God’s Wrath against the Morally “Superior” (Romans 2:1-16)

Good advice is nice, and good vibes are great. But there is nothing like good news! To answer the problem of sin and death in the world, God gives good news, as laid out in the New Testament book of Romans. Here’s our working definition, as we’ll see laid out over the next year…

The GOSPEL of the crucified and risen King Jesus is the infinitely good news that, by grace through faith in Christ, we can be saved from sin and death and shaped by the Spirit to love well for God’s glory in the world.

As we learn this Gospel, our threefold prayer is that God would move us to…

believe the good news of Jesus and be saved from sin and death.
unite around the good news of Jesus and let nothing divide us.
give ourselves fully to the greatest cause in the universe–spreading the good news of Jesus all over our community and world.

To get the most out of Romans this year, try reading through the entire book of Romans at least once. Takes about an hour. Also, try re-read the prior sermon text and/or pre-read the upcoming sermon text each week. Use the generic Bible study methods on the FEAST bookmarks found at Next Steps to help you meditate upon and apply the passage throughout the week.

We’re also memorizing a couple passages that, together, summarize this good news. Here’s the first verse of the first passage:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (Romans 3:23)

This is worst news in the universe that precedes the best news in the universe–the Gospel. Romans 3:23 is actually a summary of Paul’s entire argument from Romans 1:18-3:20. We studied 1:18-32 last week in which Paul described the core of all sin: rejecting the Creator, worshiping the created–what the Bible calls idolatry. Because of idolatry, God gives us over to all other kinds of sins, which lead to destruction and eternal death. Paul described heterosexual sin, homosexual sin, and a whole list of other sins, such as “wickedness, evil, greed and depravity…envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice…gossip, slanderer, God-hating, insolence, arrogance and boasting…inventing ways of doing evil, disobeying parents…no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.”

In Romans 1, Paul called out so much sin that any decent person would scoff and say, “Glad I’m not like them!” In fact, you’d think that Paul would just go on talking about the sinners of Romans 1, but Romans 2 is a “gotcha” moment. He is actually going to put much more time and effort into confronting the sinfulness of people who think they have the moral high ground.

Big Idea: In God’s court, the morally “superior” are as guilty as the “inferior.” (2:1)

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Throughout Romans 2, Paul envisions an imaginary debate partner as he writes his letter to the Romans. His imaginary debate partner is someone who thinks they are morally superior to the people who do the things described in Romans 1: idolatry, heterosexual sin, homesexual sin, and all kinds of wickedness.

But Paul asserts that those who judge the sinners of Romans 1 judge themselves–indeed condemn–themselves because they commit the same kinds of sins! There’s a principle here that you could sum up as judgements judge the judge. Jesus taught something similar way back in His famous Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5)

Jesus’ point is that every human being has sinful flaws so judging another’s only judges your own sin. Jesus calls this hypocrisy, which only has one cure: humility. We must judge ourselves first most deeply and most harshly and embrace God’s forgiveness. Only then will we be able to, in the grace and mercy of God, dare to help anything else follow Jesus.

Back to Paul’s imaginary debate in Romans. His debate partner might say “Prove it! I’m not that bad!” Perhaps you’re thinking the same thing. Paul will later address the hypocrisy of the morally “superior,” but his first step will be to show the moral perfection of God. You see, sin isn’t about how we compare with other human beings; it’s about how we compare to God. At the end of the day, you and I will not be judged in the courts of personal or popular opinion but in the court of God’s perfect opinion. Therefore, Paul builds his case against all of us sinners–even the “best” of us–by first holding up the perfection of God’s judgment! Over the next three paragraphs, Paul highlights three related attributes of God–His character qualities–that makes His judgments perfect.

3 Perfections of God’s Judgment

#1 Truth: God judges us as we actually are. (2:2-5)

2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Are God’s judgments the only ones that are really true? Yes! No human judgment is. Perhaps you’ve heard people talk about living in a “post-truth world.” According to the Oxford Dictionary, “post-truth” means “relating to circumstances in which people respond more to feelings and beliefs than to facts.” Check out the news or social media. People can report on and respond to the exact same event and yet come away with totally different and biased conclusions. Every human perspective is biased, maximizing others’ sins and faults while minimizing their own. Our self-assessments are wildly wrong.

We may think “post-truth” is a new phenomenon, but it’s been around since the very first sin. God asked Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree?” That’s a simple yes or no question. How did Adam answer? “The woman you put here with me–she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Instead of confessing with a simple, humble, true “yes,” Adam blamed both the woman and the Creator! We’ve been living in a post-truth world since the fall.

The Jews especially presumed upon God’s covenant with them, thinking that because they were God’s chosen people God was obligated to save them eventually. This is probably the mindset of Paul’s imaginary debate partner. Paul continues to argue with his imaginary debate partner. He calls him out for taking advantage of God’s kindness and patience and failing to repent! The fact that God hasn’t punished us yet does NOT mean that we are in the right but that He is giving us time to repent!

Don’t be deceived: Labeling ourselves Christians doesn’t make us righteous before God. Disagreeing with sin doesn’t make us righteous before God. Only God sees us as we truly are, and He knows we are not worthy. Only God can make us right with Himself by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. But Paul will wait until Romans 3 to talk about that, so let’s continue with another perfection of God’s judgment…

#2 Justice: God judges us based on what we actually do. (2:6-11)

Just yesterday, one of our neighbors shared with Em and I how a very serious personal injustice had been righted by our legal system. It was great news to have justice prevail. Justice can so often evade us in this life. I recently heard someone say, “Life’s not fair, but God is fair.” The perfection of God’s justice, in addition to His truth, is what condemns even the morally superior.

6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.

In God’s court, every person who’s ever lived will get exactly what they deserve. This judgment does not occur in this life but rather in the next. In Psalm 73, for example, the author laments how bad people always seem to have it good, but good people always seem to have it bad. The psalmist confesses that He almost lost his faith because of this trend because he wondered if God was really good and just. But once the psalmist realized that God’s judgment comes in eternity, in the next life, then He realized how good and how just God really was.

God’s perfect justice works itself out in two different ways on the day His righteous judgment is revealed. Those who persistently do good in pursuit of God’s glory, honor, and immortality get eternal life. Those who are selfish, reject the truth about God, and follow evil get eternal wrath. Which side are you on? Have you always been faithful to do good for God’s glory, even when it’s tough? Or have you ever been selfish, ignored God, and done evil? There are only two outcomes here. There is no middle ground for the sorta good, sorta bad. There is no “mid” in God’s court.

The terrifying fact of the matter is we all fall in that second camp.

Have you ever given in to temptation and believed the lies of Satan or the world?
Have you ever envied someone that had something you didn’t or longed for something God hadn’t already given you?
Have you ever disrespected your parents or treated your children harshly?
Have you ever had sexual desire for someone you weren’t married to or failed to meet the needs of the person you are married to?
Have you ever exaggerated something to make yourself look better or to make someone else look worse?
Have you ever held on to bitterness or withheld forgiveness from someone who was truly sorry?
Have you ever slacked off at work or been unfair to someone who works for you?
Have you ever put your work or money or success before people or God Himself?
Have you ever passed up the opportunity to meet a material, social, or spiritual need?

None of us is as bad as we could possibly be, but none of us are good enough for God! Frankly, we are all guilty in many ways.

God’s justice is impartial too. He doesn’t favor certain skin colors or education levels or incomes. He doesn’t favor certain political parties or religions or cultures or languages. He judges people based on what they do. That’s His standard, and there’s no loopholes or plea deals or bailouts or extenuating circumstances. There is only eternal wrath and no hope of getting out of it…except for the atoning sacrifice of the crucified and risen King Jesus, which Paul won’t get to until Romans 3. So he continues with a third attribute of God’s perfect judgment…

#3 Omniscience: God judges us on what we do with what we know. (2:12-16)

God’s truth judges us according to the way reality actually is. His justice treats sinners with perfect fairness and we all get what we deserve–wrath! And His omniscience–His divine capacity to be all-knowing–allows Him to know even our hearts. He knows what we know, and He holds us accountable.

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

The Jews had an advantage and they knew it. God gave them the Law after He redeemed them from the Promised Land so that every generation after had the incredible privilege of knowing who God was, what He was like, what He was all about, and what He expected. The Gentiles (everybody who’s not a Jew) did not have the same advantage. So the Jews knew God’s law but failed to keep it and so would receive wrath. It’s not simply hearing or knowing the law that saves–but actually doing it, due to God’s justice! Paul will deal with that in next week’s text, beginning in verse 17.

But Paul first speaks about the “law” that the Gentiles have, because his imaginary debate partner might say, “Well, the Gentiles don’t have the law, so how can they be held accountable for it?” Paul’s answer is important. The Gentiles DO have a sort of law, written on their hearts. Every person that’s ever lived, every society that’s ever formed, has a basic sense that there is a right and a wrong. They do not always agree on what’s right and wrong, and they do not always follow what they know to be right and wrong. But they have a sense of it, and that inner sense it’s what Paul describes as a kind of law that even Gentiles will be accountable for. So for example, murder is almost universally recognized in every culture as wrong. But it’s not always followed in practice (there are murderers) or in the legal systems (abortion allowed up to 6 weeks? 20 weeks? Birth?) But God knows what we know–that there is a right and a wrong–and He holds us accountable to it.

This morning in our Old Testament plan, we read of the time when the wicked King Ahab tried to acquire the fruitful vineyard of one of his subjects (1 Kings 21) The man refused to sell his beloved ancestral property to Ahab, so Ahab told his wicked queen Jezebel. Jezebel told Ahab, “Leave it to me, and I’ll get it for you.” So Ahab let her pursue the property through whatever means necessary. She plotted for the innocent man to be murdered so that her husband could acquire the property. The prophet Elijah came to confront not only Jezebel but Ahab himself, because even though Ahab technically didn’t plot the murder, he was still responsible for it! Even though he had “plausible deniability” (“well, I didn’t know Jezebel would go that far”), he was still responsible for the sin. He allowed it. He knew Jezebel would do something bad, and God knew that he knew. So God condemned Ahab to death.

Paul even admitted in his letter to a church in Corinth that, while his conscience was clear as he judged his own life and ministry, he knew he was only truly accountable to God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5) Paul humbly recognized that he could sin, and so He counted on God’s perfect judgment and grace to save him.

I remember a time when a pastor called me out for doing something wrong. I thought what I did was good and even well-intentioned until, after he pointed it out to me, I realized it was not only wrong but also a result of my own pride.

All will be judged. Many will be condemned, but those who believe will be pardoned because JESUS.

Talk of “judging others” seems to conflict with other commands from Paul to hold one other accountable as followers of Jesus. For example, in 1 Corinthians, Paul commands the church as a whole to judge its members who are living in sin. This is a practice known as church discipline.

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13)

Paul is not talking about passing global, eternal judgment like only God can and will. He’s talking about accountability among followers of Jesus. Plus, it’s the church as whole, justified and and being sanctified in Christ, speaking with one heart and voice to a wayward brother or sister…turn from your sin and back to the Jesus you say you love! There shouldn’t be an ounce of pride or hatefulness in that. Only love and truth.

As we’ll continue to see in Romans, we have zero reason to boast in God’s court. Even the very “best” of us, whoever that is anyways, falls far short of God’s glory. It is only by grace through faith in Christ that we might be made righteous by God and redeemed from sin and death to live a new life in Him. All praise to Him!

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

What kinds of hypocrisy do you notice in the world these days?
What kinds of hypocrisy do you notice in Christians and churches these days?
What kinds of hypocrisy do you notice in yourself these days?
How does the perfectly true, just, and omniscient God handle self-righteousness? How does this serve to increase our need for righteousness by grace through faith in Christ?
How will the idea of God’s perfect judgment impact your attitudes and choices this week?

faith gospel Jesus Romans salvation

God’s Wrath against Sin (Romans 1:18-32)

The worse the bad news is, the better the good news is. If the Gospel of Jesus is the best news in the universe, then there must be some really bad news. The worst news. The bad news is extremely hard to hear, let alone believe, and many reject it. Even I, as I studied this week, could hardly believe what I was reading. But it truly is awful, and I hope you hear it. Besides, what is so bad that the innocent, righteous Jesus would need to suffer and die on the cross? Sin.

Thank God that, in response to the bad news of sin, He does not only give us good advice, which is nice, but hardly all we need. And thank God He does not only give good vibes, which are great, but are still not enough. Praise God because He gives us good news unlike anything else! God’s good news, as laid out in the New Testament book of Romans, is far better than any other news you’ve ever heard.

The GOSPEL of the crucified and risen King Jesus is the infinitely good news that, by grace through faith in Christ, we can be saved from sin and death and shaped by the Spirit to love well for God’s glory in the world.

As we learn this Gospel, our threefold prayer is that God would move us to…

believe the good news of Jesus and be saved from sin and death.
unite around the good news of Jesus and let nothing divide us.
give ourselves fully to the greatest cause in the universe–spreading the good news of Jesus all over our community and world.

We’re also memorizing a couple passages that, together, summarize this good news. Here’s the first verse of the first passage:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (Romans 3:23)

This is the heart of the worst news that precedes the best news–the Gospel.

Let me briefly review from last week to set up Romans 1:18. Paul started his letter to the church in Rome talking about the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus.

Good News: God’s Righteousness Revealed in the Gospel! (1:14-17)

14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (1:14-17)

The good news is that God is saving people by making them right with Him through faith. As we get into the bad news, it’s important for us to remember that God has done and is doing and will do everything needed to make the world right again, beginning with His people. That’s what God’s righteousness is–His disposition to always right wrongs. When God sees something wrong, He moves to right it. The Greek words translated “right” or “righteous” or “righteousness” are elsewhere translated “just” or “justify” or “justification.” “Right” and “just” are virtually synonymous in Romans. God makes things right! Wonderful news!

