judas approaches leading the ones that were sent to arrest Jesus.  It would not have been an orderly Roman company of soldiers.  I think we get a better sense of the scene if we think of it as a mob - more like a lynch mob in the western movies we have watched.  Judas kisses ... steps back ... and the events begin to escalate.

Before you read our text for today, I want you to read a description of the legal rules for the Sanhedrin.  Remember, the Sanhedrin was the supreme court of the Jews.  It consisted of scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and elders of the people.  It had 71 members and was presided over by the high priest.  A quorum was 23.  Jesus was taken to the home of the high priest that night.  What follows is a description of the Sanhedrin's own rules of order.  I am quoting a summary of those rules from William Barclay:

All criminal cases must be tried during the daytime and must be completed during the daytime.  Criminal cases could not be transacted during the Passover season at all.  Only if the verdict was 'not guilty' could a case be finished on the day it was begun; otherwise a night must elapse before the pronouncement of the verdict, so that feelings of mercy might have time to arise.  Further, no decision of the Sanhedrin was valid unless it met in its own meeting place, the Hall of Hewn Stone in the Temple precincts.  All evidence had to be guaranteed by two witnesses separately examined and having no contact with each other.  And false witness was punishable by death.  The seriousness of the occasion was impressed upon any witness in a case where life was at stake:  'Forget not, O witness, that it is one thing to give evidence in a trial for money, and another in a trial for life.  In a money suit, if thy witness-bearing shall do wrong, money may repair that wrong; but in this trial for life, it thou sinnest, the blood of the accused and the blood of his seed unto the end of time shall be imputed unto thee.'  Still further, in any trial the process began by the laying before the court of all the evidence for the innocence of the accused, before the evidence for guilt was adduced.

With those rules of order and trial in mind, read ...

Matthew 26: 50 - 67

It always stuns me when I read about the events that took place that night.  What can be said?  When a court system violates its own rules for process and order, chaos and injustice follow.  In our country's system, when the procedural rules are violated - or even slightly altered - a mistrial is declared - and the accused walks out free.  We see so clearly the results of hatred.  Hatred leads to violations beyond measure.  Hatred walks on the same road as does a death wish.

Do a deep heart check in yourself.  If you have suffered any abuse in your life ... of course, physical, but also emotional ... are you doing the forgiveness work?  It is worth the incredibly hard work!  It is worth sacrifice of pride.  Hatred is deadly.  Spend some time in prayer.   

We see a quintessential illustration of the old adage:  "the ends justify the means".   And it is just not so!  Wrong "means" never make a desired outcome OK.

I wonder why Judas was not a witness against Jesus.  He's not there.

I am struck by the words of the old hymn ...

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Oh ... sometimes ...

it causes me to tremble ... tremble.

And we tremble as we read this mockery of justice - mockery of righteousness - mockery of God.  

The people of God ... violating Him.  And we tremble.  

Gethsemane - Purpose and Promise (Matthew 26 - P 69)

Definition:  Intimacy - familiarity; emotional warmth and closeness; something of personal or private nature.

When someone allows you to share a part of their most personal self - you walk into the realm of intimacy.  It's vulnerable.  Because all masks are off.  The person, at his/her core, is exposed.  But it is also only through intimacy that we REALLY have an opportunity to KNOW someone.

In our reading today, Jesus invites us into intimacy with him.  The Holy Spirit, through the writers of the gospels, allows us to be with Jesus at his most vulnerable.  He allows us to witness Jesus in intimate prayer.  We are privileged to hear Jesus' heart - to watch the intense struggle of his soul.  Enter today's reading with your "shoes off" ... you are about to walk on holy ground.

Matthew 26: 36 - 46

As I watch and listen to Jesus is this vulnerable place, I learn things about him as a man that draw my heart closer to him - that swell my love for him - that connect me to him.  Intimacy is like that.  

First, even Jesus had to wrestle in prayer.  And I think that terminology is appropriate.  Because prayer often is a wrestling - a struggle.  Why does he keep going back?  Keep saying the same thing?  It is because he was struggling to get his will totally aligned with God's will.  I think he was on board with God's aim - the buying back of humanity from the hold of the evil one and their flesh - their redemption.  But he was not on board with the path.  Too much pain.  And so he wrestled ... in prayer.  

That is the focus of prayer, you know.  It is to adjust our wills and wants to the will of God.  It disturbs me when I hear people say things "Prayer is working - keep doing it."  My experience is that what these folks are saying is that some situation is going the way they hoped and wanted.  But prayer is not figuring out a password to get God's account open.  It is intimacy with God.  It is to align my will and wants to the will of God.  It is mysterious.  

Second, even Jesus experienced the emotional agony that accompanies pain.  No one wants to experience death at thirty-three years old - much less death through torture.   Yet Jesus knew what was at stake.  Listen to William Barclay:

All he knew was that the will of God imperiously summoned him on.  Things happen to every one of us in this world that we cannot understand; it is then that faith is tried to its utmost limits; and at such a time it is sweetness to the soul that in Gethsemane Jesus went through that too.

