Mateus 27
John MacArthur · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 27
MacArthur notes in spite of the obvious suffering of our Savior, "the calloused soldiers turned His suffering into a parody, likely borrowing the idea from Herod’s men (Luke 23:11+)." (See Mark Commentary)
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MacArthur: The Bible is not preoccupied with the physical events of the cross. It is preoccupied with the wickedness of men. It never describes the agony of Jesus. Do you know that? It never does. It only describes what men did to Him. It doesn’t describe His own feeling. Outside the garden, we know nothing of the agony, and outside the sayings on the cross, which themselves do not express His agony, except in separation from God. The physical agony of Jesus is not the issue. (The Wickedness of the Crucifixion, Part 1) NET NOTE - As was customary practice in a Roman crucifixion, the prisoner was made to carry his own cross. In all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution. According to Matt 27:32 and Mark 15:21, the soldiers forced Simon to take the cross; Luke 23:26 states that the cross was placed on Simon so that it might be carried behind Jesus. A reasonable explanation of all this is that Jesus started out carrying the cross until he was no longer able to do so, at which point Simon was forced to take over. Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience. Cross (4716) stauros from histemi = to stand) was an an upright stake, especially a pointed one. Thayer adds the stauros was a well-known instrument of most cruel and ignominious punishment, borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians; to it were affixed among the Romans, down to the time of Constantine the Great, the guiltiest criminals, particularly the basest slaves, robbers, the authors and abetters of insurrections, and occasionally in the provinces, at the arbitrary pleasure of the governors, upright and peaceable men also, and even Roman citizens themselves. Stauros is used somewhat in with a figurative (but still very real) supernatural significance as the source of the the doctrine concerning the saving power of the death on the cross endured by Christ (1 Co 1:18 = where "being saved" = present tense). Note another Greek word xulon is also translated "cross". The cross literally. Mt 27:32, 40, 42; Mk 15:21, 30, 32; Lk 23:26; J 19:17 , 19, 25, 31; Phil 2:8; Heb 12:2. FIGURATIVELY of suffering and death Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34;10:21; Lk 9:23; 14:27. The cross of Christ in Christian teaching 1 Cor 1:17f; Gal 5:11; 6:12, 14; Eph 2:16; Phil 2:8; 3:18; Col 1:20; 2:14. STAUROS - 27X/27V - Matt. 10:38; Matt. 16:24; Matt. 27:32; Matt. 27:40; Matt. 27:42; Mk. 8:34; Mk. 15:21; Mk. 15:30; Mk. 15:32; Lk. 9:23; Lk. 14:27; Lk. 23:26; Jn. 19:17; Jn. 19:19; Jn. 19:25; Jn. 19:31; 1 Co. 1:17; 1 Co. 1:18; Gal. 5:11; Gal. 6:12; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:16; Phil. 2:8; Phil. 3:18; Col. 1:20; Col. 2:14; Heb. 12:2. It is surprising that STAUROS is not found in the Septuagint! Friberg on stauros - (1) literally cross, an instrument of capital punishment, an upright pointed stake, often with a crossbeam above it, or intersected by a crossbeam ( Mt 27.32); (2) by metonymy, as the means of atonement punishment of the cross, crucifixion (Php 2.8); as a religious technical term representing the significance of the atoning death of Jesus in the Christian religion cross ( 1Co 1.18); metaphorically, the dedication of life and the self-denial that a believer must be prepared to take on himself in following Christ (Lk 14.27) (BORROW Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament) Vine on stauros -Noun Masculine — denotes, primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, "to fasten to a stake or pale," are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed "cross." The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ. As for the Chi, or X, which Constantine declared he had seen in a vision leading him to champion the Christian faith, that letter was the initial of the word "Christ" and had nothing to do with "the Cross" (for xulon, "a timber beam, a tree," as used for the stauros, see under TREE). The method of execution was borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians. The stauros denotes (a) "the cross, or stake itself," e.g., Matthew 27:32; (b) "the crucifixion suffered," e.g., 1 Corinthians 1:17,18 , where "the word of the cross," RV, stands for the Gospel; Galatians 5:11 , where crucifixion is metaphorically used of the renunciation of the world, that characterizes the true Christian life; Galatians 6:12,14; Ephesians 2:16; Philippians 3:18. The judicial custom by which the condemned person carried his stake to the place of execution, was applied by the Lord to those sufferings by which His faithful followers were to express their fellowship with Him, e.g., Matthew 10:38 . (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words) Pressed (compelled)(29) aggareuo related to ággaros = courier, a word derived from Persian language) means to press into service, to send off an or public courier. The aggaroi originally described couriers who had authority to press into service men, horses, ships or anything which came in their way and which might serve to hasten their journey. Later the verb aggareuo came to mean to press into service for a journey. The Persians initiated a kind of "Pony Express" in which the mail-carrying rider simply "borrowed" horses, pressing them into his service so that he could continue his journey. When that horse became tired he would press another into service, etc. AGGAREUO - 3X/3V - forces(1), pressed into service(2) - Matt. 5:41; Matt. 27:32; Mk. 15:21
