01.11 - Section 11. Mat_26:1-75, Mat_27:1-55, Mat_28:1-20
Section 11. Matthew 26:1-75, Matthew 27:1-55, Matthew 28:1-20. The King goes into Death and Judgment, in order that His Followers may enter into Life and Glory
What feelings of awe and wonder must have filled the hearts of the disciples, as they sat on the green brow of Olivet, in the dusk of that April evening, and listened spell-bound to those prophetic utterances which fell from the lips of the Master. With words of startling imagery He had unrolled before their gaze the scroll of time, right up to that moment when — the "Times of the Gentiles" ended — His feet would again stand upon that same mount. The sorrows of earth: the glories of Heaven: the unutterable woes of hell, had been revealed to them, by the One who alone could reveal them. And when He ceased, their minds might well be arrested by the contemplation of the solemn events of which He had spoken. But His next words were more arresting still.
"Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified" — that which they had so long feared, had come at last. Their Master was about to die. And with saddened hearts they rose up and pursued their way to Bethany. The next day (Thursday) until the evening, seems to have been spent here by the Lord in seclusion and retirement. We may not seek to enter into that which occupied His mind during this — the one day of repose in all His public ministry. But with reverent and subdued hearts let us follow the narrative of that which is revealed. On this same day, it would appear, His enemies in Jerusalem were busy plotting His death, not like the dignified and responsible authorities of an ordered state, in open Council Hall, but plotting in darkness, in the high priest’s house, like a company of lawless brigands. So are Israel’s rulers here set before us. And now our Gospel goes back to tell us of another meeting, which had been held four days previously (see John 12:1-50) in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. In point of time, this feast had taken place on the evening before He rode into the city; but Matthew frequently groups the events of his narrative so as to present arresting contrasts to the reader.
Here we have two gatherings, both occupied with the Lord Jesus. The first, a gathering of His foes, thirsting for His blood. The other, a gathering of His friends, longing to lavish upon Him the tribute of their love. Only two feasts that we read of were ever made to the Lord. The first we get recorded in Matthew 9:1-38 and Luke 5:1-39. There a great company of publicans and sinners had gathered around Him for blessing, and blessed they assuredly would be. Here, it is a company of believers gathered in type on resurrection ground. Lazarus, who only a few weeks previously had been raised from the dead, was one of them who sat at the table. And Martha, busy as of old — served. But Martha’s spirit is mellowed and ennobled with the passing years. She is no longer the critic of others, as we first find her in Luke 10:1-42, and doubtless the Lord’s eye here rests upon her with approval. This feast is not in her own house. She might have claimed the place of a guest at the table, beside her brother; yet such is the humility of her mind, or shall we say, the activity of her temperament, that she prefers to be among them as one that serveth. If the disciples had not learned the lesson, she had. The Church of Christ owes much to the patient, hidden, unselfish, devoted service of sisters like Martha. Their service may be unrequited and unacknowledged on earth, but "the day" will disclose it, and the reward is sure.
Lazarus is in the place of communion, but Mary alone enters in spirit into the "fellowship of His death." The King is going into death and judgment that His followers may enter into life and glory. She pours the precious ointment on His head. She anoints the King, but it is for His burial. These three were in the circle of closest intimacy with the Lord, and it would be unwise to appreciate the one at the expense of the other. Communion, service, and worship they assuredly typify, and these three things make up the sum of all true Christian life. So far the disciples had learned none of all this. But we must not forget that, historically, they were still on the road to Jerusalem. They had not yet seen the reception He met with there; neither had they as yet heard the words recorded in Matthew 26:2. Visions of earthly glory may still have been before them, with themselves in places of honour as almoners for the King. John’s Gospel shows us that the spokesman on this occasion was the betrayer; and one sinner destroyeth much good. Alas, that real disciples should have manifested the Judas spirit, where, by closer intimacy with their Master, they might have exhibited that of Mary, and shared in the blessed memorial of the one who "did what she could" (Mark 14:1-72). For Judas nothing was of value that could not be turned into money. Christ Himself, to him, was only an object whereby he might add to his ill-gotten gains. For half the cost of the ointment or less, he was willing to betray his Lord — himself a deceived tool of the devil, before he became a willing tool of the priests. Such is the danger of trifling with temptation. From that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. This opportunity Judas found on the evening of the Passover. The Passover is a subject of the deepest interest, and it is all-important to get a right view of the truths taught thereby. It is God’s starting point in all His ways of blessing.