But that’s where the bad news comes in. If God needs to make the world and His people right again, that must mean something has gone wrong. I was talking to someone about this this week, and they said, “You can’t solve a problem if you don’t have a problem.” So here’s the problem:

Bad News: God’s Wrath Revealed against Sinful Humanity! (1:18a)

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people…

Many of us struggle with the idea of God’s wrath. “I thought God was nice!” “I thought God is love!” But this may not be nearly as much of a struggle if we consider that wrath and love are not necessarily mutually exclusive. What mother wouldn’t be wrathful if someone abused her child? A bad mom. What husband wouldn’t be wrathful if someone violated his wife? A bad husband. But we serve a good God who only does what is right. And His righteousness–His disposition to always right wrongs–is what leads Him to wrath against sin.

God’s wrath will reach its final, terrible stage in eternal death–often called hell, but Paul says that God’s wrath “is being revealed.” Present tense. In what sense is God already revealing His wrath against sin? Paul will touch on that in a bit, but first he needs to explain the exact nature of sin, which is making God so rightly angry.

What is making God so rightfully angry? Godlessness, as we’ll see, is at the root of all sin, and wickedness results, which is the literal opposite of “righteousness/justice.” In fact, the translators could have used a word like “unrighteousness” or “injustice.” Paul fleshes it out more.

2 Reasons Why God is Rightly Angry

#1 We all suppress the obvious truth about the Creator. (1:18b-20)

18b …who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

The truth about the Creator is both visible and understandable to every human being who has ever lived so that they are accountable for how they respond to it.

Creation’s design and splendor attests to God’s power and wisdom. Who of us watching the eclipse earlier this month wasn’t amazed at the precision and size of what was occurring?
Creation’s usefulness and enjoyment testify to His goodness. Human technological advance-from spaceships to chemotherapy–ride the coattails of the intellectual and natural resources God has given us. Is there a simple pleasure greater than sitting around a campfire with loved ones making a s’more?

The evidence is all around us, and Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, insists that everyone knows that creation has a Creator. Every one of us has this knowledge deep down, even if they don’t admit it. Everyone knows there’s a God who at least deserves a thank you, let alone total worship and submission!

In the Barbie movie released last summer, Barbie struggles with her identity and purpose in life. In the climactic moment of the movie, Barbie meets her maker: Ruth Handler, co-founder and first president of Mattel Toy Company. In this heaven-like scene, creature meets creator and learns her purpose! Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just meet our Maker?!?! Minutes later, the Grammy Award-winning song “What was I made for?” plays as the credits roll…

What was I made for?

‘Cause I, ’cause I

I don’t know how to feel

But I wanna try

I don’t know how to feel

But someday I might

Think I forgot how to be happy

Something I’m not, but something I can be

Something I wait for

Something I’m made for

The haunting, subconscious truth behind the movie and the song is that we all have been made for something. “Made!” There is some great truth being understood yet suppressed there! There’s a longing for purpose from the Maker! So instead of gratitude and submission to the Creator, the conclusion is that we should just try our hardest to be happy!

One of the most important things we can do as we strive to tell others the good news of Jesus is to encourage people to think more deeply about life, about purpose, about what matters, about a Creator. High school student Steven Sower wrote a poem about how a bird’s eye view really makes you feel small. The poem was inspired by a painting from French artist Françoise Gilot. His poem “Reflections from 30,000 Feet” invites us to think about why we’re here. You can hear Steven read it at this link.

The Creator gives the creature purpose. What is our purpose? To worship and learn from our Maker and, from that overflow, bless the people and world around us in His way. Instead, the nature of sin is that we have rejected our Maker for other things, which is Paul’s next point…

#2 We all worship creation rather than the Creator. (1:21-23)

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

The nature of sin is that we have not only failed to worship the Creator but that we have worshiped other things instead. This is so wrong that even the wise are fools if they exchange Creator for creation. This exchange is the story of humanity and the heart of every sin:

Adam and Eve exchanged their Creator for the forbidden fruit, which looked good, tasted good, and gave them power to choose for themselves.
Israel exchanged their Creator and Redeemer for a golden calf idol.
While idol worship still exists in some parts of the world today, in our context, idols are much more subtle and perhaps more sinister.
- Many exchange the Creator for human goodness, abilities, and potential. We look at all the obvious problems in the world (or rather the ones we prefer to notice), and trust and challenge humanity to fix it.
- Many exchange the Creator for the planet. “Earth Day,” for example, can be a holy day for what equates to earth-worship, or it can be a day to enjoy and care for the earth yet worship God.
- Many exchange the Creator for material things or experiences…money, success, vacations, possessions, entertainment,etc.
- Many even exchange the Creator and Redeemer for a high standard of morality, which Paul focuses on in Romans 2-3. Stay tuned for that over the next few weeks.

My point is that any exchange is a foolish exchange!

Do you see how, when it comes to sin, saying “I’m not that bad! I’m not nearly as bad as that person or that group!” Our sinfulness has nothing to do with how we compare with others but everything to do what God deserves. And because we have rejected Him, His wrath is being revealed. How so?

3 Ways God’s Righteous Anger is Revealed

In the next 9 verses, Paul gives three examples of God’s present wrath, writing each time that God “gave them [idolaters] over.” The phrase “God gave them over” was used often in the Old Testament when God allowed Israel to conquer their enemies. It was also used when God allowed enemies to invade unfaithful Israel. The same phrase used when God allowed Jesus to be arrested, condemned, and crucified in our place for our sin. The idea is that God allows an enemy to conquer someone in sin. In Israel’s case, they were the sinners. In Jesus’ case, He died for our sin! So Paul describes three ways in which God has allowed idolaters to fall into slavery to even more sin.

#1 Slavery to sinful desires. (1:24-25)

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

First of all, God’s wrath against sin can be seen in His giving people over to sinful desires and sexual impurity. Paul is thinking about extramarital sex, any sexual longing or act outside of marriage. Prostitution, fornication, adultery, pornography, masturbation, erotic literature, etc. God has given idolaters over in slavery to desires and acts that dishonor our bodies. Think of the children and women and men and marriages and families deeply hurt by sexual sin. Sexual abuse survivors. Those battling sex or pornography addiction. Unmarried moms or dads. God did not design sex to be used outside of marriage, yet, because we want to worship the created rather than the Creator, God gives us over to know its consequences.

A culture which thinks, “I don’t think that’s that bad. It’s only natural!” actually proves the point and deserves to reap the consequences of uncontrolled sexual desires. That’s God’s present wrath!

#2 Slavery to shameful desires. (1:26-27)

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

God didn’t “make” people same-sex attracted; He allowed sin to conquer and distort His good gift of sex so that people would become same-sex attracted. Slavery to same-sex attraction, like sexual sin, is a sign of God’s wrath–not some acceptable alternative.

Some might say, “But what if they’re consenting?” Whenever you’re about to do something, the most important consent you need is not his or hers or the majority’s but the Creator’s. The Creator’s consent is the only consent that matters, and He has not consented to homosexuality or heterosexual sin or idolatry.

According to Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these are shameful lusts and acts. Not something to take pride in at all! So if we take pride in homosexuality, we only demonstrate just how enslaved to sin we are.

#3 Slavery to worthless thinking. (1:28-32)

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

If we worship the one true Creator, then we’ll care deeply about those made in His image. But if we reject God, we only put ourselves in His place and horrific pride and selfishness take over.

This list of sins flows from minds that have rejected God in favor of self and therefore treat each other like animals. What Paul is about to describe reminds me of some post-apocalyptic scene…no law and order…killed or be killed…dog-eat-dog world…yet Paul insists that this IS the way the world is.

Now some may think, “Gossip? How does that hurt?” “Disobeying parents? That’s just a teenage stage!” But the very fact that we have an impulse to minimize these sins shows just how enslaved we are!!! I mean, imagine a world without any of these things!!! That’s what God is working for!

The scary thing is that every single one of us can find ourselves on this list, and unless Jesus forgives us and changes us, we would still be enslaved! Jesus has forgiven and begun transforming yet, yet I can still relate!

ASIDE: If you’re still thinking, “I’m not that bad,” I dare you to read the next chapter and come back next week, because Paul will turn his attention directly toward us–the moral, religious types. He actually spends much more time in Romans confronting characteristically “good” people than characteristically “bad” people.

In closing, I want you to remember what’s coming up! If you recognize your slavery to heterosexual sin, same-sex attraction, or any other sin, you can be set free. Remember the GOOD NEWS is that God has done, is doing, and will do everything needed to make things right! All of this very bad news is merely setting up VERY GOOD NEWS!

BAD NEWS → GOOD NEWS
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people… (1:18-3:20)	But now apart from the law a righteousness has been made known…given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe… (3:21-8:39)

This good news leads to a transformation! If the sin described in Romans 1 sounds like fun and not punishment from God, then you need to beg God to set free from sin to worship and serve God again. And if you have a desire to be set free, God has done and will do everything needed to make you right! He’ll forgive you of every sin, every idol, every sinful desire, every shameful desire, every worthless thought! And He’ll begin to make you new…

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

When we believe in and begin to be transformed by Jesus, we who sin and approve of sin because of our sinful, shameful desires and worthless thinking, get new desires and new minds that love Him and His ways. Commit yourself to Him to worship and learn more and more from Him. He has and will set you free to do His will!

And once we realize that our sin has such a power over us that only the power of God through the Gospel of Jesus can save us, how can we not share that good news, this best news, with others! But how will they know unless someone tells them? Fellow disciples of Jesus, someone told you about the good news of Jesus! Who will you tell?

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

In a nutshell, how would you define the Gospel (good news) of Jesus? How would define the bad news that precedes it?
How can a holy and loving God be wrathful? What is the core sin that brings about His wrath (Romans 1:18-23)? What created thing(s) have you worshiped instead of the Creator? Why is the Creator far more worthy than those other things?
If God reveals His wrath by handing sinners over to more sin, what would it look like for Him to have mercy in your life? (hint: Romans 12:1-2)
Does Paul list any of your sins in this passage? Have you trusted Jesus to forgive those sins? How has Jesus been changing your view of those sins?

Bible god Jesus Romans salvation

3 Things to Know When Reading Romans (Romans 1:1-7)

Good advice is nice. Good vibes are great. But there is nothing like good news! For example…

You are about to open an email from the admissions office at your favorite university, the one you applied to months ago. The subject line reads, “Please open immediately!” You click. What do you want to read?

10 tips on how to get accepted into your preferred university. (good advice)
Join this local support group for students going through the college admissions process. (good vibes)
Good news! You’re accepted!

Your phone starts ringing. Yesterday, you interviewed for your dream job. One of the interviewers is calling you. You hit accept call and put the phone to your ear. What do you want to hear?

Here’s some best practices for your line of work. (good advice)
I just wanted to check in and see how you’re doing. (good vibes)
Good news! You’ve got the job!

You’ve been battling cancer for months, but the final checkup has arrived. You’re awaiting the results from your latest test to determine whether or not you are in complete remission. The door opens. Your heart quickens. The doctor walks in. What do you most want to hear at that moment?

Here’s some professional advice on dealing with anxiety in your battle with cancer. (good advice)
You’re not alone. Let me just sit here with you for a while. (good vibes)
Good news! You’re cured! No cancer!

Maybe you’re not applying for college or a job or battling cancer. But there is one problem we are all dealing with: our world and ourselves are broken, and none of us seem able to fix it. The Scriptures define the problem as sin and death.

But God has some good news for us. Though God gives good advice, this is not it. Though God gives good vibes, this is not it. This is good news: He’s done everything needed to make you and the whole world right again through His Son, our King, Jesus. That’s what Romans is all about. The good news (gospel) of God in Christ.

As we begin Romans, there are three things you should know…

3 Things To Know When Reading Romans

#1 Romans is written by a man transformed by Jesus. (1:1)

Romans was written by a man named Paul. You can read an account of Paul’s story in the New Testament book of Acts, beginning in chapter 8 through the end of the book. But let me give you the summary. Paul, whose Jewish name was Saul, grew up a devout Jew, top of his class, devoted follower and teacher of the Scriptures. In fact, Paul’s devotion was so intense that when this unorthodox, uneducated, and executed teacher named Jesus of Nazareth gained a following, Paul pushed back hard. He persecuted, arrested, and even helped to kill Christians, until, that is, the day Jesus confronted Paul. He realized in that encounter that Jesus had truly risen from the dead and was God’s chosen King to make everything right again. God made his enemy his missionary. From that day on, Paul devoted himself to Christ. Paul was a man transformed by Jesus, and he spent the rest of his life spreading the good news of Christ, making disciples, and serving churches. One way he served churches was writing letters to them, several of which are found in the New Testament.

Paul introduces himself to a group of people, most of whom he’s never met. How do you introduce yourself to people you’ve never met? Talk about your qualities, skills, and accomplishments? Put your best, most impressive foot forward? That’s certainly what I’m always tempted to do. But check out what Paul does.

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God…

A) Paul was Jesus’s slave.

When we think of slavery, we think of people being forced against their will because human slave systems lead to that. But in the ancient world, there were examples of slaves who wanted to be slaves. One commentator notes that calling himself a slave means that Paul’s service to Jesus is “obligatory but not unwilling.” Paul humbly and gladly admitted that he belonged to Christ Jesus and was compelled to serve His will. Later in Romans 6, Paul will use this term to describe all those who have been bought by the blood of Christ from slavery to sin into glad slavery to God.

B) Paul was God’s bearer of good news.

Apostle means “sent one.” It’s very close in meaning to “missionary.” But, here and elsewhere in the New Testament, it carries a special meaning. It refers to the official, appointed messengers of Jesus, most of whom were Jesus’ original disciples. Paul calls himself an apostle “abnormally born” (1 Cor 15:8) because he didn’t start following Jesus until after Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension.

