Matthew 27
RileyMatthew 27:1-61
THE TRIAL: THE FOUL AND THE Matthew 27:1-61. THE fourfold presentation of the life of Christ includes what is commonly known as the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and John. This distinction rests in the circumstance that Matthew, Mark and Luke are three separate and distinct histories of the high points in the life of Christ, from His birth until His resurrection from the grave. They are so simple and straightforward in statement that they carry to the unprejudiced mind a profound conviction of the truth, and only the man who is searching for flaws with a powerful microscope can find any fault or discrepancy in them, and even then the discovery is clearly a result of his diseased vision. The sincere and intelligent students of the ages have stood amazed at the distinct variety and perfect harmony in these three Gospels.John’s Gospel partakes a bit more of the philosophical disquisition. In other words, it reasons from the facts to a conclusion, and that conclusion is recorded in John 20:31, “These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His Name”. But while the fourth Gospel commonly assumes the facts found in the other three, some of them are of such supreme importance that they are stated again, thereby providing a foursquare basis on which to build his conclusions.The incidents of this study are of such importance and so directly relate themselves to the great sacrificial atonement that brought Christ from Heaven to earth, that no one of the four did, or could, ignore them.You read the record in Matthew 27, in Mark 15, in Luke 23 and in John 18, 19.
We advise the student of these pages to give careful attention to each and all of these reports, for there are valuable sidelights flung on Matthew’s record from each of the other three Gospels. We shall have occasion to make reference to some of them in passing, for we propose to assemble what we have to say regarding this incident around three great suggestions: The Farcical Trial, The Foul Treatment and The Prophetic Testimonies of Jesus.THE TRIAL. “When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death: “And when they had bound Him, they led Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor” (Matthew 27:1-2). The motive of priests and elders predetermined the trial—procedure. Mark the language of the text:“All the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death”. They did not come together to inquire whether He was innocent or guilty; they were not there to discover the facts and then determine whether they were favorable or unfavorable, and whether the man should be released or condemned. That is supposed to be the province of the court. These men, who enjoyed certain judicial prerogatives, threw all semblance of judicial procedure aside and voluntarily converted themselves into prosecutors of the Christ, the determination being “to put Him to death”.We speak of the courts of justice. They are often the courts of prejudice instead.
We properly revere the office of Judge, and yet the Judge sometimes becomes a Judge-Advocate and his every word and act proves that, though sitting in the place of judgment he is performing the part of prosecutor or defender, as his prejudiced leanings may lead him.Again and again, priests tried to secure the judgment of kings and courts against Jesus, on the ground that He aspired to be Himself King. But, as a matter of fact, that charge was a poor camouflage.
The Israelitish priest and elder knew little loyalty to the Roman ruler and would gladly have him set aside for one of their own kith and kin, exalted to the office instead. Their grievance, then, was not in their political loyalty to Pilate or Herod, but in their alarm lest their priesthood and their eldership should be undermined. His appearance as the great High Priest meant the casting aside of the ceremonial appointee to that office. They seemed to have sensed that fact and were goaded both to desperate speech and deed in fear for their own office. Sagely did Joseph Parker remark, “No priest can live peacefully on the same earth with Christ. He came to put down the priest; to destroy the elder; to abolish self-conceit, self-centering, self-sufficiency, and to reduce men to such a sense of sin and moral humiliation and personal guilt as will excite the cry in every heart, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”!The man who touches the assumed prerogatives of ecclesiastical potentates will not only find himself instantly unpopular with the same; but, if he persist, he will find his very life sought by them.
There are men so enamored of ecclesiastical office and the exercise of spiritual supremacy over their fellows, that they would prefer to commit murder rather than be reduced in rank, and woe to him who has to be adjudged by that ex parte council! They sought not then the exercise of justice; they sought the crucifixion of Jesus.They proved themselves utterly indifferent to the fate of their tool—Judas Iscariot.“Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, “Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the Temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself”. “And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, “It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. “And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. “Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken of Jeremy the Prophet, saying. And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom they of the Children of Israel did value; “And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me” (Matthew 27:3-10). There are two technical difficulties in this text. They inhere in the fact stated,“Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the Prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom they of the Children of Israel did value; “And gave them for the potter’s field as the Lord appointed me” (Matthew 27:9-10) The first of these difficulties is an ethical one. If Judas Iscariot was predestined to betray Christ, was his conduct morally culpable? Certainly! God’s foreknowledge of events in nowise compels their occurrence. The astronomers know now the exact minute when the next transit of Venus will take place. That knowledge does not effect the transit. Judas Iscariot was a free-moral agent. He could have refused the infamous proffer of the chief priests had he not encouraged covetousness until it had cankered his very character.The second difficulty is a critical one.
