Matthew – God’s Purposes
Those who thought they were in charge got what they wanted…the death of the One who told the Truth and was the Truth. They thought it was over with the burial. But then they remembered what Jesus said about rising from the dead in three days. You would think that since they didn’t believe anything Jesus said before that they would remember this statement. Fear and lies from the evil one working through them pressed them to seal the tomb so Jesus’ body couldn’t be removed. Laughable to believers, today, right? Mm.
At times, do we seal Jesus up in our lives? We cannot keep Jesus bound in a tomb or put on a shelf until we need Him. But sometimes we act like we can do this feat of the impossible. We cannot keep Him hidden away so others we are trying to impress or please won’t know we know Jesus. We cannot pull Him into our lives and shove Him in and out of our lives as if we control HIM!
When we do, we are no better than the mockers and haters who shoved, whipped and spit on Jesus. The religious elite who thought they killed Jesus forever were in for a surprise. It is just as ludicrous and laughable…to think we control Christ. He is Savior. We do not save ourselves. He is Lord and we are not. We do not want what we want when we become believers who follow Jesus. We want what HE wants for us. We follow Him. He does not follow us. But, He will come and get us when we are lost and trying to find our way back home.Matthew 27, NLT
The Burial of Jesus
57 As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea who had become a follower of Jesus, 58 went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. And Pilate issued an order to release it to him. 59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. 60 He placed it in his own new tomb, which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. 61 Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching.
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. 63 They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ 64 So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
65 Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” 66 So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
GOING DEEPER….
Were it not for the intervention of Jospeh of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:38), the body of Jesus might not have had a decent burial. Joseph and Nicodemus had come to believe in Jesus, even though they had not openly testified of their faith. God kept them hidden, as it were, that they might care for the body of Jesus. Since Joseph was a rich man, and he prepared the new tomb, he helped in the fulfillment of prophecy, Isaiah 53:9—“He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death” (niv).
It is not likely that Joseph prepared that tomb for himself. He was a wealthy man and certainly would not want to be buried so near a place of execution. He prepared that tomb for Jesus, and he selected a site near Golgotha so that he and Nicodemus could bury Christ’s body quickly. Joseph and Nicodemus could very well have been in the garden waiting for Jesus to die. When they took Him from the cross, they defiled themselves and were not able to eat the Passover. But, what difference did it make? They had found the Lamb of God!
In contrast to the loving care given by Jesus’ friends, notice the plotting and maneuvering of the Jewish leaders. The disciples had forgotten that Jesus promised to rise from the dead on the third day, but His enemies remembered. Pilate permitted the leaders to set a guard at the tomb. This guard put an official Roman seal on the stone. All of this was of God, for now it was impossible for anyone—friend or foe—to steal the body. Without realizing it, the Jewish leaders and the Roman government joined forces to help prove the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Yes, they got what they wanted…but not for long!
Dear Lord and Savior,Thank you for dying for my sins. Thank you for going to hell and back again for my soul and the souls of the world who believe in You. Thank you for defeating death and rising again! Proof of your love is everywhere around us, in us and working through us. We want what you want for us and nothing less. I love you, Lord with all my heart, mind and soul. Thank you for your continued love, care, and transformation of us to more like you.
In Jesus Name, Amen
There is a song from my childhood that my mom, dad, uncle and aunt used to sing as a “special” in church. They were called the “Kellerby Quartet”. They were gifted at choosing songs that spoke to the hearts of many as well as their own. They had beautiful voices with all four parts who believed in what they sang. 
32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.
39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”
This form of punishment was invented by the Romans to keep their kingdom of oppressed people in line, under their power. The agony of this form of torture didn’t have a name to describe the pain until the 1600’s when a Latin form was invented, “crucifixion”, which means “torture on a cross”. Jesus went through the worst for our best. Jesus could have stopped it all and called the angels to intercede but he chose to lay down His life, be nailed through his hands and feet, be mocked and ridiculed by all who gathered who were glad to be rid of Him. Or so they thought.
He turned to the Bible to research his song. “One day I thought to myself: I’ve written secular songs, I’d like to write a song about Christ. I opened the Bible and began to read the portion of Scripture that describes Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, telling Peter to put away his sword,” Overholt said. “I read where Jesus told Peter that he could ask his Father and he would send twelve legions of angels. I didn’t know at the time that that would have been more than 72,000 angels.” {Matthew 26:53}
Jesus could have called then thousand angels, but He didn’t. Aren’t you glad?
11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
Matthew did not record the trial held before Herod Antipas (Luke 23:6–12). Herod was the one who had murdered John the Baptist and had threatened to kill Jesus (Luke 13:31–32). Jesus was silent before Herod, for Herod had silenced the voice of God. All the king could do was mock Jesus and send Him back to Pilate. If Pilate had hoped to get rid of the problem, he was disappointed. However, this maneuver did patch up the quarrel between the two rulers. 
Then they did something that no subject would ever do to his king: They spat on Him and hit Him with the reed. While some of the soldiers were bowing before Him, others were hitting Him on the head or spitting on Him (Isa. 50:6). Jesus took all of this humiliation and pain without speaking or fighting back (1 Peter 2:18ff.). His submission was not a sign of weakness; it was a sign of strength.
