Well, here we are, another week, another episode
of the Semi -Seminarian. This week we wrap up
our series on the Gospel according to Matthew.
In today's episode, we're going to look at chapters
26 through 28 of the Gospel according to Matthew,
and we're going to examine those very final events
in Jesus's earthly life. I hope you'll enjoy,
and I'll see you on the other side. Then one
of the twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and asked, What are
you willing to give me if I deliver him, Jesus,
over to you? So they counted out about 30 pieces
of silver, which seems perhaps to us like a bit,
given that we're not scholars of Hebrew scripture,
that might seem like a bit of a random amount,
30 pieces of silver. Scholars have estimated
that that's the value of about $4 ,000 today.
But the 30 pieces of silver actually has significance
in the Old Testament. We learn from the 21st
chapter of Exodus. I'll read these to you. You
don't have to flip. Just stay right where you're
at. Verse 32, that if a bull gores a male or
a female slave, the owner must pay 30 shekels
to the master of the slave. And the bull is to
be stoned to death. Further reading shows that
this amount, 30 shekels, which would be to pay
his recompense for the slave, a male or woman
that might have been injured, would be about
half of that value if that person that was injured
would have been free. So this is basically the
amount that you would pay if a slave got injured.
That's the way that they would see this value.
The very bizarre prophecy of Zechariah mentions
this amount as well. In the 11th chapter of his
prophecy, beginning at the 4th chapter, he is
reading a prophecy and he is talking about, we
now see, he's talking about Jerusalem at the
time of Jesus' life. Under the condition of the
Roman subjugation, with the cooperation being
done with the Jewish authorities, okay? So Zechariah
is making a prophecy about something that's going
to occur in the future, about 300, 400 years
later, right? But it happens to be about the
time of Jesus. And let me read to you going from
verse 4 of chapter 11. This is what the Lord
my God says. Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.
Their buyers slaughter them and then go unpunished.
Those who sell them say, praise the Lord, I am
rich. Now let me just stop here and explain that
the people who are buying and selling would be
the religious leaders at the time who are selling
and dealing in trade of their own peoples. And
then they're mockingly saying, praise God, that
because the Roman subjugation has given me this
opportunity that I might be made rich. Their
own shepherds do not spare them. Their own leaders
don't protect them. For I will no longer have
pity on the people of the land, declares the
Lord. I will give everyone into the hands of
their neighbors and their king. They will devastate
the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their
hands. So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter,
particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then
I took two staffs, one called favor and the other
called union, And I shepherded the flock. In
one month, I got rid of three shepherds. The
flock, the people of the time, they detested
me. Detested Jesus, right? I grew weary of them
and I said, I will not be your shepherd. Let
the dying die and the perished perish. Let those
who are left eat one another's flesh. Then I
took my staff called favor and broke it, revoking
the covenant I had made with all of the nations.
It was revoked on that day. And so the oppressed
of the flock who were watching me knew it was
the word of the Lord. I told them, if you think
it best, give me my pay. But if not, keep it.
So they paid me 30 pieces of silver. And the
Lord said to me, throw it to the potter, the
handsome price at which they valued me. So I
took the 30 pieces of silver and threw it to
the potter at the house of the Lord. Continuing
on in Matthew after this event. with the alabaster
jar. From then on, Judas watched for an opportunity
to hand him over. On the first day of the festival
of unleavened bread, now I can't remember whether
we talked about unleavened bread on Sunday mornings
or in Bible study, so I'm just going to have
to repeat and tell the story of unleavened bread.
The festival of unleavened bread is what we call
Holy Week. When we talk about Passover, Passover
is the culminating event. It's the final meal
of the festival week that takes place that all
of the people have come to Jerusalem for. That's
called the festival of unleavened bread. So when
people went to Jerusalem for Passover, Passover
is one meal contained within the festival of
unleavened bread. So on the first day of the
festival of unleavened bread, the disciples came
to Jesus and asked, Jesus, where do you want
us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?
He replied, go into the city to a certain man,
right? And I want to indicate here that the other
gospel accounts will say that Jesus identified
this man as a man carrying a pitcher of water.
Matthew identifies him as a certain man. Remember,
Matthew could be the first. We think Mark was
the first gospel, but some people think Matthew
was. If Matthew wasn't the first gospel written,
it was the second gospel written. And it would
have been written just decades, a few decades
after these events had taken place. And it's
thought that it probably was written at a time
where had they identified this man, it still
could have been unsafe for him. So rather than
identifying the man, they identified him as either
a man whom they all knew who carried a pitcher
of water. or a certain man. They were aware of
this man's existence, the disciples. We also
realize that this is something that Jesus would
have pre -planned. This instance, I believe that
in this instance, Jesus had set this up ahead
of time. You will go for this certain man. You'll
go to the guy we know. There's going to be a
guy carrying a pitcher. You know that guy? That's
just one interpretation. It could be completely
the work of the Holy Spirit, right? And be a
man just out of nowhere. Had a pitcher. Go ahead.
