Matthew 27 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Matthew 27:1
2. 0:03Now when morning came, all the chief
3. 0:05priests and the elders of the people
4. 0:08conferred together against Jesus to put
5. 0:11him to death.
6. 0:14And they bound him and led him away and
7. 0:18delivered him to Pilate the governor.
8. 0:22Then when Judas, who had betrayed him,
9. 0:25saw that he had been condemned,
10. 0:29he felt remorse
11. 0:31and returned the 30 pieces of silver to
12. 0:34the chief priests and elders, saying, "I
13. 0:38have sinned by [music] betraying
14. 0:40innocent blood."
15. 0:43But they said, "What is that to us? See
16. 0:47to that yourself."
17. 0:49and he threw the pieces [music] of
18. 0:51silver into the temple sanctuary and
19. 0:54departed.
20. 0:55He went away and hanged himself.
21. 0:59The chief priest took [music] the pieces
22. 1:00of silver and said, "It is not lawful to
23. 1:04put them into the temple treasury since
24. 1:06[music] it is the price of blood."
25. 1:08And they conferred together and with the
26. 1:10money bought the potter's field as a
27. 1:14burial place for strangers.
28. 1:16For this [music] reason, that field has
29. 1:18been called the field of blood to this
30. 1:22day.
31. 1:23Then that which was spoken through
32. 1:25Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled. And
33. 1:28they took the 30 pieces of silver, the
34. 1:31price of the one whose [music] price had
35. 1:34been set by the sons of Israel, and they
36. 1:37gave them for the potter's field, as the
37. 1:40Lord [music] directed me. It's very
38. 1:42meaningful that it is the keepers of the
39. 1:46Mosaic law that are condemning Jesus to
40. 1:49death. The law that was intended as a
41. 1:54school master to lead us to faith
42. 1:57has been taken in the hands of the enemy
43. 2:00as a club against God and his people.
44. 2:04The law has become the weapon of the
45. 2:07devil that needs to be nailed to the
46. 2:09cross. It's part of what arms the enemy
47. 2:13to bring condemnation on those seeking
48. 2:16grace and relationship with God.
49. 2:20And so it is the law that must condemn
50. 2:22Jesus
51. 2:24so that it is the law that he thereby
52. 2:27can disarm
53. 2:29and can satisfy and and take away from
54. 2:34the from the enemy as a club in his
55. 2:36hand.
56. 2:38Now Jesus stood before the governor and
57. 2:40the governor questioned him saying, "Are
58. 2:43you the king of the Jews?" And Jesus
59. 2:46said to him, "It is as you say."
60. 2:51And while he was being accused by the
61. 2:52chief priests and elders, he did not
62. 2:55answer. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you
63. 2:58not hear how many things they testify
64. 3:00against you?"
65. 3:02and he did not answer him with
66. 3:04[clears throat] regard to even a single
67. 3:06charge. So that the governor was quite
68. 3:09amazed.
69. 3:11Jesus is not entering into temptation.
70. 3:13He is not a puppet to be manipulated by
71. 3:17their threats.
72. 3:19He is not going to respond when they
73. 3:21push the buttons that normally control
74. 3:25those bound by the fear of death.
75. 3:29Now at the feast the governor was
76. 3:31accustomed to release for the people any
77. 3:34one prisoner whom they wanted. At that
78. 3:37time they were holding a notorious
79. 3:39prisoner called Barabbus.
80. 3:42So when the people gathered together,
81. 3:44Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want
82. 3:46me to release to you? Barabus or Jesus
83. 3:51who is called Christ?" for he knew that
84. 3:55because of envy they handed him over.
85. 4:00This is a very telling insight.
86. 4:04Jesus is a teacher. Jesus is a miracle
87. 4:08worker healing the sick,
88. 4:11breaking the bread, teaching in this on
89. 4:14the Sabbath.
90. 4:16Barabbus is a murderer.
91. 4:19Barabus is an insurrectionist.
92. 4:24And yet the people who are trying to
93. 4:27kill Jesus
94. 4:29show their real motivation
95. 4:32when they're glad to have a murderer
96. 4:34back on their streets. Someone who
97. 4:36really was rising up against the
98. 4:39authorities rather than Jesus.
99. 4:43Matthew says that Pilate makes this
100. 4:46statement to prove what he already knew.