God is essentially holy. Man is essentially sinful, and the question was — How can a holy God righteously bless a sinful man?
Adam — a sinner and forgiven — where was God’s righteousness? Adam — a sinner and punished — where was His love? But in the Cross, of which the Passover was a type, every attribute of the character of God is displayed, and all the deep, deep need of sinful men fully met. The Passover spoke, in the first place, of the just judgment about to descend upon every house in Egypt not sheltered by the token of the blood. God was seeking sinners to slay — not to save. The Blood on the lintel stayed the stroke of justice, for it showed that death, in type, had already been there. They were sheltered. Inside the house, and under that shelter, they partook of the lamb roast with fire. It was identification with the victim, and thus a confession that death was deserved. Sheltered by the blood and sustained by the feast, Israel marched out of the land of bondage. God was known to them first as a Judge, whose claims had been righteously met in the death of another, and then as a Saviour-God, whose power and grace were now free to flow out towards them without measure and without end. The death of the Lord Jesus not only fulfilled every type of the old economy, but brought in blessing far beyond what Old Testament saints could have dreamed of. The supper is not a type of His death, as the Passover was, for in His death the type is fulfilled. It is a memorial of dying love. The shed blood in the sacrifices of old spoke only of a remembrance of sins. The Blood of Christ declares the glorious truth that now there can be remission of sins. The sins are gone, and the believer is brought to God. The bread broken, and the wine poured out, speak of Christ in death. We remember Him in the place of death, where He has been; but we know Him now alive for evermore. And further, we do this in expectation of seeing Him again — "till He come." The Coming of the Lord is what we wait for. This feast is a testimony to the world that we take our place with the Lord of Glory whom the world crucified. In the presence of God, of angels, men, and demons, we "show the Lord’s death till he come." The blood is shed for "many." If Israel reject Him yet the blessings procured by the Cross will flow out world-wide, and Gentile aliens will become, through grace, partakers of the heavenly calling. Luke records the Lord’s touching request, "This do in remembrance of me." His people are ever on His heart. He would have us never to forget His dying love. Four things come out in connection with this feast of love: —
1 The Word of Christ — "This do."
2 The Work of Christ — "In remembrance."
3 The Person of Christ — "Of ME."
4 The Coming of Christ — "Till He come." When He comes the Supper will cease. The Passover is unlike the Supper in this: It was to be "observed as an ordinance for ever" (Exodus 12:1-51). And in the coming millennial day, the Passover feast will be celebrated with greater solemnity than has ever yet been seen. The bullock, which speaks of fullest intelligence, will take the place of the passover lamb, and living waters will go forth in abundance from the threshold of the house, nourishing the tree whose fruit is for meat, and whose leaves are for medicine (Ezekiel 45:1-25).
Then, again, the Supper cup is the blood of the new Covenant. The old Covenant was a covenant of works, and the blood in Exodus, which sealed it (Exodus 24:8), was a sign of death for the Covenant-breaker, as Israel has proved to their sorrow. The New Covenant is also with Israel, but the shed Blood in connection with it, speaks, as we have seen, of remission, instead of remembrance of sins, and Israel through it, will be brought into blessing on the ground of sovereign grace alone.
Believers today are blessed exactly on the same ground, but with this difference, that with Gentiles there was no Covenant relationship, yet all that Israel will receive as the earthly people, we shall receive in a richer, higher, and fuller way as a heavenly people, and this, too, before Israel’s day of blessing is introduced. The day is soon coming when He will drink the cup in a new way, with His own in the Father’s Kingdom. Then, indeed, will have come the time of which the prophet spake — "He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:1-12). At His Table we respond to His desire, remember His death, return His love, rejoice in His presence, and our hearts beat high in the prospect of soon seeing Him again (John 16:22). But men are ever ready to abuse what grace provides, and Christendom, by making this memorial into what they call a "sacrament" (from the Latin "sacramentum," the Roman military oath), and defining it as an "outward and visible symbol of an inward and spiritual grace," have largely lost the true meaning which the Supper is intended to convey. Not only so, but the first error has led to others, Transubstantiationists believe that, at the word of the priests the bread and wine changes its substance and becomes the very body and blood of Christ. Such is Romanist ignorance, darkness, and blasphemy.