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MacArthur - Myrrh was a narcotic that was also used as an anointing oil (Ex. 30:23) and a perfume (Ps. 45:8; Prov. 7:17; Matt. 2:11; John 19:39). Based on Proverbs 31:6, the Jews had a custom of offering crucifixion victims a type of pain-deadening medication (cf. Ps. 69:21). But Jesus, wanting to maintain full awareness as He completed His atoning work, refused to drink it. Some writers state that wine mixed with a bitter herb, would make a drink that could intensify Jesus' parched thirst. Others think that this drink was an attempt to mock Jesus by making it so bitter that Jesus would be led to refuse it. Personally, I favor His strong refusal as expressive of His desire to experience the full force of God's wrath as our Substitute. This offer of drink could be related to the Talmud: “When one is led out to execution, he is given a goblet of wine containing a grain of frankincense, in order to benumb his senses, for it is written, Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul. And it has also been taught: The noble women in Jerusalem used to donate and bring it” (Sanh. 43a; the passage quoted is in Prov. 31:6). Henry
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MacArthur explains "Moved by His perfect justice, God’s infinite wrath released an eternity of punishment on the incarnate Son who, as an infinite and eternal person, absorbed the tortures of hell in a finite span of time. This was the dreadful cup of divine judgment that Jesus anticipated while sweating blood in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36+; Luke 22:44+). (See Mark Commentary) Spurgeon refers to the 6th hour as "the awful darkness of that midday midnight."
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MacArthur has a fascinating analysis of the supernatural events in his sermon entitled God’s Miraculous Commentary on the Cross Six miracles occur simultaneous to the death of Christ which become God the Father’s own commentary on the meaning of the cross.... The first one we’ll call supernatural darkness – supernatural darkness. . . Here’s the second miracle. I call it the miracle of sovereign departure....God the Father turns His back on God the Son..... the great third miracle of the cross. That is this: Jesus’ life was not taken from Him. He voluntarily gave it up.... the fourth of these miracles in this section. We’ll call this one sanctuary devastation.... a fifth miracle. Verse 51, “The earth did quake and the rocks were split.”.... the sixth one. And this is a marvelous miracle – subduing death. “And the graves were opened.” (click for sermon with full exposition of each miracle) John MacArthur- SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS (BORROW Strength for Today page 123) “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.” MATTHEW 27:45 ✧✧✧ The darkness over the land while Jesus bore our sin was an indicator that the cross was a place of divine judgment. The biblical phenomenon of light was not associated with Christ’s death. Instead, as today’s verse says, “Darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour [3:00 P.M.].” Scripture says little about that darkness. Ancient historical reports mention an unusual, worldwide darkness that seemed to coincide with the date of Christ’s death. Astronomical records indicate that the sun and moon were too far apart that day for a normal solar eclipse. Therefore, the darkness had to be caused by God’s intervention. But you may still ask, “Why did God intervene like this when Jesus died?” Again, sources outside Scripture provide a reasonable clue. For many years the Jewish rabbis taught that a darkening of the sun meant judgment from God for an especially heinous sin. Many passages in Scripture make the link between darkness and God’s judgment. Jesus spoke several times of divine judgment in terms of “outer darkness,” where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). In sending darkness over the whole earth for three hours, God presents us with an object lesson concerning His attitude on the day Jesus died. The darkness was God’s sign of judgment against mankind for the gross sin of rejecting and murdering His beloved Son. It is also a sign of God’s reaction to sin as a whole. Darkness is a graphic portrayal of the cross as the focal point of God’s wrath, a place of His immense judgment, where sin was poured out on His Son Jesus, our Savior. This twofold object lesson ought to be a constant, fresh reminder to us of how seriously God views sin and how vital it was that the Lord Jesus die on our behalf. ✧✧✧ Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God that He can use aspects of nature to illustrate spiritual truth for our finite minds. ✧ Pray that the Lord will never let you take for granted the awesome seriousness of the events at Calvary. For Further Study: Read Exodus 10:12–29. How did the plague of darkness differ from the plague of locusts? ✧ What was Pharaoh’s ultimate response to these two plagues? ✧ How does this preview the onlookers’ reaction to seeing darkness at the cross? C H
