Includes a sample introduction to the lesson, text outline and highlights, illustrations you can share, discussion questions for your group, and spiritual life applications you can make. A video version of this preview is available on YouTube at:
INTRODUCTION:
???DISCUSSION QUESTION???
“What is your favorite song about Jesus’ death on the cross?”
(There are so many, aren’t there? Mine might be either the great hymn “At Calvary” — one of the first songs I loved as a child: “Mercy there was great, and grace was free …” — or “At The Cross” by The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir: “At the cross my debt was paid, All my sins were washed away, Just for me, amazing grace, At the cross”)
You/your group can share your favorites, then transition to the lesson: Today we’re going to study the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins, in Matthew 27.
CONTEXT:
This week we finish our 6-month study of the Book of Matthew with Matthew 27:27 and following. (Remember we look at the Matthew 28 and Jesus’ Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Last time we saw how Jesus and His disciples shared the Last Supper together, and Judas left to betray Him. In the intervening time, Jesus took His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, just outside/east of the city walls, to pray. There, after praying all night, He was betrayed by Judas and arrested, and after admitting under oath that He was indeed the Son of God, the Jews tried Him, then handed Him over to the Romans, demanding His crucifixion. Today’s lesson in Matthew 27 opens with Jesus given over to Roman soldiers for scornful preparation for crucifixion.
OUTLINE:
I. Prelude to the Cross (:27-31)
II. On the Cross (:45-50)
III. After the Cross (:51-54)
TEXT: Matthew 27:27-31, 45-54
I. Prelude to the Cross (:27-31)
:27 “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman [m]cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.”
After Jesus had been condemned to die, verse 27 continues the story. It says the soldiers “took Jesus into the Praetorium.” What is this “Praetorium”? The Praetorium was the official residence of the Roman Governor in Jerusalem. Modern archeologists believe that Herod’s former palace served as the Praetorium for the Governor in Jesus’ time. You may have heard the term “Praetorian Guard,” these were elite soliders who were assigned to protect the Governor and other Roman officials.
These soldiers took Jesus somewhere inside the Praetorium and began to torment Him mercilessly. You can imagine how hardened soldiers might treat someone they felt contempt for.
The Bible described what they did (and you will see it progress in intensity as it moves along):
— It says “the whole Roman cohort” gathered around Him. A “cohort” at full strength was 600 men, so even if it weren’t at full strength, this was a large group of hardened soldiers who surrounded Jesus for this mockery. (+x Psalm 22:12 “Many bulls have surrounded me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.)
— :28 says “they stripped Him” — there’s not much worse humiliation than that.
ILLUSTRATION
Corrie Ten Boom writes in her classic testimony book, The Hiding Place, how she and her sister Betsie were forced to strip naked in front of guards at the Ravensbrook concentration camp. She found strength remembering that Jesus had endured this same thing for her: “He hung naked on the cross… The paintings, the carved crucifixes showed at the least a scrap of cloth … But oh—at the time itself, on that other Friday morning—there had been no reverence.” She commiserated with her sister: “Betsie, they took HIS clothes, too!”
— “And put a scarlet robe on Him” (like what a king might wear). Again this was to humiliate Him.
— :29 says they “twisted together” a “crown of thorns” and put it on His head. Now not mere humiliation, but physical pain is added to it as well. They knelt down and mocked Him as if He were a king, saying “Hail, King of the Jews.”
— :30 says they spat on Him.
??? DISCUSSION QUESTION: You might ask your group???
“Has anyone ever spat on you?”
Anyone with that experience will tell you it is a particularly disgusting feeling.
— The second part of :30 shows they’ve gotten tired of mere mockery, and now “began to beat Him on the head” with the reed that was His “scepter.” (Remember He had the crown of thorns on His head they were beating.) The Greek verb here for “beating or striking” is in the “imperfect” tense, which means it is continuing action. That’s why the NASB translates “began” to beat Him, because it continued for some time.
