MATTHEW 25-28 JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTED2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Matthew 25-28 Jesus Christ Crucified And Resurrected

We are looking this evening at Matthew chapters 25 through 28, finishing up the Gospel of Matthew and looking at the final days of the life of Christ upon the earth.

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But as we finish up the book of Matthew, we're looking at this book that was written by Matthew, who was one of the 12 disciples. And he wrote these things around 41 through 60 AD, somewhere in that time period. And so about 10 to 30 years after the life of Christ, Matthew had completed and recorded this gospel that we are studying.

As he wrote this gospel and the account of the life of Christ, he had a particular focus, and that was he was writing to Jewish people about

about their Messiah and focusing on Jesus as the Savior that had been promised all throughout the Old Testament. And the book of Matthew makes more references to the Old Testament than all the other Gospels. And so we have been taking a moment, you know, as each chapter has those references, to just stop and reflect on those for a moment. And also we've been counting up. And so we'll finish up

looking at that this evening as we look at the Gospel of Matthew and see the total number of references to the Old Testament found in the book of Matthew.

Here's a quick look at the map and the geography of Matthew. Of course, it started in Bethlehem where Jesus Christ was born. He moved up to Nazareth later on as a young boy. His family moved to Nazareth where Joseph and Mary were from. Then as an adult, as he began his ministry, he moved to Capernaum there on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee and did from there the

majority of his ministry around the Sea of Galilee and then of course down to Jerusalem which he visited many times but that was where he went for the last time in the chapters we're reading today for his crucifixion and then resurrection and so that's where we're going to be ending up the book of Matthew in the city of Jerusalem. Well we start out in Matthew chapter 25 and the key verse is verse 31. It says,

Here in Matthew chapter 25, we have Jesus talking and giving a couple different parables about insights into what the kingdom of God will be like.

And so in verses 1 through 13, he says, And so he tells this parable to help us understand a little bit about the kingdom of heaven and what the coming of Jesus Christ will be like. And

And so he likens it to ten virgins. Now, this reference to ten virgins, culturally they would understand that he's talking about the bridal party. So if you think about a wedding, you know, they had the wedding procession and you have the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. There would be ten virgins as part of the bridal party for the weddings in that day. And so these virgins, they had five wise and five foolish virgins.

virgins in this bridal party. And the groom went off to collect his bride and he was bringing her back. And so the bridal party was to be waiting there and ready so that when the groom and the bride came, they'd be able to enter into the feast and begin to celebrate at the wedding feast.

Well, five of these virgins were wise. That is that they had the lamps with them and they had extra oil for their lamps so that when they ran out, they could refill it.

and the lights were kind of an official part of the wedding ceremony. And so it was an important thing. It wasn't just, you know, that they needed light for the night, but it was part of the wedding ceremony that they would have these lights. And so five were prepared. They had thought ahead. They had prepared. We might need some extra oil. So they brought the extra oil. Well, then there was the other five. They were foolish. They were unprepared. And so

When the groom returned, it was late at night and they had fallen asleep. And so when they woke up, they said, hey, the foolish one said to the wise ones, give us some of your oil because we're out. And the wise one said, we can't, there won't be enough for both of us. And so the foolish ones had to go and try to find oil elsewhere. In the meantime, the groom returned, the five wise and prepared bridesmaids entered in and the foolish ones were unable to enter in.

And that's really the emphasis of this parable. The prepared ones entered in, the unprepared ones missed out. And Jesus here is making his point. It's very clear in verse 13. He says, watch therefore. So understanding, you know, what this parable is all about. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. And so Jesus is making the point very clear.

God wants you to always be prepared for his return. He wants you to be wise, to be thinking ahead, and to be ready so that when the groom, Jesus, returns, you are prepared, that you are ready for him to come again. And so that preparedness is what he desires for each one of us. And so I would encourage you to consider if you are prepared for Jesus to return if he were to come tonight.

Well, then in verses 14 through 30, he gives another parable. He says, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who delivered his goods to his servants. And so here we have the parable of the talents. Now, a talent was, it's a weight measurement or an amount of money. The talent could weigh anything.