I'm not discounting the fact, even if he had,
I'm not discounting the fact that he's not God
in his own body. And that he couldn't have seen
that ahead of time. There's more than one interpretation
here. And that's cool to have. It's okay. He
says, tell him the teacher says my appointed
time is near, that I'm going to celebrate the
Passover with my disciples at your house. So
the disciples did as Jesus had directed them
and prepared the Passover. When evening came,
Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve.
I just want to stop right here because we all
have an image of the Last Supper in our head,
right? And that image is from the Da Vinci Code,
right? The picture. They didn't sit at a table.
They would have reclined on the floor, probably
in tables. It's called a triclinium, which would
be like a long table. It would be like a U -shape
with two long tables. And they would have been
basically like these tables, but like if the
legs weren't up. That's basically what it would
have been like. So while he was reclining at
the table with the twelve, and they were eating,
truly, I tell you, he says, one will betray you.
they were very sad and began to say to him one
after the other, surely you don't mean me, Lord.
Jesus replied, the one who has dipped his hand
into the bowl with me will betray me. The son
of man will go just as it's written about him,
but woe to that man who betrays the son of man.
It would be better for him if he had not been
born. So we would think, go ahead. Okay, so let's
talk about the dipping. And he says, man, the
one that dips. in the bowl with me that's going
to be the one that betrays me and we're all thinking
well wouldn't that give the game up right when
we see somebody dipping in a bowl with jesus
that's going to be who it is right here's the
thing the reason why we think that's because
we don't understand the components of the passover
meal because in this instance they would have
all dipped in the bowl with jesus okay so he's
saying it's one of you i'm not going to say but
let me explain how this works. And so the Passover
meal is a recreation of the events that take
place or a reminder, rather, of the Jewish existence
in Egypt under the subjugation of the Pharaoh
as slaves, right? And there are some components
of that meal that are of significance. So let
me just very briefly, this is not a lesson tonight
about the Jewish Seder, but I want us to... understand
it so we can understand what's going on in the
gospel so one of the things that they would dip
their hands in they would take a piece of lettuce
and they would dip it into a bowl of salt water
and they would eat it and then they would drink
a glass of wine they would end up drinking four
glasses of wine during the passover meal the
salt water is to remind them of the tears that
they would have cried during this existence as
a slave right and then they would have sang a
psalm A blessing. Then they would have taken
either a piece of unleavened bread or a piece
of lettuce and they would have dipped it in bitter
herbs. And typically this would be shredded horseradish.
And you would eat enough of it. The point would
be not to just, it's not a dare like that. What
was that show? We had the Joe Rogan was the.
Fear factor, yeah. It's not like you just eat
a little bit. The point would be you'd have to
take enough of a bite of it to actually cause
you tears. The bitter herbs were to remind you
of the bitterness of that experience. You'd drink
a glass of wine. You would sing a hymn. Then
you would dip and eat a thick paste, and it would
have cinnamon sticks in it. And that thick paste
with the cinnamon sticks would remind you of
the bricks that they made. and then the straw
that they would have added to the bricks to make
them bricks. And then you would drink a glass
of wine and sing a song, as best you could, I
guess, at that point, after three glasses of
wine. And then there's the paschal lamb. And
the paschal lamb, paschal means sacrificial,
right? And then you'd eat the lamb. And that
is significant of that Passover event right before,
at the 10th plague, whenever God is going to
exorcise the firstborn of everyone in Egypt and
the people are instructed to kill a lamb, to
paint blood above the doorstep, the doorpost
of the house, and the angel of death at night
would pass over. And the Passover lamb would
be representative of that. The unleavened bread.
Two things. I think I talked about this on Sunday.
When did we talk about what the big hang -up
was with yeast? That was in Sunday school. Sunday
school, okay. I've always kind of wondered, what
is the Old Testament's big hang -up with yeast?
Because before the festival of unleavened bread,
there's actually a ceremony by which you would
go throughout the whole of your house and look
for any type of leavening and throw it away.
You couldn't, it's not that you don't eat it.
It's not that you can't make bread with it. During
the festival of unleavened bread, you can't even
have it in your house. And that's today too.
That is today too, yes sir. Yes, they still observe
that. And I was wondering, what does the Old
Testament hang up with yeast? And yeast is representative
of adulteration. Because when bread, when...