The word gospel simply means “good news” and translates the Greek word euangelion (yoo-ang-ghel’-ee-on). The verb form of the word is euangelizó (yoo-ang-ghel-id’-zo) and means to announce good news. The English words evangelism and evangelize come from those Greek words. Gospel was often used in the ancient world, even before Jesus and the biblical authors started using it, to describe the announcement of victory in battle. It was a worrisome day when a city would send its young man to fight in a battle against an enemy, and mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters would wait anxiously for news from a messenger of how the battle went. If the messenger brought back news of victory, it was “euangelion” or “gospel.” Legend has it that when the Athenian army won the battle of Marathon against the Persian Empire they sent a messenger back to Athens, who ran 26.2 miles (the origin of our modern marathon race.) The Roman Emperor Augustus also had his own gospel. His birthday was celebrated throughout the empire every year as “the beginning of the good news [euangelion] for the world.”

But Paul’s identity and purpose are wrapped up in Jesus and His Gospel, and he will unpack this good news and its implications in the book of Romans…

#2 Romans is about the Gospel.

Paul’s letter will be primarily about the Gospel, which he describes with these three features.

A) The Gospel was promised in Scripture. (1:2)

2 …the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures…

These promises are not mainly about specific prophecies..like Jesus being born of a virgin in Bethlehem…though they’re part of it. Instead, Paul is thinking about the MANY promises God made to conquer evil, rescue His people, and restore His kingdom, all for His glory. From Adam to Abraham to Moses to David to the Prophets, God had promised to save the world and those who belonged to Him. The Gospel of Jesus is the fulfillment of those divine promises.

B) The Gospel is all about Jesus.

i) Jesus is the human heir of David. (1:3)

3 …regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David…

The Son has an “earthly life?” Who talks like that? This Paul’s way of describing Christ’s human nature. You see, the Son of God existed eternally and equally with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We call that the Trinity: one Divine Being in three Divine Persons. When Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, the Son added to Himself a human nature, in addition to the divine nature He already had. But Jesus is not just any human; He is a descendant of David, which taps into God’s promise to David way back 2 Samuel 7 that God would enthrone a faithful descendant of David as His chosen king forever, which is what Paul explains next about Jesus’ identity.

ii) Jesus is God’s risen and reigning King. (1:4)

4 …and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Son was crucified but then raised thus showing that there is a whole other side to this Person. He who was already God was made King upon His resurrection because He had lived a fully righteous human life. This is the story of the Gospel of Matthew, which we just finished preaching through last week.

C) The Gospel calls all people–Jew and Gentile–to action. (1:5-6)

5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

Acts 9:15 recalls the moment where Jesus first called Paul to not only follow Him but to bring His Gospel to the Gentiles. The response to the Gospel is a huge theme in Romans as well. As Paul describes here, you could think of it in three steps that all logically and necessarily go together.

Believe in King Jesus → Obey King Jesus → Glorify King Jesus

One theologian put it like this: “Faith is not obedience, but as obedience is not obedience without faith, faith is not faith without obedience. They belong together, as do thunder and lightning in a thunderstorm.” (Karl Barth) And when the Gospel produces faith and obedience in people, it brings glory to God–“for His name’s sake.” The ultimate hope of Paul’s mission is to make Jesus famous.

#3 Romans is for the people God loves and makes holy. (1:7)

7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

We really don’t have anything even close today that compares to the power of the ancient city of Rome. Rome was far and away the largest, most powerful, and most influential city in its day. Rome was the political, economic, and cultural capital of the western half of the world. By 133 BC, historians estimate that Rome reached a population of one million people, and that’s over 200 hundred years before Paul wrote this letter. Rome was huge! In Romans 16, Paul wrote personal greetings to 28 different believers, some Jewish, some Gentile, and he also sent greetings to anywhere from 1-5 house churches. So that’s actually a lot of Christians. A well-established church. But it is still just a drop in the bucket compared to Rome. So many people to reach not only in Rome but throughout the world!

Note that even though Paul is going to talk a ton about Jews and Gentiles, two very different people groups, and, even though the church in Rome consisted of both Jews and Gentiles, Paul addresses the church in Rome not in terms of what divides them but what they have in common. They are loved by God and called to be His saints–His holy people! As we’ll see throughout the book of Romans, through the Gospel of Jesus, God brings people from different walks of life together around His Son. The differences are not necessarily fully erased; they’re just put in their place, and God’s people are given the power to accept one another from the heart just as God accepted us.

Here’s my attempt to summarize the Gospel as it’s unpacked in Romans. We’ll revisit this often:

The GOSPEL of the crucified and risen King Jesus is the infinitely good news that, by grace through faith in Christ, we can be saved from sin and death and shaped by the Spirit to love well for God’s glory in the world.

Our threefold prayer is that God would move you…

…to believe the good news of Jesus and be saved from sin and death. God’s glorious victory in Christ, described in the Gospel, may be received by ANYONE who believes it. By grace through faith in Christ! And if you really believe in Him, He will totally change your life.
…to unite around this message with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and let nothing else divide you. It seems that what unites groups of Americans today far more than anything else today is politics, especially when each presidential election rolls around. We, as a church, get to celebrate and promote Jesus and the good news far more than any cultural or political figure or opinion. Here’s what I’m not saying: “Don’t be informed or engaged. Don’t vote. Don’t go into law or politics as a career.” We need Christians there! What I am saying is that it should be crystal clear from how we live and talk that our Ultimate Savior, Supreme Authority, Perfect Example, and Highest Hope is the crucified and risen King Jesus. And His Gospel should bind us together so that nothing can divide us.
…to give yourself to supporting the greatest cause in the universe–spreading the glorious good news of Jesus everywhere, from across the street to across the sea. We partner with other believers who take the Gospel to other groups of people around the world. We need to keep growing in that! Maybe we need to send you too! But we also have a call to share the Good News of Jesus with the people God has already put around us: family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. My hope as we learn and grow more passionate about the Gospel is that the Holy Spirit will give us opportunity to share the Gospel and the boldness to do it!

A couple suggestions to get the most out of Romans this year:

Read through the entire book of Romans. Romans as a letter was meant to be read all the way through in one setting. We’re going to take it passage-by-passage in order to more deeply understand and apply it, but it only takes an hour or so to read or listen to it. Try to at least once this year! Or maybe even every month or every week! That might sound hard or boring, but I guarantee that it will be worth it and you will not regret it.
Re-read the prior sermon text and/or pre-read the upcoming sermon text each week, which is always given in our weekly email (sign up using calvarymuskegon.com or connect cards). If you want to digest Romans more deeply, use the generic Bible study methods on the FEAST bookmarks found at Next Steps.

We’ll also be memorizing a couple passages together. Here’s the first one:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood–to be received by faith. (Romans 3:23-25a)

All have sinned. And all are justified by grace through faith in Christ! That’s the good news coming up this spring and summer. Can’t wait!

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

What does Paul’s introduction to this church he had never visited teach about his own identity and mission? How can you learn from his example?
Compare Paul’s brief but loaded description of Jesus in verses 3-4 with similar expanded statements in his other letters: Colossians 1:15-20; Philippians 2:5-11. What patterns do you notice in how Paul teaches about Jesus?
What does it say about your faith in Christ if you don’t obey Him? What does it say about your faith in Christ if you do?

Bible christianity easter Jesus resurrection

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 27:62-28:15)

Since last Easter, we’ve been learning as a church family to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

God doesn’t always make things easy for His people, but He always makes it worth it. The living, breathing proof of this is Jesus. From His birth to His death, Jesus was all about humble self-sacrifice, so God brought Him back to life and crowned Him King of kings. That’s cruciformity, and we’re learning His cross-shaped story as we preach through the Gospel according to Matthew.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they see God.

Blessed are peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10)

On Good Friday, we talked about how Christ walked the talk, displaying each of these values as He went to the cross for God’s glory and for our salvation from sin. On Easter, we celebrate how the promises of blessedness came true for Him!

The Historical (not Scientific) Evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection

Let me first say this. We do not have any scientific evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. By scientific evidence, I mean that it is something that can be repeatedly observed and measured. For example, if you wanted to know the boiling point of water, you can put a pot on the stove, turn the heat up, put a thermometer in, and record the temperature when the water starts boiling. You can do that today and tomorrow and in a thousand years, and, if the conditions are always the same, you will always measure water’s boiling point at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. I think that’s why people love science. It lets us see the evidence with our own two eyes.

But that’s not how history works! History happens…I know this is deep…in the past! Therefore, it is not reproducible like science. You cannot see history directly, like a science experiment, and so historians rely on other kinds of evidence that science doesn’t. One of the most important types of historical evidence is eyewitness accounts. If you want to know about what happened in the lives of Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar or even George Washington, you need to look at what the people who knew them wrote about them. That’s the standard we must hold for Jesus and for His resurrection. Don’t hold Jesus or His resurrection to a scientific standard; hold Him to a historical standard. Is there credible, eyewitness testimony for the crucified and risen King Jesus? Absolutely. We’ll look at some of it right now.

Matthew writes an eyewitness account. He saw the risen Jesus, and He uses eyewitness accounts in His Gospel. He sandwiches his glorious account of Jesus’ resurrection between two stories in which Jesus’ enemies conspire to keep His resurrection quiet. Pay attention to how Matthew tells the story. The risen Jesus Himself actually gets very little attention compared to the Jewish religious and guards as his story unfolds.

1) The Jewish Leaders’ Anti-Conspiracy Measures (27:62-66)

The conspiring Jewish leaders and their Roman soldier lackeys played a big role in the story of Jesus’ death, and they’ll continue to play a big role in the story of His resurrection.

62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

Our world is full of conspiracies or claims of conspiracies, so it’s not hard to imagine what’s going on here. The Jewish leaders who just conspired to put Jesus to death are afraid that Jesus’ disciples might start a conspiracy that Jesus rose from the dead, as He had promised three times in Matthew 16, 17, and 20. In reality, the chief priests and the Pharisees were the wicked conspirators–not the disciples.

65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

The guards would have been trained, battle-hardened Roman soldiers. A clay or wax seal would have been put on the crack between the rolled stone and the cave entrance and impressed with an official Roman seal, perhaps Caesar’s own face. Anyone who broke the seal (i.e. move the stone even just an inch) could be severely punished or executed. The seal and guards would ensure that no one could take Jesus’ body from the tomb. Jesus’ disciples weren’t even brave enough to stick with Jesus while He was still alive; where would they find the courage for such a conspiracy now that He’s dead?

2) The Empty Tomb and the Risen Christ (28:1-10)

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Jesus died and was buried on a Friday, just before Sabbath. Jesus’ female followers would not have been able to visit His body and properly mourn His death because of the Sabbath. But at first light on Sunday, the day after the Sabbath, they bravely and faithfully set out to the tomb where they saw Jesus buried.

Their continued devotion to Jesus, even though He seemed to be defeated, demonstrated their love for Him. In this morning’s New Testament plan, we read that Jesus had cast seven demons out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2)! No wonder she grieved His death so much! But before the women arrived to honor the buried Jesus, something truly amazing happened.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The stones that were placed over the tombs of the wealthy were meant to keep scavenging animals and grave robbers out. Therefore, they would have been incredibly heavy, requiring several men to move. But the angel rolled it back all by himself not to let Jesus out but to reveal that the tomb was empty. That means Jesus had left the tomb without having the stone rolled away and the seal broken. While Matthew does not tell us this directly, we know that the resurrected Christ in His resurrected body was able to somehow pass through walls. Now He was not a ghost. People hugged Him, touched Him, and ate and drank with Him. He had His physical body, but it does not have some of the limitations that our bodies have! Could this be the kind of body His followers will receive at the final resurrection? Probably! There are several clues in the New Testament that the resurrected bodies of Jesus’ followers will be more like His than ours presently, most importantly our heart and mind will be transformed like His (1 Corinthians 15:35-54; 1 John 3:1-3).

This angel is no chubby cherub in a diaper, lounging on a cloud, strumming a harp. The angel was terrifying. He descended from heaven, caused an earthquake, moved the stone, and shone like lightning. The guards were not asleep but passed out or frozen with fear! But once the women arrived…

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

The angel left the soldiers to cower in fear while he comforted and reassured these women who followed Jesus. He wanted them to not only be afraid of him but to be comforted by the glorious fact that Jesus had risen. He was not in His tomb! And He commissioned them to go and tell the rest of Jesus’ disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee, where it all started.

Scholars point out that, if this resurrection story had been fabricated by Jesus’ first disciples or the early church, they would have made men the first to see the risen Christ–not women. That’s because, in the ancient world, women held a lower status than they do today. They wouldn’t have much say in public and their testimony would not have been admissible in legal proceedings. Therefore, the fact that Jesus chose to greet His female disciples first shows us not only how much He cared about them but also how unlikely it is that people made this up. In fact, as this is written, it would have been thrown out by the masses, unless there was deeply compelling truth behind it.

The women left to go tell His disciples, still afraid but also filled with joy. Can you relate to that? The awesome reality of who God is–His infinite wisdom and power–should strike a kind of fear in our hearts. But not like a horror-movie kind of fear. Instead, because we know how gracious He is toward us, we should also experience joy from being called to Him to be one of His own children! Those are the mixed emotions the women are feeling. Fear of a God who raises the dead, yet joy that their much-loved Jesus has been raised! And Jesus Himself would meet them in their joy…

9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Greek word translated “greetings” here is more often translated “rejoice” or “be glad!” so this is an extraordinarily happy “Greetings!” As it should be! With their own two eyes, they had seen Him die on the cross! With their own two eyes, they had seen Him be buried in the tomb! And now, with their own two eyes, they see Him alive. What would you do? What did they do?

They touched His feet and worshiped Him. This is eyewitness testimony! This Jesus was not a hallucination, a vision from God, or a ghost. You can’t touch hallucinations, visions, or ghosts. Only the physically resurrected Jesus Christ! And Jesus Himself echoes the angel. “Don’t be afraid. Get everyone together for what I’ll do next.”

