MT 26:45 Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"
MT 26:47 While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: "The one I kiss is the man; arrest him." 49 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.
MT 26:50 Jesus replied, "Friend, do what you came for."
Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. 51 With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
MT 26:52 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"
MT 26:55 At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
MT 26:57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. 58 But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.
MT 26:59 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 60 But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.
Finally two came forward 61 and declared, "This fellow said, `I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’ "
MT 26:62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?" 63 But Jesus remained silent.
The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."
MT 26:64 "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."
MT 26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?"
"He is worthy of death," they answered.
MT 26:67 Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him 68 and said, "Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?"
MT 26:69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. "You also were with Jesus of Galilee," she said.
MT 26:70 But he denied it before them all. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," he said.
MT 26:71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, "This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth."
MT 26:72 He denied it again, with an oath: "I don’t know the man!"
MT 26:73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away."
MT 26:74 Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don’t know the man!"
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
MT 27:1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
MT 27:3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That’s your responsibility."
MT 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
MT 27:6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me."
MT 27:11 Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
MT 27:12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, "Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?" 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge--to the great amazement of the governor.
MT 27:15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
MT 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."
MT 27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
MT 27:21 "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor.
"Barabbas," they answered.
MT 27:22 "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked.
They all answered, "Crucify him!"
MT 27:23 "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
MT 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man’s blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
MT 27:25 All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
MT 27:26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
MT 27:27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
MT 27:32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
MT 27:41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 "He saved others," they said, "but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, `I am the Son of God.’ " 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
MT 27:45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
MT 27:47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He’s calling Elijah."
MT 27:48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him."
MT 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
MT 27:51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
MT 27:54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"
MT 27:55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
MT 27:57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.....................................................
There comes a moment after every death when the body of the loved one - the deceased is left alone in the grave.
The dead remain and the living walk away.
Those who walked away that day were left with their private thoughts - their private precious memories and their private guilt that day.
For Pilate and his wife there was the disturbing thought that they had encountered someone Holy, important, amazingly disturbing and in the memory of Pilate’s wife was an incredible dream which had warned against doing the very thing that they had done.
In Peter was the memory of the moment of denial where three times he had denied Jesus until a roosters crow had bought him to his senses and to guilt and the bitterness that accompanies it. To the other disciples too was the sense that in their Masters great moment of need they had failed to stand beside him - Fear had gripped them and they had run.
To Judas faced by the torment of his deceit and corruption came his own death that would not bring release but rather eternal torment.
To the soldiers and the smug religious The Pharisees and the scribes - came a certain common smugness that both the religious and the brutal can sometimes share of a smug victory over some imaginary vanquished foe. A victory for all it’s guile or brutality is shallow and strangely unsatisfying.
For Mary and the woman who had followed Jesus so closely and dearly was the pain that accompanies deep loss and deep pain. For them the deep pain and loss that accompanies such a brutal wrench marred any deep spiritual
Or cosmic importance attached to Jesus death.
Somewhere in Jerusalem a Colt the foal of a donkey stood in it’s stall and munched hay then slept soundly forgetting the events of days before when it had carried Jesus into Jerusalem to the huge cheering crowds .
Here a former Leper and there a Man made spiritually whole and of course Lazerus if aware of Jesus death probably didn’t sleep.
As night fell over a troubled city that had just cursed itself for generations with the words:-
MT 27:25 "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"
The body of Jesus lay quietly at last in a silent grave in a cave in a hill with a sealed rock outside and a guard of honour formed by his killers.
And what of God?
Where was God in all of this.
For God the pain of this incredible day in world history is unfathomable - - -
In our human condition we suffer a limited view of things we see and feel the pain of the world in a limited way - the more sensitive among us feel the pain of suffering of the third world and we sponsor a child or support a missionary - some like Mother Teresa might even go and bathe the wounds of a particular group - in her own personal compassionate but limited way.
But what of God?
His feelings are not limited by time or space he feels the particular pain and anguishes , yes, and joys - and celebrations - of five billion people. At any moment he hears and answers prayers, is with the grieving and laughing, all at the same time, and carries their burdens and fears in his heart - How can he do this?
Because he is God.
We cannot understand it any more than we can understand the
Miracle of a caterpiller or the workings of the human brain or it’s extension - the computer but it is true -
God is able do do all of this.
Since the dawn of human history and the failure of the first human beings to walk in His ways God had been carrying human pain and suffering.
He had carried their rejection and insults their unfaithfulness and fickleness and all of that had separated people from God.
True some like Noah and Sarah - David - Elijah, Ruth and Job had pleased God but always there was deterioration and failure - and his own people the descendants of Abraham had grieved him deeply.