dough or whatever is affected by yeast and fermentation
takes place, then that particular food is no
longer in its original state. It's been transformed
because the bacteria has eaten and then released
the carbon dioxide gas or whatever. And so that's
why you can't offer anything that's had leavening
in it as a sacrifice because you can only offer
things in sacrifice that are in their most natural
state. So that happens to be the big hang up
with yeast. I finally learned that today. The
other reason that Unleavened Bread, the Festival
of Unleavened Bread, the other reason why is
because it takes time for bread to rise. And
the Jewish people didn't have time for bread
to rise. And so they made bread that could be
made quickly. And so that's this meal. That's
what they're celebrating. And what is happening
here is Jesus is actually changing up the meaning
of the Passover meal going forward. Because one
of the things we notice, we definitely know that
the wine is there. We know that the bread is
there. We know that the dipping of food, we know
that they are having the Passover meal, but there's
one particular item that's required of the Seder
that is not on the table. The Passover lamb is
not there. And Jesus is instructing to his disciples
that there is a new Passover meal and that I
am now the paschal lamb. He also decides to use
the Passover meal to illustrate this because
one of the things that Jewish people believed
is that whenever they participated in, and I
think it's important to point out that the Passover
meal is a meal that has been celebrated. Continuously
for 3 ,500 years. It's the oldest known continuous
food ritual in any religion. And when Jewish
people participate in Passover from year to year,
they don't believe that they're just participating
in a memorial meal. But because they particularly
consume the salt water, because they... particularly
eat the bitter herbs that cause them tears because
they particularly eat of the paschal lamb and
make the sacrifice of the lamb. They are not
just memorializing, but they are participants
in the original celebration. Okay, that's their
belief. And so when Jesus is appropriating, For
what becomes communion, when he's appropriating
the Passover meal, he's instructing them and
us that whenever you break of the bread and you
do so in remembrance of me, when you drink of
the cup and you do so in remembrance of me, you're
not just remembering me, but you are a participant
in that first last meal, last supper, if you
will, right? That's a big, big deal to Jesus
in his symbology. And I happen to believe that.
And here's the thing. You're free to believe
whatever you want to believe about communion.
And there is a spectrum of what you can believe
about the elements and who can partake of them
and who can't partake of them and all of that
stuff. And it is along this entire... A spectrum
of belief. And there are churches that are different
churches than that church because of what they
believe somewhere along the spectrum. And look,
I don't care. That's all right. I happen to be
someone that believes that it's more than just
a memorial meal. That we actually are participants
in that grace -filled moment. And I believe that,
for me anyway, it gives that meal power to me.
And I believe that that's what Jesus was intending
whenever he was appropriating the Passover meal.
Then Judas, the one who betrayed him, said, surely
you don't mean me, Rabbi. Jesus says, you have
said so. Look, I didn't say it. You said it.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread. And
when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave
it to his disciples, saying, Take and eat, this
is my body. Then he took a cup, and when he had
given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink
from it, all of you. This is the blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink
from the fruit of the vine from now until the
day when I drink it new with you in my Father's
kingdom. When they had sung a hymn, they went
out to the Mount of Olives. Yes, sir. So when
they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount
of Olives. During the Passover, you heard me
mention that they sing these songs in between
each one of these elements. The songs that they
sing are from the Psalms, and they're Psalms
113 through 118, and they're known as the Hallel,
the H -A -L -L -E -L, Hallel, like hallelujah,
right, and El meaning God. And the word Hallel
means praise God. The 136th Psalm is known as
the Great Hallel and is the final Psalm which
is chanted at the end of the Passover meal. So
if you've ever wondered when they sung a hymn
and they went out to the Mount of Olives, what
song did they sing? They probably sang the 136th
Psalm, which is known as the Great Hallel. Great
Hallel, a portion of which goes, give thanks
to the Lord for he is good. His love endures
forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His
love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord
of lords. His love endures forever. And it goes
on. It's very, very long. And after every give
thanks is his love endures forever. Give thanks.
His love endures forever. Very, very long. That's
why I only did three verses. Back to the story.
Then Jesus told them, this very night you will
all fall away on account of me, for it is written,
I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the
flock will be scattered. That's another one of
those pieces of prophecy from the Old Testament
prophet Zechariah. But after I have risen, I
will go ahead of you into Galilee. Peter replied,
even if all fall away on account of you, I never
will. Truly I tell you, Jesus answered this very
night, before the rooster crows, you will disown
me three times. Peter declared, even if I have
to die with you, I will never disown you. And
all of the other disciples said the same. But
we know that's not true. Now, the next story
is perhaps one of the most important stories
in the whole of the Bible. And I don't think
that a lot of people, I think we look at major
events like Jesus' birth. We look at obviously
the resurrection, the loaves and fishes, the
wedding at Cana where he turns the water into
wine, all of those events. I think that this
narrative probably it's not as spectacular, but
it is as important. And I hope that when we get
to this part of the story, you'll see why I think
that. Then Jesus went with his disciples to a
place called Gethsemane. And he said to them,
sit down while I go over there and pray. He took
Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. And who are
the sons of Zebedee? James and John, that's right.
So these are the very first three disciples.
Peter, James, and John. One, two, three. The
guys have been with him from the very beginning.
Takes him along with him. And he began to be
sorrowful. Does anybody have a different word
there? Show grief, okay. Distressed, agitated.
Does anybody have agitated? Agitated is another
word there. And troubled, right? He's having
a panic attack is what's happening. Then he says
to them, my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to
the point of death. Jesus, when Jesus talks,
he rarely just talks for the sake of talking.
