Culver Community Church

Pastor Chris Sweeney

Sermon Notes

June 09, 2019

Matthew 27:51-66 Is this the End? (Part 2)

{vs. 51-53} Matthew lays out more miraculous signs (we already saw the three hours of darkness!) – these are God giving proof that Jesus is who He says He is!  This is a sort of ‘wrap up’ of the events, Matthew steps away from chronological order for a moment and gives the signs in a summary.

· The veil is torn – this is the enormous curtain that separated God, who was seated upon the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies from everyone, even the priests!  Only the High Priest could enter in behind this veil and then only once a year to offer blood for forgiveness.  First, this is miraculous because that curtain was about sixty feet tall and Jewish tradition says it was four inches thick (have you ever tried to tear a phone book?)  The tear was also from the top down – obviously no human hands could have done this!  In God’s perfect timing, the temple would have been packed with people – for the first time the masses could see straight in!  It is as if God moved out, to dwell out in the world in the hearts of the people who would receive Him and He ripped the curtain on the way out just to show it!  No longer would God dwell in darkness, separated to protect us – now we can enter in without fear because of Christ’s death on the cross.  Jesus is God’s High Priest and by shedding His blood, He went into the real Holy of Holies, into God’s presence to provide forgiveness of sin once for all!  In this miraculous act we see that there is no longer a need to offer sacrifices, mercy is no longer attained by the blood of animals (It never really was!) mercy is found at the cross, in the sacrificial death of Jesus!

Acts 6:7 says that in the days of the early church, a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.  It was the priests who knew the importance of that veil – it kept them from dying!  When the high priest went in they tied bells to the bottom hem of his garment so they could know that he was still moving around in there, that God had not struck him dead!  They also tied a rope to his ankle, just in case God did strike him because no one would want to or could go in and get him out after that!  The priests and Levites saw that veil day after day and as they all served during the Passover – God split it right down the middle!  Notice, not just a small hole or a door-shapped opening – that could exclude some.  God completely torn it in half, to let as many as would, go in, no matter how great a sinner they may be!  This torn veil was a powerful testimony – declaring Jesus to be God’s Son, the Messiah, the Great High Priest and the one true Sacrifice for sin!

· The earth shook – (If you recall, secular historians noted this happened on the day of the 3-hour darkness.)  This was no little tremor – the rocks split and graves, which were sealed by several ton stones (like the one rolled in front of Jesus’ borrowed tomb) were opened.  To make matters worse, because of the holy day and Sabbath, they could not be repaired or re-sealed.  Jesus had said “if they [those praising God at the Triumphal Entry] keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40b).  Well here, we see the praises have stopped, only the women remain at the cross, Jesus is silent in death and God the Father has the rocks giving testimony as they are literally broken up over the death of the Source of Life!

· It is a good thing those tombs have been left open because on Sunday morning (Resurrection Sunday Morning) when Christ rose from the dead, many saints (holy people who trusted in God in death) came out of those open tombs!  We don’t know a lot about these supernatural witnesses, but we do know that they weren’t zombies! (it’s only one line recorded here in Matthew) –

… The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. {53} They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

We also have to be careful how the sentence is punctuated or parsed, otherwise they are raised when Jesus died (at the earthquake) and are just sitting around waiting for Sunday morning to go out into the city!  God would not trap them in this type of waiting game – No!  The earthquake opened the tombs, pause and then many holy people were raised after Jesus’ resurrection and they went into the city to show themselves to many people.

This ‘showing off’ is the purpose for these resurrections – God is putting His resurrection power on display!  Jesus only appeared post resurrection to His followers (not Pilate, the religious leaders, etc.), but these saints were free to visit anyone, probably everyone who would know them!  As Jesus rises on Sunday morning, preparing to surprise the women at the tomb, these resurrected Old Testament believers go into the city to look up their friends and family!  Can you imagine how powerful it would be to have uncle Zachariah, aunt Martha or Grandma (Bubbie) show up on your porch to tell you the wonderful news that Jesus is the Messiah!  By this miracle, we know that Christ is the Firstfruits (the First to rise from the dead) and that we who believe will one day follow Him, just as these saints did!