101. 4:50that the real reason they handed Jesus
102. 4:52over was not because he was a blasphemer
103. 4:54and not because he was evil and not
104. 4:57because he was a threat to the authority
105. 4:59but because they were envious of him.
106. 5:02[clears throat]
107. 5:04They were jealous of the way the people
108. 5:06treated him. They were jealous of his
109. 5:09power that they didn't have his
110. 5:11influence.
111. 5:14And so Pilate proves that with this
112. 5:17option while he Pilate was sitting on
113. 5:21the judgment seat, his wife sent him a
114. 5:24message saying, "Have nothing to do with
115. 5:26that righteous man. For last night I
116. 5:29suffered greatly in a dream because of
117. 5:31him."
118. 5:34But the chief priests and the elders
119. 5:36persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbus
120. 5:39and to put Jesus to death.
121. 5:43This is a parable of human nature
122. 5:47manipulated by people who are envious of
123. 5:51others. We scream
124. 5:54for the rebel. We scream for the
125. 5:57troublemaker. We say release Barabus.
126. 6:02Release sin and violence into our
127. 6:05culture. But get rid of this voice of
128. 6:10truth. Get rid of this standard of
129. 6:13righteousness. Get rid of this reminder
130. 6:16of our disobedience.
131. 6:18Get rid of this conviction that we can't
132. 6:21take anymore. But the governor said to
133. 6:24them, "Which of the two do you want me
134. 6:27to release for you?"
135. 6:31And they said, "Barabus."
136. 6:36Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I
137. 6:39do with Jesus who is called Christ?"
138. 6:43They all said, "Crucify him."
139. 6:47[clears throat]
140. 6:51It's important that we see that the
141. 6:54crowd representing all of humanity
142. 6:57wants the violence, wants the murderer,
143. 7:02wants the criminal more than they want
144. 7:05the voice of truth in Jesus Christ.
145. 7:11Pilot's making them own it. He's making
146. 7:14them say it. He wants them guilty of
147. 7:17what's about to happen.
148. 7:21And he Pilate said,
149. 7:24"Why?
150. 7:26What evil has he done?" But they kept
151. 7:29shouting all the more, saying, "Crucify
152. 7:32him!"
153. 7:35This isn't rational. [clears throat]
154. 7:38They don't have explanations.
155. 7:41They just have envy.
156. 7:43envy fanned to a frenzied blaze
157. 7:48will crucify the son of God.
158. 7:51When Pilate saw that he was
159. 7:53accomplishing nothing,
160. 7:56this indicates that Pilate was trying to
161. 7:58stop it. He was trying to spell out the
162. 8:02insanity of what they were wanting.
163. 8:05But envy is not rational.
164. 8:09When Pilate saw that he was
165. 8:10accomplishing nothing, but rather that a
166. 8:13riot was starting, he took water and
167. 8:17washed his hands in front of the crowd,
168. 8:21saying, "I am innocent of this man's
169. 8:25blood. See to that yourselves."
170. 8:32The pagan king and his wife are more
171. 8:35reluctant
172. 8:37to harm the righteous
173. 8:40than the religious who are part of the
174. 8:42covenant and are utterly blinded by
175. 8:46their religious envy.
176. 8:49And all the people said, "His blood
177. 8:52shall be on us and on our children."
178. 8:58Then he released Barabus
179. 9:02for them. But after having Jesus
180. 9:05scourge, he handed him over to be
181. 9:08crucified.
182. 9:11Then the soldiers of the governor took
183. 9:15Jesus into the pritorium
184. 9:18and gathered the whole Roman cohort
185. 9:20around him.
186. 9:22Now, the Gentiles are going to have
187. 9:24their turn
188. 9:26because he's going to be crucified
189. 9:29by the world, the ungodly pagan world,
190. 9:32and especially
191. 9:34by the righteous
192. 9:36religious church.
193. 9:39So, the Roman court cohort gathers
194. 9:42around him. They stripped him and put a
195. 9:46scarlet robe on him. That's what you put
196. 9:48on kings.
197. 9:50And after twisting together a crown of
198. 9:53thorns,
199. 9:55they put it on his head and a reed in
200. 9:57his right hand, and they knelt before
201. 10:00him and mocked him, saying, "Hail, King
202. 10:05of the Jews."
203. 10:07So all of this is to make a mockery
204. 10:11that your power
205. 10:13of life and truth and the spirit of God,
206. 10:18it it's not real power.