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MacArthur has an interesting sermon entitled Responses to the Death of Christ As we examine these three verses, I want you to see in them and in corollary verses to them, four responses to the death of Christ that are here given to us. They demonstrate for us the kind of responses we can see even today. There is the response, first of all, of saving faith; the response of shallow conviction; the response of sympathetic loyalty; and the response of selfish fear. And each of those four responses, two of them responses of unbelievers, two of them responses of believers, are parallel to responses today that men and women have to the cross of Christ. So it is not just an historical narrative. It is an historical narrative with strong and practical application to our own time. And I believe that becomes manifest as we examine the text. First of all, let’s look at the best response that an unbeliever could ever have and that’s the response of saving faith. We find that illustrated to us by the centurion and certain of the soldiers mentioned in Mt 27:54. . .something begins to happen that changes what they think. In verse 54 it says, “When the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus” – or guarding Jesus – “saw the earthquake and the things that were happening”....it went instantly dark like midnight at noon and the sun failed, and when the earthquake came and the earthquake shook the earth and split the ground and the rocks split open and the graves split open and the veil in the temple was ripped from top to bottom, they knew something was happening that was out of the ordinary.....It (being frightened - phobeo) is the idea that inherent within their fear is a spiritual awe, a reverential terror. There’s something more than just the physical, something more than just the human fear. And all of a sudden, they come to the conclusion that this is not just another criminal, not just a rebel, a deluded deranged man, a fake, and an impostor. The phenomena is overwhelming to them. The centurion has heard Jesus speak when, as infrequently as He spoke, He spoke. He has heard His words on the cross, profound words which have penetrated his heart. He has seen all of this amazing miraculous phenomena taking place. And he knows that something has gone very wrong and the whole of the universe is convulsing in response to what is going on. The fear indicates the sense of sin. It is that reverential fear that comes to one who knows that he may be under the judgment of God. And though they were pagans, that no doubt penetrated their hearts. It was more than a human fear. And so the awareness of their sin in doing what they did to this man, the sense of guilt – what have we done? What’s going on? Something is very wrong – leads them to one other step. And fearing greatly, they said – and the centurion, the other gospel records tell us, articulated this. But it wasn’t just him. It was other of the soldiers as well. He said, “Truly, this was God’s Son.” First, the fear indicates the sin. Then the confession – may I be so bold as to suggest – indicates the salvation. The fear indicates the sin, the confession indicates the salvation. If their fear was only a human fear, they would have cried for help or they would have run. But it wasn’t only a human fear. It was awe in the sense that men reserve awe for God, for deity. In fact in Mark 15:39, Mark, who gives us his view of the same scene, says that it was immediately after the centurion heard Jesus say, “It is finished. Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” It was immediately after that that he said, “Truly, this was God’s Son.” So it wasn’t only the phenomena, but it was those final words of Jesus that just drove the truth into his heart. And he uses the word truly to make it very, very clear that he has no equivocation in his mind. He isn’t saying, “Maybe it’s the Son of God. Possibly it’s the Son of God.” He is saying without equivocation and without contradiction, “This was God’s Son.” No doubt in his mind. And I believe, I really do believe in my heart, that he is affirming the divine Sonship of Jesus. Jesus had just said, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit,” and he says momentarily after that, “Truly, this was God’s Son.” Jesus in His final words is claiming to be God’s Son, and he affirms that it is so.....Further, Luke 23:47+ said that the centurion also said, “Certainly (truly, really, in reality, in truth) this was a righteous man.” It’s as if he builds to a crescendo. Certainly this was a righteous man.....If the thief on the cross by simply saying, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” (Lk 23:42+) can receive a guarantee of eternal salvation, certainly this man could with this kind of faith. So I don’t have any question in my mind but that he was redeemed. He was saved at the foot of the cross.....And isn’t this the best fulfillment you would ever find in Scripture of John 12:32+? Because in John 12:32+, Christ said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” And there He was lifted up on the cross, and indeed He drew a thief from one side and a group of soldiers from His feet to Himself. Oh, great love of God, unspeakable grace of God that He won the very soldiers that killed Him on that cross. SHALLOW CONVICTION There’s a second response. That’s the response I like to think of as shallow conviction – the response of shallow conviction. And would you indulge me for a moment to draw you over to the twenty-third chapter of Luke? We have to look there to see this. Matthew