And notice that Jesus called His disciples “brothers”!!! Amazing grace! They had all abandoned Him in His greatest time of need, yet Jesus was putting that behind them. He would reconcile them to Himself in Galilee, where it all began, and commission them to go and tell the whole world about Him. Besides He had paid the price for their sin and ours, so He can reconcile with whomever He wants! Amazing grace!

3) Conspiracy to Cover Up Jesus’ Resurrection (28:11-15)

11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.

The guards had failed miserably and risked being charged with dereliction of duty, which would result in flogging or even death, if Pilate found out what happened. So they go back to the religious leaders who posted them instead and “reported everything.”

Think about it! This is a wonderful moment for the religious leaders to repent! They knew Jesus had promised His resurrection, and now they have eyewitness testimony that He really did rise! They had even taunted Jesus on the cross that if God saved Him they would believe, but that sadly is not what happened next…

12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The religious paid off the soldiers to spread the very rumor they had tried to prevent. And the cover up doesn’t even make sense. If they were sleeping, how did they know who took Jesus’ body? Plus, under Roman law, disturbing any tomb, let alone stealing a body, was a crime punishable by death. If they knew who did it, why didn’t they arrest the disciples or press charges?

I find it strange that Matthew gives more attention to the religious leaders and the guards than to Jesus Himself. Why does Matthew tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection this way? Nothing is more important in this account than to uncover the cover up. Nothing is more important than to make sure us readers have every reason to believe that Jesus literally rose from the dead. Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just the happy ending of a tragic fairy tale. It’s not just a feel-good story or wishful thinking. It is a historical event and the hope of humanity.

The Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection

So what if He did? So what if He didn’t? Why does it matter right now for me in Fruitport, Michigan on March 31, 2024? Very quickly, I urge you to consider today the implications of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What if Jesus didn’t rise?

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead…

Jesus was a delusional martyr!

If Jesus predicted His resurrection, and yet it never happened, that would make Him a worthless fraud who died for a worthless cause.

Those who said they saw Jesus alive are liars.

The eyewitnesses were either hallucinating, mentally unwell, terribly mistaken, or outright deceptive. It undermines everything written in Scripture, and nothing can be trusted.

We’re still hopelessly lost to sin and death.

This world is beyond repair, broken by sin, and in the end everyone just dies, and that’s it.

You’d be a fool to live a cross-shaped life.

In 1 Corinthians 15:19, Paul says that, if Christ wasn’t raised, “we are of all people most to be pitied.” Why? Because it will have all been a waste! Christians would have lived their whole lives in self-denial and self-sacrifice in hope of something better only to find that there was nothing better!

Stop learning from Jesus and spreading this lie!

The billions who follow Jesus today, including us, should reject Jesus, close the churches, and try to find the next most important thing to devote themselves to. Maybe education, maybe politics, maybe career and money, maybe fun and hobbies. If Jesus didn’t rise, what we must not do is continue spreading that lie. But…

If Jesus did rise dead…

Jesus is the King of the universe!

Jesus’ resurrection is God’s gigantic stamp of approval on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Everything He did and taught must be seen as right and good, and He rightly deserves all worship, allegiance, and obedience.

The biblical authors wrote the true Word of God.

Jesus’ resurrection is proof that all of the Bible is true. Even the parts that are hard to believe are true because if God can raise the crucified Jesus back to life, He can do anything He wants to do. Even the parts of the Bible that we don’t like–maybe parts that confront our sin must be heeded because the One who raised Jesus has all power and authority.

Our sin can be forgiven, and death will be defeated.

Jesus’ resurrection proves that what Jesus accomplished on the cross is legit. He said He would give His life as a ransom for sinners, and that’s exactly what He did. He secured forgiveness from sin for all who believe and ensured that they too will share in His victory over death!

You’d be a fool to live anything other than a cross-shaped life.

Jesus’ resurrection reveals that God truly does bless the cross-shaped life. Self-denial and self-sacrifice in enduring suffering, resisting temptation, and caring for others are what God deserves and honors. There are easier ways to live, but none of them are worth it. Only following the crucified and risen King Jesus.

Nothing matters more than learning from Jesus and spreading this good news!

There is nothing more important or urgent than submitting ourselves as disciples of Jesus and helping others to do so too.

What do you believe about the crucified and risen King Jesus? How will that belief transform your life?

Do you believe Jesus actually rose from the dead or not? You may still have questions or doubts or need other kinds of proof. That’s ok as long as you seek answers. I’d love to help you find them. Please reach out through calvarymuskegon.com. Or perhaps there are Christ-followers you know and trust that you’d feel more comfortable talking to. It’s ok to not be sure, but it’s not ok to stay there much longer. We never know when we might die and be held to account for sin that could have been forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and every moment of our lives is a gift to live for God’s glory and others’ good. No time to waste!

Resurrection completes the life shaped by the cross!!! The cross-shaped life is not an eternal downward trajectory but a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, which, in God’s time, is vindicated and validated. The resurrection is what makes the cross worth it! Jesus earned His resurrection through obedience and love; we receive ours by grace even though we don’t deserve it! So we join Christ willingly–not to earn God’s mercy or love–but out of gratitude for grace in our past, present, and future.

God is good and great. Infinitely good and infinitely great. He proved that in history through the historical crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And nothing and no one can erase history. You can try to ignore it, you can try to resist it, but you cannot erase it or undo it. I, we, stake our hope in it!

Bible faith god Jesus salvation

Calvary, Part 2 (Matthew 27:45-61)

What event impacted history the most? The fall of the Roman Empire, the invention of the printing press, the European discovery of the Americas, or the Industrial Revolution? Or more recently, the invention of the internet, the September 11 attacks, or the Covid-19 pandemic? Without question, the most decisive event in history, with the greatest spiritual, cultural, and eternal impact, is the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though He appeared to be a peasant teacher dying the agonizing and obscure death of a criminal in a backwater province of the “great” Roman Empire, more books have been read about it, more songs have been sung about it, and more societies people have been changed by it than any other moment in history. More than 2 billion people alive today have given their lives back to the crucified and risen King Jesus and are working to share Him with the 6 billion lost, 3.5 billion of which have yet to even hear the good news about Him.

We ourselves are learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:7-10 NIV)

The Story

1) Jesus’ Cry (27:45-49)

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.

This was not a solar eclipse, like the one coming up in a couple weeks on April 8. Solar eclipses can only happen during a new moon, but the Jewish Passover always falls on a full moon. Therefore, this darkness was unnatural…supernatural. Now you might say, “Come on, that’s impossible!” God not only could have done that but He had done it before in the Exodus, when He darkened the sun as one of the ten plagues against Egypt. And, as we saw in our Old Testament plan this morning in Joshua 10, God had done the opposite where He held the sun in its place, giving extra daylight to Israel so that they might win a battle against their enemies decisively.

What is significant about this darkness? In Amos 8:9-10, supernatural darkness in broad daylight is a sign of God’s just wrath against Old Testament Israel for their sin against God (idolatry) and sins against other people (injustice):

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign LORD,

“I will make the sun go down at noon

and darken the earth in broad daylight.

I will turn your religious festivals into mourning

and all your singing into weeping.

I will make all of you wear sackcloth

and shave your heads.

I will make that time like mourning for an only son

and the end of it like a bitter day.” (Amos 8:9-10)

This is an absolutely devastating description of God’s just wrath for the sin of His people, which was exactly what Jesus experienced! Notice the incredible parallels between the verse and the crucifixion of Christ. Not only has broad daylight turned to darkness, but the biggest religious festival of the year is Passover, and it has turned into a time of mourning for Christ, God’s beloved only Son. After three hours of God’s wrath, Jesus cried out from the cross:

46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Have you ever been alone? You may have felt alone, but you’ve never actually been alone. As long as you still breathe, God is eager to listen to your prayers and draw you to Himself. Those who die without being forgiven by God for their sin live forever under God’s wrath, which Jesus has described throughout Matthew as being in “outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Those who die apart from Christ can be said to be alone forever, but no one–not even the lost–are truly alone as long as they still live…until Christ was forsaken on the cross.

Jesus had never been alone. His relationship with the Father flourished and gave Him life. He was constantly filled with the Holy Spirit and the Father was with Him in whatever He did, ever since He was born. Even before the creation of the world, Jesus, God the Son, lived eternally with God the Father and God the Spirit in blissful, unbroken communion. Jesus had never been alone.…until now.

After hours on the cross and under God’s darkness, Jesus cried out: “Eli (ay-lee’), Eli, lema (lam-ah’) sabachthani (sab-akh-than-ee’)?” At that moment, something horrific had happened to Jesus. He was, for the first time, alone, worse than that forsaken. Jesus was being punished by Israel and for Israel, and God had abandoned Him. Jesus’ words are actually a quotation from Psalm 22. Note the similarities between these excerpts from Psalm 22 and what Jesus suffered on the cross:

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, but I find no rest.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,

“let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.”

12 Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13 Roaring lions that tear their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

The chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders had mocked Jesus with these very words as He hung on the cross–feasting on His carcass, as it were.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted within me.

15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 Dogs surround me,

a pack of villains encircles me;

they pierce my hands and my feet.

17 All my bones are on display;

people stare and gloat over me.

18 They divide my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment.

This Psalm prophetically described the physical torture, extreme thirst, pierced hands and feet, public humiliated, and even gambling for clothes that Jesus experienced. The author David experienced persecution but nothing like what the Psalm described. This Psalm was about Jesus.

When Jesus cried out, He suffered more than ever. Somehow, He had taken our sin upon Himself, and God punished Jesus as if our sin belonged to Him. Jesus suffered God’s wrath for our sin. This is why Christ’s sacrifice was uniquely and extremely painful. This is why He begged God for another way in Gethsemane. This is why He had to prayerfully submit His own will to His Father’s.

Jesus was suffering more than ever, and yet He was still mocked.

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

This is a prime example of the kinds of mixed responses to Jesus throughout the entire Gospel. He was misunderstood and even mocked. But the suffering wouldn’t last for much longer…

2) Jesus’ Death (27:50-56)

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

A historic moment. The righteous Son of God had obeyed God all the way through suffering and to the point of death. Never before had a righteous human being–let alone the Son of God in the flesh–died. And at the moment of His death, four things happen in rapid succession.

First…

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

The Temple curtain was 60 feet high, separating the holy God who dwelt within from the unholy people who lived outside. But God miraculously–from top to bottom–opened the way to Himself through Christ, who is greater than the Temple (Matthew 12:6)! Now the blood of Christ–not the blood of sacrificial animals–would atone for sin and make a way for sinners to be reconciled to the holy Creator.

Second…

The earth shook, the rocks split, 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

This is such a strange account. I wish we had more information, but the New Testament does not share anything. The Old Testament prophets foretold that the restoring work of God would include a resurrection of all God’s people (Daniel 12; Ezekiel 37), and so we get a glimpse of that right when Jesus died and rose. But it’s only a preview of the final resurrection of Jesus’ people!

Matthew shared this account to demonstrate the connection between Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection and the resurrection of His people. I’ll teach on the glorious resurrection of Christ next week, but Matthew can’t help himself here, noting the universe-changing event of the death-and-resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Jesus dies, His people rise!

Third…

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

While criminals were being crucified, Roman soldiers would stand guard to make sure that no one took them down or gave them relief. But the centurion overseeing the execution of Jesus made one of the most profound statements about Jesus yet in the Gospel of Matthew. HE’S THE SON OF GOD! This is what the Jewish leaders had specifically rejected, and yet Jesus’ Gentile executioner saw what happened and concluded that Jesus must have been the Son of God!

Fourth…

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Many of Jesus’ faithful female disciples saw Jesus die. Mary, mother of James and Joseph, is probably Jesus’ own mother, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons–Jesus’ two disciples James and John–was named Salome. Jesus didn’t have a job or a home during His ministry, so He relied on the generosity of disciples, such as these amazing women to meet His needs. Now, they were present to mourn His death and prepare Him for burial.

But the Romans did not allow people to mourn or bury crucified criminals, so these disciples had to keep their distance. The Romans wanted people to see that they would pay for their crimes, so they left the crucified up until they rotted away. But that would not happen to Jesus’ body….

3) Jesus’ Burial (27:57-61)

57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

Before the Jewish Sabbath arrived, Joseph of Arimathea made a brave and unusual request to Pilate for the body of the crucified Jesus. Earlier in the Gospel, a rich young man had decided not to follow Jesus because he had great wealth. Jesus had said it was only possible with God that a rich man would decide to follow Jesus. Well, Joseph was a rich man in whom God had apparently done a miracle! He decided to take a great risk and pay a dear price to honor Jesus…

59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

And again, the female disciples are brave and faithful to pay attention to the exact place of Jesus’ burial. They would be back after the Sabbath to honor their Lord’s death in a fitting way. More on that next Sunday!

The Lesson

1) Jesus took God’s just wrath for the sin of all who believe.

Matthew’s account of Christ’s death focuses less on the details of His own suffering and death and more on what was happening around Jesus. Matthew said that “He was flogged” and “He was crucified” in passing but devotes much attention to what the onlookers were saying and doing and what happened the moment Christ died. Why? Matthew’s original audience knew all about floggings and crucifixions so little explanation was needed. Instead, Matthew wrote to highlight the great meaning of Christ’s death by sharing the events surrounding Christ’s death.

Jesus is essentially done with His teaching ministry at this point in the Gospels. His last major sermon was in Matthew 25, and He hasn’t spoken at all since the trial, during which He was also famously silent before His accusers. In fact, Matthew only records one of Jesus’ statements from the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus’ final “sermon,” so to speak, is His death as the “ransom for sinners.” Here’s how the Apostle Paul described this historic, cosmic moment:

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25-26)

Last year at this time, we were studying the Old Testament book of Leviticus, which placed an emphasis on the many sacrifices God’s people needed to offer in order to properly honor God and atone for sin–or appease God’s wrath for sin. But those sacrifices were just pictures of Jesus’ infinitely great sacrifice!