— Verse 31 sums up their activities: “after they had mocked Him.” The Greek word “empaizo” means “to play with,” trifle with, sport with, mock. You’ve seen a cat toying with a mouse; it seems to be so cruel what they do. This is what Jesus, the God of glory, who spoke the worlds into being, allowed these puny humans that HE MADE and whom He holds together by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3) to do to Him.
It is literally unimaginable condescension and humiliation on Jesus’ part. Yet He was very willing to do all that — in order that He might save us. What assurance of His love that should give us. He did all this for us — we should never doubt His love.
And when they had finished mocking Him, :31 says “they led Him away to crucify Him.” It’s just a brief statement. Later in :35, it merely adds “and when they had crucified Him.” Very brief, very succinct; no dramatic description. NOT the kind of detailed focus on the physical act of crucifixion like we see/hear from many preachers.
??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???
“WHY do you think the Bible only mentions the crucifixion very briefly, with no details?”
(Answers could include:
1) Crucifixion was common in their day. They had all seen people crucified publicly. The public spectacle was considered to be a deterrent.
ILLUSTRATION
Vasilios Tzaferis wrote an article in the Biblical Archeology website, about how common crucifixion was:
“Accounts of the suppression of the revolt of Spartacus in 71 B.C. tell how the Roman army lined the road from Capua to Rome with 6,000 crucified rebels on 6,000 crosses. After the Romans quelled the relatively minor rebellion in Judea in 7 A.D. triggered by the death of King Herod, Quintilius Varus, the Roman Legate of Syria, crucified 2,000 Jews in Jerusalem. During Titus’s siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Roman troops crucified as many as 500 Jews a day for several months.”
Josephus (5.11.1) wrote that so many Jews were crucified during Titus’ siege that they ran out of space for crosses and wood to build them! So virtually everyone in ancient Palestine/the Roman Empire had seen crucifixions. It was so common to them that they didn’t need to describe it in the Gospels.
2) The Bible does not focus on the physical suffering of Jesus on the cross, but the agony of His spiritual suffering for our sin. Note scriptures like these in Isaiah 53 which prophesy the suffering of the Messiah on the cross:
— Isaiah 53:5 “the CHASTENING for our well-being fell upon Him.” All God’s punishment for our sins, fell upon Jesus on the cross.
— Isaiah 53:10 “The Lord was pleased to CRUSH Him …”. What an expression of the wrath of the Father upon Jesus: He “crushed” Him.
— Isaiah 53:11 “As a result of the ANGUISH of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied.” This was no light punishment. It caused “anguish” for Jesus’ soul.
THIS is why Jesus had such distress at Gethsemane. It wasn’t that He didn’t have courage in the face of death, as many men have. It’s that He faced unprecedented suffering: the entirety of the just wrath of God upon Himself for all the sins of everyone who ever lived in the world. The suffering that Jesus underwent on the cross for our sins is literally unimaginable. But it wasn’t the physical suffering of crucifixion; it was the wrath that He suffered for our sin.
ILLUSTRATION:
A young Chinese man asked one of our teachers in the Trinity Chinese Fellowship here in Norman, How could Jesus pay for all the sins of everyone who ever lived, in only three short hours on the cross?
The teacher asked my opinion about that, and I told her that it doesn’t have to do with “time.” It has to do with the quality of the Person on that cross, that it was Perfect God who was there, suffering; and also with the unimaginable torment that was poured out upon Him there during those three hours. BUT, I said, it’s not something we can “calculate” on a chalkboard like an algebra equation: x hours suffering x y punishment = forgiveness. The Bible says in I Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.” We can’t add it up on a calculator. We must take what the Bible says by faith. But what it tells us, is that our sins were “paid in full” by Jesus’ death on the cross. (John 19:30)
Emphasize to your group that they need to make sure that they personally have put their faith in Jesus’ suffering on the cross for their sins. It is our only hope for salvation.
