Introduction
I see that the last time we had a pre-communion, I preached from Matthew 26 which included Matthew’s account of the first Lord’s Supper. After that we had a break over the summer and we’ve had other Wednesdays off for Fresh and for the tract distribution. And so, we haven’t got much further through Matthew’s gospel. But we’ve got through the rest of chapter 26 and most of chapter 27.
Matthew recorded for us what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Lord asked the Father to take the cup of suffering from him if possible. But he also prayed for God’s will, and not his own will, to be done. And it was the Father’s will for him to take the cup of suffering and to give up his life on the cross in our place, because there was no other way to save us from the penalty we deserve for all that we have done wrong except for Christ to take the blame for us.
And so, Judas led the guards to the Lord Jesus in the Garden and they arrested him and took him away to the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish court of law. And the members of the Sanhedrin had already made up their minds, hadn’t they? They wanted the Lord Jesus to die. And therefore, they were looking for false evidence against him so that they could pass the death sentence on him. In the end, they charged him with blasphemy and agreed that he was worthy of death.
However, though they had the authority to judge him, they did not have the authority to carry out the death penalty. And so, they had to take him before Pilate, the Roman governor. And they had to convince Pilate that he deserved to die. The Roman governor was not interested in whether or not someone was a blasphemer. And so, they had to convince Pilate that the Lord was a trouble-maker and a potential threat to peace and order in Rome. And so, they accused him before Pilate of claiming to be a king and therefore a rival to the Emperor.
Pilate was satisfied that the Lord had not done anything to deserve the death penalty; and he knew the Sanhedrin was accusing him out of envy. And since it was the custom at that time of year to release a prisoner, Pilate gave the people a choice: did they want him to release the Lord, who has done nothing wrong, or to release Barabbas who was a notorious prisoner and an insurrectionist and a murderer? And the members of the Sanhedrin convinced the people to ask for Barabbas to be released and for the Lord to be crucified. And so, Barabbas, the guilty man, was set free while the Lord, the innocent man, was condemned. In this we have a picture of the gospel, because the gospel is the good news that the Saviour died for the ungodly. We, the guilty ones, are set free from condemnation, because Christ, the righteous one, was condemned in our place. He suffered the wrath of God in our place so that we might live with God forever.
Matthew went on to tell us how the Lord was taken by the Roman soldiers, who mocked him and beat him and who then led him away to be crucified. And while he was on the cross, the Jews mocked him. And then darkness came over the land to signify how God’s judgment on our sin was being poured out on him. And then he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.’ He was quoting the first line of Psalm 22 to make clear what was happening, because at that time, the Eternal Son of God was forsaken by his Father so that we may become the children of God. He was cut off from the Father’s love, so that we might know the Father’s love. He suffered God’s wrath and curse so that we might receive the blessing of God, which is everlasting life in the presence of God. And so, the judgment of God on our sin fell on Christ our Saviour.
And when he gave up his spirit and died, strange things began to happen. The curtain of the temple was torn. The earth shook and rocks split apart. And tombs were opened. The tearing of the curtain signified a number of things, including how the way into God’s presence has now been opened to us because of Christ’s death on our behalf. The curtain signified that sinners cannot come into the presence of a holy God. But Christ died to bring us to God. And the earthquake anticipated how this fallen world is passing away and it will be replaced by the new creation to come. And the tombs were opened to prepare for what would happen three days later, because three days later, after the Lord himself was raised, the bodies of many holy people were also raised and they came out of their tombs and were seen alive in Jerusalem.
And when the soldiers saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they confessed, ‘Surely he was the Son of God.’ I said last week, that they perhaps meant no more than he was a divine man or an innocent man. But without realising it, they were confessing what is true: that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, who in obedience to his Father, laid down his life on the cross to pay for your sins and to reconcile God to you.
And so, since our last pre-communion service, we’ve been reading the events leading up to and including the Lord’s death on the cross for sinners.
Today’s passage can be divided into three parts. Firstly, in verses 57 to 61 of chapter 27, we have the Lord’s burial. Secondly, in verses 62 to 66, we have the securing of the tomb. And thirdly, in verses 1 to 10 of chapter 28, we have the fear of the guards and the joy of the women.