Depending on who does the calculations. Anywhere from 65 to about 80 pounds. And the value of a talent would be different depending on if it was a talent of silver or a talent of gold. So just guessing, you know, perhaps it's a talent of silver. One talent in this case, as of today's rates, would be worth just shy of $20,000. And so the three servants are given different amounts of talents. One's given five talents.

So that would be worth just about $100,000. One's given two, right about $40,000. And then one's given one, right about $20,000. And this sums of money is given to these servants with the expectation that they're to put it to work while the master goes away. And then when he returns, then they'll give an account for how they put those funds to use and how they were able to grow them.

Now as he gives this parable of the talents, I want to be careful and encourage you here. This is probably not talking about the English word talents as in like special abilities or natural talents. You know, you can play guitar, you can sing, those kinds of things. He's talking about the meaning and the purpose of this is that God wants you to grow the things that he has given to you, the resources that he has given to you.

And so it's about growing what God has given to you. Or more specifically, it's about increasing in faith. That is sharing the gospel, spreading the gospel, and advancing the kingdom of God. We also refer to that as making disciples. You could refer to it quite a few ways. But the idea here is that you would be growing as a believer in Jesus Christ.

And you will give an account for all of the opportunity that God has given to you. And what you've done with that opportunity and those resources in using them for his glory. David Guzik puts it this way. The main point of this parable is clear. Our readiness for Jesus' return is determined by our stewardship of

Of the resources that he has given to us. And so as he's encouraging us to be ready. We need to be good stewards. And use our time. Use our faith. Use our opportunities. Use what God has given to us. For his glory.

Well, then in verses 31 through 46, he tells us that the Son of Man will come in glory and separate the nations. He describes this scenario, and he talks about how it's like a shepherd who separates the sheep from the goats. You know, they're all in the field. They might be grazing together, but then there comes a time, okay, now we got to separate them, put them where they belong. And so that's what's going to happen when the Son of Man returns. When he returns, he's going to separate the sheep and goats.

And the criteria between which ones are sheep and which ones are goats, he describes there in that passage that it's based upon how they treated his brethren. And so this is probably referring to the end time scenario when Jesus comes again and it's dealing with those who

We're in the tribulation period and how they dealt with the Jewish people. Let me just give you a quick look at the timeline of the end times. And so we have the 70 weeks of Daniel. The first 69 have passed. That was concluded on the day of the triumphal entry when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

We currently exist right now in the church age where the church is, you know, at work and God is doing a work that began at the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church, the disciples in the upper room, and it concludes at the rapture of the church. And so we are currently in this church age.

But at some point after the rapture of the church, then there will be a time of seven years of tribulation. The worst tribulation the world has ever seen. It's the 70th week of Daniel. During that time, the Antichrist will be revealed. In the middle of that seven-year period, he will commit what's called the abomination of desolation, where he will declare himself to be God and demand to be worshiped.

And then Jesus will return at the end of that tribulation period, establish his kingdom here upon the earth for a thousand years, where the saints will come back and rule and reign with him. And then we'll go from there into eternity. So these parables that Jesus is telling here, the parable of the ten virgins, is referencing the rapture of the church because the emphasis is

Be ready. You don't know the time. And that's true of the rapture. When Jesus returns to catch up the church to be with him, we don't know the time of that. The parable of the talents, also probably referring to the rapture of the church, or anytime, you know, in between here and the rapture of the church, when you and I die, we go to be with the Lord, there's what's called the Bema Seat, or the judgment seat of Christ.

And there, what we have done with what God has given to us is evaluated. And Paul talks about that in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And so, it's that time where we stand before the master when he comes again or we go to be with him. And that evaluation is given of how we did with what we were given.

But then the separating of the sheep and the goats happens when Jesus Christ returns. So when he comes back to the earth at the end of the tribulation period, there's a group of the survivors of the tribulation that enter into the millennium. And those that enter in, enter in through this separating of the sheep and the goats. And the sheep...

enter into the millennium the goats are cast out into hades and then judged ultimately at the end at the white throne judgment so that's just an idea of the placement of those parables and what jesus is talking about there in matthew chapter 25 all right chapter 26 now verse 28 the key verse it says for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for the many for the remission of sins

Here in verses 1 through 5, we see the Jewish leaders plot to kill Jesus. This isn't the first time, but they're continuing their plots. They're continuing their schemes. And verse 4 specifies that they're plotting to take Jesus by trickery. So they're not, you know, confused about what the situation is. They understand that.