The quotation assigned to Jeremy is found in the Prophet Zechariah instead. Bishop Lightfoot’s explanation of this matter is adequate for the unprejudiced. He said, “Jeremiah of old had the first place among the Prophets, and hereby he comes to be mentioned above all the rest because he stood first in the volume of the Prophets, and the whole Book of the Prophets, in a way, thereby bore his name.”Our Saviour, you remember, speaks of what is written in the Law, and the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jeremiah’s name headed the list as if it were his Book, and there is neither inaccuracy nor ignorance on the part of Jesus involved.The late president of Wheaton College, Dr. Charles Albert Blanchard, stood before a famous painting that represented Judas as crestfallen and grief stricken, and as throwing thirty pieces of silver to the feet of chief priests and elders in the consciousness that he had sinned and betrayed innocent blood, and as the great Christian educator looked on the same, he said, “Ah, poor Judas! poor Judas!” But the priests and elders of that day knew no sympathy with him who sold himself to serve their ignoble ends, and when they saw his plight, they expressed no pity. They said, “What is that to us; see thou to that”.There is no class of men in the world more unfeeling than ecclesiastical potentates, who hold office for the mere sake of honor or money-emoluments.
Such bishops, such overseers, such superintendents, know; no compassion for those who refuse them service, and no respect for those who once sold themselves to their service, but have now reached the place where there is no further profit in them. They dispose of such disobedient brethren and of such nonserviceable disciples with a wave of the hand, a shake of the head, or a signature to a letter.
What are they to them? They may have innocent families that will suffer; little children that will cry for bread, or shiver from lack of clothing; but we have noted that that means nothing to the ecclesiastical potentate whose will has been thwarted, or who discovers that the individual, once obedient to that will, is now incapacitated for its further service. They may contribute some of the very gains formerly brought to their purse by the ecclesiastical henchman to purchase a place for him in the potter’s field. But they are not likely to be present when he is buried, and still less likely to shed a tear over his untimely and even tragical death.My observations in a long ministerial life lead me to this conclusion, that the way to command the respect and even compel the admiration of selfish priests and elders, is to declare your independence of them; give them to understand always and under all circumstances that you are neither for sale to serve their selfish ends, nor yet dependent upon either their fellowship or appointments, and that you recognize a higher Lord and propose to yield your first, middle and last allegiance to Him.How many times I have seen ministers cringe and crawl at the word of ecclesiastical potentates in the form of socially and financially powerful lay-bosses of the local body, or those supposed servants of the denomination who, by reason of certain appointing powers, “lord it over God’s heritage”; and never yet have I known any such cringing and crawling man to be permanently favored and blessed of God. There is occasion for the text,“Call no man * * master, for One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. * * He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:8-12). The attitude of Pilate was that of judicial impotence (Matthew 27:11-25). Perhaps no better interpretation of this entire passage has ever been given than that of Munkaczy, in his famous painting of “Christ before Pilate”. There are three features to this picture, each of which is indicted by the text. The background is a mob—clamoring, scornful, murderous, demanding. In the foreground stands the figure of Christ, with bound hands and seamless garment, steadily facing His accusers, and there is no indication, either in His pose or in His expression, that He knows fear or craves special favor. It is a picture of a man whose conscience of right is undisturbed by the howls and leers and murderous spirit of a mob.
On the throne sits Pilate, massive in form, his features such as to indicate will and determination, but his whole attitude one of weakness, irresolution, and cowardice. With his right hand he is nervously twitching at the sleeve of his tunic, and with his left hand there is a weak, slight jesture, evidently associated with the question, “Why, what evil has He done”?