27:57–61
And so, let’s turn to the first part which is verses 57 to 61 of chapter 27. Matthew tells us that evening was approaching. The Lord was crucified on a Friday. The next day, Saturday, was the Jewish Sabbath Day. And as you know, there were strict laws about what could and couldn’t be done on the Sabbath Day. And so, if they were going to bury the Lord’s body, they had to do it before the Sabbath Day began. The problem was, the Sabbath Day did not begin at midnight, but on Friday evening when the sun went down. And so, time was running out. Someone needed to do something soon to take care of the Lord’s remains.
But there was another problem as well. Normally the bodies of those who died by crucifixion were not buried in a private grave, but in a mass grave. That’s probably what happened to the remains of the two criminals who were killed alongside the Lord Jesus. And so, someone needed to do something soon to prevent the Lord’s body from being buried in that way.
And there was someone who was prepared to act quickly. Joseph of Arimathea — who, according to Mark, was a member of the Sanhedrin; and who was also a rich man and a follower of the Lord — he went to Pilate and asked for the Lord’s body. He had to go to Pilate, because there were presumably standing orders to dispose of the three bodies in a mass grave as normal; and only Pilate had the authority to overrule such orders.
And Pilate agreed to Joseph’s request. Being a member of the Sanhedrin probably helped Joseph, because ordinary people were not able to approach the Roman governor. And being a rich man, Joseph already had a new tomb which he could use for the Lord’s remains. And so, we see how the Lord God had everything ready for this moment: he had the right person in the right place to ensure that the Lord’s body was buried, not in a mass grave, but in a private grave, so that there would be no doubt where his body ought to be when the women came to look for it.
And Matthew tells us that Joseph took the body. He probably means that Joseph took the Lord’s body from the cross. And he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb. John, in his gospel, tells us that Nicodemus helped Joseph. The fact that it was a new grave is important. Sometimes a number of bodies were buried in the same tomb, just as we might bury several bodies in the same grave. But since this was a new tomb, the Lord’s body was the only one placed in it. And that means, once again, that there would be no doubt where his body ought to be when the women came to look for it.
Matthew then tells us that Joseph rolled a big stone in front of the entrance. Normally there was a groove cut into the ground which sloped downwards. The round stone was rolled down the groove and into position. And the downward slope meant that it was easy to roll the stone over the entrance, but it was difficult to roll the stone back from the entrance.
And having closed up the tomb securely, Joseph went away. And in this way, the words of Isaiah 53:9 were fulfilled, which says that the Lord’s suffering servant was assigned a grave with the rich. We’ve seen, as we’ve gone through Matthew’s gospel, that the events of the Lord’s life fulfilled what was foretold in the Old Testament. So, long before these events took place, it was all planned out by God, because it was always God’s will for his Son to come and to give up his life for us and for our salvation.
And Matthew is careful to note for us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary — that’s the mother of James and Joses — were sitting there opposite the tomb. So, they not only knew where the Lord had been buried, but they were also eye-witnesses to his burial. If anyone claimed the Lord hadn’t been buried in that place, but somewhere else, they could testify that they had seen exactly where he had been buried.
I’ve sometimes referred to the Heidelberg Catechism, which is similar to our own Shorter Catechism. It asks at Question 41, ‘Why was he buried?’ That is, why was the Lord Jesus buried? And it gives the answer: ‘To confirm that he was really dead.’ One writer (VanderGroe) explains that we see here a great difference between his burial and our burial. We are buried because our bodies, when they’re dead, decay. And so, we need to bury them because they become unsightly and also to prevent the spread of disease. But that’s not why the Lord’s body was buried. His body did not see decay. He was buried to confirm that he was dead. After all, no one is buried who is alive; and we only bury those who are dead. And, in fact, according to Mark’s gospel, Pilate did not agree to give Joseph the Lord’s body until he had it confirmed that the Lord was dead.
And so, the gospels make clear to us that our Saviour really died. The wages of sin is death. That is to say, death is the due penalty for sin. And Christ has paid the penalty for our sins in our place.
27:62–66
Let’s turn now to verses 62 to 66 and to the securing of the tomb.