Consubstantiationists believe that with the bread and wine there is present the body and blood of Christ. Such is the error which one man, otherwise greatly used of. God, has brought into the Lutheran Church. Consecrationists believe that before there can be a "real communion" the bread and wine must be "blessed" or "consecrated" by the ordained "priest" who officiates.
Thus, what was intended by the Lord to be a loving remembrance of accomplished Redemption, has become, in the minds of many, mystified into what they call a "sacrament," or a "means of grace." Ritualism has taken the place of reality, and man has usurped the place of the spirit of God. Others, alas, who profess to love the Lord, ignore His last request by neglecting altogether this wondrous privilege of the saints. May we take heed to the apostolic injunction, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is" (Hebrews 10:25). In the Gospels, then, we get the Supper Instituted; in the Acts we get the Supper Celebrated; and in the Epistles we get the Supper Expounded.
"And when they had sung an hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives." The Jews at their Passover Supper were in the habit of reciting Psalms 113:1-9; Psalms 114:1-8 after the "first cup"; and then, after the "third cup" — called the "cup of blessing" — they sang Psalms 115:1-18; Psalms 116:1-19; Psalms 117:1-2; Psalms 118:1-29. If the Lord here used the same psalms, how well they would apply and be fulfilled in Him —
"The sorrows of death compassed me, And the pains of hell gat hold upon me:
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the Lord;
O Lord, I beseech thee, Deliver my soul.
God is the Lord, which hath showed us light:
Bind the sacrifice with cords, Even unto the horns of the altar" (Psalms 116:3-4; Psalms 118:27). And now He goes forth to Gethsemane’s sorrow. But before entering the garden He warns the eleven that they were about to meet a time of testing which flesh and blood would not be able to bear. All would be offended in Him. The shepherd smitten, the sheep would be scattered. But what a word for their hearts, had they but had faith, even as a grain of mustard seed — "When I am RISEN AGAIN I will go before you into Galilee."
Peter’s history here comes before us as a warning against self-confidence. And we have to mark that neither love nor knowledge is sufficient provision against the power of the enemy. That Peter loved his Master with all the true warm love of which his impulsive and affectionate nature was capable is certain (John 21:15). That he knew Him to be the Christ of God is equally certain (Matthew 16:16). But let us be less occupied with Peter’s failure than with the lesson for ourselves arising therefrom. And that is, that if the first of the Apostles needed a strength beyond his own in the hour of trial, how much more do we need it?
Taking with Him the three disciples who had stood with Him at the bedside of Jairus’s daughter and there witnessed His power — who had followed Him to the Holy Mount, and there witnessed His glory, He went a little farther, and, counting upon their human sympathy, said unto them, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here and watch with me." Alas, they prove as unsympathetic towards His sufferings as before, they had been irresponsive to His glory. Just here the secret of all the failure comes out. A prayerless life is a powerless life. There can be no standing for God, where there is no dependence upon God; and if there be no going forward in the Christian life there is certain to be failure and backsliding. So Peter found to his cost. At the close of the chapter he gets his own moral weakness disclosed to himself, by the One who alone could restore, strengthen, and forgive. Peter is seen (Matthew 26:33) self-confident, (Matthew 26:40) sleeping, (Matthew 26:51) rash, (Matthew 26:56) cowardly, (Matthew 26:70) bold in denying his Master. Inside the high priest’s house there was the good confession of the Master; outside there is the thrice-repeated bold denial of the disciple — "I know not the man." And yet, as if torn two ways, love makes him linger near. The cold, weary hours of the April morning creep slowly past. ’Peter is sitting with the servants and warming himself beside their fire (Mark). Suddenly, what would be to others a common and unimportant sound, reached their ears. But to Peter, no thunder-burst could have been more appalling. In letters of light, his every word, motive, and action of the last few hours rose before him, and turning away from himself with utter loathing, he rose up, went out and wept bitterly. What a fall! What repentance, and what grace that could produce such a recovery! It is here we get a true insight into the real character of this great-hearted disciple whom we have learned to know and love. But to return. Matthew 26:39 — "And he went a little farther, and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."