Jesus is pretty much always talking. He seems
to be quoting actually here the 42nd Psalm, verses
9 through 11, which says, I say to God, my rock,
why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about
mourning, oppressed by the enemy? My bones suffer
mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me
all day long, where is your God? My soul, are
you sorrowful? Why are you so disturbed within
me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise
him, my Savior and my God. That's a psalm there.
And he says, stay here and keep watch with me.
Going a little farther, he fell with his face
to the ground and prayed, my Father, if it is
possible, may this cup, and I just want to stop
right there, cup, because the imagery of a cup
throughout Scripture is often used to describe
God's justice. or perhaps also God's wrath. Let
me give you a couple examples of the cup and
what the imagery here should look like. So my
father, if it is possible, may this cup pass
from me, okay? What are we talking about? Psalm
75 says, in the hand of the Lord is a cup full
of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it
out and all of the wicked of the earth drink
it down to its very dregs. The 51st chapter of
Isaiah says this, Awake, awake! Arise, Jerusalem!
You who have drunk from the hand of the Lord
the cup of His wrath, you who have drained it
to its dregs, the goblet that makes people stagger.
The prophet Jeremiah 25 says, This is what the
Lord, the God of Israel, said to me. Take from
my hand this cup filled. With the wine of my
wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send
you drink it. And the imagery here is a cup,
a goblet that God holds of high alcohol content,
foaming, mixed with spices, wine, that the people
of the earth want. They beg Him for it. And He
gives it to them. They drink it up. They drink
it down to the dregs and it causes them to stumble
and fall over. It causes them to ruin. That's
the cup of God's wrath, of his judgment. That's
the cup that Jesus is talking about. Let this
cup be taken from me. I, I don't want to drink
of this cup. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
What we're seeing here in the garden is God is
human. Not God is human. God as human. Because
if we have a Jesus, a God in a human body, if
we have Jesus who has no fear, no anxiety, no
troubled soul, no distress, then somehow that
surely makes him less than fully human. Not less
than human, but less than fully human. And anything
less than fully human cheapens the sacrifice.
So we see Jesus here as fully, vulnerably human.
And that's why I think that this part of the
Bible is so incredibly important. Because it
fulfills a promise that God makes to us about
His love that really is expressed in no other
way. As fully as it is here. That Jesus returns
to his disciples. He finds them sleeping. Could
you men keep watch with me for an hour? He asks
Peter, watch and pray so that you will not fall
into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the
flesh is weak. He doesn't reproach them. He doesn't
chew them out. He recognizes the frailty of the
human condition. And he goes away a second time.
My father, if it is not possible for this cup
to be taken away unless I drink it, may your
will be done. And when he comes back, he finds
them sleeping again. Their eyes were heavy. So
he left them and went away once more and prayed
a third time, saying the same thing. 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. Rise, let us go. Here comes
my betrayer. Notice the difference in Jesus'
attitude here. It probably says something a little
bit about the power of prayer there. While he
was 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. Now the betrayer had arranged
a signal with them. The one I kiss is the man.
Arrest him. Going at once to Jesus, Judas said,
Greetings, Rabbi, and kissed him. Jesus replied,
Do what you came for, friend. Then the men stepped
forward, seized Jesus, and arrested him. With
that, one of Jesus' companions, we know from
the other Gospels, it's Peter, right? Again,
very possible. We also know the name of the servant.
who was injured and then healed. Again, those
names are left out, perhaps maybe due to the
closeness in time to their events. Drew it out
and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting
off his ear. Where do you suppose Peter was aiming?
Probably for his head, right? Because in Peter's
mind, this is still about an armed insurrection.
This is the start of the battle that they've
all been waiting for. And Jesus, instead of saying
charge, says put your sword back in its place.
For all who draw the sword will die by the sword.
Do you think I cannot call on my father and he
will at once put at my disposal more than 12
legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures
be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?
What we have here is Jesus actually living out
the Sermon on the Mount. Right? Blessed are the
peacemakers. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Jesus is living out this upside -down kingdom
we've been talking about all these weeks. He's
actually showing how to live it. And his disciples
still can't wrap their heads around it. No one
really can, to be quite honest. In that hour,
Jesus said to the crowd, he says to these men
that have come to arrest him with clubs and swords
and flaming torches and stuff. This is in the
middle of the night. He says, Am I leading a
rebellion that you've come out with swords and
clubs to capture me? And he basically looks at
him and says, every day, every day I've been
at the temple courts teaching broad daylight.
Why didn't you arrest me then? But this has all
taken place. The writings of the prophets must
be fulfilled. This is the last time we see Jesus.
Defending himself, if you will. In the sense
that Jesus isn't even really defending himself.
What he's doing is pointing out the absurdity
of human evil. And then, despite their claims
to the different, the disciples deserted him
and fled. Those who had arrested Jesus took him
to Caiaphas, the high priest of that year, where
the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.