When Jesus died, He died for every sin, past, present, and future of those who believe in Him. He died for their pride and selfishness, their lack of gratitude, their gossip and slander, their hatred and bitterness, their lust and adultery, their greed and wastefulness. Jesus was no mere martyr or helpless victim. He willingly gave Himself up in obedience to God to set sinners free from God’s wrath for our sin! We’re not supposed to feel sorry for Jesus but repulsed by our sin which He died for and be drawn to Him! Believe and be justified–made right with God–through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus!

2) If you believe, live a life shaped by His cross.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

Later in Romans, Paul wrote that the proper response to God’s offering Himself in Christ as a sacrifice for sin is to offer ourselves as living sacrifices for His glory! Our sacrifice in no way atones for our sin…only Jesus’ sacrifice does that. But we can, by the renewal of our very minds, begin to offer ourselves self-sacrificially for God’s glory and others’ good by obeying His commands to love Him with all that we are and love people as ourselves.

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

Try to find as many parallels as you can between Psalm 22 and Matthew 27.
What does it mean to you that Jesus endured such suffering like this for undeserving people like us (Romans 3:25-26)?
Read Romans 12:1-2. How has the cross of Christ shaped your life thus far? How will the cross of Christ shape your life in the future?

Bible cross crucifixion Jesus salvation

Calvary, Part 1 (Matthew 27:27-44)

The cross is a symbol that is virtually synonymous with Christianity. In fact, we chose it as our church logo. Because the cross is everywhere, I wonder if we think about it correctly…as an instrument of torture and death that was voluntarily endured by our own King Jesus. Do we think about the cross like the gallows, where criminals were hanged in full public view? Or the guillotine, where 18th c. French revolutionaries publicly slaughtered royalty? Or the electric chair, where Americans on death row were executed until just a few years ago? It’s right and good to be made queasy and uneasy at the sight of the cross. Even still, we’re learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:3-6)

The Story

1) Cruel and Ironic Mockery from the Romans (27:27-30)

In Matthew 20:19, Jesus had predicted that He would be brutally tortured and mercilessly mocked by the Gentiles. Interestingly, Matthew shares with us much more detail about the ridicule than the physical abuse. Why go in depth on the mockery? Because, we readers who believe and follow Jesus hear the truth about Jesus through the mouths of Jesus’ own persecutors. This is called…

Irony = “the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect”

A classic example of irony comes from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, where the unknowing lovers each drink poison, thinking the other had killed themselves. But the audience knew the whole time! Matthew details the mockery of Jesus, because his believing readers knew the insults to actually hold truth!

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

The whole company of soldiers could number up to 600 men. They gathered an audience as they made fun of and tortured Jesus. They dressed Him up in a mock royal costume, crowning Him not with an emperor’s laurel wreath but a thorny crown. Perhaps you’ve seen in an old World War II film: “Hail, Hitler!” Roman soldiers would say the same to their leader: “Hail, Caesar!” But now in a mocking tone, they would bow to Jesus and say, “Hail, king of the Jews!”

The irony teaches us that Jesus is King. The Roman soldiers don’t believe Jesus is the King, but their jokes cause our ears to perk up! We know the truth behind their ridicule! Jesus really is the King, but He’s not like any other king. He’s a King who’s poor in spirit, meek, a peacemaker, and persecuted because of righteousness. The soldiers only knew kings who commanded them to die for the king. But Jesus is a King who dies for THEM.

2) Crucifixion at Calvary (27:31-38)

31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. 32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

Now that it’s time to crucify Jesus, they needed to move Him out of the Roman headquarters and into a more public place. Crucifixions were not private. They were meant to not only inflict an agonizing death on the worst criminals but also act as a deterrent to other would-be criminals. There was just such a spot just outside Jerusalem.

The journey wasn’t far–less than a mile, but Jesus was so weak from the floggings and beatings that He couldn’t carry His cross. So the Roman soldiers compelled a man named Simon from Cyrene–modern-day Libya in North Africa–to carry Jesus’ cross. This moment illustrates Matthew 5:41–where Jesus told His disciples to go above and beyond in service to a Roman soldier who conscripts them. It was no act of sympathy. But the fact that he was named means that he may have been known by the early churches that read the Gospel. Indeed there is speculation that this same Simon is in Acts 13:1, and that his two sons Alexander and Rufus (named in Mark’s account) are referred to in Acts 16:33 and Romans 16:13. All this is speculation. There’s really no way to confirm these identities. But at the same time, the impact Jesus could have had on Simon as he carried His cross is understandably powerful. What impact is the crucified Christ having on you?

33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

Golgotha is the Aramaic word for “skull.” The Latin word for “skull” is calvaria, from which we get the English word Calvary and the name of so many churches, including our own. We don’t know why the place was called that. Some speculate that a rock formation there looked like a skull. More likely, because this was the normal place for crucifixions, there were hundreds of bones scattered around, including skull after skull after skull. Let’s talk about crucifixion now…

35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

Matthew does not describe what a crucifixion was like because his first readers had seen them firsthand dozens, maybe hundreds, of times. Criminals would be stripped to their loin cloth or naked and then tied or nailed to a wooden beam, and their crime would sometimes be written on a sign nearby. A few years ago, archaeologists discovered the human heel bone pierced with a nail from a crucifixion, dating back to the Roman Empire. The crucified person would be left to die. Death would come eventually due to shock, blood loss, exposure to the elements, or suffocation. Guards would be posted to ensure the crucified would receive no help or relief. It could take days for the crucified to die.

In Deuteronomy 21:22-23, it says that a crucified criminal “was under God’s curse” and must not be left to hang overnight. Therefore, because it was seen as an especially shameful way to die, Jews rarely practiced crucifixion. It was truly a cruel and unusual punishment. Shameful and humiliating. Agonizing and excruciating. The word “excruciating” literally means “from the cross.” That’s what the Jewish leaders and crowd demanded for their Messiah, and it’s what our King suffered for us. The great irony here is that the sign that explained Jesus’ crime was true. He really was the King, and crucifixion is what this King endures for His people. In fact, this is how Jesus becomes King!

3) Cruel and Ironic Mockery from the Jews (27:39-44)

Matthew’s description of the horrible ridicule continues while Jesus hangs humiliated and defenseless from the cross. There are three groups that mock the crucified Jesus.

39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

The passersby felt the need to interject with their taunts! They repeat that slanderous accusation from Jesus’ trial, accusing Jesus of wanting to destroy the Temple (which was not true). “If You’re the Son of God…” mirrored the devil’s temptations to Jesus in the wilderness. Satan was still tempting Jesus away from His God-given mission.

41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Representatives from each part of the Sanedrin, the Jewish leadership, are present to rub Jesus’ face in His apparent defeat:

Chief priests: mostly Sadducees, oversaw the Temple system in Jerusalem
Teachers of the law (scribes): mostly Pharisees, traveled broadly to teach God’s Word
Elders: other high-ranking Jewish leaders

Oh the horrible and glorious irony of their mocking words! These words are ugly because they come from cruel hearts intending to inflict cruel discouragement on the crucified Jesus. But they are glorious because they unknowingly speak the truth about Jesus!

They mocked, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself.” Jesus cannot save His life while also saving His people. It’s either He dies for their sin or He dies! He willingly chose to give His own! Have you embraced Jesus’ death for you?
They mocked, “He’s the king of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe Him.” So many people will believe after He finishes dying for sin and later rising from the dead to be enthroned as King of Israel and King of kings! Are you a believer?
They mocked, “He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Jesus’s trust in God, displayed in Gethsemane, is what kept Him on the cross! As the obedient Son of God, Jesus trusted that God would rescue Him not now but three days later–not from the cross but from death itself!

44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The last of the three groups–the criminals crucified on both sides of Jesus–joined in the ridicule. Everyone present joined as one in mocking their Messiah, who was by His own blood opening a way for them to be saved from their sin.

The Lessons

1) Believe in Jesus, who was crucified in our place for our sin.

The irony of the mockery teaches us that Jesus is our Sacrificial Substitute. Paul meditated on the Old Testament Scriptures in Galatians 3 to show how Jesus became our Saving Substitute…

10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” 11 Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 12 The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:10-14)

Paul specifically pointed to Deuteronomy 21:23 to show that Jesus became the cursed one in our place. That’s what we deserved because of our sin. But Jesus died so that we might be forgiven and live a new life in God’s Spirit by believing in Him.

2) Join Jesus in His suffering because He’s worth it.

Jesus connected discipleship to the cross long before He actually went there. Earlier in Matthew, Jesus taught…

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. (Matthew 16:24-27)

If anyone would save their life, they’ll lose it, but whoever loses their life will save it. If Jesus would have tried to save His life, He would have lost it and ours with it! So in response to His amazing love, those who truly believe gladly follow Jesus as we learn how to suffer with Him. What does that mean practically? It’s obedience whatever the circumstance whatever the cost.

God calls us to endure trials faithfully.
- It’s a call to show self-control and peace in conflict, whether it’s with family, friends, or enemies.
- It’s a call to show hope and joy when diagnosed with a life-altering disease.
- It’s a call to be honest and bravely seek help if you’re trapped in mental illness or addiction.
- It’s a call to be content and wise when it’s tough to make ends meet financially.
- It’s a call to be holy and prayerful when temptation comes.
God also calls us to show costly love.
- It’s a call for believing husbands to show costly love to their wives first and vice versa and for believing parents and children to show costly love to their kids and vice versa. I’m not talking about spoiling. I’m talking about self-sacrifice of emotion and time for patience, prayer, relationship, and disciple-making. To fully know and fully love in the context of the home!
- It’s a call for single believers to show costly love toward one another, thus totally transforming the relational world altogether, let alone the dating landscape.
- It’s a call for believing employers and employees to show costly love to go above and beyond in hard work and generous pay.
- It’s a call for believing friends and neighbors to show costly love toward one another and toward the unbelieving, striving to make Jesus first in every relationship while caring for the practical needs of the other.

117 years ago, the first members of our church chose the name “Calvary.” We bear the name of Calvary because we worship a God, Savior, and King who died on the cross for our sins. We bear the name of Calvary because we are choosing to follow Him in a lifestyle shaped by His cross.

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

How does the account of Christ’s crucifixion affect the way you view Him? How does it impact your relationship with Him?
One way to live a life shaped by the cross of Christ is to endure trials and temptations with faithfulness, hope, and joy to God. What is one trial/temptation you are going through right now? How does your mindset compare to Christ’s? What will cruciformity look like in this trial/temptation?
Another way to live a cross-shaped life is to go out of your way to self-sacrificially love someone out of love for God. Name one person you could love like that this week. How will your approach compare to Christ’s? What will cruciformity look like in this relationship?

barabbas Bible faith Jesus matthew

Jesus on Trial, Part 2 (Matthew 27:1-26)

We’re learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God. (Matthew 5:7-8)

The Story

1) Jesus’s Transfer to Pilate (27:1-2)

In Matthew 18, Jesus predicted that He would first be taken by the Jewish leaders and then He would be handed over the Gentiles. That’s exactly what happened.

1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

The Jewish leadership–the Sanhedrin–operated under the authority of Rome and did not have the power to put someone to death. But the Jewish charge of “blasphemy” was not enough under Roman law to put Jesus to death. They were going to have to convince Pilate to execute Him. While Pilate takes custody of Jesus, Matthew cuts away to another scene…

2) Judas’ Regret (27:3-10)

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.” 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Sadly, Judas is not truly repentant, merely regretful. The Greek word (metamelomai (met-am-el’-lom-ahee)) translated “seized with remorse” is more like “change in emotion.” Repentance (Greek metanoeó (met-an-o-eh’-o)) is a “change in mind or purpose.” And we can tell from his actions that, though he’s emotionally torn up, he’s not truly repentant.

He didn’t go to Jesus to humbly beg for forgiveness. He went back to the Jewish leaders and tried to give their money back. But He found no mercy or hope from them when he needed it. They are so cruel here. In theory, they could have encouraged Judas to offer a sacrifice to atone for his great sin. Instead, they simply condemn him: “your sin is your responsibility.” They’re responsible too by the way. They plotted against Jesus and paid Judas. So the guilty religious leaders offer not hope but condemnation to Judas, all the while Jesus is offering His very self as a ransom for sinners.

Judas, in great despair, ended his own life. He would rather die than live with the extreme remorse he felt. IMPORTANT NOTE: This passage in no way teaches that suicide is not an unforgivable sin. Nor does it teach that a person who dies by suicide has no faith and hope in Christ. The mental health struggles associated with suicide are tragic and complex, but they do not automatically put someone beyond the saving power of the crucified and risen King Jesus. What this passage is teaching is that Judas was not repentant and put his hope in religious leaders who offered none.

6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

The Jewish religious leaders cared so little for justice with Jesus or mercy with Judas…but they had to follow the law about the blood money! Oh the horrific irony. It was against the Jewish law to use money earned or given for sin for the Temple (Deut 23:18), so they wouldn’t accept Judas’ returned bribe for Temple operations. But they were the ones who had bribed Judas, and now they judge the action as sinful!!! Thus, THEY KNEW they were sinning in what they did to Jesus. Awful. It was not some tragic misunderstanding but conscious rebellion against God. These were the leaders Israel had been left with!

That’s why Matthew refers to the Old Testament prophets here. He has been showing throughout his Gospel that Jesus fulfilled many words from the Old Testament. In verses 9-10, Matthew quotes excerpts from Jeremiah 19 and 32 and Zechariah 11. These Scriptures describe the devaluing and rejection of God’s prophets by the leaders and people of Israel. History is repeated in the rejection of Messiah Jesus.