In child’s games, like tag, there is a phrase that is shouted to indicate that you cannot give back or tag the person that tagged you. That helps the person tagging get farther away from you. Sound confusing? Not when you are a child who wants to win at all costs.
REFLECTION…
WE KNOW BETTER!
Peter Denies Jesus
Other disciples ran away to seek a hiding place after seeing Jesus arrested. Peter, who bravely walked on water with Jesus, whose instinct was to protect his Teacher when Jesus was arrested by wielding a sword wildly, who impetuously speaks before he thinks, comes as close to Jesus as he possibly can. Fear rises within him as others seem to recognize Peter as “one of those” with Jesus.
The apostle John was also a part of this failure, for he had followed with Peter and gotten both of them entrance into the high priest’s house (John 18:15–16). Jesus had warned them to “watch and pray” lest they enter into temptation (Matt. 26:41). But they had gone to sleep instead. Consequently, they entered into temptation, and Peter fell. 
THE LOOK OF JESUS
Peter, “upon whom I will build my church” learns from his mistakes of taking matters into his own hands. Peter learns from his failing and continues the work of helping people find and follow Jesus. Peter’s gifts of boldness and energy is now used by God to tell HIS story of salvation and restoration through a repentant relationship with Jesus, as Savior and Lord. We love Peter. He is human. He is now humbly bold as He speaks for the Lord.
But Jesus stood there and took MY mocking, MY beating, MY hurts, MY false offenses, MY guilt and shame upon Himself. He was thinking of you and me, all humanity, when He stood there. He could have walked away miraculously, as He had done before on one occasion, but He didn’t. He didn’t deserve anything that was put upon Him. It was time to settle our debt of what WE deserved but didn’t have to pay. THAT’S the point! 
Since no honest witnesses could be found (which in itself proves our Lord’s innocence), the leaders arranged for false witnesses to testify. The law of Moses warned against false witnesses (Deut. 19:15–21), but even the religious leaders twisted God’s Word to accomplish their selfish purposes. That there were two witnesses fulfilled the letter of the law. But that they deliberately lied broke both the letter and the spirit of the law. These witnesses cited a statement Jesus had made early in His ministry: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). It was a serious matter to speak against the temple; this very charge later led to the death of Stephen (Acts 6:12–14; 7:45–50). 
Dear Lord and Savior,
50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.”
Jesus was not wrestling with God’s will or resisting God’s will. He was yielding Himself to God’s will. As perfect Man, He felt the awful burden of sin, and His holy soul was repelled by it. Yet as the Son of God, He knew that this was His mission in the world. The mystery of His humanity and deity is seen vividly in this scene. 
“Never say never” is a saying that we learn early in life…or should learn…not to say. We learn that as soon as we declare within our humanness that we will never eat cake or chocolate again we begin to crave it all the more and eat a piece. We say we will never be like “that” guy and then we find we are exactly like “that” guy. We say we will never deny Christ, but in a crowd who is against him, do we speak up about our love for Him? Do we go along with the world with denial in another form that says, “Live and let live”. “I have my opinion and you have yours.” And the biggest lie of all, “Truth is what you believe it to be”. NO, Truth is Jesus Christ, whether we choose to believe Him or not.
31 On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,
We usually point to Peter as the one who had failed the Lord, but all of the disciples were involved. Jesus referred to Zechariah 13:7 in warning His disciples, but He also added a word of promise: He would rise again and meet them in Galilee. Unfortunately, the men paid little attention to the promise of His resurrection. On resurrection day, the angels reminded them of the meeting in Galilee (Matt. 28:7, 10). 
Never say never. We are fallible, but forgiven humans, saved by grace, redeemed by a merciful Savior. Jesus knows us well. Jesus knew Peter well. Peter would be forgiven completely and be given the responsibility as “the rock upon whom Jesus would build His church” (us). Jesus knew Peter would learn from his failure.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
As we continue on with Matthew’s account of the last days, and now just hours, before the beatings and final torture of the cross, Jesus sits down with his disciples as head of the family over the traditional, Jewish, Passover meal with the Twelve. The story of God protection and provision and rescue is recalled and told as is the tradition. 
Then they sang a hymn and followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives. Jesus will fall on his face to pray that The Cup be taken from Him but still willing to follow what His Father has sent Him to do, “Not my will, but Yours”…
We must begin to read “between the lines” of the following passages through the end of Matthew writings. A great deal can be learned from Jesus about how to live with a betrayer and still love them. “Love your enemies”, Jesus preached on the mountainside…now Jesus is faced with one of the twelve going over to the enemy. Satan is the enemy. Keep that in mind. As we examine these passages, we can see the growing conflict between Christ and the enemy.
Mary is found only three times in the Gospels, and in each instance she is at the feet of Jesus. She sat at His feet and listened to the Word (Luke 10:38–42); she came to His feet in sorrow after the death of Lazarus (John 11:28–32); and she worshipped at His feet when she anointed Him with the ointment (John 12:1ff.). Mary was a deeply spiritual woman. She found at His feet her blessing, she brought to His feet her burdens, and she gave at His feet her best. 
God uses what we have been given to glorify Him. Satan takes from us what we fight so hard to keep to use for the destruction of our souls.