We all have private "Gethsemanes" ... we all wrestle to learn to say, "Your will be done".  Jesus began his work on earth with the words, "Follow me".  That is still the call as he enters his final hours.  

Third, even Jesus knew times of intense loneliness.  He took the three closest friends that he had on earth.  But they just couldn't stay the course with him.  This battle he had to fight alone.  That is also true for us.  There are some battles, some decisions, that must be handled completely alone.  Our helpers, our friends, will fail us.  That's reality.  Henry Lyte lived and wrote at the beginning of the nineteenth century.  Reflect again on these familiar words and place them in the context of Gethsemane:

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

When darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee;

Help of the helpless,  O abide with me.

God was with our Lord in Gethsemane.  And even though the loneliness of human companionship escaped Jesus in this hour ... he was not completely alone.  Nor are you ... ever.  

Fourth, even Jesus walked in trust of the Father.  He approached his Father in childlike trust.  The early church fathers, Chrysostom, wrote:

Abba was the word used by a young child to its father; it was an everyday family word, which no one had ventured to use in addressing God.  Jesus did.  He spoke to his heavenly Father in as childlike, trustful, and intimate a way as little child to its father.

Jesus walked in trust ... so, indeed, must we.

And fifth, even Jesus had to walk into his destiny with courage.  At the end of our reading, Jesus says, "Rise, let us go."  He rose from his knees to enter the battle.  That's what prayer is ... that is what prayer does.  We kneel ... wrestle in prayer ... so that we can get up and stand erect and strong before the world.  We enter heaven through prayer ... so that we may face the battles that face us on earth.  

Are you facing a 'Gethsemane' right now?  Before you walk into the battle ... spend time in your own Gethsemane.  Trust God.  And then ......... Get up .......... and Go.  

The Feast (Matthew 26 - P 68)

Jesus is in Jerusalem.  He knows why.  His band of disciples don't quite get it yet.  How could they?  They think they are in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.  They are ... but ... they do not realize that they are accompanying the Passover lamb to the altar for the sacrifice.

Read Matthew 26: 17 - 35

Passover ... the annual feast on the Jewish calendar that carries such significance, such history, such promise, such rich symbolism.  The preparations had to be made - which was no small task.

• there is the ridding of the house of any and all leaven
• there is the preparation of the unleavened bread
• the lamb had to be taken to the temple where its blood would be offered as sacrifice
• the meat of the lamb brought back to the house for the meal
• a bowl of salt water (or vinegar) set out for the table (a reminder of the tears of slavery and the parting of the Red Sea)
• the bitter herbs had to be prepared (a collection of horseradish, chicory, endive, lettuce, and the like)
• a paste was prepared called the charosheth.  A mixture of apples, dates, pomegranates and nuts. (a reminder of the mixing of clay for bricks while in slavery)
• 4 cups of wine were prepared.  Four cups were to remind them of the four promises of Exodus 6: 6 - 7:  "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.  I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians."

And through this traditional, annual, commemorative meal, Jesus expands and deepens the symbolism and the meaning.  Passover was a commemoration of deliverance.  Moses had been a great liberator ... but Jesus is more!  The Jews had been released from physical slavery ... but all people can be released from the slavery to sin and death.  

Jesus - body and blood - the great emancipator.

The New Covenant

The Passover lamb, the food for the meal, represented safety.  In Egypt, all those years ago, it was the  blood of a sacrificed lamb that was painted on the door frame of the houses.  Why?  As a marker.  It marked the house as a "safe house".   Its blood on the door frames provided the only safe place in the entire land of Egypt that horrible night.  And all people can have a place of safety.

Jesus - body and blood - the only place of safety from sin and death.

The New Covenant

A new path to God is opened through the person of Jesus.  A connection with Jehovah God that does not require priests and mediators ... Jesus is that.  A connection with Jehovah God that does not require more animal sacrifice ... Jesus did that.  A new relationship with God that is opened for all people - Jew and Gentile, male and female, all races, all cultures - a path to God.

That is what we celebrate every time we take the "Lord's Supper".  Beware the ease in which we humans slip into ritualism and form - leaving the depth of meaning behind.  It is not small thing - this sharing the "body and blood" of Jesus symbolically week after week.  We declare freedom ... we declare safety ... we declare faith and trust each time we "break the bread and share the cup".  How I would love to sit together with every one of you reading this little piece of writing and share the body and blood of Christ!  

Let me share some observations about Jesus from these few verses we have read today.

First, Jesus was a realist.  He fully knew what lay ahead of him.  And he walked forward anyway.  

Do you ever have to walk into the "hard thing"?  Jesus already has ... and he walks in front of you.