Peter followed him at a distance, right up to
the courtyard of the high priest. He entered
and sat down with the guards. pardon me, to see
the outcome. And honestly, I think that that's
pretty gutsy. The chief priests and the whole
Sanhedrin, pause, Sanhedrin. Sanhedrin is the
Jewish Supreme Court. It is composed of the scribes
and Pharisees and Sadducees. Pharisees and Sadducees
are going to be these kind of political parties.
religious leaders some are conservative some
are more liberal there's only 71 total of the
Sanhedrin and they broke like every single rule
about making a legal judgment whenever they hold
this court at night which they're not supposed
to do in Caiaphas home and they're not supposed
to hold court or pass judgments outside of what's
called the Hall of Hewn Stone which sounds very
like I don't know Justice League or something
which is in the temple courts. They're not supposed
to have any trial unless there have been two
true accusers, verified accusers come forward.
Every legal rule of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the
Supreme Court, is broken in this trial. And they
were actually looking for false evidence against
Jesus so they could put him to death. They didn't
find any. The many false witnesses came forward.
Finally, two came forward and declared, This
fellow said, I'm able to destroy the temple of
God and rebuild it in three days. That is a false
charge against Jesus. He did not say that. Then
the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, Are
you not going to answer? He's not going to respond
to a false charge. What is this testimony that
these men are bringing against you? But Jesus
remained silent. 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. That
is a true charge. Jesus does respond. 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 is saying here,
yes, I am. And he actually turns it up a notch,
right? Jesus is not saying yes. But in his response,
he is agreeing with them because he actually
uses the words of Daniel to describe himself.
From Daniel chapter 7, you'll see the Son of
Man sitting at the right hand, the Mighty One
coming on the clouds of heaven. He's talking
about himself. That's the Messiah that's referenced
in Daniel, I think, chapter 7. Yeah? And like
I said, that's from the prophecy of Daniel. So
not only is Jesus saying, yeah, I am the Messiah,
But you know, you guys know your Bible? You know
the prophecy of Daniel? Son of man, that's me.
Right? Now you can imagine their indignancy.
That's why the high priest tears his clothes.
He's spoken blasphemy. Whenever Jesus would have
quoted Daniel in their response to this accusation
back to them, the room would have erupted in
pandemonium. He is worthy of death. They spit
in his face. They struck him with their fists.
Others slapped him and said, prophesy to us,
Messiah, who hit you? There are so many people
hitting him. He doesn't even know. Tell us who's
the one hitting you. Pandemonium erupts in the
house of Caiaphas. Now I'm going to tell you
a story of a very brave man. Now Peter was sitting
out in the courtyard in the middle of the lion's
den. He's sitting in the courtyard of Caiaphas'
house. He's sitting next to the guards, the ones
who have arrested Jesus and brought him to Caiaphas'
house. They can hear the pandemonium that has
erupted just inside. He is close. He is just
outside the door. He is in the courtyard of the
house. And a servant girl comes up to him and
says, you were with Jesus of Galilee, but he
denied it. He said, I don't know what you're
talking about. Then he goes out to the gateway
of the courtyard. He goes a little bit further
out. He doesn't flee. He's found out. They know
who he is. He doesn't run away. He does back
up, but he doesn't run away. He goes a little
bit further out where another servant girl saw
him and said to the people there, this fellow
was with Jesus of Nazareth. He denied it again
with an oath. I don't know the man. After a little
while, those standing there went up to Peter
and said, Surely you're one of them. Your accent
gives you away. Apparently in Aramaic, there's
a Galilean accent that is very, very distinct.
And it's actually considered grating on the ears.
I don't know what's an English accent that's
kind of weird to hear in your head. Like maybe
Boston, like people that type from Boston. That's
kind of weird, you know. I'm not saying it's
bad. I'm saying to our ears here, it's very strange.
I would imagine someone from New York or whatever
might hear a southern accent and go, oh, it drives
me crazy hearing those people talk. You know,
that's what I'm talking about. It was so distinct
in their ear, and it was considered so grating
that apparently Galileans couldn't read the benediction
in synagogue. That was one of the things the
lay people could do in synagogue would be at
the very end. So, you know, say, may the Lord
bless you and keep you. May the Lord put his
countenance upon you. That bit at the very end.
Lay people say that. Galileans couldn't say that
because the way that they taught was so distinct.
And so they're like, dude, we can hear you talking.
We know you're from Galilee. Then he began to
call down curses and he swore to them, I don't
know the man. And immediately a rooster crowed.
Then Peter remembered the words that Jesus had
spoken. Before the rooster crows, you will disown
me three times. And he went outside and wept
bitterly. Now, I want to stop here because I'm
going to teach you something you probably don't
know. And you probably don't know it because
you haven't even considered thinking about it.
But the house of the chief priest, Caiaphas,
would have been in the middle of this very, very
large, at that time, urbanized city of Jerusalem.
What are the chances that there are chickens
around? Actually very, very low. And so this
is a little funny story about what you've just
read that is not what it sounds like on the face.
Because there is something called the Gallicinium.