Who Jesus is claiming to be. They're understanding what the crowd thinks about Jesus. So they're trying to trick Jesus. And whatever means necessary to get rid of him. That was the condition of the Jewish leaders.

Then in verses 6 through 13, we see a beautiful scene where a woman anoints Jesus with a very costly fragrance oil. And she gives this oil as an act of worship. Jesus says it's in preparation for his burial. It's an act of worship as she gives this costly fragrant oil to the Lord in this way. Now, some of the disciples, or specifically Judas, we learn from other gospel writers,

complain and say, hey, what a waste, you know, to pour this out on Jesus. Why not sell it and give it to the poor? And so there was this grumbling and complaining. And it just reminded me, and I think it's good for us to remember, it's pretty typical, it's pretty common for people, for others to think it wasteful when you worship God.

or give to God. And so sometimes God is going to put upon your heart to do something and it's going to be costly and it's going to be valuable and it's going to seem wasteful to others whose hearts aren't there in worshiping the Lord.

And don't be surprised when that happens. But Jesus defends her and says, no, this was a good thing. In fact, in verse 13, he says, wherever this gospel is preached, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her. And so he rewards her for this act of worship.

And so she's just worshiping Jesus. And it's a good exhortation for us to do that as well. And sometimes that will involve some costly gifts. That will involve, you know, those things that he puts upon our hearts. And it's going to be costly.

And don't be discouraged when other people think that's wasteful. It's not. He's worthy of it. And so give it to him as he lays it upon your heart. Of course, I'm not just talking about finances. But, you know, there's other things in your life that are really valuable. And when Jesus asks you to give it to him as an act of worship, then you should do so. It's worthwhile. In verses 14 through 16, we see that Judas seeks...

to betray Jesus. He goes, he makes arrangements. He, they agree upon a price and then he looks for opportunity to betray Jesus. You know, for a long time, I wondered, and maybe you wondered too, why did they need Judas? I mean, what was this whole betrayal thing about? I mean, was it

I mean, Jesus was open. He wasn't like hiding. He wasn't, you know, in a cave somewhere and nobody knew where he was. I mean, he was with the people. He was teaching in the synagogues, in the temple. He was, you know, in the streets. He was all over the place, really, especially during this time at the Passover. He was in Jerusalem and speaking to the people. And so why did they need Judas? Well, it explains it here, you know,

In verse 5, going back a little bit, as they're plotting to kill Jesus, it says, "...not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."

And so the whole reason why Judas got involved and they wanted Judas to be involved in this betrayal was important, was they were trying to do it quietly when there was not a crowd. And so Judas, one of the disciples, all right, now we have a chance because he'll know when there's an opportunity where there's not going to be a lot of people around.

because the Jewish leaders were afraid of the people because the people believed him to be the Christ. They just had celebrated, you know, a few days ago and said, hallelujah, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. And so, you know, they were afraid of the people. They were afraid of the response. And so they were trying to do it quietly. They were looking for an opportunity to do it in secret. They agree upon the price of 30 pieces of silver.

This was the price really of a slave. It wasn't a whole lot. David Guzik estimates it's worth about $25. So it wasn't a huge price that Judas agreed to, but he agreed to it.

Verses 17 through 35, we see that the disciples, along with Jesus, eat the Passover meal. And they make arrangements for the upper room. We know from John chapter 13, if you want a little bit of context, that's where Jesus washes the disciples' feet. And then they partake of the Passover meal together. In the course of this meal, Jesus explains to the disciples that one of them is going to betray him.

In verse 21, he mentions that. He says to the disciples, one of you guys is the betrayer. In verses 26 through 28, Jesus institutes communion. What we partake of regularly here, usually at the beginning of the month or other times as well as the Lord leads, but those times of remembrance with the bread and the cup as reminders of who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

Well, then at the end of the meal in verses 31 through 35, Jesus tells Peter that he's going to deny the Lord. And Peter, of course, says, no, that's not going to happen. I'm not going to do that. You know, even if everybody else falls away, I'm not going to fall away. But later on, we'll see that he actually does just what the Lord said. In verses 36 through 56, we see that Jesus prays and is arrested. He takes Peter and James and John to the Garden of Gethsemane.