It is a picture of muscular strength linked with moral trepidation and political subservience. If one needed a further interpretation of this scene, he gets it from another painting, “The Dream of Pilate’s Wife” by Dore. That brilliant artist presents this woman’s intuition and foresight, seeing a fatal mistake which her husband is about to make, and is sending him a warning telling of a dream with which her sleep had been disturbed; but cowardice, associated as it always is with self-love, is moved not a little either by the silence of innocence, vociferousness of falsehood, or even the admonition of angels. It debates but one question, “How can I conserve my own interests?” and if another, then “How can I make a guilty deed appear to be an innocent one?”Many a man like Pilate has sought to make bloodstained hands clean by washing in water before the multitude, and to escape the conviction already pronounced by his own heart, by saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person”, Alas, for the impotence of such pleas, and for the inadequacy of such an element of cleansing! There are people, I fear, who have an idea that water can wash away sin, and such make baptism a saving ordinance. How vain a thought! Peter long since sought to save men from such a mistake, and in his first Epistle he said,“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). Yea, this truth was known to Job in the days of old:“If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; “Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me” (Job 9:30-31). It does not belong to mortal man to pass final sentence upon his fellows. We have no disposition to attempt to declare the spiritual fate of Pilate, but we do say that if Pilate ever escaped the guilt of this deed, it was not by way of that pan of water, but rather via the Blood, a bit later shed on Calvary; for “the Blood of Christ cleanses from all sin”. We pass toTHE FOUL . First of all, He was scourged by this same cowardly Judge. “Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:26). Was ever a judge forced into so many inconsistencies? In one breath he questions “What evil hath He done”? (Matthew 27:23). In the next, he sentences Him as guilty of a capital crime (Matthew 27:26). In one breath he speaks of Him as “this just Person” (Matthew 27:24), and in the next he orders Him “scourged” (Matthew 27:26). The words of his wife, “Have thou nothing to do with that just Man”, are still ringing in his ears when he is passing the sentence of death.
The distinct conviction of his heart was that “for envy they had delivered Him”, and yet his lips pronounced the words, that sent Him to a Cross!The common impression is that the sin of all sins and the crime of all centuries was in the case of Judas when Jesus was betrayed. Personally, we see little or no greater depth to that diabolical hypocrisy than was evinced in the whole course and conduct of Pilate.
The one man was tempted by thirty pieces of silver, the other by political supremacy; but certainly they were full partners in the crime that sent Christ to the Cross.Before passing from this point, let me say that the silence of Jesus through the hours of this turbulent trial were the most eloquent arraignment His enemies ever met. When He was accused by the chief priests and elders, “He answered nothing”. When Pilate said, “Hearest Thou not how many things they witness against Thee”? “He answered him never a word”. Whenever a man or a woman writes me a letter filled with contumely, reeking, with false charges, slimy with the spittle of contempt, I know how to answer it. My Lord long since gave me the perfect reply—“silence”! It is the most effective weapon for self-defense ever placed within the power of the innocent, and it is the most eloquent arraignment of those whose false charges voice their own guilt.
Ah, the competence in being able to hold one’s tongue!He was stripped and mocked by the soldier-henchman (Matthew 27:27-33) Such is the shame of soldiery! From time immemorial men have been wont to admire and laud the military of the land.
The average citizen reasons that the policeman who guards the streets, the homes, the lives of his city, is both a benefactor and a friend, and that the men who stand ready to defend the nation with their lives are worthy of both admiration and honor, and it should be even so! But every office has its peculiar temptation, and the temptation of this guardian of society, the policeman and the soldier, is the temptation of brutality. A billy in the hand, a pistol in the holstery, a rifle over the shoulder, these things carry their temptations with them. They tend to braggartism, to the over exercise of authority, and often even to brutality itself. It is a strange freak of human nature that makes the average policeman to feel that he must curse and threaten even the most innocent violator of any law.Sometime since in St. Paul, in consequence of deep thought, I found myself facing a colored policeman who stopped me just before I got past a red light “Stop!” sign, and when I was ready to receive a bawling-out, with curses and threats attendant, and possibly an arrest to follow, he smiled till his white teeth loomed the full width of his face and said, “What’s the matter with you, white man!?
You goin’ to run my sign down?” The surprise took my breath away and I backed up, apologized, returned the best smile I could possibly express, and left that corner determined to be more awake and observant.The military man often misjudges his own office, and, in consequence, makes himself a menace to society instead of its saviour. Since Jesus had been “delivered to be crucified”, what conceivable justification of stripping, putting on Him one of Pilate’s old, cast-off, scarlet robes that scorn might be the better expressed; platting a crown of thorns and pushing it down into His bleeding brow; sticking a reed into His right hand, so bound that He could not even drop the same if He desired, and bowing the knee before Him and mocking Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews”!