And the Gallicinium is a trumpet blast which
occurs at 3 a .m. to signify the changing of
the Roman guard. The Gallicinium is called the
rooster's crow. So it's signifying the changing
of the Roman guard at 3 a .m. That's what he
heard. Early in the morning, all of the chief
priests and elders of the people made their plans
to have Jesus executed. So they bound him, led
him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the
governor. When Judas had betrayed... saw Jesus
was condemned, he was seized with remorse. And
we don't know what the condemnation event was.
But something caused him to be seized with remorse.
He returned the 30 pieces of silver to the chief
priests. I have sinned, he said, for I betrayed
innocent blood. You might, as we go through chapter
27 here, you might just in your ear notice how
many times the word innocent is used. And the
priest goes, so what, dude? You've taken the
money. You've taken the ride. It's your responsibility.
So Jesus threw the money, Judas, sorry, threw
the money into the temple and left. He went away
and hanged himself. The chief priest picked up
the coins. It's against the law to put this into
the treasury since it is indeed blood money.
So he decided to use the money to buy the potter's
field as a burial place for foreigners. That
actually matches up with that prophecy we read
in Jeremiah. That's why it's been called the
field of blood to this day. In other words, at
the time of the writing of the gospel, it's not
called the field of blood today, but at the time
of the writing of the gospel of Matthew, it still
would have been called that. This was spoken
of when Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled. They
took the 30 pieces of silver, the price set on
him by the people of Israel, and they used them
to buy the potter's field as the Lord commanded
me. Meanwhile, Jesus stood before the governor,
and the governor asked him, Are you the king
of the Jews? You've said so. When he was accused
by the chief priests and the elders, he gave
no answer. Then Pilate asked him, Don't you hear
the testimony they're bringing against you? Jesus
made no reply, not even to a single charge, to
the great amazement of the governor. Now, as
we continue on through 27, I want to correct
the record on a couple of stories that I remember
hearing as a kid that was taught to me as a kid,
but this part of the story, you may have been
taught this too, and hopefully maybe you have,
and maybe I can correct this tonight for you.
Now, it was the governor's custom at the festival
to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At
that time, they had a well -known prisoner whose
name was Jesus Bar Abbas. We say Barabbas, right?
But if we say it like we would say it as a Hebrew,
we would actually say Yeshua bar Abbas, right?
Jesus, the son of. Now, when Jesus teaches us
to pray, how does he tell us to call the father?
Abba. Abba, right? Jesus, the son of the father,
is this guy's name. Jesus, the son of the father.
What? So, when the crowd had gathered, Pilate
asked them, which one do you want me to release?
Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who's called Messiah?
For he knew it was out of self -interest that
they had handed Jesus, the Messiah, over to him.
Now, Jesus Barabbas, we just know, was a well
-known criminal. He was a murderer. He perhaps
was a member of the Jewish zealots. You guys
remember the disciple Simon, the zealot? that
he was a part of. It's possible that Jesus Barbas
would have been a part of that group. He had
killed a Roman soldier during one of the rebellions.
There are many, many Jewish rebellions before
Jesus' life. There are rebellions after his life,
and just a few decades later, there'll finally
be a Jewish rebellion in the year 67 that will
cause the Roman Empire to say enough and destroy
everything. So these zealots, these guys trying
to rise up and defeat the Roman Empire and make
things right for the Jewish people, it's very,
very common. And Jesus Bar Abbas would have been
one of these well -known domestic terrorists.
In fact, he would have really been the opposite
of Jesus, the one called Messiah. Because Jesus
Bar Abbas is exactly the guy the disciples thought
Jesus... The Messiah was going to be a zealot,
a guy who was ready to take up arms, a guy who
was ready to kill Roman soldiers, a guy who was
ready to die and live by the sword, a guy who
thought that might makes right, a guy who thought
that we could have the strength to overthrow
and reestablish God's kingdom here on earth through
violence. Jesus the Messiah says, on the Sermon
on the Mount, none of that will work. And when
I was a kid, because of the closeness of their
names, Jesus, I was taught that the people were
actually tricked. And they actually thought that
they were letting go Jesus the Messiah, but then
they actually let go Jesus Barabas. I was taught
that because, and I think the reason why I was
taught that is because it would have been a time
when this part of the story has given great rise
to anti -Semitism, given people, Christians,
a reason to hate Jews because they say, you killed
Jesus, right? And there was kind of a, what do
you call it, a revision in biblical scholarship
that's kind of tried to pull away from that.
And I think that was a part of that. But I remember
as a kid being taught that their names were so
close that the people actually, it wasn't their
fault they picked the wrong guy. I don't believe
that's the case at all. I believe they knew exactly
which one was which. And they specifically chose
the one that all of the disciples wanted. If
the disciples would have been in the crowd, they
would have voted for Jesus Barabbas because he's
the one that they want Jesus the Messiah to be
like. The people, the world, made their choice
on who they thought they should save. While Pilate
was sitting in 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 in a dream because of him. The chief priests
and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for
Barbas and to have Jesus, the Messiah, executed.
Which of the two do you want me to release to
you? Asked the governor. Barbas, they answered.