3) Jesus’ Trial before Pilate (27:11-21)

11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Previously, Jesus had been asked by Jewish leadership whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God. When Jesus affirmed this, the Jewish leaders deemed Him worthy of death for blasphemy against God, but a death sentence would be up to Rome, and Rome didn’t care about blasphemy against the God of the Jews. Only a threat to Caesar would be worthy of death. That’s why Pilate rephrases the question in terms of being the “king of the Jews” not the “Messiah.” If Jesus claimed to be the king of the Jews, then Pilate might find Jesus guilty of treason, conspiracy against the Roman Emperor, who alone was king of His empire.

“You have said so,”Jesus replied. 12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

Again, Jesus answers mysteriously yet affirmatively, but then He says no more. Just as in the first part of His trial, Jesus stood silent before His accusers, again fulfilling Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

These prophecies are not simply random boxes getting checked by Jesus to prove that He is the Messiah. They reveal His nature and character and purpose. Old Testament prophecy is usually just as instructive as it is predictive. Jesus’ silence teaches us that He was so committed to be the Sacrificial Lamb for sinners that He wouldn’t even defend Himself. He could have answered. He could have argued. He could have performed signs and wonders. He could have called armies of angels to His rescue! But He stayed quiet and went to the cross, for God’s glory and our good.

15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

Pilate practiced a “show” of mercy by letting a prisoner go free during Passover, which was a fitting homage to the holy day considering it was a celebration of how the Lord set Israel free from Egypt.

Barabbas was probably a well-known Jewish revolutionary, which means he would have been a hero to many Jews. If he was a revolutionary, then he was the opposite of Jesus. Barabbas fought to kill his enemies; Jesus loved them. Barabbas ranted with zealous, nationalistic rage; Jesus stood silent before His accusers. Barabbas was a “savior” shaped by worldly values; Jesus is a cross-shaped Messiah.

Pilate knew that Jesus wasn’t actually guilty of anything but that the Jewish leaders were just jealous. Therefore, he included harmless Jesus in the choice, probably assuming that they’d pick Him. It’s a chance for everyone to save face politically and judicially. But that’s not what happens.

19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.

Pilate’s own wife warned him that Jesus was innocent, yet he continued to offer the choice between Barabbas and Jesus. Now that a crowd has gathered, the Jewish leaders are able to get them to side with them. They want Barabbas. Jesus will pay the price.

4) Jesus Sentenced to Crucifixion (27:22-26)

22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

Just a few days earlier, the crowd had loved Jesus initially. In fact, remember that the chief priests could not move against Jesus earlier because he was so popular. Why do they turn on Jesus so quickly? We don’t know for sure. I think part of the reason their turn surprises us is because we think popularity is a good thing. In the Gospels, it’s not. Jesus is only ever popular in the Gospels when He serves the interests of the crowd, which He does a lot! He wanted to serve them. But that didn’t mean they loved Him for the right reasons. Whenever He called them to hard things, the crowds would leave Him. That’s probably what’s happening here. Jesus was popular when He was freely teaching and healing, but now that He’s in custody, He cannot serve them, or so they think. Of course, He WAS serving them, but they don’t see it yet.

24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Rome saw itself as the epitome of justice…how’s this for justice? Pilate knowingly condemned an innocent man to die and yet refused to take responsibility for it. Now Pilate famously “washes his hands of Jesus’ blood” and tells the Jewish crowd: “It is your responsibility!” This is no justice. Nobody thinks a judge is just who allows an innocent man to be killed on demand.

Jesus has already been roughly arrested, spit upon, mocked, and beaten. But now the abuse escalates. Flogging was a brutal punishment. Matthew doesn’t even describe it because his original audience needed no explanation. It was well-known. It involved a whip with several straps of leather, each embedded with bits of stone, bone, metal. It would pulverize and strip your skin right off. Sometimes a flogging would be bad enough to cause someone’s death, though it’s usual purpose was to torture and weaken a criminal in preparation for crucifixion.

The Lessons

1) Every person who’s ever sinned bears responsibility for Jesus’ death.

When Judas felt regret, the Jewish leaders hypocritically threw it back in his face: “It’s your responsibility!” When Pilate gave in to pressure from the crowd, he hypocritically threw it back in their face: “It’s your responsibility.”

Matthew highlights how every figure in the story played a role in condemning Jesus to die. The Jewish leaders conspired. Judas betrayed. Pilate sentenced. Even the crowd demanded the death of the innocent, righteous King Jesus. You and I play a role too.

Like the first sinners in the garden of Eden blamed others for their sin, so at Jesus’ trial everyone wants to blame others for their sin. But there’s no excuse…even for me and you! If you’ve sinned, you’re one of the reasons Jesus had to die. What is sin exactly? Sin is any failure to live up to what our infinitely great and infinitely good God deserves. He who created us, provides for us, commands us, and even offers to forgive us deserves our whole-hearted love, gratitude, obedience, and sacrifice. Any hint of pride or selfishness immediately makes us a sinner…a reason Jesus had to die!

2) Jesus is looking for repentance not regret.

The response to our responsibility for sin should not be mere regret. Judas is a cautionary tale that emotional responses to Jesus are not enough. True repentance is required. What is true repentance? The Apostle Paul described godly sorrow as opposed to worldly sorrow in 2 Corinthians:

For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. (2 Corinthians 7:9-11)

Emotions, whether it’s in response to a Scripture, a sermon, a Christian song, or a TV show about Jesus, are only godly when they move us to repentance, which is characterized by an urgent and passionate need to leave sin behind, do what’s right, and become holy before God.

In an essay called “Marks of a Work of the True Spirit,” 18th century pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards gives a list of biblical evidence for when the Spirit is truly at work, moving someone to repentance. Edwards wrote this during a time of great revival in the American colonies, famously known as the First Great Awakening. So many people were becoming disciples of Jesus, but many people were going about it the wrong way. Edwards wanted people to think about following Jesus in biblical ways.

He began by saying that emotion alone is not evidence of true repentance: “A work is not to be judged of by any effects on the bodies of men; such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies of the body, or the failing of bodily strength…and the reason is, because the Scripture nowhere gives any such rule… We cannot conclude that persons are under the influence of the true spirit because we see such effects upon their bodies…nor on the other hand, have we any reason to conclude, from any such outward appearances, that persons are not under the influence of the Spirit of God…”

Instead, Edwards wrote that we see true repentance from the Holy Spirit when…

Christ is glorified: “When the operation is such as to raise their esteem of that Jesus who was born of the Virgin, and was crucified without the gates of Jerusalem; and seems more to confirm and establish their minds in the truth of what the gospel declares to us of his being the Son of God, and the Savior of men…”
Sin is undermined: “When the spirit that is at work operates against the interests of Satan’s kingdom, which lies in encouraging and establishing sin, and cherishing men’s worldly lusts…”
Growth in biblical truth: “That spirit which operates in such a manner, as to cause in men a greater regard to the Holy Scriptures, and establishes them more in their truth and divinity…”
Love for God and people: “If the spirit that is at work among a people operates as a spirit of love to God and man…”

Emotions are only right and good, if they lead to the exaltation of Jesus, an undermining of sin, growth in biblical truth, a love for God and truth and people. Sounds a lot like cruciformity.

Though Peter and Judas shared similar emotions, they were on wildly different paths. Peter was repentant; Judas was not. One commentator said, “In any case, neither Peter’s tears nor Judas’s remorse can remove their guilt.” (Carson) Only Jesus can do that…

3) Jesus paid it all.

Without the death and resurrection of Christ, repentance is useless because we cannot atone for our own sin. Our faith and repentance only unite us with the saving work of Christ. Over the next two weeks, we’ll follow Matthew’s account of Jesus going to Mount Calvary and giving Himself on the cross as a ransom for sinners.

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

Can you think of an example of a time that you have minimized or blamed someone else for your sin? What is your response to the idea that you are directly responsible for Christ’s death, along with every other person who ever sinned?
Contrast Judas in Matthew 27:3-10 and Peter in John 21. How can you tell the difference between mere regret over sin and the true repentance that God is looking for in His people? See also 2 Corinthians 7:9-11. What has remorse over sin looked like in your life? What will repentance look like for you going forward?
All the repentance in the world doesn’t mean a thing if Jesus doesn’t pay our sin debt. Describe what it means for you personally to know that Jesus willingly and effectively paid for your sin on the cross if you believe?

Bible faith god Jesus peter

Jesus on Trial, Part 1 (Matthew 26:57-74)

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” You probably know these words by heart. Americans are well-acquainted with our legal system. The Bill of Rights, courtroom TV dramas, and celebrity trials are part of the air we breathe. And one of the things we loathe as Americans, or at least should, is unjust, unfair trials.

We’re disturbed by miscarriages of justice whether someone is falsely accused, like mistaken eyewitness testimony, or found guilty for doing something good, like obeying God. Jesus’ journey to the cross includes both of these things: false accusations and being found guilty for doing something good. It’s profoundly important to know all that Jesus did for us, and enduring His trial is big part of it. First let’s review. We’re learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

God doesn’t always make things easy for His people, but He always makes it worth it. The living, breathing proof of this is Jesus. Everything about Jesus is humble self-sacrifice from birth to death, but God brought Him back to life and crowned Him King of kings. That’s cruciformity, and we’re learning His cross-shaped story as we preach through the Gospel according to Matthew.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God. (Matthew 5:7-8)

Last week, we saw Jesus prayerfully and intentionally choose the way of the cross in the garden of Gethsemane. He prayed three times, “Not my will but Yours be done!” Even though He dreaded the cross and bearing God’s wrath for our sin, He humbly submitted to His Father’s will for the glory of His Father and for the salvation of sinners who would believe in Him. Immediately after surrendering in prayer to God’s will, Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested. We pick the account up at that point…

The Story

1) Jesus was first tried by the Jewish leaders. (26:57-58)

57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

There will actually be two parts to Jesus’ trial, as He has predicted about a week or two earlier in Matthew 20:18-19. The first part of the trial is before the Jewish leaders. Many of them have gathered, including teachers of the law, mostly Pharisees, and the priests and elders who would be mostly Sadducees. The Jewish ruling council called the Sanhedrin consisted of seventy leaders from these groups. While they made important social and religious decisions, the Sanhedrin did not have ultimate authority in Jerusalem in Jesus’ day. That power belonged to the Roman Empire, specifically the Roman governor named Pontius Pilate, whom we’ll meet next week when we look at the second part of Jesus’ trial.

All that to say, did you notice who else was present at Jesus’ trial? Peter! Judas had betrayed Jesus, and all the disciples had run away, but Peter had stuck with Jesus, just as Peter promised hours earlier at the Last Supper. Jesus had also predicted that Peter would deny Him, and we’ll see that later. Essentially, two interrogations will take place…one with Jesus, and one with Peter.

2) Jesus’ Interrogation (26:59-68)

A) Jesus refused to answer false accusations. (26:59-63a)

59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Many false witnesses came forward yet they couldn’t find any false evidence? They were trying so hard to find dirt on Jesus–even false dirt–yet they kept coming up with nothing. In today’s Old Testament reading plan, we read in Number 35:30: “No one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.” So, in order to find Jesus worthy of death, the Jewish court needed at least two witnesses to agree. That means that even though they were trying to make up dirt on Jesus, no two people could agree on anything! That’s how blameless Christ is! What a crooked trial!

Finally two came forward 61 and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

Finally, there’s a false accusation they can agree upon. Threatening to destroy the temple would be a serious crime, and apparently Jesus said something about destroying the temple…and rebuilding it very quickly? Now, Matthew records no such thing, but the Gospel of John actually records what might be the inspiration for this accusation. After Jesus had confronted and cleansed the corrupt temple leaders…

The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19)

This is probably the basis of the false accusation leveled at Jesus, but they twisted His words! He did not say that HE would destroy the temple as a sign of His authority; He told THE LEADERS to destroy the temple and He would rebuild the temple as a sign of His authority. John goes on to note in his Gospel that Jesus was actually talking about His body as the “temple”–the place where God lived on earth–not the literal building. Thus, THEY WOULD destroy Jesus’ body, when they crucified Him, and JESUS WOULD rebuild it as a sign of authority when He rose from the dead three days later!

How did Jesus respond to this false accusation?

62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.

But Jesus’ silence is not fear because He will speak up in a moment. Instead, Jesus simply refuses to defend Himself against a blatantly false lie. He fulfilled God’s words through the prophet Isaiah, who wrote about Jesus 500 years before His birth, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” (53:7) Jesus would not defend Himself with angelic armies or even logical arguments because He knew He must be God’s sacrificial lamb for the sin of His people.

B) Jesus affirmed His supreme authority. (26:63b-64)

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

The real issue all along has been Jesus’ authority. The Messiah is God’s chosen King who would punish evil, save His people and rule in justice and peace forever. In other words, the Messiah would have the highest authority of all! Jesus taught and acted with this kind of authority, but He has been questioned and opposed by the religious leaders from the start.

As readers of the Gospel of Matthew, we know the answer to the high priest’s questions. In chapter 1, Matthew introduced Jesus in his Gospel as “the Messiah” and as “the Son of God.” In chapter 16, when Jesus had asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am,” Peter recognized that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. But how will Jesus answer…

If Jesus remains silent, He breaks the religious oath the high priest had just commanded. If Jesus says no, He lies about His identity and His mission is over. If Jesus says yes, the Sanhedrin will find Him guilty and demand His execution…

64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Jesus essentially affirms the high priest’s question and even expands upon it. The high priest, like many others in this Gospel, has the Messiah all wrong. Their idea of Messiah is a merely human and political king of Israel, whose chief enemy was the Roman Empire. But Jesus is the divine Son of Man, given authority over all to bring glory to God, judge all evil, and redeem His people.