And then, to further show both their authority and their contempt, “they spat upon Him” and took the reed out of His hand and “smote Him on the head”. This bound and helpless Man was treated after the most brutal manner; and mocking Him further, they take the robe off Him and put His own raiment back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. Doubtless, every portion of Scripture had its objective when the Spirit moved a man of God to write it down. I am inclined to think that there are no Scriptures that ought to be so profitable to the police of the world and the soldiery of the earth, as this Scripture, revealing, as it does, the peculiar temptation to which they are subject and the infamy of the same, fruiting in the conduct of a bully and in the exercise of brutality.A considerable proportion of the men who fall into the hands of a constabulary are utterly innocent of the charge that is made against them, and another section of these same unfortunates are guilty, but ignorantly so! Beyond question, one reason why crime multiplies in America and is reduced to a minimum in England, is the fact that in America our officers are too often the foes of society, while in England their officers are everywhere recognized as its friends. In America, our constabulary is often in sympathetic relation with the rabble and the underworld, and in England they are the intelligent servants of the State.This godless constabulary gambled over His garments (Matthew 27:34-36).
Beyond all question, there is always a harmony between character and conduct. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”. There may be hypocrites in the world whose outward behavior is acceptable to society, but whose inner thought and desire is putrid in the last degree; but even with such it is very difficult to keep conduct on any other plane than that of character, and sooner or later the former will voice the latter.This is an interesting record, showing that the officers of the law were by nature and custom gamblers.
We sometimes say the world moves, but it does not seem to change much. Chicago, at this present moment, is in the throes of crime, and the entire country believes, on what seems to be excellent evidence, that crime rages there, because the police-force itself is criminal, alike in conduct and in character. Gambling will never be put down by gamblers. The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States will never be enforced by drinkers, and murder will never be abated by murderers.There are two acts in the conduct of these soldiers that on their face suggest sympathy or tenderness; but it is very doubtful if either of them were so intended. When they compelled Simon to bear the Cross of Jesus, they did not do it to lighten the burden from His exhausted shoulders, but rather to further carry out their determination to get Him to the ground of crucifixion and to cast indignity and shame upon one who had unquestionably expressed some sympathy for the man from Nazareth. And when they “gave Him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall”, it is altogether likely that that was not an attempt to refresh Him, but rather to drug Him and make their own destructive work the more easy.
It is very doubtful if even the crucifixion of the two thieves was, in any sense, a necessity of that particular day, but rather a deliberate determination to bring Christ to His death under the most accusing circumstances and in the most suggestive fellowship. If there is any section of society hardened beyond another; unsympathetic, suited to do a diabolical deed such as the nailing of Jesus to the Cross, it is the scoffers; it is the men of brutal instincts; the gamblers, who can cast dice for the garments of a dying man.
Surely, society gave its hardest and most inhuman subjects to the task of insulting, scoffing, mocking, scorning, spitting upon and finally slaughtering the Son of God.But in the midst of darkness, the light breaks, and over against this farcical trial, this foul treatment, standsTHE . They are more in number than we dare attempt in this discussion. But to some conspicuous ones we call attention. They set up over His head this accusation, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”That was a prophecy of His coming power! They spake a truth without intending it, even without knowing it. After all, then, both the ways and words of men are with God, and He can “make their wrath to praise Him”.Long ago, Isaiah had written of Him that“the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). David, the Seer, had said“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. “They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall lick the dust. “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. “Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him” (Psalms 72:8-11). Again, find here a prophecy of His resurrection from the grave. They that passed by, reviling Him, said, “Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself” He had said of the temple, “It shall be destroyed, and in three days I will raise it up again”. “But that He spake concerning the temple of His body”. The very speech, then, of which they reminded Him, and that in the language of derision, was destined to a speedy and perfect fulfillment.On the third day He arose again, a Victor over death and the grave, and in that victory gave assurance of the same experience for every buried and sleeping believer’s body. “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour: it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).These bodies of ours, temples of the Holy Ghost, will be destroyed by the last enemy, but, blessed be His Name, they shall be rebuilt again at His Coming.Nature also had her prophetic word for that day!“From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45). As there was darkness preceding the death of Christ and attendant upon the same, so there will be a darkness preceding and attending His reappearance on the earth—the darkness of sin and of suffering—the “day of Jacob’s trouble”, the “agony of the ages”, the “great tribulation”. Yea, and even more, the “sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven”.But still further, “the rent in the temple veil” was a prophecy of the new way to God. The language of Scripture is suggestive in the last degree. “The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom”.