207. 10:21Rome has all the power. The sword
208. 10:24represents all the power. Your lamblike
209. 10:28power, it's a joke. So they stripped him
210. 10:31naked in front of the whole Roman cohort
211. 10:35and then they put a fake
212. 10:38king's robe on him.
213. 10:41This is how the world looks at the power
214. 10:43of God.
215. 10:45It's a joke. It's a mockery.
216. 10:49Little did they know
217. 10:52that the power of life was going to turn
218. 10:55the world upside down.
219. 10:58They said, "Oh, he wants a crown. We'll
220. 11:01make a crown of thorns and smash it into
221. 11:04his brow."
222. 11:08They put a scepter, a reed. It's like a
223. 11:11pulled up weed in his hand to mock his
224. 11:15power.
225. 11:17Hail, King of the Jews.
226. 11:20They spat on him and took the reed and
227. 11:24began to beat him on the head.
228. 11:29After they had mocked him, they took the
229. 11:32scarlet robe off of him
230. 11:36and put his own garments back on him
231. 11:39and led him away to crucify him.
232. 11:44As they were coming out, they found a
233. 11:46man ofSirene named Simon, whom they
234. 11:50pressed into service to bear his cross.
235. 11:55So, he's been scourged,
236. 11:57which means they would have bound his
237. 12:01hands over his head and stripped his
238. 12:05clothes off
239. 12:07and [clears throat] beaten him with a
240. 12:10cat of nine tails, which was a leather
241. 12:13whip of long leather strips, and tied
242. 12:17into the leather.
243. 12:19All up and down the leather were pieces
244. 12:22of glass and pottery and shards. So that
245. 12:25when the nine tails of the whip hit you,
246. 12:31it would rip your flesh. It would wrap
247. 12:34around and grab your front even though
248. 12:36they were beating you on your back. It
249. 12:38would shred the person as they beat them
250. 12:42with this cat of nine tails.
251. 12:46That's the first thing they do. And then
252. 12:49they have the gentile
253. 12:51power brokers mock him, make him naked,
254. 12:56then put a fake royal robe on him, then
255. 12:59twist together a fake crown that's that
256. 13:02has thorns smashing into his skull. Then
257. 13:07they put a fake scepter that's a reed,
258. 13:10which is the symbol of weakness.
259. 13:14And then they mock him. [clears throat]
260. 13:16They say to him, "Hail," which is like
261. 13:20rain. All power to you is what that
262. 13:22means.
263. 13:24Then they spit on him. And they beat him
264. 13:28on the head. The head that has a crown
265. 13:31of thorns on it. They beat him with that
266. 13:34reed.
267. 13:36And they mock him.
268. 13:39Mockery. Mockery. Cruelty. Mockery.
269. 13:44But he didn't enter into temptation.
270. 13:48He never spit back.
271. 13:52He never punched anybody who struck him.
272. 13:55He never defended himself
273. 13:58because the power of God was in full
274. 14:02possession of this man.
275. 14:06And when they came to a place called
276. 14:08Galatha,
277. 14:10which means place of a skull,
278. 14:15they gave him Jesus wine to drink mixed
279. 14:19with gall. And after tasting it, he was
280. 14:22unwilling to drink it.
281. 14:25So they're giving him wine to numb the
282. 14:28pain. But they mix it with g, which is
283. 14:32like sour vinegar, rotten vinegar, so
284. 14:35that it's
285. 14:36Even that token is is unacceptable.
286. 14:41But he has to bear the full pain and
287. 14:44agony of what he's about to endure.
288. 14:48This is what human nature does to God.
289. 14:52This is what sin does
290. 14:55every time we read a line and we cringe
291. 14:58in ourselves and say, "Oh, God."
292. 15:02What we've got to face is that's what
293. 15:04our sin does [clears throat] to God.
294. 15:06That's how we treat love. That's how we
295. 15:09treat kindness, mercy, goodness.
296. 15:15This is the full depiction of how we
297. 15:19treat God.
298. 15:23And he is coming
299. 15:26to absorb in himself
300. 15:29the full harvest of our judgment
301. 15:34so that he can give us an escape from
302. 15:37the wrath to come.
303. 15:39He's coming to bear in his body the just
304. 15:43penalty of what we deserve.
305. 15:47This is what we deserve. But this is
306. 15:49what we do to the lamb of God
307. 15:55and he's taking it away because
308. 16:00he is without sin and so he will not be
309. 16:03kept in the grave.