But now as the broken body of his son Jesus lay in Jerusalem God could look back on a single day that had grieved him greater than any other in human history.
Jesus pointed out on the cross that he had only to say the word and God would send twelve legions of angels with the ability to wreck a havoc or punishment far in excess than any holocaust than we can imagine.
But he didn’t.
God stayed his hand - he had always known it would come to this and from time to time he forewarned us that it would.
In Isaiah chapter 7 the words of the Prophet some eight hundred years before are recorded as saying verse 14ff
The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Later the Prophet elaborates Isaiah chapter 53 ISA 53:1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
ISA 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
ISA 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
ISA 53:4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
ISA 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
ISA 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
ISA 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
ISA 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
This day God endured so many feelings of rejection by people - of powerlessness - of insult - of violence - of watching his son - beloved beyond our comprehension - judged and tormented not by his betters but by his lessors -
Brutally beaten and whipped, spat at and insulted stripped and kicked - bleeding stumbling - never fighting back - punched and then with cruel nails put in his hands and feet his cross was hoisted skywards he hung there and cried out to God - Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
Jesus hung there on the cross and died -
Have you ever paused for a moment and considered what did God feel? -
What did he feel when his son was murdered and conspired against just by ordinary people just like you and me?
These people who did these terrible things were frighteningly just like you and me in other moments - they shopped and worked - bathed and built talked and laughed - just like us - even Judas.
What did God feel?
Jesus himself gives us some insight -
In John chapter 3 he said - for God so loved the world -
The truth is God loved the world with an incredible intensity.
He loves you with a depth that you can only begin to understand - He knows that you make mistakes - he knows that you can be - well quite insulting and difficult - unpredictably stupid - but he finds that he loves you
You are alienated from God by your sins but he loves you and he longs for you.
But as Paul says your sins have cut you off from God.
Think of it like a person who loves their child but they live in a foreign land - how they long to be with them or like a young man who loves a woman whose love is not returned - He will do anything for that woman and will hang onto every scrap of hope that he gives her.
I remember once meeting a young woman whose boyfriend had abandoned her. Her tears and grief were so deep - that the pain she was suffering can only be imagined - that is only a glimpse of the pain that God suffers when we reject his love.
But Jesus goes on - For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting live.
The body that was left in the grave is a poignant reminder of the incredible love that God has for us.
He loved us so much that he was prepared to stand back and allow us to do the worst to him in his son Jesus the one sinless person who has ever lived - God himself and as we did that a path was built back to the incredible love of God.
It is very rare that a person will die for another.
Some years ago Captain Scott’s ill-fated trip to the south Pole ended up in despair - the team were left in an Antarctic storm and time passed as they waited on the recovery of one of their team members Captain Oates. Oates realised that he was never going to recover in enough time for the rest of the team to go on safely - he very bravely then went to the door turned on his companions and uttered the memorable words "I am going out - I may be gone some time."
Of course he died so that his companions might live.
A terrible tornado once hit America and the parents of a young baby saw it too late to run for shelter - they did the only thing possible both parents huddled over the baby - days later when rescuers came by they heard crying from under the wreckage of a house as they peeled away the layers of the house the body’s of a man and woman were found crushed but huddled over a hungry but healthy baby.
At Pompeii when the exhumed the city after the volcano had erupted the petrified remains of a Mother were found huddled over her baby in a forlorn attempt to die in place of her child.
But here with Jesus we have to take it personally.
Here Jesus personally dies for us - Here God carries all our sins.
What does it mean???????
What did God feel
If I was to look at the evidence there would be a deep sense of anguish and pain not only at what Jesus suffered but also a corresponding sense of pain that he suffered that pain at the initiative of his own people.
I guess he also felt a sense of closure - that the wrench between people and God opened at the garden of Eden was now able to be perfectly healed.
The reason that the curtain was torn from top to bottem in the temple was that now no priest was to go into the temple and make sacrifices for our sins in an attempt to effect a restoration between us and God.
Now God himself was effecting that restoration.
Perfectly.
The new reality is:-
2 corinthians 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
God’s feelings I guess would include sorrow - pain - tears and empathy - anger and dismay - then satisfaction and hope and patience as he waits on our response.
What of our feelings.
The range of human responses to the cross are as wide as the full range of human responses.
From apathy to indifference - from cruelity to violent opposition. From interest to understanding
From conviction to underrstanding.
From awareness to gratitude - from appreciation to acceptance.
From acceptance to peace.
From peace to celebration.
Where are you today on that continuim?
Our response to the cross today is incredibly important.
How you respond today will have a profound effect on the rest of your life.
As we gaze on the grave this Good Friday
Can I encourage you to understand what God was feeling and to revceive what he offers
Afresh as if for the first time today.
God Bless you this easter season.