What shall I do then with Jesus, who is called
Messiah? Pilate asked. They all answered, crucify
him. Why? What crime has he committed? Asked
Pilate. They shouted all the louder, crucify
him. Now stop. In your mind's eye, imagine, you've
seen enough movies about this time period, you
could kind of get the idea with the Roman columns
and the kind of courtyard, and he's standing
up on this throne thing, right? And this crowd,
this thronging crowd is yelling, crucify, crucify,
crucify. The sun is just beginning to come up
over the Roman buildings and beginning to bake
down on the courtyard and through all of this
den. Pilate goes back into his chambers and comes
out with a bowl of water and in front of the
crowd begins to wash his hands and say, I am
innocent of this man's blood. He says, it is
your responsibility. All of the people answered,
his blood is on us and on our children. We've
made our choice. Here's the second thing. that
I want to correct about this part of the story
because it's not uncommon for people to believe
how easy it was that the same people that are
thronged to say crucify him could have been tricked
because just earlier in the week they had welcomed
him in on Palm Sunday, what we call Palm Sunday,
right? Here's another thing that's not true.
These are two different people. Turn back with
me. This is the one time I'm going to ask you
to turn back tonight. Turn back to Matthew chapter
21 verse 8. This is a distinction that is not
super important, but I do think is super interesting.
So Matthew chapter 21 verse 8. A very large crowd
spread their cloaks on the road while others
cut branches from the trees and spread them on
the road. The crowds that went ahead of him.
And those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the
Son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest heaven.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, stop. So where
have we been to that moment that I just said
stop? Outside of Jerusalem? Yes. Because the
next thing, as all of this is going on, the next
thing that happens is when Jesus entered Jerusalem,
right? So all of the things that had happened
before, what I just said, happened outside of
Jerusalem, right? Where had Jesus been coming
from? You guys remember? Who lives a mile and
a half to the north up the road? Down called
Bethany. Three folks. Three's company. Two girls
and a guy and a pizza place. Mary, Martha, and
Lazarus. He just come from their house, right?
He was coming into Jerusalem from the north over
the Mount of Olives. Remember that story with
David and the donkey and all that bit, right?
Who's coming along the road with him? Who are
the people traveling down the road? They're Galileans.
Galilean people are making their pilgrimage into
Jerusalem. They're making their trek into the
city of Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of
unleavened bread. And then a shout comes up from
some people in the back. It's Jesus. He's coming
here now. And they part. And they cut branches
off. And they wave them. And they throw their
coats down on the road as Jesus is entering into
Jerusalem. The people that are celebrating Jesus'
arrival in Jerusalem are not citizens of Jerusalem.
They're Galileans who have come to Jerusalem
on pilgrimage. Why is that important? Who of
the people whom Jesus has been preaching to and
healing and living with? The Galilean people.
How do the Jewish people respond when all of
this happens and he shows up to Jerusalem? How
does he respond? Let's see. The whole city was
stirred, shaken, afraid, and asked, who is this?
The crowd, the Galileans answer, this is Jesus,
the prophet from Nazareth and Galilee. He's our
guy. The people on the road were the people who
knew Jesus. They were the Galilean pilgrims,
and they had seen his teachings, and they had
experienced his healings. The crowd that is now
in this courtyard saying crucify him are the
citizens of Jerusalem, many of which very well
had a stake in the temple system and the continuance
of the status quo. Jesus the Messiah was the
troublemaker that they didn't know. Jesus Barabbas
was the murderer that they at least were familiar
with. And the crowd makes their choice between
kingdoms. The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom
of earth. Right? So they released Barabbas. They
had Jesus flogged, handed him over to be crucified,
and then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into
the praetorium and gathered the whole company
of soldiers around him. They stripped him, put
a scarlet robe on him, and they twisted together
a crown of thorns and set it on his head. We're
going to stop that part right there because if
you'll come back next time, we're going to go
into greater detail of the passion. But I want
to go ahead and skip to the end. The end of that
day. And I would like for you to go to chapter
28. At the very end, verse 50. 2750, sorry. And
when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice,
He gave up His spirit. At that moment, the curtain
of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs
broke open. The bodies of many holy people who
had died were raised to life. They came out of
their tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went
into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were
guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that
had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed,
He was the Son of God. And this is what I want
us to capture in our mind's eye. This is not
helpful for what I want to paint a picture, but
I can't help every time I hear that part. I think
of the ending scene of Ghostbusters. For some
reason, it always sticks out in my head right
there. But pandemonium. It's darkened. Earthquake.
Buildings are shattering. And just off in a distance
from Golgotha, there's a group of just a few
women in black, huddled, watching from a distance.
These women had traveled from Galilee. They were
there at Mary and Martha and Lazarus' house.
These friends are disciples of Jesus. They may
not be named disciples. Some of them are. They
may not end up being apostles, but these are
followers and disciples of Jesus who were intimate
enough with Jesus, and I'm using that in the
closeness word, not in a sexual way. They're
intimate enough with Jesus that they were able
to care for his daily needs. And among them were
Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James
and Joseph. and the mother of Zebedee's sons,
James and John. As evening approached, another
disciple, whom we just now learn is a disciple,
shows up, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph.