And he spends some time in prayer. It says in verse 39, he fell on his face and prayed saying, Oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Jesus here is experiencing some conflict, some difficulty because he knows what lies ahead of him. He knows he's headed towards the cross.

And it's not his favorite thing in the world to do, to go to the cross. It's not really exciting for him. He's not looking forward to it. He's looking forward to what's beyond it. But the cross itself, it's agonizing for him. And so he prays. Three times he prays, Lord, if there's any other way, if it's possible for these people to be saved any other way, then let's do it that way.

Let this cup pass from me. This cup of judgment that I'm about to receive. Let it pass from me if there's another way. But then he goes on to say, not as I will, but as you will. And so he submits to and surrenders to the will of the Father and goes forward to the cross.

Well, there, as he's there in the garden, now notice it's secluded, it's quiet, it's secret. There's not a crowd around him. And so Judas sees his opportunity. All right, now's our chance. Let's go get the crowd. Let's go get the, you know, chief priests and let's go and bring them and get Jesus. And so verse 47, the multitude comes with clubs and swords and

And they come to arrest Jesus. Verse 51 tells us, it doesn't specify the name, we know from the Gospel of John, it's Peter. He pulls out his sword, he's like, he's ready to fight off this whole, you know, army. You know, it's interesting, he's not able to pray with the Lord for an hour, but when the army comes, you know, he wants to fight them. I think it's sometimes good for us to remember that.

We get it backwards sometimes that we want to fight the armies, but we haven't spent the time in prayer. And the prayer time would probably be more valuable than pulling out the sword. He pulls out the sword. He cuts off the ear of the high priest servant and Jesus corrects him. He heals the ear. He says, that's not the way that it needs to be. He says in verse 56, all this was done that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

And that's mentioned several times throughout this passage. And the point is, this is not catching God by surprise. You know, he's not up there fretting like, oh my goodness, what are they doing with Jesus? I can't believe this is happening. Jesus isn't surprised. You know, he...

Told them in advance this is what was going to happen. And so this was part of God's plan. Jesus willingly, knowingly went to the cross and allowed himself to be arrested, to be betrayed, to be beaten, and then ultimately to be crucified.

Well, he's taken in verses 57 through 68. Jesus stands trial before Caiaphas, the high priest. Now, Jesus actually went through a series of trials. There's a couple mentioned here and then different ones are mentioned throughout the other gospel accounts. He went through a few different Jewish trials and then also he went through a couple different Roman trials all in the course of one night. Okay.

This Jewish trial, as he's standing before Caiaphas, the high priest, they bring forward false witnesses. They're trying desperately to get something to stick so that they can deal with him and put him to death. But it's not working. They can't get the false witnesses to agree. They're messing up their testimonies. You know, they're not doing it like they rehearsed. And so they're having a hard time until finally to come forward and said, well, he said that he would destroy the temple and then rebuild it in three days.

The final accusation that comes against Jesus is blasphemy. Because in verse 64, Jesus says, Jesus here is saying that

They understood what he was saying, that he is God, that he is equal to God, that he is at the right hand of the Father. You need to understand that Jesus was crucified because he claimed to be God. That's why Jesus was crucified. That's what they mean. They're shouting blasphemy. They're accusing him of blasphemy. Now, Jesus' claims to be God would be blasphemous,

If he was not God. But because he is God. His claims to be God are not blasphemous. They're the truth. But they refused to believe that. And so they accused him of blasphemy. And that's why they turned him over to Rome to be crucified.

Well, then in verses 69 through 75, you see that Peter denies Jesus. So what Jesus told him would happen did happen. There was a servant girl in verse 69 who says, hey, aren't you a Jesus? And he says, nope. In verse 71, there's another girl who comes to him.

It's interesting, you know, these two girls come to Peter and he's like, no, no, I don't know that guy. You kind of think of Peter as like a big, you know, kind of unafraid dude. But he was afraid at this time. And then verse 73, there were those who stood by Peter.