If one keeps in mind the Old Testament temple appointments, you remember this gorgeous veil which hung between the holy place and the Holy of Holies, shutting out all access to the presence of God as manifested from above the Mercy Seat and between the Cherubim. Only one man dared to enter beyond that veil, and that was the great high priest on the great day of atonement, and he only after an atonement had been made for him and had been made for even the altar itself.
But now, the rent veil suggests the fact that men are no longer kept away from God, but in the Christ who died on Calvary, have true access, since He is “the Way” and sinners can come even into His presence and order their cause before Him. The Mercy Seat is approachable then, and the whole way to God is sprinkled with the cleansing Blood of Him who, through the Eternal Spirit, “offered Himself without spot”. It is a New and Living Way.Finally, the earthquake and the resurrection prophesied the great day of His Coming. These are two events that are everywhere associated with His reappearance in the world. This earthquake was a type of that other earthquake “for there shall he famines and pestilences and earthquakes”; “the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” and “every mountain and island will be moved out of their places”. But even as in this instance, the quaking of the earth and the rending of the rocks was attended with open graves “and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:51-52).
So, in that final day, “when the earth shall shake at the touch of His feet”, “at the sound of His trumpet, the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed, For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:52-54).In that day the centurion who looked upon the face of Jesus, feeling the earth tremble beneath his feet; observing upon nature’s evident sympathy, was filled with fear and said, “Truly this was the Son of God”; in that day Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and the mother of Zebedee’s children, ministered unto Him; in that day Joseph, the rich man of Arimathaea, but a disciple of the Christ, went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus that he might lay it in his own new tomb and save it from the further touch of sacrilegious hands!
So, in that greater day of which it was the type, new offices of administration will be filled, new and multiplied friends for the despised Nazarene will stand up, and new and universal admiration shall be paid to Him who has “conquered sin and the grave”, and who, returning from Heaven, shall “rebuild the throne of His father David”, and for a thousand years, on earth, exercise His righteous reign.It is enough! We rest until tomorrow!
Matthew 27:62-66
CHRIST’S AND CERTAINMat_27:62 to Matthew 28:15THIS Scripture involves the very citadel of Christianity. The Apostle Paul reasons with a logic that cannot be gainsaid, that “if Christ be not risen from the dead our faith is in vain”. The dead have perished and the living are without hope.But the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is in itself not sufficient. The ascension is absolutely necessary to the completion of His claims, and the exercise of His powers. Our question, then, couples two words which are complementary. The resurrection without the ascension would prove nothing more than a reanimation—a Lazarus, and not a Lord.
An ascension without a resurrection would demonstrate nothing better than a translation—a Prophet Elijah perhaps, but not the Son of God with whom is all power.It was a marvelous thing that Jesus was begotten by the Holy Ghost, but even that would not demonstrate above discussion His essential Deity. Adam was the generation of the Spirit and not that of a human father. The working of miracles on the part of Jesus is not a sufficient evidence of His claim. Miracles occurred under the hands of Moses and Elijah and others who were nothing more than men of marked faith in the Almighty. The one who sets up a claim as the very Christ of God must not only bring us certain evidence of Divine appointment, such as mortal men have enjoyed, but a chain of evidences stretching from His first appearance in the world clear on to His second coming, and every link thereof must bear the imprint of the superhuman.It will be conceded, I think, that the central argument of all the arguments presented in the Name of Christ, rests with this question, Did He rise from the dead and ascend into Heaven?In answer to that I bring you first of all these texts from the Scriptures, and in elaboration of these suggest some thoughts for solemn reflection. FOR THE . It is not begging the question to appeal to the Bible for arguments of the resurrection. Even infidels concede that the Old Testament Scriptures were in the hands of men when Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth; and very few intellectual, honest men question that the New Testament was born within a century after His reputed ascension. If, therefore, they are not trustworthy, skepticism has already enjoyed two thousand years of opportunity to disprove their statements. If, at the end of this time, the statements stand and gather to themselves an ever-increasing company who consent that they have made good their right to a place in the catalogue of historical facts, why should we not appeal to them in discussing the very subject that gave them their existence?According to the Scriptures there are many lines of argument for the resurrection. Let me make mention of four of them.The argument of the Empty Tomb. “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. “And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven, and came and rolled hack the stone from the door, and sat upon it. “His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: “And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. “And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. “He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Matthew 28:1-6). That statement is either true or false. If false, why did not the enemies of Christ expose the deception? That He had enemies, not even infidels question. That He was hunted to the Cross, no one now disputes. That He was buried is as certain as the execution of the Roman law. What became of the body? This was the very thing His enemies had feared. They had reminded Pilate of His prophecy, “After three days I will rise again”, and had asked that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day. And Pilate had said unto them,“Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. “So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch” (Matthew 27:65-66). But when the resurrection was accomplished, “some of the watch came unto the City, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.