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Gospel of Matthew

His Death

Chapter 27:37 to 50

 

All four Gospels contribute details about the death of the Lord Jesus, and we will include them all in this study, i.e., the text of Matthew and Mark 15:25-37, Luke 23:33-49 and John 19:19 -30. 

We highlight some notable events from the crucifixion to the time that the Lord Jesus gave up His spirit to God. They are:

The inscription on the cross

On the way to the cross, a convict would have hung on his neck, or the soldiers carried before him, a plaque inscribed with his name, origin, and the crime of which he was convicted. This inscription was placed on the cross above his head.

The Lord Jesus had one such plaque written by Pilate himself with such details, and each Evangelist gives us some details of it. Putting them all together, we read that the inscription was, “THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS ", written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, the three languages used there at that time.

Pilate had put this inscription. The charge that He claimed to be "the Christ, a king” had come from the chiefs of the priests and religious leaders (Luke 23:2). He had declared to be king only in a spiritual sense, but they used the political sense for Him to be condemned by Pilate.

Truly, the Lord Jesus had a right to the throne of Israel if it were not for the foreign occupation that the nation suffered, because He was a direct descendant of the royal house of King David through fourteen generations, as seen in His genealogy in Matthew 1:6-17.

Now they asked Pilate to correct the plate to indicate that it was the Lord Jesus who said He was king. But Pilate did not change it, saying "what I wrote, I wrote" (John 19:22). He had written in mockery, but it was true!

Mockery

Soon after the crucifixion, His enemies took to mocking Him:

• Those that passed by, wagged their heads challenging Him to save Himself, and to come down from the cross.

• The chief priests, with the scribes, elders and Pharisees mocked Him among themselves saying "He saved others; Himself He cannot save" and shouted: "Let the Christ, King of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe " and "He trusted in God, let him deliver Him now, if He will have Him, for He said 'I am the Son of God. '"

• Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.

However, He kept silent, determined not to give in to these provocations, and this seems to have impressed one of the thieves hanged by His side, and the centurion who watched everything.

Darkness

Three evangelists testify that there was darkness over the whole land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, or noon until three o'clock in the afternoon, when the sun usually shines with greater intensity. During this time, the Lord Jesus paid our debt with unspeakable mental and physical suffering.

The seven utterances of Christ

1. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34) - expressed His forgiveness to the soldiers who crucified Him, ignorant of who He was. Although they did something extremely cruel, they were only obeying superior orders. Blame weighed upon them, but the Lord forgave them. Forgiveness evidently does not apply to the religious people responsible for His death, because they knew who He was but rejected Him out of envy.

2. “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43) -expresses His redemption to the thief crucified beside Him, because he had shown that he believed in Him, and awaited His return, risen from the dead to reign in world. He was not a "good thief" for he had been as bad as the one on the other side, but he turned into a repentant thief, a believer, and so was saved. In His response, the Lord clarifies some important things for us:  

   • 
     Immediately after death, the soul goes to its destination.

   • Salvation does not depend on works made ??after conversion: the thief was dying.  Likewise, salvation does not depend on the observation of ordinances such as baptism, the Lord's Supper, etc. There is no intermediate place such as “purgatory”, where the believer will first have to go through to “purge" his sins.

3. "Woman, behold your son" and "Behold your mother" (John 19:27) -express His consideration for His mother in the flesh, even at this difficult time. The Lord Jesus became responsible for Mary when His stepfather, Joseph, died, because He was the oldest of her children. Now He was going to leave her, thus cutting their family ties, because of His physical death (Matthew 12:47-50). His resurrection would clear her name before the world, and save His reputation (proving the truth of His impregnation by the Holy Spirit), however, like any other sinner, she would be saved only through faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Though He was her Son in the flesh,  it is to be noted that He did not call her "mother," but only "woman", as He did at the wedding at Cana (chapter 2:4). Even in this climactic hour of His mission, the Lord had not forgotten her. The “disciple whom Jesus loved" was his cousin John, the author of the last Gospel. Of all the disciples, he is the only one mentioned as being present, along with women, during the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Seeing in John a competent and faithful substitute, the Lord moved to him His family ties. Mary and John accepted this new relationship, and John took her to his home, where, it seems, she lived until she died. The other children of Mary are not listed as being present, and probably did not yet even believe in Him (chapter 7:5), but only after His resurrection (Acts 1:14).

4. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46) - expresses the desolation of Jesus Christ, separated from His heavenly Father because of the sin of the world that He took upon His innocent Person. This exclamation was made ??at 15:00 hrs. when the three hours of darkness finished.  They are words prophesied in Psalm 22:1-3, where we also find the answer "But You are holy." God, in His holiness, could not make any concession, but in His righteousness had to punish His Son who offered Himself as a substitute for sinners.

5. "I thirst" (John 19:28) - expresses His physical anguish. The Lord Jesus suffered in His human body the great dehydration due to loss of blood and sweat. In response to this cry the soldiers soaked a sponge with vinegar in a bowl that was there and with a reed of hyssop lifted it up to His lips. This time it was not mixed with anaesthetic, and He drank "that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (Psalm 69:21). This prophecy of David has reference to the sufferings of the Messiah, predicting what would happen.

6. "It is finished" (John 19:30) - expressing victory held in withstanding all that punishment upon Himself. Jesus Christ had performed the work He came to do on earth: redemption and atonement. The full price had been paid to redeem sinners, and immediately after, He would give up His life here on earth.

7.  "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46) - expresses the completion of the work. He bowed His head and gave up His spirit or soul to God. As the Preacher said, in death, “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12: 7). His death was voluntary, something that no man is able to do. The body remained for burial and resurrection, which would take place correctly and on time following this.

        

 

R David Jones

 

37 And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.
39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads
40 and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
41 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said,
42 "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.
43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' "
44 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This Man is calling for Elijah!"
48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.
49 The rest said, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him."
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Matthew chapter 27, verses 37 to 50

27 With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.
28 So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS."
29 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,
30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!"
31 Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save.
32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.
33 Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"
35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, "Look, He is calling for Elijah!"
36 Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."
37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

Mark chapter 15, verses 27 to 37

33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.
35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine,
37 and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."
43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.
47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"
48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.
49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Luke chapter 23, verses 33 to 49

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