310. 16:05And when they had crucified him, they
311. 16:08divided up his garments among themselves
312. 16:12by casting lots. This is another image
313. 16:15of the envy.
314. 16:17We want what's his. Let's take it.
315. 16:20Dividing it. There's theft, jealousy.
316. 16:28And sitting down, they began to keep
317. 16:30watch over him there.
318. 16:33And above his head,
319. 16:36they put up the charge against him,
320. 16:40which read, "This is Jesus,
321. 16:44the King of the Jews.
322. 16:49At that time, two robbers were crucified
323. 16:51with him, one on the right and one on
324. 16:54the left. And those passing by were
325. 16:58hurling abuse at him, Jesus,
326. 17:02wagging their heads and saying, "You who
327. 17:05are going to destroy the temple and
328. 17:08rebuild it in three days, save yourself.
329. 17:14If you are the son of God, come down
330. 17:17from the cross.
331. 17:20Only the son of God would stay on that
332. 17:22cross.
333. 17:26In the same way, the chief priests also
334. 17:28along with the scribes and elders were
335. 17:31mocking him and saying, "He saved
336. 17:33others. He cannot save himself. He is
337. 17:36the king of the Jews. Let him now come
338. 17:39down from the cross and we will believe
339. 17:41in him.
340. 17:43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him
341. 17:47now. If he delights in him, for he said,
342. 17:51"I am the son of God."
343. 17:54The robbers who had been crucified with
344. 17:57him were also insulting him with the
345. 18:00same words.
346. 18:02Now from the sixth hour, darkness fell
347. 18:06upon all the land until the 9th hour.
348. 18:10About the 9inth hour, Jesus cried out
349. 18:13with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli,
350. 18:16lamachani,
351. 18:19that is, my God, my God, why have you
352. 18:23forsaken me?"
353. 18:26God had taken up residence in Jesus.
354. 18:31The father was dwelling in him. As he
355. 18:35had said, the father that is in me, he
356. 18:38does the works. He had this complete
357. 18:41union between humanity and divinity.
358. 18:47And he emptied himself of his divine
359. 18:49rights. He didn't call 12 legions. He
360. 18:52didn't defend himself. He didn't use his
361. 18:54power to perform miracles for himself.
362. 18:57He used it to serve others.
363. 19:00But God was in Christ reconciling the
364. 19:04world to himself,
365. 19:06paying our debts for us, absorbing in
366. 19:10himself all the insults and judgment and
367. 19:14wrath of our sin.
368. 19:17But as he's dying, that divine spirit
369. 19:20that is in him is departing because God
370. 19:23cannot die. And so he says, "Eloy, Eloy,
371. 19:27Lamak Sabakan," which literally means,
372. 19:30"The God of me, the God of me. Why have
373. 19:33you left me behind?"
374. 19:36And in that moment, he understands
375. 19:39separation from God. Isaiah said, "The
376. 19:43Lord's hand is not so short that it
377. 19:45cannot save, nor his ear dull that he
378. 19:48cannot hear, but your sins have
379. 19:50separated you from your God."
380. 19:52So Jesus in absorbing and taking our
381. 19:56judgment has to experience not only pain
382. 19:59and torture and anguish but he has to
383. 20:01experience separation from God. That's
384. 20:04the hell that he's experiencing.
385. 20:07Isolation total isolation away from the
386. 20:11presence of God.
387. 20:13So he is bearing in his humanity what it
388. 20:18feels like to be torn from the God who
389. 20:22lived inside.
390. 20:25And some of those who were standing
391. 20:27there when they heard it
392. 20:30began saying this man is calling for
393. 20:33Elijah. Because Elijah in Aramaic is
394. 20:37Elias
395. 20:39or in Hebrew Eliu.
396. 20:42Immediately one of them ran and taking a
397. 20:44sponge, he filled it with sour wine and
398. 20:47put it on a reed and gave it to him to
399. 20:48drink. But the rest of them said, "Let
400. 20:52us see whether Elijah will come to save
401. 20:54him."
402. 20:56And Jesus cried out again with a loud
403. 20:58voice
404. 21:00and yielded up his spirit.
405. 21:04And behold, the veil of the temple was
406. 21:08torn in two from top to bottom, and the
407. 21:12earth shook, and the rocks were split.