Second, Jesus loved enough to say the hard things.  He loved Judas enough to warn him.  He loved Peter enough to warn him.  He loved all of his disciples enough to warn them of their coming trauma and fear.  He knew (and still knows) human weakness and human failure - and he loves anyway.  In a transient, broken and chaotic world, three things are steady - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of the three is love.  Do you ever have to say a hard thing to someone you love?  Do you love them enough to say it?  Jesus showed you how ... and he has done it before you.

Third, Jesus was completely confident in God's plan.  He knew he would rise from the dead.  He knew he would be able to meet his disciples in Galilee.  He knew.  Are you confident in the promises of God about eternal life - about safety with him - about peace and security - about all things working together for good for his people?  We could list more ... but the question is:  Are you confident in God?  Jesus was ... and is ... and will show us how.  

There are many lessons to be learned in the shadow of the cross.  Watch Jesus ... and be amazed.

Judas - the Tragedy (Matthew 26 - P 67)

Matthew 26 contains what detail we have about Judas.  Today, as we continue our walk through Matthew, let's consider all the passages about Judas together.  Read ...

Matthew 26: 14 - 16

Matthew 26: 20 - 25

Matthew 26: 47 - 50

Matthew 27: 3 - 10

What happened to this man?  I think he began his walk with Jesus as a disciple full of hope and promise and possibility.  We all begin our faith walks there.  Listen to the words Mark chose when he described the calling of the twelve:

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.  He appointed twelve - designating them apostles - that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. (Mark 3: 13 - 15)

Mark then lists the twelve ... and Judas is there.  What caused him to turn?  What was in his head?  His heart?  Was it disillusionment?  Was it greed?  Was it hate?  Was it bitterness?  We don't know for certain.  And all of these possibilities have been proposed by people trying to understand how people turn.  

I don't think it was greed.  After all, 30 pieces of silver represented a little less than 6 months wage for a working man.  That's not much!  

I think perhaps Judas was so disappointed that Jesus was not whom Judas expected him to be.  Judas was ready for the overthrow of the Roman occupation ... all Jews were ... and for the freedom of Israel and the Jews.  I think perhaps Judas thought Jesus was the man.  And as he saw more of His power ... he couldn't wait for that power to be unleashed against Rome!  But it didn't happen.  Not only was Jesus not mounting an offensive against Rome, he was now talking about crucifixion?!  In his lack of understanding, I think Judas took matters into his own hands and decided to force the issue ... force Jesus into action.  He wanted to change Jesus.

Ever been guilty of that desire - the desire to mold Jesus into what YOU want - the desire to have Jesus do what YOU think is best to do - to make YOUR life what you want?  Ever wanted to USE Jesus for your own purposes?  Political?  Personal?  Those are all Judas traits.  We take Jesus totally on his own terms ... or we do not take him at all.  

Another observation that fascinates me about the whole Judas ordeal is that Jesus wants him to know that HE knows.  Was it a last appeal?  Was it the last effort to make him reconsider the path he was choosing?  But Jesus did not, would not, stop him.  I am amazed at our God's respect for human free will.  He will not violate it.  He will not take it from you.  

Then there is this kiss.  In 26:48 we read that Judas told the mob who came to get Jesus that he would identify him with a kiss.  The Greek word used is philein - the normal word for kiss.  But then in verse 49 when Judas actually kisses Jesus, the word is a different one.  Here the word kataphilein is used, intensifying the meaning.  Kataphilein means to kiss repeatedly and fervently.    Why the change in language?  If Judas had come in bitterness and hatred ... there would have been no kataphilein.  If Judas had come in greed ... there would have been no kataphilein.   Read the following from William Barclay:

It is much more likely that Judas kissed Jesus as a disciple kissed a master and meant it, and that then he stood back with expectant pride waiting on Jesus at last to act.  The curious thing is that from the moment of the kiss Judas vanishes from the the scene in the garden, not to reappear until he is intent on suicide.  He does not even appear as a witness at the trial of Jesus.  It is far more likely that in one stunning, blinding, staggering, searing moment Judas saw how he had miscalculated and staggered away into the night, a forever broken and forever haunted man.  If this is true, at that moment Judas entered the hell which he had created for himself; for the worst kind of hell is the full realization of the terrible consequences of sin.

And a hell from which Judas could not find relief.  The awful sense of responsibility.  So when the death sentence came down on Jesus' head ... Judas could bear it no longer ... and suicide prevailed.  Had he not learned the lessons of repentance after being with Jesus those three years?  Had he not seen person after person released from self-inflicted prisons of pain in the hands of Jesus?  Why could he not see himself a recipient of such grace and love and forgiveness?  I think he believed his sin too big ... to monumental ... to damning ... to turn back.  And so death ... 

Never ... never ... never ... never ... think your sin is beyond the reach of the grace of God.  IT IS NOT!!  It is not.  It is not.  

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8: 1 - 2)

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ...   (Ephesians 2:4 - 5)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.   (Galatians 2:20)