doesn’t comment on it. Luke does. Luke, looking at the very same scene, reporting the very same attitude of the centurion, in verse 47 the centurion saw what was done, glorified God, said certainly this was a righteous man – just after he heard, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” And then verse 48 – and the shallow conviction is illustrated by the crowd – “And all the people that came together to that sight,” in other words, all the mob and the crowd that were there, “beholding the things which were done,” they saw the same things, the darkness, the earthquake, the rocks splitting, the graves opening, the veil of the temple ripped. I mean, they knew things were happening there that couldn’t be explained humanly. They knew something very wrong was going on and they knew it was them. Believe me. I mean, they would see that phenomena and they would hear the words of Christ and see the marvel of His personhood as He’s on the cross, and they would begin to remember that He raised Lazarus from the dead, and they would remember that He banished disease from Palestine during His ministry, and they would remember His powerful cleansing of the temple and His profound teaching while He was there. They would remember all there was about Jesus that led them on Monday to hail Him as Messiah. It would all come back and they would see all of this going around, and their understanding of the Old Testament would tell them that God was judging, and they would feel guilt and they would feel sin, and they know something is wrong. We know that because it says, “Beholding the things which were done, they beat on their chests.” Now what is this? This is a sign combining terror, remorse, and guilt. They begin to pound on their chests uncontrollably. “Oh, woe is us.” I mean, they are overwhelmed with a sense of guilt and responsibility. The conduct of Jesus, His obvious innocence, the fact that they could never pin anything on Him, that He did claim to be the Son of God; but after all, He raised the dead and healed the sick, His cries on the cross, all of it along with the phenomena drew them to a place of absolutely overwhelming guilt. And they pounded on their breasts. That was a sign of their grief, a sign of their guilt and remorse and self-accusation and despair. And it still goes on today. There are people who see the cross and they understand that Jesus is there because of their sins, He’s bearing their sins. They feel bad about that. They feel sad about that. The cross can be overwhelmingly penetrating, even to an unbelieving heart. . . Now the first of the second two, or the third response, is called sympathetic loyalty. We’ll just call that sympathetic loyalty because it’s really a good descriptive phrase of what we see. And it is characteristic of these women. They are the illustration. Verse 55, “Many women were there” . Now here are these women, loving, sympathetic, though their hopes are crushed and their dreams are dead, and they can’t see beyond tomorrow and Jesus is gone. And they have been watching their Master die. Their loyalties are so deep. Their hearts are so filled with love and sympathy that they are not all led to leave, to flee, to run. They have no fear of the Jews. They have no fear of the Romans. Nothing can overpower their love and their sympathy for Christ. May I be so bold as to suggest to you that this is one of the most beautiful characteristics of a godly women, sympathetic loyalty? You show me a virtuous godly woman and I’ll show you in that woman’s life a sympathy and a loyalty that extends beyond that which can be produced in the life of a man, in most cases. Women have a capacity for incredible loyalty and sympathy that men don’t have. And we see this in the beauty of these women. They’re fearless. They don’t even mind the identification with the crucified Christ who has been mocked and scorned and ridiculed. And this by their own people in the society in which they must exist. They are lovely. Their sympathy is magnificent. Their courage is beautiful. . . There is, though, and that’s the final point – selfish fear. You say, well you’ve exhausted all the verses, what verse is this in?” It isn’t in any verse. But you want to know something? It speaks so loudly I have to include it. You say, but it doesn’t say anything about selfish fear. Who’s the illustration? The disciples. But it doesn’t say anything about them. I know, that’s what’s so amazing. It doesn’t say anything about them there because they weren’t there. But that says a lot. So somewhere between verse 56 and verse 57 in the white spaces you can put this point. Selfish fear – you can’t ignore it – where were these guys? Remember the Cross “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39 Today's Scripture & Insight: Mark 15:19–20, 33–39 In the church I attend, a large cross stands at the front of the sanctuary. It represents the original cross where Jesus died—the place where our sin intersected with His holiness. There God allowed His perfect Son to die for the sake of every wrong thing we have ever done, said, or thought. On the cross, Jesus finished the work that was required to save us from the death we deserve (Rom. 6:23). The sight of a cross causes me to consider what Jesus endured for us. Before being crucified, He was flogged and spit on. The soldiers hit Him in the head with sticks and got down on their knees in mock worship. They tried to make Him carry His own cross to the place where He would die, but He was too