Matthew tells us that it was now the next day, the one after Preparation Day. Preparation Day was Friday; and so, the next day was the Sabbath Day. Even though it was the Sabbath Day, a day for rest, the chief priests and Pharisees were not able to rest their minds until they had made arrangements to seal the tomb and post guards outside. And so, they went to Pilate and explained to him that they remembered what the Lord had said when he was still alive. And notice how they refer to the Lord as ‘that deceiver’. That’s how they regarded him. By the things he said and by the things he did — the many miracles he performed — he made clear to everyone that he was God’s Anointed King, sent to save us. But they did not believe him; and they regarded him as a deceiver, a liar, who had managed to deceive the people, but they themselves were not taken in by him.
But though they regarded him as a deceiver, they had a very clear memory of what he had said and how he claimed that he would rise from the dead after three days. It’s remarkable that the Lord’s disciples, who believed in him, did not remember what he said about rising from the dead. And therefore they were not expecting the resurrection. But the Lord’s enemies, who did not believe in him, remembered what he said. They remembered, but they did not believe.
And so, they wanted Pilate to give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day had passed. They wanted him to secure the tomb to prevent anyone from taking away his body and claiming afterwards that he had risen. An empty tomb would allow his disciples to say that the Lord had risen. So, let’s make sure that no-one can move his body.
And they went on to say that this last deception will be worse than the first. As far as they were concerned, his first deception was claiming to be God’s Anointed King. And his last and the worst deception was claiming to rise from the dead.
And Pilate agreed to what they said and told them to take some Roman soldiers with them to guard the tomb. And he told them to make the tomb as secure as possible. And so, the chief priests and Pharisees went on that Sabbath Day and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard. I suppose the seal was like the police tape which is put up these days around a crime scene. The tape is not strong; and it’s not going to keep anyone out. But if the tape is broken, you know someone has been interfering with the crime scene. And the seal they put on the stone may have been some kind of wax seal. It wouldn’t keep anyone out, but if the seal was broken, you’d know someone had moved the stone and interfered with the Lord’s remains. And so, the seal was a way to discourage the disciples from trying to take the Lord’s body away. Furthermore, the guards were there and they could use force to secure the tomb and to keep robbers away.
This part of the story is significant because it once again displays the unbelief of the chief priests and Pharisees, who should have known better. As I’ve already said, by the things he said and did, the Lord demonstrated to everyone that he was God’s Anointed King, who had come to save God’s people. But instead of acknowledging the truth, and trusting in Christ for salvation, they sinfully suppressed the truth. And so it is today: people know the truth, because they’ve heard it. They know who Jesus Christ is and why he came into the world. They know he’s the only Saviour. And yet, instead of believing in him for salvation, they sinfully suppress the truth. They repress it. They push it out of their thoughts; and, instead of trusting in him, they trust in other things, created things, instead of the Creator. And that’s the way they will remain unless the Holy Spirit comes and takes away their hard, unbelieving hearts and gives them new, believing hearts. God the Holy Spirit did it with us, which is why we now believe. And if it were not for him, and his kindness to us, we would not believe. But the Spirit graciously came into our lives and enabled us to believe and to trust in Christ for salvation. And we should pray that, as he did it with us, so he will do it with people around us and people around this church, so that, instead of repressing the truth, they will believe it.
And this part of the story is significant for another reason. The Lord God Almighty, who works all things together for good, was able to use the wicked plan of the chief priests and Pharisees against them. They wanted to make sure that the disciples could not steal the body and claim afterwards that the empty tomb proves that he had risen. That’s why they asked Pilate to make the tomb secure. But because they made the tomb secure, no one could claim afterwards that the reason the tomb was empty was because someone had removed the body.
That’s still one of the ways that people today dismiss the resurrection. They explain away the empty tomb by saying someone must have moved his body. But no ordinary person would be able to get past the Roman soldiers to open the tomb and move the body. And so, the Lord God Almighty used the wicked plan of the chief priests and the Pharisees against them, because by securing the tomb it was clear that no-one stole the body. The tomb was empty, because the Saviour had been raised.
28:1–10
We come to the final part of today’s passage, where we have the fear of the guards and the joy of the women.
According to verse 1 of chapter 28, the Sabbath has now ended. And while it was still early, dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Mark and Luke tell us that they went there with spices to anoint the Lord’s body. The point, of course, is that they were expecting to find a dead body and not a living Saviour.