“And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,“Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept.“And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.“So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and tins saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day” (Matthew 28:11-15).It is a singular thing, yet a certain one, that people can never manufacture a falsehood, the various parts of which can hang together. And when they asked the watchers to testify that they had slept on duty until Jesus had been stolen away from His grave, they confessed to a fault of which Roman watchers dare not be guilty on the very peril of life itself; and yet from that hour no better explanation of an empty tomb has been furnished the world. Within a century after these reputed events, the whole Roman empire was permeated by the doctrines of Christ, and men by the thousands and tens of thousands believed on Him as risen from the dead. The argument that entered into the conviction of the first century was that of the empty tomb.There is the argument of the word of the angel to the woman. When you get together a company of spiritualists, everyone expecting to see a spook, it is fairly easy to fool the crowd. Turn the lights low, secure a ventriloquist or even a good actor, and your purpose is accomplished.
But when the skeptical are present, the performance is commonly balked. They are not looking for spooks and they do not see them.
These skeptics are valuable in uncovering fakes and pretenders; but Christ convinced skeptics in every instance.The women who went to His tomb were skeptics. As much as they loved Him they never expected to see Him alive again. They went not for the purpose of anointing a risen Christ, but to embalm a dead One. They would not believe in the resurrection even on the authority of the angel’s testimony; and that, notwithstanding the fact that the two angels were in shining garments and they felt compelled to bow down their faces to the earth in their very presence. They were not even convinced when the angels reminded them of the prophecy, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again”, though it is distinctly declared that “they remembered His words”. Not until they had seen Him, not until they had heard His voice, were they convinced.The Apostles were skeptics everyone.
It is reported that the words of these women “seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not”.Peter and John went on a tour of personal investigation. And when they beheld “the linen clothes laid by themselves” they were not convinced, but “departed wondering”.The two on the way to Emmaus were skeptics when Christ fell in with them, for He had to argue with them from the Scriptures that He was to be “condemned to die and crucified and raised again the third day”.Thomas would not even take the testimony of his brethren, and insisted that nothing short of His own senses would cause him to believe.Paul was so unbelieving that he persecuted every man who named the Name of Christ.
And yet one after another, they were compelled to capitulate and accept as true what the angels had said to the women, “He is risen”. The word of an angel might, in itself, seem to have some authority, but when that word is attended by such evidences as to convince man after man against his expectation, utterly setting aside his skepticism, who will question its weight?Again, there is the argument of the sight and statements of sane men. Paul splendidly sums this up in his Epistle to the Corinthians. He says, “He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve; “After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. “After that, He was seen of James; then of all the Apostles. “And last of all He was seen of me also, as one born out of due time” (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). When Mahomet expired, it is reported that Omar rushed from the tent, sword in hand, and declared that he would hue down any one who should dare to say that the Prophet was no more. But the Apostles of Jesus Christ behaved quite to the contrary. They consented that their Hero was dead; they mourned Him as gone forever; they could not believe what their ears heard concerning His resurrection, and it required the indisputable evidence of His personal presence to convince them. When 500 sane men and women stand up to testify to one thing, who would dispute them without the most overwhelming evidence to the contrary; and where is the evidence that opposed their testimony?The speech of Christ Himself also must be considered. Matthew does not finish his report of this evidence until he has recorded the words of Jesus, for the eleven disciples went away into Galilee unto the place where He had appointed them,“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:18-20). From that time until His ascension, He talked with them again and again. Every touch was a new revelation of Himself; every word an additional proof. It was the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension that confirmed the faith of His followers, and made them ready to do, to dare, to die!Dr. Lorimer, in his “Argument for Christianity”, remarks upon a time when, more than a hundred years ago, a little Baptist Association deliberately resolved on “the reduction of heathenism, and determined on sending out an army of occupation. The stupendous audaciousness of the purpose excited the ridicule of not a few worldly-wise individuals, and indeed was without a parallel except in the earliest aggressions of the Church. And what rendered the movement more entertaining to the scoffers, and what imparted to it more and more of the spirit of desperate rashness and presumption, was the fact that the enterprise was entrusted to the generalship of a ‘consecrated cobbler’ who himself constituted nearly all there was of the expedition.”But bold as was that endeavor, and marvelous as was the faith that attended it, bolder still was the faith of those poor, plain fishermen in their march upon the heathenism of the world, and infinitely greater was the confidence which they had in the Man of Nazareth!