Going to Pilate, this is probably with some fear,
probably with some anxiety. He goes to Pilate
and asks for Jesus' body. And probably because
he is rich, he's able to get the body from Pilate.
And we think, wait a minute, this guy's a rich
guy. What about the camel and the eye of the
needle thing and rich people and being a disciple
of Jesus? Well, what does Joseph, what do we
see this rich guy do with his resources? He uses
them as an opportunity to serve Jesus. Because
he took the body down, he wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb
that he had cut out of the rock. that he had
used his wealth to have hewn from the rock. He
rolled a big stone, not he, certainly his servants,
rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to
the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The next day, the one after preparation day,
the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.
Sir, they said, we remember that while he was
still alive, the deceiver said, after three days
I'll rise again. 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 had been raised from
the dead. That last deception be worse than the
first. Pilate says, okay, take a guard, go make
the tomb secure. So they went and made the tomb
secure by putting a seal on the stone, wax perhaps
showing that it hadn't been opened, posted a
guard. And I want to stop right here in this
moment. Because in this very moment in the story,
we find ourselves. right back where we were on
part one of this series. When we had opened this
series, we had began talking about the story
of the Bible. And we had realized that Christianity
was birthed, and as a movement it grew, and people
knew Jesus and loved Him long before there was
ever a The Bible to tell them so. And we talked
about how as that movement grew, people began
to write down the stories of Jesus, the stories
of his life and the events in which he was involved.
They began to make copies of those stories and
share them with each other. And along comes Paul.
And Paul begins starting churches and writing
letters to those churches. And his epistles or
his letters end up making up about half of what
we now call the New Testament. And then as the
movement grew, these Christians discovered...
They're non -Christians. They're Gentiles. They
discover Hebrew scripture and they realize that
the whole of what we call the Old Testament is
actually talking about and pointing to Jesus.
And then they started to collect all of these
documents and stories and letters. And then by
about the third century in 333, we finally get
something that we might call the Bible. But in
this moment, As the stone is rolled into place
and the wax seal is placed on the tomb, there's
no Bible. There's no church. There's no movement.
There's nothing. There's only the sense that
the whole thing went wrong. That despite whatever
Jesus might have said or did, in this world might
still makes right. But the weak are always going
to be the weak. And hope, hope is for rich people
who can afford it. All there is in this moment
are the tears of these women sitting across from
the tomb, these Jesus followers. But after the
Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the
tomb. 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. His appearance, this angel, was like lightning,
his clothes white as snow. The guards were so
afraid of him that they shook and became like
dead men. The angel said to the women, Do not
be afraid, for I know that you're looking for
Jesus who was crucified. He's not here. He's
risen, just as he said he would. Come and see
the place where he lay. And then go quickly and
tell his disciples that he has risen from the
dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.
And there you'll see him. Now I have told you.
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid
and yet filled with joy. And I love the way that
that's phrased. And as I reread that today for
maybe the first time, it struck me in what was
actually being said. What's being said here is
as they run to tell the disciples who are in
hiding, it's not at first they were afraid, and
then as they continued to run, they got happy.
It's both at once. They're afraid and filled
with joy. Remember when you held your baby in
your hands for that first time in that hospital
room? And it was so small and fragile. And it's
so remarkable. And you are filled with joy and
afraid all at once. Do I? That's right. I think
that that's the best way I can describe that
feeling. I don't know what any of this means.
I don't know what happens next. Everything is
completely different than the way I thought it
was yesterday. but I'm filled with joy. While
the women went on their way, some of the guards
went into the city and they reported to the chief
priest everything that happened. When the chief
priest had met with the elders and devised a
plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money,
telling them, you are to say his disciples came
during the night and stole him away while we
were asleep. If this report gets to the governor,
we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.
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. Then
the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the
mountain where Jesus told them to go. And when
they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore, go, make disciples of all nations.
baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always to the very end
of the age. And for me, this last moment, it's
like seeing the crocus come up. You guys know
what crocus are, right? Now, I made this joke
the other day in church that I don't actually
think spring has sprung until the Bradford pears
begin to bloom. Because that's just, for me,
that's because the truth is it can snow on our
crocuses, can't it? Right? When I see those crocuses
coming, I don't think spring has sprung, but
I know spring's coming. And even though, even
though they still might get snowed upon. I know
that there's a time where the world is going
to not just be white or gray or dark blue or
whatever, but it's going to be yellow and red
and purple. Because something is different now.
And the world can still be gray and it could
still be blue and it could still be sometimes
white and certainly it can be dark. But because
of this event, it can be different now. And that,
my friends, I think, is what Matthew is trying
to illustrate to us as he tells us the good news
of his friend Jesus Christ. Well, there you have
it. I hope that that taught as much to you about
the gospel according to Matthew as it... to me.
Hey, listen, before you go, I'd like to ask a
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friend, be blessed. and be a blessing.