So Jesus incorporates a couple of His favorite Scriptures into His answer. “The Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” comes from a vision Daniel (chapter 7) had of powerful monsters, each representing wicked human empires. Once those monsters are judged by God, He gives His kingdom to “one like a Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.” The Son of Man simply means “human being” as opposed to a monster, a ruler who has not been distorted by sin into something grotesque and evil but instead reflects the image of God perfectly and thus deserves divine authority. “Sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One” comes from Psalm 110, where God says to the Messiah to sit at His right hand–the place of honor–while God defeats His enemies and enthrone Him as King. So in one simple answer, Jesus affirms His identity and authority and warns the high priests that He will judge His judges.

C) Jesus was condemned and abused. (26:65-68)

65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?” “He is worthy of death,” they answered.

Because of Jesus’ brave and honest answer, the high priests accused Him of “blasphemy,” which means to slander God. Everyone understood that Jesus’ answer was a claim to not only be the Messiah to be equal with God Himself. Jesus was found “guilty of blasphemy” and worthy of death because He, in effect, claimed to be the Messiah, the Son of God–which He was–but they did not believe Him!

67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

Once He was found worthy of death, the abuse escalated. As they spit on and beat Him, they had also blindfolded Him. And they played a sick game where they took turns beating Him and asking Him to prophetically reveal which of them landed the punch. Jesus again fulfilled God’s Word in Isaiah 50:6: “I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” The next verse is “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame.” And Jesus would go to the cross for God’s glory and for our reconciliation.

Now remember that Jesus’ disciple Peter was watching nearby to see what would happen to Jesus his Master.

3) Peter’s “Interrogation” (26:69-74)

69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. 70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Jesus’ trial is happening inside the high priest Caiaphas’s house, while Peter’s just outside with a bunch of other people…servants, onlookers, etc. But Peter himself begins to be interrogated. A servant girl, not nearly as intimidating as the high priest, accuses Peter of being one of Jesus’ disciples, but he insists he doesn’t even know what she’s talking about!

71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

Peter has backed out of the courtyard and further from Christ. He’s now in the doorway. And again, another servant girl starts telling others that Peter is one of Jesus’ disciples. This time, Peter swears an oath–maybe something like “I swear to God I don’t know Jesus!” And he lies under oath that he doesn’t even know who Jesus is.

73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” 74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed.

People begin to pick up on Peter’s Galilean accent and rightly conclude that he must be one of Jesus’ followers. Peter now calls down curses on himself in order to convince the bystanders that He doesn’t know Jesus. Something like, “May God strike me dead if I’m lying! I don’t know the man!” In his fear, Peter forgot his commitment to his Lord who was so committed to him. And then the rooster crowed…

75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

With deep regret, Peter now runs away all together, leaving Christ far behind.

The Lessons

1) Jesus was in control even when it appeared otherwise.

We’ve seen many predictions come true during Jesus’ passion. He predicted that a donkey’s colt would be available for His triumphal entry. He predicted the host for His last Passover meal with His disciples. He predicted Judas’ betrayal and the disciples’ abandonment. And He had also predicted His trial before the Sanhedrin and Peter’s threefold denial before the rooster crowed. If Jesus was in control of His own trials and temptations, He’s in charge of yours as well. Trust Him, trust His goodness, trust His greatness, even when things appear dark.

2) Jesus did for us what we could not.

All of the Gospels record Peter’s denial alongside Jesus’ trial. The contrast is stark. Jesus faithfully stands up to the high priest, and Peter cowers before the servant girl! Jesus did for Peter what Peter could not. Jesus does for us what we could not. Peter had done the best of all Jesus’ disciples and still failed miserably, but Jesus would die even for Peter. Peter’s weakness represents all of us.

Have you ever felt like you had surrendered everything to God, giving Him everything He deserved, never to sin again…only to sin again? Let me tell you: this is what Jesus came to die for and rescue us from…our sin. Jesus lived the righteous life we could never live. He died the sacrificial death we should have to die. And He gives us His life through faith. Believe in Him, and keep believing in Him!

3) The forgiven can follow Jesus’ cross-shaped life.

We don’t know if this old story is true, but “legend has it that later in his life, every time Peter heard a rooster crow, he would stumble in his preaching and grow red in the face, but then he would begin again with more fervor and zeal than before—and with more love and understanding.”

In fact, the story of Peter’s denial would have been told primarily by Peter. He was a major influence in which stories were told in the first churches and eventually recorded in the four Gospels.

John 21 records the beautiful, grace-filled conversion Jesus had with Peter after He rose from the dead. Jesus restored and re-called Peter to discipleship that day. And Peter spent the rest of His life spreading the good news of Jesus and pastoring churches.

Peter wanted us to know about his embarrassing failure so that we could know about Christ’s amazing grace! Jesus’ disciples aren’t perfect. They’re just forgiven. And they’re given new life and purpose.

When I think about all the sin Jesus has saved me from, it’s incredibly embarrassing at first. Pride, selfishness, lust, anger, greed, laziness, gossip, dishonesty, the list goes on. But then, when I think about how Christ willingly, graciously died for me even still, it’s incredibly empowering as I seek to obey King Jesus.

We’re all on a journey like Peter…from sin…to forgiveness by Christ…to new life and purpose in Christ. Where are you at? Wherever you are, take that next step!

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

In what ways might your decision-making change if you fully trusted that God was fully in control of all things?
Do you think you would have been braver than Peter or would you have denied Christ like him? Are there any other areas of your life where you fail to live up to the standard Christ set? Are you trusting Jesus for forgiveness of those sins and restoration to His kingdom?
Having been comforted by the undeserved love of Christ, how can you stand up for Him and for others this week?

Bible gethsemane god Jesus prayer

Not My Will But Yours (Matthew 26:36-56)

Have you ever struggled to obey God and do the right thing? Maybe there was a time you needed to deny yourself or make a sacrifice. Maybe there was a person you needed to share the Gospel with, a sin you needed to confess, a broken relationship you needed to reconcile, a terrible trial you needed to endure, a difficult temptation you needed to resist. What emotions came along with that as you struggled to obey God’s will? Stress, sadness, frustration? Jesus had at least one moment like that, and we’ll study it today. Obedience wasn’t always easy for Him, but it would be worth it. How did He handle it? At Calvary, we’re learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:5-6)

Today, we’re going to look at two accounts leading up to Christ’s death. First, let’s remember the context. Jesus has come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and just shared a Passover meal with His disciples, which is famously known as the Last Supper. During the meal, Jesus had predicted that His disciple Judas would betray Him, that another disciple Peter would deny that he knew Him, and that all of His disciples would abandon Him. Those heartbreaking predictions will begin to come true…

The Story

1) Jesus’ Vigil (26:36-46)

Perhaps you’ve attended a vigil before in response to a great tragedy. Jesus’ vigil occurred just prior to one–His betrayal, arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion. He has predicted this many times already in the Gospel of Matthew, and it’s beginning to weigh heavily on Him…

A) Jesus’ Anguish (26:36-38)

36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Gethsemane was an olive tree orchard just a few minutes walk outside of Jerusalem. But it was apparently a private place and therefore the perfect place for Jesus to go for prayer. Earlier, in Matthew 6, Jesus taught His disciples to pray not as a display of righteousness before other people but as an act of devotion to God. Jesus is walking the talk here on the most difficult night of His life.

Look at our sorrowful and troubled King! He’s experiencing a painful mix of emotions: deep grief and deep distress. It’s one thing to be incredibly sad. It’s another thing to be incredibly stressed. But both at the same time? That’s unbearable! Have you ever experienced a similar mix of emotions? The tragic death of a loved one? A heartbreaking medical diagnosis? Why is Jesus in anguish? He knows He will soon go to the cross to bear God’s wrath for our sin. Jesus has been predicting it all since Matthew 16, and He knew it would happen during Passover. Well, now it’s Passover.

So Jesus’ response is to pray to His Father with His disciples. He asks them to join Him. Here’s how that went…

B) Jesus’ Cross-Shaped Prayer (26:39-43)

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus had been saying that His death “must” happen because He took the Scriptures seriously–like the Psalms and the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah–which have all been quoted in Matthew and teach that God’s Servant King must suffer for the sin of His people. So now Jesus prays that He wouldn’t have to drink this cup, a metaphor of God’s wrath for sin.

Is it possible? Aren’t all things possible with God? Can God make a rock so big He can’t lift it? God can only do those things which align with His character and purpose. In other words, if something doesn’t flow from who He is, it is impossible for Him to do it. If something doesn’t align with His purpose, it is impossible for Him to do it. What is God’s character and purpose in relation to Jesus’ prayer request? We read this earlier this week in our Old Testament plan…

“The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished…” (Numbers 14:18)

God is abounding in love! He forgives sin! He even forgives rebellion! But He also punishes sin! How can He do both? By giving Jesus to die as a sacrificial substitute in our place. In Christ on the cross, He is “both just and the one who justifies.” (Romans 3:26) Either Jesus dies for sin or we all do. And you know how much undeserved love God has for us??? More than we can imagine. Therefore, it is not possible to take the cup from Jesus.

So Jesus wants the cup to be taken from Him. He doesn’t want to die under God’s wrath for our sin because that is by far the worst kind of suffering in the universe. But you know what Jesus wants more than avoiding the cross? Obeying His Father. This is cruciform prayer. Jesus stated His want and overrode it with God’s. Self-denial (“not my will”) and self-sacrifice (“but Yours be done”).

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

It’s bad enough what Jesus had to go through. Worse still that He would go through it alone. They couldn’t even join in His vigil; they were too sleepy. The contrast between Jesus and the disciples couldn’t be clearer. Their lack of availability to Jesus already demonstrates that they aren’t ready to stick with Jesus as He suffers. Peter himself had promised that he wouldn’t abandon Jesus, even if all the other disciples did. But Jesus here warns Peter and the others that the spirit is willing but flesh is weak. The anecdote to our weakness is to remain vigilant and cry out to God in prayer.

42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” 43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.

Jesus spent more time in prayer, praying essentially the same thing as before. But there is a bit more surrender in His words. Initially, He prayed, “If it is possible to take this cup away…but your will be done.” Now He prays, “If it’s not possible to take this cup away…your will be done.” So we can see Jesus surrendering to His Father’s will through His prayers.

The disciples, on the other hand, are not surrendering themselves. They will not be ready to endure the trial Jesus is about to face alongside Him.

44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

After praying the same prayer a third time, Jesus has fully submitted Himself for what is to come. Note the change in tone! He’s determined to go through with it. “It’s time; let’s go!” says Jesus as He sees Judas and the crowd coming to arrest Him.

2) Jesus’ Arrest (26:47-56)

A) The Violent Confrontation (26:47-51)

47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

It was dark, and it’s not like the armed mob had a photo of Jesus to go on. Everyone knew about Jesus, but probably very few knew what he actually looked like. Therefore, Judas, who knew exactly what Jesus looked like, would tip everyone off as to which one was Him. This part of the arrest is emotionally violent. Judas greeted Jesus with a “Rabbi” and a kiss, like he had probably done a million times before in friendship. But now he does so in absolute betrayal. All Jesus had poured into Judas…for this. All their shared joys and sorrows…and now this. Heartbreaking.

50 Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

Now the physical violence starts. Once Jesus is identified, they grab Him. In retaliation, a disciple goes all action-hero and tries to rescue Jesus. It’s about to escalate into an all out brawl! How will Jesus handle this?

B) Jesus’ Cross-Shaped Choice (26:52-56)

Upon His arrest, Jesus will speak first to His disciples and then to the crowd arresting Him. In both answers, Jesus clarifies that He is allowing Himself to be arrested because the Scriptures have convinced Him that this is God’s will.

First, here’s Jesus’ answer to His disciples…

52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

Quick aside: One question that sometimes come up at this point is the question of Christian pacifism. Is Christ forbidding any and every form of violence for Christians. What about self-defense, law enforcement, national defense? The matter at hand is Christ’s resolve to go to the cross to glorify God by dying for the sin of all who believe–not any of those other situations. Therefore, this story rules out the use of violence for all Christians who seek to advance Christ’s cause in the world. One theologian said of this passage that the one thing this passage affirms is that “violence in defense of Christ is completely unjustified.” (Carson) You would need to study other Scriptures to draw conclusions on the use of violence in self-defense, law enforcement, national defense, etc. But this passage certainly forbids violence in relation to the Great Commission, spreading the Gospel of Jesus, and making disciples of Jesus.

It was not possible to take the cup away from Jesus because it was part of God’s plan. God totally had the power to take the cup from Jesus. He had the ability to rescue Jesus from His enemies. In the Old Testament, a single angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night (1 Kings 19:35), and Jesus had “twelve legions of angels” at His command. There were 6,000 soldiers in a Roman legion, so that’s a lot of angels! The power was there but Jesus chose not to use it out of self-sacrificial love for us, an obedience that God deserved and would eventually honor. Cruciformity. The ultimate cross-shaped life!

Jesus is convinced that He is following God’s will in allowing Himself to be arrested. He said, “…the Scriptures say it must happen this way…” In other words, God did not give Jesus some sort of special revelation outside of the Old Testament that He would be crucified. Jesus found God’s will in His Word and submitted to it. That’s what those prayers in Gethsemane were all about. The prayers weren’t for some new revelation that the cross was what God wanted. The prayers were a path to surrendering to God’s will, which Jesus already knew from God’s Word.

Then, here’s Jesus’ answer to the crowd…

55 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Jesus says that they could have arrested Him at any point, and yet He is allowing this to happen right here right now “to fulfill the Scriptures…the writings of the prophets…” Once the disciples realized that Jesus had made the cross-shaped decision to give Himself up, they abandoned Him, just as predicted a few verses earlier (26:31).

The Lessons

1) Jesus willingly and uniquely died for His people. Be grateful.