What is the explanation? For forty days, He who had been crucified before their eyes and buried in the tomb of one who had befriended Him, against which a stone had been sealed and about which a watch had been set, walked with them, talked with them, and inspired them, and finally ascended into the heavens before their very eyes! Aye, that was the foundation of their faith; that is the explanation of their courage; that is the secret of their willingness to be martyrs; that the rationale of the rise of the Church. AND . To this subject of the ascension the Scriptures also speak.They had prophesied it should come. What is the meaning of the Psalmist’s language, “Thou wilt not suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption”? What is the suggestion except that He was to rise from the dead? And what is the suggestion of the same Psalmists, “Thou hast ascended on high; Thou hast led captivity captive; Thou hast received gifts”? Christ Himself had said to the officials who had been sent to take Him to the chief priest, “Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent Me. Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?’ (John 7:33-34).
To Mary He replied, also, “I ascend to My Father and to your Father; and to My God and to your God”. And it came to pass even as He had said.People believe far more easily in the natural than in the supernatural.
They accept the scientific with a relish they know not for the spiritual. When I was a student at college, the transit of Venus occurred. At Aiken some German scientists drew their meridian circle on a stone and took their observations from it, and then enjoined upon the people to leave that stone in place so that in the year 2004, when the transit of Venus should again occur, observations might be taken from the same meridian circle. Dr. Pierson speaking of this said, “Thrones will have been emptied of occupant after occupant; empires will have been lost; and changes, whose number and gravity are too great now to be conceived, will have taken place. Nay, human history may have come to its great last crisis and the millennial march may have begun.
Yet, punctually to the moment without delay or failure, these students of nature will expect Venus to make her transit across the sun.” They will hardly be disappointed. God’s order in nature is such that the great grandchildren of those scientists will see their forebears’ predictions fulfilled.
But God’s order in the prophecy is equally dependable. He ascended even as He had said.What a demonstration this of His Deity! John had testified after this manner, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life, declare we unto you”. It included not only a risen Saviour but an ascended One. They had seen Him go! His ascension had been their most conclusive proof of His Deity.
A mortal man might be resuscitated from what seemed to be death; but when resurrection from the grave and ascension are combined, who can stand against the argument for Deity?Charles Spurgeon says, “Whenever I read modern thoughts, and you cannot read long without coming across them, I am glad to get back to facts. And here are some facts.
Jesus Christ did rise from the dead—that is true! He did also ascend into Heaven, for His disciples saw Him.” Is not Spurgeon’s faith well grounded? If the testimony of men can be taken touching anything that ever occurred in this world, to what fact can you bring better witnesses; witnesses more surely convinced against their expectation; witnesses more perfectly in accord with what they say; witnesses more ready to sell their testimony with their blood than were the 500 who saw Him at once, and who perhaps waited upon one of the hills of Judea and watched until the very moment when the cloud received Him out of their sight? No wonder Charles Wesley wrote:“Hail the day that sees Him rise, To His throne above the skies; Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, Enters now the highest heaven. There for Him high triumph waits; Lift your heads, eternal gates! He hath conquered death and sin, Take the King of Glory.” In that ascension is the explanation of the Church. This great institution must be accounted for. The early Apostles did not hesitate to rest their claims to the conquest of the world on the fact of the ascension. They had their commission from an ascended Lord. Their very gifts were imparted by the same ascended Lord. And in all their services they looked to Heaven from “whence also He was to come again”.Christians of the present hour who have never seen Him, yet know He is in the heavens; this with them is a matter of both history and inner consciousness.