Now He is alone with the Father. The moment was near when even God would forsake Him, and He would be alone, as no one ever was before, or could be. Separate from men because of what He was — the Holy One of God — He, on that Cross of shame, would he separated from God because of what He had voluntarily become — the Sin-bearer. No human eyes witnessed that scene in Gethsemane. No human ear listened to that cry of sorrow. Matthew, who wrote this account of it, was not even among the favoured three, who were the nearest to their Lord. The Holy Spirit of God alone inspired the record, and, in revealing the details of this solemn scene, surely He had something for us to learn therefrom. It is clearly the anticipation of the Cross. But if this is the anticipation, what must the reality have been? Shall we ever know? He knew, and spread it all out before His Father. The thrice-repeated prayer could not be heard. The Son of Man must be lifted up. As the Holy One, we see Him shrinking from becoming the Covenant-Victim, yet as the Obedient One, He receives the cup "from His Father’s hand." Our sins had filled it. Satan presented it But here He looks past all these, and in perfect communion with His Father says, "Thy will be done." The prophetic utterances of Psalms 22:1-31 had already given the exercises of His soul, in view of, and upon, the Cross; as Isaiah 53:1-12 had spoken of Him as the great substitutionary Victim — the Lamb led to the slaughter. In Psalms 22:2, He speaks of a prayer that is not heard, but Hebrews 5:7, referring surely to this same solemn moment, tells of Him "offering up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, to him that was able to save him from (literally, out of) death; and was heard, in that he feared." And saved out of death He was; and in resurrection life, and power "he became the Author of eternal salvation, unto all them that obey him."
Returning to the three disciples, the Lord found them asleep and, addressing Peter, He said, "What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation." The gentle rebuke might well have been a warning to Peter. Not many hours had passed since he had vowed to die with his Master. Might he not, then, be expected to watch with Him? But if he refused to profit by the Lord’s instructions, he had to learn by his own bitter experiences, what the flesh is even in an apostle. So will it be with all who enter the school of God. The traitor comes. The Lord, having passed in anticipation through all the awful agony and sorrow of the Cross, is now calm in the presence of the ruffian mob.
Oh, what a scene is here! Judas in his treachery. Peter in his rashness. The shrinking disciples The priestly hirelings. The Lord Jesus in divine dignity in the midst. One word from His lips and twelve legions of angels would have taken the place of Peter’s faltering sword. But it was their hour, and the power of darkness. The chief priests in the high priest’s house sit in judgment, not to find the truth, but to find false witnesses. And even here their search is vain, for though many are called, yet none agree. Before the priests the Lord is condemned because of His own confession that He was the Son of God. But on their part, Caiaphas’s question itself was only a cover for their hypocrisy. His death they had long ago decided on, and any means to reach that end was acceptable in their eyes. The Lord, as ever, gives them truth beyond what they desired to learn. The day was coming when they would see Him, as "Son of Man," sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. At the moment, the power seemed to be on their side, and they would use it to the full. No sooner has He been unjustly condemned than His judges step down from the bench to spit in His face (Mark), while the servants buffet, blindfold, and mock Him. It is neither the rude soldiers of the governor, nor the Gentile executioners here. It is the leaders of Israel that are so brought before us. They are seen seeking false witnesses: condemning the guiltless and setting an example in hatred and cruelty. The Son of Man thus stood before the leaders of Israel. What a moment when the leaders of Israel shall stand before the Son of Man.
Matthew 27:1-66 opens with "all the chief priests and elders" united in the awful sin of delivering up the Son of God to the Gentile power. Thus the greatest guilt falls upon those who had the greatest light. So Peter, in Acts 3:1-26, charges home their guilt upon them. Having condemned the guiltless, they now seek to colour their unholy proceedings with a show of legality, and deliver Him bound into the custody of Pilate.
Meanwhile, if they are not seized with remorse, Judas is. He brought back the wages of unrighteousness, and confessed his sin to the priests instead of to God. Satan, having finished with his dupe, insults him before destroying him. "What is that to us?" is their sneering answer to his conscience-stricken cry. Casting down the money he had sold his soul to acquire, he hastens, bent on self-destruction, to carry out the will of the devil. And now the hypocrisy of the human heart is here laid bare, as lately was its cruelty. The priests, with the money, purchased a burying-ground for strangers; but the public voice which is often keen to detect the motives of public men, gave the field its rightful name "Aceldama" — "The Field of Blood." Such their city and land soon became. And, alas, the whole world; for the guilt of Innocent Blood rests yet upon the world where the Lord of Glory died.