And they say, surely you are one of his disciples. And Peter said, no, I'm not. And so in those three times he denied the Lord and he ran out from there as he realized it and wept bitterly. It's not the end. He's going to repent. He's going to come back. God's going to restore him and do a mighty work through him in that. Well, there's a few references to the Old Testament here in chapter 26.

The first one is in verse 17 where it refers to the Feast of Unleavened Bread as well as the Passover. And so you can look for the details of those feasts back in Exodus chapter 12 is the beginning of it.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Passover. Passover was, you know, one day it was a meal. And that began the Feast of Unleavened Bread which lasted for seven days. And so Passover and Unleavened Bread begin or happen on the same day.

Well then in verse 24, he says, Jesus says it was written of the Messiah that he would go to be crucified. And I just picked one of many verses. There's many others that you could look at. But Isaiah chapter 53 verse 7 says,

Talks about how he was oppressed and afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is silent. So he opened not his mouth. It was prophesied, it was foretold in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be put to death and would be led away like a sheep before the slaughter, a sheep to the slaughter.

Then in verse 31, Jesus says, And this is a quotation from Zechariah chapter 13 verse 7. And so we see prophecy after prophecy being fulfilled here in these final days of Jesus. Then we also have a reference in verse 56.

Again, all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. And so I picked another one. Again, there's many of all of this. But Daniel chapter 9 verse 26, where he says that the Messiah will be cut off, but not for himself.

He's going to be put to death. He's going to be cut off, but not for his own sake or for his own sin, but for the people that he is coming to save. And then finally here in this chapter, there's another reference in verse 64. He says, "...nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

And here it's a reference to, it's kind of an indirect quotation from Daniel chapter 7 verse 13 where Daniel has this vision of God and he says, "...one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the Ancient of Days and they brought him near before him." And so it's a reference to Jesus there in the Old Testament coming alongside the Father in the clouds of heaven.

Well, chapter 27, now verse 50 is the key verse. It says, And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. In verse 1 and 2, we see that Jesus is delivered to Pilate.

Now this is all falling in line with what Jesus told his disciples ahead of time. He told them, I'm going to be betrayed. I'm going to be tried. I'm going to be delivered to the Romans. And that's exactly what has happened. And so he's delivered now to Pontius Pilate, who is a Roman governor there in Jerusalem. And now he's going to be on trial by the Romans. In verses 3 through 10, we see the account of Judas hanging himself.

He realizes, you know, what he has done and that Jesus is innocent. And so he tries to give back the money that they gave him. They wouldn't take it, but they used it to buy a field instead. And Judas goes and hangs himself. Now, a common question is brought up, you know, is Judas going to be in heaven? And we can't say for sure, but

The answer is probably not because although it says that he's sorry, there's different kinds of sorrow and Paul points that out in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10. He says that godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

And so from what we see in the scriptures, again, we don't know for sure, but there's not really any evidence that there's godly sorrow that produced repentance in Judas, but just sorrow that produced death. And so he didn't turn to God. He just, you know, went into self-pity and hung himself instead.

Verses 11 through 26, you see that Pilate releases Barabbas. And so Pilate, throughout this trial, is really attempting to release Jesus by offering a choice. It was his custom at this time, the Feast of Passover, to release one of the prisoners to the Jewish people. And so there was always, you know, Jewish people on trial and being, you know, held for certain reasons. And so just kind of as an act of, you know,

supposed kindness or a show of kindness to get goodwill amongst the Jewish people, he would let one prisoner go. And so he gives them a choice. Which one do you want me to release to you? Barabbas or Jesus? Now it says that he did this specifically in verse 18 because he knew that the Jewish leaders handed Jesus over because of envy. And so in Pilate's mind, he's thinking, okay, there's this crowd of people here and

surely they're not going to choose Barabbas. I mean, you know, these guys are just envious of Jesus. They just want to get rid of him because they feel like he's a threat. And so the people are not going to go along with that. It's just the religious leaders that have a problem with him. And so he gives the option to the crowd saying, hey, who do you want me to release to you?