Some one tells the story of a lad standing in the street holding tightly to a string which stretched away into the very clouds. A man passing asked him what he was doing. “Flying my kite!” The man looking into the heavens said, “How do you know that you have a kite? I see nothing.” “Neither do I,” he replied, “but I can feel it pull.” That is the universal testimony of Christ’s men and women. The great Magnet of our souls is the Son of God. Our drawings Heavenward are not natural but supernatural. They are not born of the flesh but begotten by the Son Himself, who hath ascended on high.“He is gone! and we remain In this world of sin and pain: In the void which He has left, On this earth of Him bereft, We have still His work to do, We can still His path pursue; We can follow Him below, And His bright example show.”THE OF BOTH. What of it if Christ be raised and ascended up on High? Much every way.Prominent among other things let me mention three.He then is in the priest’s place. When they stoned Stephen unto his death the record says, “He looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God”. When they banished John to the Isle of Patmos, he turned from the barren wastes about him to the bright world beyond, and oh, what a vision was vouchsafed! “In the midst of the seven golden candlesticks was one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle”. What is the significance? Priesthood!
That is the girdle the great priest wore. Hence the significance of the Apostle’s words,“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. “For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16). He then has the power to put away sin. The old priest could do that only by Divine appointment. In fact he did not do it at all, but God did it, sending the message of remission through him. But this ascended One dares to say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee”. On what ground? Because He was the very God! Sins had been committed against Him; He, therefore, could remit them, and He only. David said, “Against Thee and Thee only have I sinned”.
The person who can forgive you is the one against whom you have sinned, and not another. How gracious to know that the One against whom we have heaped our sins is the Son of God who has ascended to the very heavens, and with Him is not only the power but the spirit of forgiveness. Truly, as Maclaren says, “In Christ’s exaltation to the throne a new hope dawns on humanity. * * This Christ Jesus has tasted death for every man, and so brethren, sad, and mad, and bad as men may be, the Conquering Captive at the right hand of God’s throne is the measure of the pattern of what the worst of us may hope to be.” Why? Because He hath power to put away sin.Again, if He be the High Priest, He proffers a free salvation. What is the message from the right hand of the throne? “I will; be thou clean”. What is the message? “Thy sins which are many are all forgiven thee”.
What is the message? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.Oh, marvel of marvels, that men should neglect this and run greedily after lesser good! When several years ago Dr.
Lorenz came to this country, he was brought by a millionaire of Chicago to put into place the dislocated hip of Lolita Armour. The attempt was supposed to be successful. The newspapers made a great ado about the marvelous man and his accomplishments. People went wild; his way was thronged; cripples were carried into the light of his presence; and in a southern city strong policemen wept as they were compelled to say to mothers, bearing their crippled darlings in their arms, “He cannot give you attention,” and so turn them away. Such is the enthusiasm for lesser good.I grant you it is a great thing to have a whole body. I do not blame those mothers for running after Lorenz, a mortal man of very limited power; no, I do not blame them.
But I say that men and women will rise up to blame themselves when they wake at last to discover that they have gone through the world crippled in soul, and treating with indifference the claims of that Christ in whom is “all power in Heaven and in earth” and who is as willing and able to make them every one every whit whole.Have you ever looked upon that masterpiece “Christ the Consoler” painted by Friedrich Dietrich? One strange feature about it is that he presents Christ as among the European peasants of the present day, His personality and garb contrasting with their rude figures and homely faces.
Before Him are the lame, the halt, the blind, the aged, the wounded soldiers, and the toilers, and as He passes His very presence seems to heal and enhearten, and the text for it is, “The whole multitude sought to touch Him, for there went virtue out of Him and healed them all”.Oh, will you cry the praises of a Lorenz who at best could only give one temporal aid and possibly relieve a bodily deformity, and pass with indifference the risen and ascended Christ, who, by His word, can put away sin, restore the soul to the image in which it was created, and send it forth in health and happiness for time and eternity?
For the study of Mat 28:16-20, see volume “God Hath Spoken,” published by the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association. BibleSupport.com Note: Riley is referencing the book “God Hath Spoken” and specifically his own lecture, “The Great Commission”. This is included in the Matthew 28:16-20 section of this set.