{vs. 54} The centurion and his men (the very men who nailed Jesus to that cross) are convinced by everything that happened - the way Jesus lived, what He said, how He died and the miraculous signs!  This does not mean that they came to ‘faith’ or to put their trust in Jesus (perhaps they did!)  What we see is an ominous, fearful realization that they have done a terrible thing to not just an innocent man, but a Son of God!  Many in and around Jerusalem would think long and hard about everything that God did to witness to Jesus’ death!  Some would have tried to explain it away, others tried to quickly forget and move on but some would be moved.  They would be ready for the first sermon given by Peter and the other disciples on the Day of Pentecost.  Sadly, some would stubbornly remain in their sin no matter what God did to show them the way!

{vs. 55-56} This is important to remember, this will help give us evidence of the resurrection.  Many would try to excuse the account of the women at the empty tomb by saying they went to the wrong place.  I am sure that there was no embossed name plaque, or address for Jesus’ borrowed tomb – so how would they find their way?  These women witnesses (who ironically could not testify in court) were the same ones who came to the empty tomb!  We see that they not only saw Jesus die on the cross, they waited while Joseph requested the body from Pilate, waited through the preparations to Jesus being put into the grave and to that stone being rolled against the opening!  I imagine that the sound of that enormous stone rolling into place was unforgettable – like the echoing clink of a closing jail cell!  All of these things, the dramatic – no traumatic events would be seared into their minds – they did not go to the wrong tomb!

{vs. 57-60} Joseph had been a closet disciple, not willing to risk openly supporting Jesus but here, after Jesus’ death we see a large level of bravery (this could still have cost him everything – his place in society, his wealth, his connections and possibly his life).  This is really something for a person like Joe to do - - - especially for a dead rabbi!  It would be one thing to try to save Jesus, while there was still hope but now – what could be gained?  Nothing!  However, deep concern would not allow Joseph to see Jesus thrown into the mass grave of executed criminals and the poor!  More than that, God requires and prophesies that this is not to be!  Isaiah 53:9 says, "He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death...”  While His fate would have assigned Him a place of dishonor, He would be lovingly laid into the new, unused cave carved out for Joseph.  He had no idea when ordering this facility that it would be given to another, but God moved on his desires to perfectly place Jesus’ resting place.  This tomb provided the proximity - time was short, they rushed to get Him into the grave before sunset (the Sabbath) – it needed to be that close!  It provided the security - this solid rock tomb with a large millstone like door would be easy to secure for the religious leaders and the guard given by Pilate.  Lastly, it provided the verifiability needed - the women were able to see it, know it and on Sunday, see that it was empty!  Because Jesus was laid in this tomb, we know He was missing (He has risen) – no body to disprove the resurrection!  The big stone (average stones used for this purpose were 4 - 6 feet in diameter, weighing between 1 - 3 tons - - - how big was this stone?) – it was rolled downhill (in a groove it was set in) and they thought that was the end!  Joseph went away – no doubt dejected, probably ashamed that he did not stand up for Christ when he had the chance and wondering what the future might hold.

{vs. 61} Where do they go from here?  They too thought this was the end!  Have you ever seen someone sitting at the grave of a loved one?  It’s hard to believe they are truly gone, it’s hard to figure out how to go on.  Well, take that idea and multiply it - these women had based their future plans, their entire lives on the idea that Jesus was more than a rabbi, that He was the messiah.  Some of these women had left their homes in order to be supporters, others were considered close, family friends of the Master - - - now the dream was over, as dead as Jesus’ body and they just don’t know where to go.

{vs. 62-66} The next day could have been as early as six o’clock that night – when the Sabbath (Jewish day) began.  They would have wasted little time, leaving no space for morning or sympathy.  They might have even been aware of Joseph’s request and come up with this request as a countermeasure to the body being in ‘unfriendly’ (Jesus supporting) hands.  It is strange that the enemies of Christ should remember clearly His prediction of rising from death, when the followers could not remember or believe!  Now they did not fear Him rising, they convinced themselves that the miracle-worker could not raise Himself - - - but they feared His followers would make some sort of legend, myth or martyr of Him.  They wanted this to be the end – the last ever hear of Jesus of Nazareth!