If you would like more historical information on crucifixion, see The Biblical Archeological Society website article: “A Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion.” It tells about a tomb excavated in 1968 in Jerusalem, which contained the bones of a man who had been crucified. Here’s a brief quote from that article:
“Examination of Yehohanan’s bones showed one of the many Roman crucifixion methods. Both of his feet had been nailed together to the cross with a wooden plaque while his legs were bent to one side. His arm bones revealed scratches where the nails had passed between. Both legs were badly fractured, most likely from a crushing blow meant to end his suffering and bring about a faster death. Yehohanan was probably a political dissident against Roman oppression. In death his bones have helped fill in gaps in the history of crucifixion.”
There’s a lot more there; the address of the full article is:
Although I would repeat my personal belief that we shouldn’t necessarily focus on the gory physical details of the crucifixion. The Bible doesn’t;, its focus is the suffering Jesus endured for our SIN, not just the physical pain of the crucifixion.
II. On The Cross (:45-50)
45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the [w]ninth hour. 46 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 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.”
Our Lifeway focus passage skips between :31 and :45. That’s where :35 briefly states “and when they had crucified Him.” Then it tells how the two thieves were crucified with Him, and several verses (:39-44) describe how the Jews, and then the robbers, all mocked and insulted Jesus as He hung on the cross, fulfilling Psalm 22:7-8.
So as we pick up the story in :45, Jesus is on the cross. Verse :45 mentions the time, which we ‘ve discussed before. Their day began at 6:00 a.m., so “the sixth hour” meant noon. So darkness fell upon the land from noon until 3:00 that afternoon, at which time, :46 says Jesus cried out those famous words, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” — “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Many take these words as Jesus’ own feelings on the cross — and they certainly are — but we also need to remember that He’s actually quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. AND we need to understand that the Jews often quoted the first verse of a chapter (or some single verse of it) to refer to the whole chapter. So Jesus was not only expressing the feeling of being forsaken, He was also, and more importantly, pointing everyone to the prophecy of Psalm 22 which was being fulfilled in His death.
GROUP EXERCISE:
Have your class quickly scan Psalm 22 and look for things they recognize about Jesus on the cross. Answers can include:
— of course :1, Jesus’ words on the cross
— :7-8 “All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,“Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
(Fulfilled in Matthew 27:39-43, just before this part of the Lifeway focus passage)
— :14 “all my bones are out of joint’
— :15 “my tongue cleaves to my jaws”
— :16 “they pierced my hands and my feet”
— :17 “I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me”
— :18 “They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.”
What’s amazing about these words is that they were written by David, 800 years before Jesus suffered on the cross, but so perfectly describe what He endured there — and with some great detail! And Bible scholars tell us that there is NO EVENT in the life of David that would cause him to write these words! They were truly inspired by the Holy Spirit, who predicted the death of Jesus.
Jesus’ quote of Psalm 22 was misunderstood by some as calling for Elijah — which makes sense, as “Eli,” (“My God”) and “Elias” the name of Elijah, are very similar. Verses 48 & 49 are an interesting contrast: one person felt compassion and tried to give Him a drink; but most of them just said “Let us see whether Elijah will save Him.” We might consider the question: am I a “do something for Jesus” person, or a “let us see” person? That can be a convicting thought!
THEN NOTICE that final expression in this section: “And He YIELDED UP His spirit.” The word “yielded” here is “aphiemi,” “to send away.” It is also often used in the sense of “giving permission.” It’s used in Matthew 3:15 of John “letting” Jesus be baptized by him when He explained it was necessary.
The point here is, no one “took” Jesus’ spirit in death. He YIELDED it. He said in John 10:17-18, “I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.” Jesus gave His life up, willingly, in order to pay for our salvation.