weak from the brutal flogging. At Golgotha, they hammered nails through His flesh to keep Him on the cross when they turned it upright. Those wounds bore the weight of His body as He hung there. Six hours later, Jesus took His final breath (Mark 15:37). A centurion who witnessed Jesus’s death declared, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” (v. 39). Dear Jesus, I can’t begin to thank You enough for taking care of my sin when You died on the cross. I acknowledge Your sacrifice, and I believe in the power of Your resurrection. The cross of Christ reveals our sin at its worst and God’s love at its best. Matthew 27:55 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. many: Lu 23:27-28,48-49 Jn 19:25-27 ministering: Lu 8:2-3 See Trial and Crucifixion of Jesus - Parallel Passages Matthew 27 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Luke 8:2-3+ and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means. Luke 23:48-49+ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things. John 19:25-27+ Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. (THIRD WORDS FROM THE CROSS BEFORE THE 3 HOURS OF DARKNESS). THE FAITHFUL FEMALE FOLLOWERS Many women were there looking (theoreo) on from a distance, who had followed (akoloutheo) Jesus from Galilee while ministering (diakoneo ) to Him - Note the description had followed Jesus where followed is the verb akoloutheo which means to walk the same road and in a figurative sense (as I think is apropos to these women) to follow Jesus as a disciple. This interpretation of the women as faithful disciples of Jesus is supported by the fact that they were continually (present tense) ministering (diakoneo) to Him. Keep in mind that the world of Jesus thought little of the worth of women and they were not allowed to follow or be disciples of rabbis! And yet we see Jesus opening the way for elevating the worth of women by allowing them to call Him Rabbi! (cf Jn 9:2+, "rabboni" in Jn 20:16+) And do not miss the fact that to the bitter end of Jesus' life, it is the women, not the disciples, who remained loyal to the Lord! And to add to the accolades of the women disciples, recall that it is they who will soon convey the message concerning the resurrection of Jesus to the disciples, and it is to the women that Jesus first appeared! Indeed, it was the female disciples of Jesus who were last at the cross, and first at the tomb (see Mt 28:1+). These women denigrated in Jewish society were indeed beautiful illustrations of the truth proclaimed by Paul that... God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”(1Co 1:27-31+) Grant Osborne - Mary of Magdala, a Galilean town south of Capernaum on the shore of the lake, is always first in the lists of women and was likely a leader of the group. Luke 8:2 tells us that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her, and she then became a devoted disciple. She is most important as a witness of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and Jesus appeared to her and made her the first official witness of the resurrection (John 20:11–18, probably as one of the group of women named in Matt 28:9–10)....So there were at least four women present at the cross: the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas and mother of one of the Twelve, and Salome, probably Mary’s sister and mother of James and John. (See The Matthew Commentary)
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MacArthur - The Amazing Burial of Jesus The burial of Jesus Christ is as supernatural and as miraculous in many ways as was His death and as will be His resurrection. It is a marvelous and thrilling account of supernatural intervention in every detail in the life of Christ. From His birth to His burial to His resurrection, everything is controlled by God the Father for the fulfillment of divine purpose and prophecy. And we shall see that as we look at this text. Even His burial then becomes a testimony to His kingliness, a testimony to His deity. Even His burial is proof in fact that He is none other than the Son of God who He claimed to be. It is a marvelous and thrilling thing to see God giving evidence as to the deity of Christ even in His being buried. Now it comes to us in three particular features in verses 57 through 66. 1. The first testimony really comes through Joseph of Arimathea, 2. the second through Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in verse 61, 3. and the third, strangely enough, through the chief priests and Pharisees from verse 62 to 66. Joseph and the two Marys and then the group of scribes and – or the group rather of chief priests and Pharisees each play a very important role in the burial of Jesus, which role ultimately speaks to the truthfulness of Christ’s claim to be the Son of God. And so God is giving testimony to His Son even in this. . . So there are two major prophecies very explicit, very easily recognized that must relate to the burial of Christ. He must be buried with the rich and He must buried for a period of three days. Now God uses Joseph of Arimathea to fulfill these prophecies as the human instrument. So Joseph then gives testimony to the deity of Christ through being used in fulfilled prophecy – fulfilled prophecy. . . It was imperative that Christ be dead by 3:00 so that He could be in the grave on some part of Friday so that that day could be included in the three days He had to be in the earth. He had to be buried on Friday so that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, at