But it tells us in verse 20 that the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. And so the chief priests, they go into the crowd. They say, hey guys, everybody call for Barabbas' release and let's crucify Jesus. And so they are inciting the crowd to call for Barabbas' release. And so

Pilate complies and he releases Barabbas and he turns Jesus over to be scourged that is to be whipped this was a process which they would do to get people to confess to their crimes and so they would whip them until they'd confessed everything that they had done wrong all the crimes that they had committed and they would do this before they crucified a person

So Jesus is scourged, which means his back is all tore up from the whip. And then in verses 27 through 56, we see that Jesus is mocked and crucified.

So they spent some time mocking him after they scourged him. In verse 29 it says that they make a crown of thorns and they put it upon his head. In verse 30 it tells us that they spat upon Jesus. In verse 30 it also tells us that they struck him on the head with a reed and so driving those thorns into his head.

And then they put the cross on his back and cause him to carry it. But in verse 32, we see that Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross because Jesus is unable to. In verse 35 is when they crucify Jesus. They nail his hands and his feet to the cross and they set him up there to hang and to die.

In verse 38, we see that there's two robbers alongside of him that are crucified. And in the meantime, while all this is going on, while Jesus is hanging there upon the cross, the robbers, the crowds, the priests, you know, all kinds of the people are mocking Jesus, reviling Jesus, saying accusations against Jesus.

While he is there upon the cross. And so just it illustrates and reminds us of the shame. You know the agony. The things that Jesus went through for us. You know he endured the cross for our sake.

There's also some amazing things, some miraculous things that are happening while Jesus is being crucified. In verse 45 it tells us that there was darkness over the land. Now this was not happening at night. This was happening in the middle of the day. And so it was very unusual for there to be darkness over the land. And there was a work of God happening here, a supernatural darkness going on as Jesus is being crucified and ridiculed and mocked by the people.

In verse 51 it tells us when Jesus actually died. That the temple veil was torn. And this is something pretty amazing because...

The veil in the temple was of great significance in that it protected the priests from the presence of God. And so if you remember in the temple, when the priest would go in, there would be the table for showbread, there would be the lampstand with the light, there would be the altar of incense, and then there would be the veil, and behind the veil was the Ark of the Covenant. And God said, that's where my presence will dwell, that's where I will meet with my people.

Well, when Jesus died upon the cross, that veil was torn in two from top to bottom. For some reason, in my mind, because I'm a little bit weird, I picture it kind of like, you know, ripping a phone book. I don't know if you've ever seen somebody do that, but I picture God doing that. Because the temple veil was said to be about 18 inches thick. I mean, it wasn't like a little curtain you put on the wall. It was a hefty veil. And so God, like ripping a phone book, he just rips it apart.

Signifying that access has been granted. That now we are invited into the presence of God. Where before only the high priest could go into the presence of the Lord one time a year. That was it.

But now because of what Christ did for us, we have full access to God by faith in Jesus Christ. And I really love the portion in Hebrews chapter 10 where the author of Hebrews says, have boldness to enter in to the presence of the Lord by the blood of Jesus. The veil that was torn, he says, was his body, his flesh being broken. And so when Jesus died upon the cross,

the veil was torn because he was making a way for you and I to have direct access to God by faith in Jesus Christ. And so it's just incredible what he did for us. And we see that as the temple veil was torn. Well, we also see in verse 51 and 52 that there was a great earthquake and that the graves were opened.

Now this prompted a question this week as we're going through the reading. In verse 52, someone sent in the question. So there were dead people walking around like zombies? Can you explain this a little bit more? Because it tells us that there were the dead who came out of the graves...

when this happened. So what does that mean? Were there zombies walking around when Jesus died? And of course the answer to that is no, they weren't zombies. But the point is that they were resurrected. Jesus, when he died upon the cross, he conquered sin, he conquered death. And God, I think, provided this event as evidence for that. And so these were resurrected saints who

Not lifeless zombies. Resurrected Old Testament believers. Now, the timeline is a little bit interesting because, well, first of all, this is the only book, the only verses we have referring to this event. So, all the details we have are right here in verse 51 and 52.