"And Jesus stood before the governor" — the presence of the Lord exposes the motives of every heart, and here we have next unfolded before us the heart history of a man scheming to retain place and power in this world, and utterly infidel as to the next. The policy of the priests, in bringing Him to Pilate, was to secure the intervention of the military power, and so shift the odium of the crime from their own heads, to that of the Romans. Pilate easily saw through their hypocrisy, and very soon arrived at the conclusion, which he held all through the closing scenes, that "it was for envy they had delivered him up." Finding no fault in Him, Pilate from henceforth sought to release Him. But though strong in brute force, Pilate was wholly lacking in the true strength of moral principle. To release the Lord, Pilate must first placate the priests, in order to secure his own position with the cruel and suspicious Tiberius at Rome. Three attempts were made without avail. First, Pilate declares, "I find no fault in him." Then he offers to release Barabbas. And lastly, as if in the endeavour to assuage their thirst for blood, he declares himself willing to scourge the One whom he had thrice declared to be innocent. Such is the righteousness of man. But no man goes to hell unwarned. For the Roman of that day, the old "gods" of the Pantheon were "dead." A less virile and still more degrading superstition held them in bondage. Signs and omens were their guiding lights, and voices from the mystic land of dreams held powerful control over their minds. And God used what was perhaps the only avenue left open to that man’s conscience, through the message sent to him by his wife. Her urgent entreaty but added to his indecision and increased his guilt, without giving power to do what he knew to be right.
Pilate’s next shift was to send the Lord to Herod. And now the two Kings are together God’s King and Man’s King. We have already seen the character of man’s king in Matthew 14:1-36 Here his acts are in keeping with his character. "And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate" (Luke 23:11).
One more effort the governor made, but it was answered by the fierce cry, "If thou let this man go thou art not Caesar’s friend" (John 19:12). It was their last argument, and it prevailed. To retain the favour of Caesar, Pilate knowingly condemned the Innocent. That Pilate, after all, lost that favour, history, which we have no reason to doubt, records. And shortly afterwards he followed Judas on the same road to self-destruction. His mockery of hand washing was a feeble attempt to conceal his weakness and shift the guilt of his crime, but it was enough to induce the priests to invoke the consequences of the awful crime upon themselves and their children. That God in righteous government took them at their word, their history conclusively declares.
What a revelation of hearts is here, and all against the Son of God. The leaders persuading the people to choose a felon. The governor yielding up to death the Innocent. The king of Israel mocking Israel’s Messiah. The people willing to accept any one if only the Lord is condemned, and finally accepting the responsibility of slaying the Prince of Life.
Now Pilate scourges the One he had thrice pronounced innocent. The soldiers gather round to satiate their cruelty with a sight of His sufferings. Here it is not the Jews that surround Him. The soldiers of the governor had little in common with the servants of the priests, but they were alike in this — the natural cruelty of the human heart, led on by Satan.
He is
(1) stripped;
(2) scourged;
(3) buffeted;
(4) mocked;
(5) spit upon;
(6) crowned with thorns;
(7) crucified.
Sevenfold sufferings measured out to the Holy Son of God by the guilty sons of men. The Jews demand His blood. The Gentiles shed it. And psalm and prophecy is fulfilled as they gather round His Cross to insult the Holy Sufferer. Even the guilty robbers can forget, for a moment, their own agonies, to add to His. But to continue the narrative of our Evangelist — let us notice here how God overruled all the malice and mockery of men for the fulfilment of prophecy and a testimony to His Son, the very opposite of what they intended. Matthew records that they put on Him a scarlet robe, and by that kingly colour they thereby declared that He was the King of the Jews. In Herod’s palace He was arrayed in a "gorgeous" (white or shining) robe, thereby testifying to His sinless character. The priests and scribes who had followed might stand and "vehemently accuse" Him. He was arrayed before them in that which spoke of perfect innocence. Mark and John, again, tell of a purple robe. All are divinely suited to the way in which the Lord is brought before us in the different gospels. John tells us that He was the Son of God. Mark says that He became the Servant. But blessed be His name, the Son who became the Servant will in a soon-coming day be known as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His Imperial character, expressed by the purple, will then be manifested to the whole universe. And so again at the Cross, Pilate wrote a title — was it not this time to mock the Jew, instead of mocking the Lord? —
"This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." So the complete title read, but each of the evangelists gives that portion suitable to his subject. They may be compared as under: — This is Jesus * the King of the Jews (Matt.) * * * The King of the Jews (Mark) This is * *The King of the Jews (Luke) * Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews (John) Such was man’s part. But "from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour." God draws a veil of darkness round the scene when the great question of ATONEMENT is taken up. The bitter cry from that darkness, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" expresses a forsaking which He, the Holy Victim, could alone measure. As we contemplate this most solemn scene we can only bow our hearts and worship.
