Mathew 27b Commentary
Quite a show the devil has put up! Quite a lineup! Groups and individuals line up to discredit Jesus including those that have taken very little interest in objectivity. It is a mark of wickedness that fallen humanity has little interest in logic.
Won’t someone believe Jesus even on the basis of the miracles? They can, but who cares to examine the evidence? Who in the history of existence has done what Jesus has done? None. Israel’s unbelief has nothing to do with evidence. Unparalleled unbelief; unreasonable opposition and unchecked aggression!
And so they rid the earth of Jesus but not without tonnages of insults, scorn, and utter contempt.
Interesting humans! They paid attention to the teachings of Jesus. They remembered his sermons and accurately quoted them. If only they remembered the teachings of the scriptures! The Servant had to go this way. It was for their healing. Isaiah 53.
At noon the whole country was covered in darkness. Verse 45. Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light. Amos 5 verse 18. So these things can be real!
The curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split apart, and graves broke open… The events around the death of Jesus are dramatic but they all fulfill the scriptures. These are real events in the physical world that people see and experience.
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 16 and 17.
Why can’t we believe that these events will happen in the real world?
See the reaction of the centurion and his troops. They see the earthquake and everything else that happens. They are terrified and conclude that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. Of course, all of this means nothing to Caiaphas and team! Unteachable! Untrainable! Impossible fellows!
Think of the three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry as a huge funnel tunneling every Old Testament scripture into one container. The container would be the LORD Jesus Christ. These events define human history. Existence itself hangs on these events; creation says yes. Elements of nature lie in submission as the Creator sits down to make things new again. The new chapter is open.
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Verse 46. It confirms what has happened. The guilty Jesus dies on the cross. The LORD God, the El-Shaddai God forsakes him. And why not? He is guilty, guilty because of my sins and your sins. Isaiah 53.
The saint wants to ponder these facts and submit in increased humility to the saving grace. The sinner can know they too can open their hearts and welcome the rule of the King in their individual lives. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53.
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