Well, and verse 53. But it seems like the graves were opened by the earthquake when Jesus died. But then verse 53 indicates they didn't come out of the graves until Jesus resurrected. And so it seems that these are Old Testament saints...

who have now been resurrected when Jesus was resurrected. And so they have resurrected bodies and they're walking around, you know, and testifying of Jesus. And then the question, of course, then is, well, what happened to them? And so some people believe they were raised like Lazarus was raised. And so they came to life and then they died again later on.

And that's, you know, one idea, one possibility. But the other possibility is that they were resurrected with resurrected bodies. And then as Jesus ascended to heaven, they also ascended to heaven. And, you know, will forever be with the Lord at that point. But again, I think the whole point of this is God just demonstrating he has the power over death. And so he brought these dead saints to life at this time.

Well then in verses 57 through 61, Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus. And so Jesus has died upon the cross and Joseph is a rich man who has a tomb nearby. And so he talks to Pilate. He gets the body of Jesus and he buries him in this garden tomb nearby the cross. In verses 62 through 66, you see the chief priests secure the tomb. Now Pilate,

It's interesting because the disciples, you know, were told by Jesus what was going to happen and he would rise again the third day. And they didn't quite get it. But the chief priest said, hey, he said that he was going to rise again on the third day. I mean, they knew clearly what he had taught about this. And so they go to...

take measures to prevent, you know, some kind of deception from happening. And so they place a guard at the tomb to secure the tomb. They seal the tomb with the signal ring to secure the tomb to make sure that the body of Jesus is not stolen. It's not going to be very effective as we'll see in the next chapter. But before we get there, there's a couple Old Testament references to consider. In verse 9 and 10,

It says,

The Jewish leaders say, hey, this is blood money. We can't accept this, even though they're the ones who gave the blood money. But they say, we can't take this. And they decide, well, let's just purchase a potter's field with it. And so in doing so, fulfill Zechariah chapter 11, verse 12 and 13. Now this raises some questions, though, because it says in Matthew that this was fulfilled by what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah.

But the quotation we find in our Bibles is in Zechariah, not Jeremiah. And so there's lots of discussion about why that is. And there's a few different options. I think probably the most common and the easiest to understand is that

The books of the Old Testament were written, you know, on a collection of scrolls. It wasn't like what we have today. It was all compiled in one single volume. But they were handwritten and they were, you know, collections on scrolls. And so the prophet Jeremiah on his scroll also would have some other of the prophets. And so Zechariah was...

one of the books that was included on the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah. And so it could be a reference to just the Jeremiah scroll in general, but it also had prophecies from other prophets as well.

Other options are that Jeremiah did say this as well, but we just don't have it recorded in our book. And just because it's not recorded in the book of Jeremiah that we have doesn't mean that Jeremiah didn't prophesy this. And so that's one possibility. It's also possible that it's a copyist error, so that Matthew wrote Zechariah, but when it was being copied later on, that the copyist put Zechariah.

instead of Zechariah. So there's a couple options for you to chew on if you want. But the point is, regardless, the scripture is being fulfilled. Verse 46 is the other reference in this chapter. And it's really the final reference of the book of Matthew. So a total of 65 references to the Old Testament throughout the gospel of Matthew. Of course, you could probably count it a little bit differently here or there. But by my count, 65 references to the Old Testament.

It's found when Jesus says, And this is a direct quotation from Psalm chapter 22 verse 1. The translation is, By this, Jesus is calling attention to this psalm.

You know, the chapter divisions and the verse divisions that we have today, they weren't part of the original text. You know, so when David was writing Psalm 22, he didn't write, okay, Psalm 22 verse 1 and then start writing. You know, he just wrote down the song. He wrote down, you know, the psalm that was on his heart.

it was divided up later on as the Bible was being compiled. And so it makes it easy reference for us. But in Jesus's day, they would refer to passages by the first line of, you know, say the song. And so we would refer to, you know, Psalm chapter five or Psalm chapter one. But they would refer to, you know, blessed is the one, you know,

Adam suddenly just went right out of my head. Whatever it says in Psalm 1 verse 1, that's what they would say. And they would say, oh, that's in Psalm 1 verse 1. In the same way, Psalm 22 verse 1, by Jesus quoting the first line here,

It's a way to say, go look at this psalm. Look at what it says. Psalm chapter 22 is an amazing prophecy with really graphic detail about crucifixion. It was written well before crucifixion was ever actually invented. It talks about the nail pierced hands and such.