It has been well said, that the Cross is the centre of two eternities. The past eternity, if we may so speak, looked forward to it. All eternity to come will look back. In it God was fully displayed as Light and Love. His righteousness was so vindicated that His mercy might flow out unhinderedly. By it we are brought to God. "He is the propitiation for our sins." God’s holy nature has been glorified. God’s perfect love can now be lavished upon those who have been reconciled to Him by the death of His Son. The Great Work of ATONEMENT is God’s wonderful provision whereby all this may be accomplished (Leviticus 16:1-34).
God has been pleased to present this to us from different standpoints: —
1 The propitiatory character of the death of Christ provides the ground where God can meet the sinner in righteousness (1 John 2:1-29, Romans 3:1-31).
2 The expiatory character of the death of Christ meets our guilty condition. We were sinful, and sin must be put away (Hebrews 9:1-28).
3 The substitutionary character of the death of Christ meets our responsibility. We were condemned, and Another must take our place and bear our judgment (1 Peter 2:1-25).
4 The redeeming character of the death of Christ meets our state. As slaves of sin and Satan, only a mighty ransom could deliver us. We are now no longer slaves, but sons, with the spirit of sons, and waiting for the redemption of the body (Romans 8:1-39; Revelation 5:1-14).
Here at the Cross every question is raised and settled. God’s glory is righteously vindicated. Man’s need is fully met. Satan’s power is for ever broken. But — to complete the mighty work — it remained but for Him to die. Death followed sin; and, taking the sinner’s place, He met the sinner’s doom. But He went into death in order that He might destroy him that had the power of it — that is, the devil. He was already the Victor over him. Now, by the assertion of His divine power, He dismissed His Spirit and died. He had power to lay down His life and power to take it again (John 10:18).
There are seven utterances on the Cross, somewhat in the following order: —
1 "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
2 "Verily I say unto thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).
3 Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani (Matthew 27:46).
4 "Woman, behold thy Son!" (John 19:26).
5 "I thirst" (John 19:28).
6 "It is finished" (John 19:30).
7 "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46). The Prince of Life has gone into the domain of death. Great results will certainly follow, and they begin immediately. The number of separate striking incidents which are grouped together within the sixteen closing verses of this wonderful chapter is remarkable. The first and immediate result of the Lord’s death was the rending asunder, from top to bottom, of the temple veil. And this event was coincident with the offering of the evening sacrifice at the ninth hour. Our Evangelist records the fact. Another inspired apostle gives us the divine commentary thereon. Never more need another innocent lamb bleed under the sacrificial knife. The true Lamb of God, the great Antitype of every sacrifice, had died, and now, for the believer, there is remission of sins, instead of their remembrance (Hebrews 10:3-14). The temple, as is well known, was divided into two parts. Into the first went the priests daily. In the second, or Holy of Holies, there was, in Solomon’s temple, a manifestation of God in the Shekinah glory. Man durst not go in, and God did not come out. But now the rent veil spoke of the fact that God, through the death of the Lord Jesus, was fully revealed, without a veil, either to hide or separate. And further, there is also what that death has done for the believer. It has fitted him for the presence of God in light. And so, to refer again to Hebrews 10:1-39, we are fitted to draw near. We are invited to draw near, and we have a Great High Priest to maintain our souls ever in the place of conscious nearness. THE BLOOD is the foundation of our every blessing.