And there was an earthquake and an angel came down from heaven. And the angel went to the tomb and rolled back the stone before sitting on it. But he didn’t roll away the stone in order to release the Saviour, because the Saviour had already been raised and he had vanished from the tomb. And so, the reason the angel rolled the stone away was to let the women into the tomb to see that it was empty.
And Matthew tells us that the angel’s appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white like snow. And the guards were clearly terrified at what they saw, because they shook and became like dead men. And so, they must have fainted or suffered some kind of paralysis.
Meanwhile, the angel told the women not to be afraid. And he said to them that he knew they were looking for Jesus, who was crucified. But he’s not here. And he’s not here, at the tomb, because he has risen, just as he said he would. The Lord foretold his resurrection on several occasions. For instance, in verse 21 of chapter 16, he foretold how he must suffer many things in Jerusalem at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law; and he must be killed; but then, on the third day, he will be raised to life. And so, just as he said he would, he has been raised. And this was a resurrection, not a resuscitation. Lazarus had been resuscitated, so that he came back from the dead and his life was extended for a time. But Lazarus died a second time and was buried. But the Lord was raised from the dead, never to suffer death again.
And we believe that he was raised as the first-fruits. So, he was the first to be raised, but he would not be the last. He was the first to be raised, but there will be more to follow. He was the first to be raised; and when he comes again in glory and with power, he will raise his people from the dead; and we will be glorified in his presence and we will live with him in body and soul forever and forever.
And the angel invited the women to come and see the place where he lay. So, come into the tomb and see that it is now empty, because he is alive. And the angel told them to go and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and that he had gone ahead of them to Galilee, which is where he conducted much of his earthly ministry. And there they will see him.
And Matthew tells us that the women hurried away. And they were afraid, but they were also filled with joy. They were afraid, or filled with awe, because they had seen an angel, who had announced momentous news to them. But they were also filled with joy, because their Lord, whom they loved, was alive. And though they might not have realised it yet, they would one day know that Christ’s resurrection from the dead means that this fallen creation — which is marred by sin and suffering and death — is now coming to an end; and the new creation has begun. Sin and Satan and death have been conquered by God’s Suffering Servant, who gave up his life to pay for our sins and who was raised to give us everlasting life in the new heavens and earth. And in the new heavens and earth, you see see God with your own eyes in the face of Jesus Christ your Saviour; and you will be with God and you will enjoy perfect peace and rest and happiness forever.
And so, with fear and joy, the women ran to tell the Lord’s disciples. But suddenly, the Lord himself met them. And when they saw him, they clasped his feet. And, of course, they were able to clasp his feet, because he had been raised, not as a bodiless spirit, but he had been raised in body and soul. And they clasped his feet as an act of homage, paying tribute to him. And they worshipped him. And it was right for them to worship him, because he is the Eternal Son of God, of the same substance as the Father and the Spirit and worthy of all our worship and praise.
And the Lord, like the angel, told them to go and tell the disciples to go to Galilee, because that is where they will see him. And notice that he refers to the disciples as his brothers. Though they had abandoned him in the Garden of Gethsemane and though Peter had denied him three times, the Lord was willing to pardon them and to regard them as his brothers. And we who believe in Christ, are likewise pardoned by God for all that we have done wrong; and we’re adopted into God’s family, so that God the Father becomes our Father; and God the Son becomes our elder brother; and we are God’s children.
Conclusion
And because of Christ, we’re able to gather around the family table on Sunday; and we’re able to eat and drink together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. And when we take the bread and the cup we’ll remember how Christ our Saviour gave up his life for us and for our salvation. His body was broken for us; and his blood was shed for us. By his wounds we are healed; and because he drank the cup of suffering, we may drink together the cup of thanksgiving.
And Christ our Saviour did not remain in the grave, because he was raised on the third day. And he is coming again one day. And as we gather around the Lord’s table on Sunday, we not only remember that he died for us, but we look forward to the day when he will come again. And when he comes again, it will be to bring us and all who believe in him and who long for his appearing into the presence of God to live with him and to give thanks to him and to praise him forever and forever.
Sermons and Stuff 