least a portion of each of those days, He would spend in the earth as He had prophesied that He would. . . Now we don’t know what [Joseph’s] involvement is in the past. We have no information except one statement given by John in his gospel. Chapter 19 verse 38 John says this, “He was a disciple of Jesus” – listen – “secretly for fear of the Jews.” Up to this point he had been a secretive disciple because he was afraid of what it would cost him. He was afraid of the leaders. I mean if he was a member of the Sanhedrin and they found out he was following Jesus, it would be the end of his Sanhedrin rights. It would be the end of his wealth, because he wouldn’t be able to do business with anybody. It would be the end of his social status. He and his family would be alienated and ostracized. It would be the end of everything. The price would be very, very high. And this man was not going to take a step of boldness and identify with Jesus until he was certain that Jesus was in fact worth the effort. . . In other words, if you take the view that He had to be there three days and three nights, He can’t rise till the fourth day. But everything in the text says on the third day. So that eliminates the need for interpreting that particular three days and three nights as if it meant three actual 24-hour periods. It is simply a Jewish colloquial expression for any part of a day. . . Listen, the amazing burial of Jesus Christ attended to by this secret disciple who now becomes public for the whole world to know throughout all history, Joseph of Arimathea, the whole thing is orchestrated to fulfill specific prophecy that Jesus would be three days and that He would be with the rich in His death. He is buried in a wealthy man’s grave which the wealthy man made for himself. Now I don’t know what got Joseph of Arimathea from being secret to being public. Maybe it was the earthquake and the darkness and the rocks splitting and the graves opening and the temple veil ripping from top to bottom. I don’t know whether it was the heart of love. I don’t know whether it was the agonizing sympathy he felt when he watched Jesus going through the things He went through. Whatever it was, humanly speaking, I don’t know. What I do know is it was God working on his heart. And God was bringing to pass the fulfillment of prophecy. So Jesus was with the rich in His death and He was in the grave for three days. . . And only two ladies were left, Mary of Magdala and Mary this mother of James and Joses and wife of Cleophas. And they are sitting – and the Greek says – opposite the sepulcher. And they’re just sitting there in deep sorrow, in deep agony. And if Joseph of Arimathea is used by God to confirm the deity of Christ through fulfilled prophecy, these two are used to confirm the deity of Christ through first-hand testimony – first-hand testimony. . . And then finally, and we come to verse 62. The third group that God providentially orders in the scene to bring about the amazing burial of Jesus Christ are the chief priests and the Pharisees. And they provide in this testimony to the deity of Christ what I think to be as forceful as any proof of His resurrection anywhere in the Scripture. . . Do you know what would have happened if there was no guard and no seal? Nobody was watching the tomb and all of a sudden we were trying to preach a message that Jesus rose from the dead. And somebody would say, “Don’t give me that, it never happened. They just took His body and somebody took on His identity and somebody who looked like Him made a few appearances,” and so forth and so forth and so forth. But the unbelieving world itself made sure that there’s no other explanation for the absent body of Jesus Christ except a resurrection. If no seal and no guard, the resurrection could have been explained as a grave robbery. But not after this. And the wrath of these Christ haters has led them to secure that grave to the extent that there’s no other explanation than a resurrection. And later on, by the way, we’ll see in chapter 28 the soldiers were bribed to deny the resurrection, which is another testimony to its reality. Do you see how God is working in everything? He used Joseph of Arimathea providentially to fulfill prophecy. He used the two Marys providentially to give first-hand testimony to the resurrection. And He used the chief priests and the Pharisees providentially to give forceful proof that Jesus indeed rose from the dead. . . Now listen carefully. How does this relate to you and me? Do you know this verse? “For we know that all things work together for” – what? – “good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Does that come to you with new meaning now? Do you understand what that says? All things are controlled by God to work together to fulfill His eternal purpose for His own beloved children which is their good. I mean, that is a marvelous thing. This idea of God’s sovereignty and God’s providence is not some distant doctrine only for theologians. I mean, this is where the rubber meets the road, folks. It’s when you can’t explain the trouble you’re going through that you need to understand the providential power of a sovereign God who takes every bit of the diverse data of the universe and controls it all for your good and His glory and eternal purpose. Is that comforting? It doesn’t matter what it is. It doesn’t matter what it is. And He demonstrated His ability to do it in the death and burial of Jesus Christ – glorious thing.