Nature itself seemed to have its part at this sublime moment. Quaking earth and rending rocks were doubtless only the agencies employed by the mighty hand of God to open the graves of the saints, but they testify to the solemn character of the events which are taking place. And Scripture is careful to state that it was after His resurrection that the saints themselves arose.
There is also the effect upon the Gentile centurion. All the synoptists record it, but only Matthew includes "those that were with him." Our Evangelist, as we have frequently seen, often indicates the widening out of Kingdom blessing far beyond the narrow bounds of Israel, and here for the first time we have a Gentile company convinced and confessing, "truly this was the Son of God" (Matthew 27:54).
Let us pause here, and contemplate for a moment the condition of things on the evening of this day of days in the world’s history.
It is between the hours of four and six o’clock (our time). A dead Christ, refused by His nation, betrayed by one of His own disciples, murdered by the Gentiles, hangs upon a gibbet. His few followers, in whose breasts hope and fear had alternated during the week gone by, now find themselves with every hope gone, fear crushing out their courage and despair filling their hearts. Only one of them — the one who had lain in His bosom, now stood by His Cross. But if disciples fail, there are others who do not. The women that followed Him from Galilee, are, at the beginning, seen "afar off" (as we should expect) from that scene of horror: but later, it would appear (John 20:1-31), draw as near as the javelins of the Roman guard would permit. Faith may have died out of their hearts, but fear found no place there. Love — never stronger than when its object is most in need — is what characterises them, and the Spirit of God so describes their devotion. They would watch by His body until the stone concealed it from their sight. And now, to prepare for their "high day," the priests desire Pilate to order the removal of the bodies from the Cross, doubtless to be cast into a felon’s grave. But again prophecy was to be fulfilled to the letter. "His grave was appointed with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death" (Isaiah 53:1-12). They might break the legs of the others, but "a bone of him shall not be broken" (John 19:1-42). After the witness of the blood and water, which flowed from His spear-pierced side, God took care that no indignity should he offered to Him in death, who had so perfectly glorified God in His life. And just as one professed disciple had been bold in denying Him, so now a secret disciple becomes bold in confessing Him. Love for the Lord overcame the fear for his fellows. And Nicodemus, another rich man, shares in this most privileged service. If John 3:1-36 be Nicodemus’s Conversion, and John 7:1-53 his Confession, here surely we have his Consecration. In open face of His enemies, in the time of their seeming triumph, these two devoted men identify themselves with their crucified Lord.
Joseph’s new tomb receives His body. Love laid Him there. Hatred sealed the stone and set a watch. The women who had followed Him from Galilee, and who had waited at the Cross, to see, as they thought, the end, wait still to see the place where He was laid.
Three of the Marys are here there are four mentioned in the Gospels — and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward. Salome also is here with all her high hopes for James and John, which hopes now lie buried in His tomb. And so perhaps with them all. Nevertheless, oh, how they loved Him! But two of the Marys are singled out beyond the others — apart from the others. The great stone has been rolled to the door of the sepulchre. Joseph and the others have departed to their own homes, but "there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre" (Matthew 27:61).
It is the gathering dusk of the Friday evening. We shall meet them again in the glorious dawn of the third day morning, once more wending their way to the same spot, to be the first to hear from angel lips the heart-gladdening words, "He is not here: He is risen." But if Joseph’s tomb received His body the priests would make sure that it should remain there. With this end in view they request from Pilate that means be taken to "make it sure." Pilate said unto them — was it again in mockery? — "Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can." What words are adequate here? Imagination itself fails to cover the ground between the opposing forces. The puny power of the priests on the one side: on the other the almighty power of God. Man striving with his Maker.
Nervously, tensely apprehensive of that "third day," in spite of their apparent triumph, the priests are now as anxiously considering the question of how to keep a dead Man in the grave, as but yesterday they were scheming how to slay Him. But God overrules all for the glory of Christ. The world will demand proofs of His resurrection. His enemies will supply them abundantly. So again the servants of the priests visit Golgotha. They affix the official Great Seal of the Sanhedrim to the stone covering the door of the sepulchre. They set a watch — a watch of soldiers — of the best soldiers in the world — a watch of Roman soldiers, and depart to keep their "high" Sabbath, while the Lord of the Sabbath lies low within the tomb.
Surely death, the sealed stone, and the soldier guard can be jointly trusted to keep their prey secure. The seeming triumph of Satan is complete.