408. 21:15The tombs were opened, and many bodies
409. 21:18of the saints who had fallen asleep were
410. 21:21raised. And coming out of the tombs
411. 21:23after his resurrection, they entered the
412. 21:25holy city and appeared to many.
413. 21:29So this is a cosmic event
414. 21:32when God has robed himself in human
415. 21:36flesh.
416. 21:37When great is the mystery of godliness
417. 21:40that God was manifested in the flesh and
418. 21:43we killed that manifestation. We
419. 21:46crucified it. That fleshly appearance of
420. 21:51God was his veil. And when his body was
421. 21:54torn, God is no longer meeting with his
422. 21:58people in the holy place of a stone
423. 22:01temple. He has taken the curtain between
424. 22:05heaven and earth and torn it from top to
425. 22:08bottom. And a new and living way is
426. 22:11being opened through the torn life of
427. 22:14Jesus Christ. And an access
428. 22:16[clears throat] is being provided where
429. 22:18we can come into the presence of the
430. 22:21living God. Now that the sacrifice and
431. 22:24suffering of the cross has removed the
432. 22:27judgment and the guilt and the shame and
433. 22:30the barrier between us and the holiness
434. 22:34of the Lord.
435. 22:37Now the centurion and those who were
436. 22:39with him keeping guard over Jesus when
437. 22:41they saw the earthquake and the things
438. 22:44that were happening became very
439. 22:46frightened and said truly this was the
440. 22:49son of God. The first acknowledgement is
441. 22:52from a pagan heathen.
442. 22:55Many women were there looking on from a
443. 22:58distance who had followed Jesus from
444. 23:00Galilee while ministering to him.
445. 23:04Among them was Mary Magdalene. And Mary
446. 23:08the mother of James and Joseph
447. 23:11and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
448. 23:15Mary Magdalene was the one who anointed
449. 23:17his feet.
450. 23:19When it was evening, there came a rich
451. 23:21man from Arythea named Joseph who
452. 23:26himself had also become a disciple of
453. 23:29Jesus. Now I believe that Joseph like
454. 23:32Nicodemus is part of the Sanhedrin. So
455. 23:35he would have been one of the rulers who
456. 23:38refused
457. 23:40to hate him [clears throat] to betray
458. 23:42him.
459. 23:43This man went to Pilate and asked for
460. 23:45the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered
461. 23:47it to be given to him. And Joseph took
462. 23:50the body and wrapped it in a clean linen
463. 23:53cloth and laid it in his own new tomb,
464. 23:58which he had hewn in the rock. And he
465. 24:02rolled a large stone against the
466. 24:04entrance of the tomb and went away.
467. 24:11and Mary Magdalene was there and the
468. 24:13other Mary sitting opposite the grave.
469. 24:18Now on the next day,
470. 24:20the day after the preparation, the chief
471. 24:23priests and the Pharisees gathered
472. 24:25together with Pilate and said, "Sir,
473. 24:29we remember that when he was still
474. 24:31alive, that deceiver said,
475. 24:35after 3 days, I am to rise again.
476. 24:40Therefore, give orders for the grave to
477. 24:43[music] be made secure until the third
478. 24:45day. Otherwise, his disciples may come
479. 24:48and steal him away and say to the
480. 24:51people, "He has risen from the dead, and
481. 24:53the last deception will be worse than
482. 24:56the first."
483. 24:58It never occurs to them that they're the
484. 25:00ones that are deceived. It never occurs
485. 25:02to them that Jesus isn't the deceiver at
486. 25:05all, that he actually has life and power
487. 25:08that they so desperately need. It's all
488. 25:11just a con in their view. Pilate said to
489. 25:15them, "You have a guard. Go make it as
490. 25:19secure as you know how."
491. 25:22And they went and made the grave secure.
492. 25:26And along with the guard, they set a
493. 25:29seal on the stone.
494. 25:34Not only does human sin, torture, mock,
495. 25:41blasphe, ridicule,
496. 25:45and crucify the lamb of God. But it does
497. 25:49everything in its power
498. 25:52to seal it [music] away. Make it as
499. 25:56secure as you know how.
500. 25:58It does everything in its power to
501. 26:01suffocate it from ever getting life
502. 26:03again,
503. 26:05to prevent resurrection.
504. 26:09But as secure as they knew how, it
505. 26:12wouldn't be secure enough for the grace
506. 26:14of God that was coming.
507. 26:19>> [music]
508. 26:27[music]