And so Jesus here is pointing out that this was prophesied. Again, it's the fulfillment of scripture. It's not by surprise. It's by God's design, by God's plan. He's using this to accomplish salvation for humanity. Well, the final chapter now, chapter 28, verse 6 is the key verse. It says, "'He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, "'Come, see the place where the Lord lay.'"

In verses 1 through 8, we have the angels there announce that Jesus is risen. It's Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, the brother of Lazarus. They're going to the tomb early Sunday morning. They're wondering who's going to open the tomb for us. And an angel comes down from heaven and removes the stone to show them that Jesus is not inside. It's been pointed out many times over the years.

They didn't remove the stone. The angel didn't remove the stone to let Jesus out. They removed the stone to let the people in to see that Jesus indeed has resurrected. And so the angels speak to the ladies and say, he's not here because he is risen. And they say, come see the place where the Lord laid. Look at the empty tomb. See that he is no longer here and believe that he is risen, that he is resurrected.

Well, they go then to tell the disciples as they're instructed. In verses 9 through 10, Jesus meets the women as they go. And so as they go to tell the others about his resurrection, Jesus meets them on the way and they get to encounter him. And so they get to spend a few moments together. And then he says, okay, go on to your, you know, as you were, go tell the disciples and tell them to meet me in Galilee and I'll reveal myself to them.

Well, then in verses 11 through 15, you see the chief priests bribing the guards. The guards...

Kind of shook up by this. They were, you know, in a deep sleep from the Lord as the angel comes and removes the stone. And so they go in and they tell the chief priest what happened. I mean, there's an angel came down. The tomb is empty now. They say that he has risen. And the chief priest say, okay, here's a bunch of money. Be quiet. Here's a fake story. Tell the story that the disciples came and stole the body while you were sleeping.

But you know that because you sleep with your eyes open. So that's how you know the disciples stole the body, that it wasn't somebody else. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, the story. But anyways, they bribe him to tell this story. And so that's the story that they told. Well, then in verses 16 through 20 is Jesus saying,

He's talking to his disciples. He tells them to go and make disciples of all nations. This kind of fast forwards a little bit. He meets them in Galilee. He spends, you know, about 40 days with the disciples and walking the earth and showing himself alive to the people. And then these last few verses, he's on the Mount of Olives. He's about to ascend into heaven. And he tells the disciples, he gives them the great commission of the Lord.

He says, go make more disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. And that commission extends to us today. It's not just for those who were there on the Mount of Olives with Jesus at that moment, but for all believers involved.

For all disciples of Jesus. And we know that for a few reasons, but one of the easiest ones is in verse 20 when he says, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. The end of the age has not occurred yet. And none of the disciples are with us today. But this commission has carried on to eternity.

The rest of Jesus' disciples. That's you, that's me. And that's our commission. And so the gospel of Matthew ends with this call, with this commission to go and make more disciples.

And teach them, Jesus says, to observe all that I've commanded you. And so I would encourage you, as we've gone through this gospel of Matthew, and as the Lord's spoken to you, and he's showed you different things, that now he commissions you to pass that on and to teach others what he has shown you, what he has spoken, what he has done, as revealed through the gospel of Matthew. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this wonderful account of what you have done for us. And I pray, God, that you would help us to never forget the reality that you are God and that you left the eternal glory which you've always had to humble yourself, to become a man, to live on this world. You spent some time growing up, ministering, working miracles, teaching,

But then to accomplish your final purpose, which was to die upon the cross. To pay the price for our sin. To receive the penalty that we deserve. To rip that temple veil. That we might have access to God by faith in you. Thank you, Jesus, for your incredible gift. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to respond appropriately to that gift. That is to enter in to the presence of God. To spend time with you. To seek you. To know you. To pursue you.

But not just for our own selves or by our own selves. But also to make disciples. Help us God. To be obedient to your great commission. And to reach out to others. To look for others. Lord that you would have us. To share your love with. To train up. To teach. Lord that they would be walking with you. Even as you've called us to. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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