How many of you admire Jesus? How many of you look up to Him? How many of you think He’s the most courageous, faithful, loving, and righteous person to ever live? Is He “wimping out” in Gethsemane? Of course not! Then why was He so troubled, rocked, wrecked over His coming cross??? Jesus did not die a normal martyr’s death. He died a sacrificial lamb’s death. None of us would have gone through with it! The disciples merely had to pray alongside Jesus and couldn’t.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

It is usually unwise and unhelpful to compare one person’s suffering to another’s. But we can unapologetically elevate Christ’s suffering over anyone else’s. No one has ever suffered or will suffer like Jesus when He suffered and died for sinners. Thank You, Jesus!

2) Jesus went through far worse than you ever will. Follow Him.

If Jesus found God’s will in God’s Word, we can too. And if He submitted to God’s will, no matter how tough it was, so can we with His help.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

You can find God’s will in God’s Word! Does God have a specific will for you in which school to attend? Which job to take? Who to date or marry? Where to move? How much to save for retirement? No. His will instead is to transform you into the kind of person who makes wise decisions in holiness and love for His glory and others’ good. Just as Jesus learned from Scripture who He was called to be and what He was called to do, we can learn too.

So, as He is shaping you, when you face that difficult act of obedience…to share the Gospel, to suffer rejection, to confront a brother or sister in Christ, to share yourself with others, to confess your sin…He helps. He’s been there. He knows what it’s like. He’s been sorrowful and troubled. He’s prayerfully worked through surrender to God. And He came through victorious for us, so that we might trust and submit to and enjoy Him, no matter the trial or temptation. We can pray like Him and to Him…not my will but Yours be done!

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

What’s the most difficult choice God is calling you to right now?
In what way was Jesus’ choice in the garden of Gethsemane infinitely more difficult than yours? How is Jesus’ suffering and death much worse than any martyr’s death? Read Romans 5:6-8. What feelings and thoughts does this truth put in your mind toward Christ?
Back to your own tough choice. Is it clear in God’s Word that this is God’s will? If you’re not sure, who can you ask for help? If it is God’s will, how hard will it be to submit to it? Who can you ask to pray for you? How can Jesus’ submission to God’s will inspire you to change (read Hebrews 2:14-18)?

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Jesus is Worthy (Matthew 26:1-16)

Well, Wednesday is Valentine’s Day. I hate spending money on flowers. They can be expensive, but then they just die. What a waste! But what if my wife likes them? Not because she sees them as some great investment but because she values the thoughtfulness and costliness of the flowers as a demonstration of my love for her. So here’s the question: If I get Emily flowers on Valentine’s Day, will it be a waste? Is she worth it? Of course, she is. Today’s question is this: How much is JESUS worth? At Calvary, we’re learning to…

“Live The Cross-Shaped Life” – Cruciformity is learning to embody the self-sacrificial love of King Jesus, which God always deserves and honors.

We’re also learning cruciformity in the beatitudes, the cross-shaped attitudes of God’s kingdom people. We’ve been memorizing these beatitudes this year:

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted. (Matthew 5:3-4)

The Story

1) Jesus’ Prediction of His Death (26:1-2)

1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Jesus has been predicting how and where He would die (crucifixion in Jerusalem) since Matthew 16. But now, in His final prediction, Jesus foretold WHEN He would die. During Passover…in two days! Quick question: What is Passover? We read about the Passover in our Old Testament plan a couple weeks ago in Exodus 12. The Passover was a celebration of when God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt by striking down all the firstborn males of proud and abusive Egypt. There were two main rituals associated with Passover. First, perfect, spotless lambs were to be sacrificed as substitutes for the firstborn males of Israel, and the lamb’s blood was to be painted on the door frames of the house to recall how God saw the blood and passed over Israelites homes on His way to judging Egyptians. The second ritual is that the Israelites were to eat bread without yeast, because God’s salvation came so quickly that there was no time to wait for bread to rise! Hence, the single-day event of the Passover kicked off the weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Israelites were to reenact the Passover every year and teach their children about God’s mercy on Israel and wrath toward Egypt.

Jesus’ prediction shows that He is aware of and ready for the suffering ahead. If I knew the time and location of my torture and death two days beforehand, I would probably drive for two days in the opposite direction. But Jesus willingly submitted to His call. We studied this verse weeks ago at this point, but Jesus said these words before His triumphant entry into Jerusalem…

“…even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)

Because Jesus knew the “why” of His death–to be a ransom, a substitutionary sacrifice, sinners from sin, He submitted to the how, where, and when of His death. Jesus understood Himself to be the new and better Passover Lamb and Unleavened Bread. The Lord’s Supper was originally given by Jesus to His disciples during this very same Passover (the very next passage in Matthew). The Christian Lord’s Supper is really the Jewish Passover, which has found its full meaning in the crucified and risen King Jesus, who sets His people free with His own body (symbolized by the bread) and blood (symbolized by the cup) from Satan, sin, and death!

2) The Plot to Kill Jesus (26:3-5)

3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

We’ve known since Matthew 12:14 that Pharisees were plotting Jesus’ assassination. That conspiracy has escalated to include official temple leadership since Jesus publicly condemned hypocritical religious leaders on the Monday and Tuesday of His final week.

But these leaders could not catch Jesus while He was ministering in the Temple. Jerusalem filled up with people during the Passover (think Unity Music Festival, Bike Time in Muskegon or the Coast Guard Festival in Grand Haven, except way bigger). Historians estimate the population of Jerusalem would grow five times its normal size during holy festivals. Jesus was very popular with these crows. They couldn’t just go up to Jesus and arrest Him in the middle of Temple. The people would literally riot! Therefore, they needed to make their move against Jesus in secret. But how would they know where to find Jesus when He left the Temple each day? They would need to hire a spy to follow Him or, better yet, a friend to betray Him. But the plotting stops abruptly, and we have another story…

3) The Perfume that Honored Jesus (26:6-13)

6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

Bethany was a town just outside of Jerusalem. It’s where Jesus apparently stayed each night during His week in Jerusalem. It also happened to be the hometown of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary–several of Jesus’ friends who appear elsewhere in the Gospels. More on them later.

The host of this dinner was Simon the leper, who is only mentioned here in the Gospels. If Simon was a current leper, it would be strange to host a dinner just days before the Passover. Under the Jewish law, any contact with a leper required an expensive and time-consuming process of ritual cleansing, so this would have been avoided, especially by people who made the effort to travel to Jerusalem for the Passover! Perhaps Simon was a former leper, and perhaps Jesus was the one who healed him. Either way, the relationship between Jesus and this Simon the leper reveals Jesus’ compassionate heart.

While eating (that’s what “reclining at table” implies), a woman poured expensive perfume over Jesus’ head. Smelling good was a luxury in the ancient world. The hygiene industry of today aims to help us to smell good at affordable prices, but people in the ancient world generally probably smelled bad. It was hard enough to stay alive; only the wealthiest could afford to smell nice doing it. In the Gospel of John, we learn that the perfume cost a year’s wages! In modern day terms, that would be like $40k-50k gone in a moment.

What’s more is that she anointed His head with the stuff! The Gospel of Luke tells a similar story about a woman who perfumes and washes Jesus’ feet. That is a beautiful act of hospitality and kindness. But this account in Matthew is different. She pours it on Jesus’ head! In the Old Testament, it was God’s chosen priests and kings who were anointed (e.g. Aaron in Leviticus 8; David in 1 Samuel 16). Without words, using the symbols of her culture, she is saying that Jesus is the Messiah, which literally means “anointed one one.”

8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Honestly, I struggle with this passage because I want to side with the disciples here. We as Christians absolutely need to look out for waste in our lives because God has entrusted us with so many different kinds of resources–not so we can squander them–but so that we can use them for His glory and others’ good. But Jesus rebukes His disciples…

10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Jesus is a huge fan of this woman. He came to her defense, He commended her action, and He even connected what she did to the very Gospel–good news–He would purchase with His own death and resurrection! With His death looming large, Jesus accepts her sacrifice, the honor of the woman’s perfume as preparation for His burial. For Jesus, this perfume wasn’t wasted; it was well spent. Money wasted on Jesus is not wasted!

Jesus is not downplaying concern for the poor. Here’s merely saying that, right here, right now, with Him sitting there, there is nothing more pressing than honoring Jesus directly in light of His looming death. We will always have to care for the poor. As Jesus-followers, that’s one of the main things we do! But we do it because we love Jesus and Jesus loves the poor! Even our acts of love toward others are ultimately acts of honor toward Jesus. Remember what Jesus said in last week’s text at the final judgment: His people helped Him whenever they helped their fellow disciples in need (Matthew 25:31-46).

It’s likely that Matthew’s account here is the same one we read about in John 12:1-11. By comparing Matthew’s and John’s accounts, we can get a more detailed picture of what happened.

	Matthew 26:6-13	John 12:1-11
Event	Jesus anointed by a woman at a dinner in Bethany
Timing		Night before triumphal entry
Host	Simon the leper
Guest of Honor		Jesus
Other Guests		Lazarus, Martha, Mary
Challenger	The disciples	Judas

Matthew doesn’t tell when this happened, only where (“while Jesus was in Bethany”), but John says this occurred the night before the Triumphal Entry. We’ll talk more about Matthew’s use of this account in a moment, but let’s look at some other details we learn from John’s account to fill out our picture.

John said the dinner was held in Jesus’ honor, though the host Simon the leper is not named.
John said that Lazarus–whom Jesus had raised from the dead in John 11–was among the guests, that his sister Martha was helping to serve the meal, and that it was his sister Mary was the woman who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume.
John also noted that it was specifically Judas Iscariot who accused Mary of wasting the perfume on Jesus. John explained that Judas didn’t actually care about the poor and had been stealing from the disciple’s joint funds. Judas was greedy!

If these accounts are or the same story, I have a couple questions. First, why would Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, leave out Mary’s name? In one sense, it’s easy to see why Mary so honored Christ. Jesus raised her brother from the dead!!! But why keep her anonymous in Matthew’s account? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because everyone already knew it was her? Or maybe because Matthew wants us all to be able to relate to her. Anyone and everyone should honor Jesus like this–not just the ones who have their siblings miraculously resurrected by Him. Why? Because the gift He gives all of us is actually greater than the gift He gave Mary and Martha when He told Lazarus to “Come out.” He gave us Himself on the cross just as He had predicted! In fact, Mary took Jesus’ prediction to heart and was in large part the rationale for her act of worship. In Matthew and John’s accounts, it’s the impending death of Jesus that seems to be Mary’s reason for making the sacrifice. Jesus said that she poured the perfume on Him to prepare His body for burial. So this act seems to be some sort of acknowledgement, not of what Jesus has already done, but what He is about to do for both her and the rest of us in going to the cross.

Now for our second question: Why does Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tell the story out of chronological order? If the anointing of Jesus did not actually occur after Jesus’ teaching in the Temple during His final week, why place it here? Matthew made a “literary sandwich” to emphasize the worth of the crucified and risen King Jesus. Matthew began by telling us about the plot against Jesus, then tells of the woman who anointed Jesus, and wraps up the sandwich by telling us the final details of the plot. The sandwich is plot, perfume, and price…

4) The Price to Betray Jesus (26:14-16)

14 Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

Thirty pieces of silver is the compensation price in the Old Testament for a slave accidentally killed (Exodus 21:32). It’s not that much–only 4 months wages. It’s an insultingly low price for the betrayal of anyone, let alone Jesus. Judas’ hatred for Jesus is not only found in the betrayal but in the small free he took for it.

Do you see how Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has created a literary sandwich to tell the story? The religious leaders want to kill Jesus but they can’t find a good opportunity. Cut away to Jesus, being anointed by a woman who is sold out for Him, then cut back to Judas whose selling out Jesus. The contrast couldn’t be sharper. The woman sacrifices herself for Jesus. Judas sacrifices Jesus for money. Wow.

The Lessons

1) Jesus sacrificed Himself for the unworthy.

Jesus knew why He had to die: “…even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Jesus suffered and died to save us UNDESERVING SINNERS from death–the just penalty for our sin. And He came back to life to prove it. DFo you believe that? I pray you do! If you do, this next point is vital for you…

2) Jesus is worthy of our whole-self sacrifice.

I love how Paul says this in his second letter to the church in Corinth…

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

Christ’s love and sacrifice for us compels those who believe to live for Him! Judas lived for himself. Mary lived for Jesus! What about you?

Is Jesus worth your time? Like way more than gathering with His church on Sunday mornings, as essential and vital as that is. Does He deserve your time in Scripture, prayer, getting together with Christian brothers and sisters to encourage and challenge one another, and serving others in His name. No sacrifice of time for Jesus is a waste!
Is Jesus worth your reputation? Are you willing to acknowledge your sinfulness though some may think less of you? Are you willing to acknowledge Christ’s love for you and your love for Christ, though still others may think less of you? No sacrifice of reputation for Jesus is a waste!
Is Jesus worth your talents? Are you willing to submit your passions and gifts and abilities to Jesus and use them not for your own gain or praise but for Him? No sacrifice of giftedness for Jesus is a waste!
Is Jesus worth your money? Both in generous giving to advance the gospel and to the needy around you? Is He also worthy of hard work and earning a living, careful stewardship and spending of that income? No sacrifice of money for Jesus is a waste!

David Livingstone was a British missionary to Africa in the 1800s, who suffered much in his mission for Jesus, famously said, “I never made a sacrifice.” Here’s the full quote: “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa…Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blessed reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.” Or as we sometimes say here at Calvary: “We don’t have to sacrifice for Jesus; we GET TO sacrifice for Jesus!”

Questions for Reflection and/or Discussion

Read Matthew 26:1-2. What makes Jesus worthy of our whole-life sacrifice? Is the worth of Christ displayed in your life?
What is the contrast revealed between the woman and Judas in the literary “sandwich” of 26:3-16?
Read Matthew 26:6-13. Why did Jesus praise the woman’s sacrifice (as opposed to rebuking her for keeping it from the poor)?
In what ways have you already begun to make sacrifices for Jesus to no longer live for yourself but for Him? What’s the next area of your life that you need to sacrifice to Jesus on your way?