ILLUSTRATION:
Laurene Powell married to Steve Jobs, the famous Apple entrepreneur, in 1991. Laurene had learned to be self-sufficient at an early age, as her father died in a plane crash in Santa Anna, California. His plane had been crippled by a mid-air collision with another plane, and the other pilot successfully ejected. But Powell’s father, not quite 31, “kept flying to avoid a residential area rather than ejecting in time to save his life.” (Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, p. 269)
Laurene Powell’s father didn’t have to die; he chose to, so that he might save others. This is just what the Bible says that Jesus did here. No one “took” his life from Him; the Bible says He “yielded up” His Spirit, to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
III. After the Cross (:51-54)
51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the [aa]saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
A series of unusual things happened after Jesus died on the cross:
A. “The Veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
The “veil” is “katapesma,” or “curtain,” that screened off the Holy of Holies from the holy place in the Temple. That this curtain was torn in two from top to bottom is both a significant physical feat, and also is very symbolic. The Jewish Talmud (collection of Jewish traditions about the Law) states that the veil of the Temple was a “handbreadth” thick — likely 4-6” — and that it took hundreds of priests to lift it! So it was no light thing for the Temple veil to be “torn in two from top to bottom”! It took more than human strength to do that!
How do we know that the veil was torn in such a fashion? Well, the Bible states it here, which is all we need to know. But we might speculate, that perhaps a priest was there in the Temple ministering, and saw this very thing happen with his own eyes. Then later, when he heard Peter, Paul, or others, teach on the death of Jesus, he may have born witness to what he saw. In such a case, it’s no wonder that Acts 6:7 says that “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith”! That would not be surprising if one of their number had shared what he had witnessed in the Temple. On the other hand, if someone had been there ministering and saw that it did NOT happen, he could have immediately contradicted it, and shut the whole story down immediately. But this did not happen, so it’s a powerful witness.
But even more than the physical act, is the spiritual meaning that it symbolized: for centuries that veil of the Temple had stood, as a symbol that all mankind was kept from the holy place of God. Only the high priest could enter, and only once a year. Now that curtain had been torn:
— symbolizing that the way to the holy place was now opened for all mankind, through the death of Jesus on the cross.
— And it had been torn from top to bottom: symbolizing that only GOD could make the way for us to enter His holy place. No human rites or rituals could accomplish it; only God Himself could accomplish this work through Jesus’ death on the cross.
B. The Strange Signs. :51-53 says “the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”
So there was a great earthquake, that broke rocks apart. Even more spectacularly, some people were raised from the dead when Jesus died! “The saints” here is the Greek “hagion,” or “holy ones.” So some godly people like Lazarus rose from dead “and appeared to many”! People knew that something “big” had happened when Jesus died!
C. The Centurion’s Confession. Seeing all this, Verse 54 says the Roman centurion (leader of 100 Roman soldiers) but not only him, but also “those who were with him” — likely his soldiers — said, “Truly this was the Son of God.” I’ve seen where some have tried to minimize this by saying that the Greek can be read “a son of God,” but I think that misses the point. This man and those with him were not theologians. They were saying there was something special about this Man. They had put hundreds and perhaps thousands to death; but there was no one else like this Man. We condemned Him and put Him to death, but God has approved Him. They called Him “righteous” (Luke 23:47) and we are not. No, they likely couldn’t write a systematic theology explaining it all, but they did know that God had done something special in Jesus. He responded in faith to the light that he had. And undoubtedly some of these very men came to follow Jesus in the days to come, as the word about His resurrection was proclaimed.
“Truly this was the Son of God,” they said. Under oath before the Sanhedrin in Matthew 26, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. And His death on the cross — in fulfillment of so many Old Testament scriptures like Psalm 22 — and especially His Resurrection, which we studied on Easter Sunday morning, all point to the fact that He really was, and is, the one true Son of God, who died on the cross to be the Savior from our sins. But encourage your class members this week to make sure that each of them can say that He is not only “the Savior,” but that He is especially “My Savior & Lord”!
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shawnethomas 