Matthew Chapter 26 continued
26:60-72- Peter's three denials (cf Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-65) occur during the trail proceedings. Peter sat
without in the palace or courtyard. The first denial is prompted by a damsel, or young maid, and the porters who had
admitted him and John. The form of the denial, I know not what thou sayest, is merely a pretense of ignorance on
Peter's part. Feeling the pressure of the interrogation, Peter goes into the porch, a passageway leading to the street.
Then he is confronted by another maid, probably the outer gatekeeper, who alerted the men (thus Luke's reference
to a man as the interrogator) that this fellow as also with Jesus of Nazareth. The terms "Galilean" and "Nazarene"
were probably used in a derogatory manner by these Judeans. This time his denial was stronger, with an oath, in
spite of Jesus' earlier warning against oath-taking (5:34).
26:73-75. The third denial comes after a while (less than an hour) when he is accused because thy speech betrayeth
thee or "makes you evident" or "gives you away." Under the mounting emotional pressure and fear of being
condemned along with Jesus, began he to curse and to swear. After the Resurrection, this outburst of denial was
corrected by an emotion-packed reaffirmation of loyalty to the Savior (cf John 21:17). And immediately the cock crew
was probably "cockcrow" (the end of the Roman watch from midnight to 3 AM), verifying the illegitimacy of the trial
which was being conducted during the middle of the night. And Peter remembered, not because he heard the noise,
but as Luke (22:61) records: The Lord turned and looked upon him with a convicting glance from the balcony of the
high priest's house. Then he remembered the Savior's warning and went out, and wept bitterly. All these events
related to the betrayal, arrest, and trial of Jesus show that He was completely in control of each situation even while
being in the hands of His captors.
Matthew Chapter 27
27:1, 2. See also Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:16. Pontius Pilate the governor: Pontius Pilate was the
Roman procurator of Judea from A.D. 26 to 37, holding his office under the prefect of Syria . His usual place of
residence was Caesarea, but he was in Jerusalem during the feast to deal with any insurrection or trouble.
27:3-8. When he saw that he was condemned, which would be evident from seeing Jesus being taken to Pilate (a
move Judas may not have anticipated), he repented himself (Gr. metame-lomai, "to regret"). This word is different
from the term for repentance to salvation (Gr. metanoia). His admission, I have sinned, is necessarily a true
confession of faith. Judas then threw the money in the temple (Gr. naos, "sanctuary") and hanged himself. His "falling
headlong" (Acts 1:18,19) is generally supposed to have happened while he was attempting to do this. Perhaps,
hanging himself over the ledge, he then fell into the valley below.
27:11-31. Barabbas means "The Father's Son" in Aramaic and must be seen in contrast with Jesus, the Father's
Son. Pilate's question Why, what evil hath he done? Comes late in the trial and represents a personal, though
unofficial, acknowledgment of Jesus' innocence. Pilate thus attempts to shift the blame for Jesus' death to the Jews
themselves. The dramatic answer His blood be on us eventually brought the wrath of God upon His own people.
Encouraged by their willingness to take responsibility for His death, Pilate then scourged Jesus in hope that a bloody
beating would appease them (cf. John 19:1-6). The scourging was a whipping with a leather whip with sharp pieces of
bone and embedded in its thongs. The statement that Pilate delivered him means he officially turned Him over to the
soldiers for execution. They took Him into the common hall (Gr. praitorion from Lat. praetorium) or governor's
quarters, probably in the Fortress of Antonia. They mocked His claim to be King by clothing Him with a scarlet robe
(Gr. chlamus). It was a military robe, usually fastened at the shoulder. The crown of thorns and the reed for a scepter
added to their mockery.
27:32-35 A man of Cyrene , Simon by name: Cyrene was a Roman province in North Africa where may Jews lived.
They also had a synagogue in Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). His sons, Alexander and Rufus, later became well-known
Christians (Mark 15:21). Compelled (Gr. Aggareuo, a technical term for “requisitioned”) to bear his cross: The cross
was generally carried by the prisoner, which John 19:17 indicates was at first the case with Christ. Evidently, the
weight was more than He could bear, due to His severe scourging. The transverse piece was usually carried
separately and attached by rope to the vertical pole at the place of execution. Golgotha …a place of a skull: The
name is a transliteration of the Aramaic word for skull and is equivalent to the Latin calvaria, probably due to the
physical appearance of the hill. They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall, fulfillment of Psalm 69:21. This was
customarily given to condemned prisoners to serve as a kind of anaesthetic or anodyne. It was literally a drugged
“wine: (Gr. oinon). The statement that he would not drink indicates that Jesus refused any mitigation of His sufferings
on our behalf.
27:36-44 Pilate placed a placard over Jesus’ head with the accusation: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Little did he realize how true this intended mockery of Jesus really was. Indeed, as Matthew shows, Jesus was the
King of the Jews, whom they had rejected. The thieves (Gr. lestes) were robbers, perhaps cohorts of Barabbas. The
statement cast the same in his teeth means they repeated similar taunts to Him.
27:45-50. From the sixth hour...unto the ninth hour means from noon until 3:p.m. Mark (15:25) indicates Jesus had
been placed on the cross at the third hour (9 a.m.). The darkness was evidently supernatural, since an eclipse of the
sun at full noon is impossible. God's wrath was poured upon his son during this time of darkness. At the ninth hour (3
p.m) Jesus cried Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Here we have the high
cost to Christ of His atonement for our sins, who was accursed of God as our sin-bearer (cf.2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13)
and suffered the agony of spiritual death for us. He...cried...with a loud voice, as a shout of triumph, and yielded up
His spirit. In other words, having borne the wrath of God's judgment against sin, He knew He had triumphed over
Satan and the curse of sin.
27:51-53. The events immediately following Jesus's death are remarkable indeed. The Veil of the temple refers either
to the curtain over the entrance to the Holy Place (which could be viewed from the porch) or to the curtain
separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies (cf. Ex. 26:31) The latter is probable here and symbolizes the
permanent opening of God's presence to man and man's direct access to God through the atoning death of Christ.
27:54-56. Truly this was the Son of God: Whether this was an affirmation of genuine faith (based on all they had
witnessed) or merely a pagan appreciation of the awsomeness of the circumstances is not clear. Certainly the
incident reveals how Jesus' life and character, even in the face of death, rose above the greatest qualities of pagan
Rome. The witnesses also included several key women: Mary Magdalene (cf. Magdala, in Galilee; she is the woman
out of whom Jesus cast seven devils in that region, Mark 16:9). Mary the mother of James and Joses was the wife of
Cleophas (John 19:25), the "other Mary" of verse 61; the mother of Zebedee's children was Salome (cf. Mark 15:40)
and apparently a sister of the Virgin Mary.
27:57-61. The burial of Jesus' body was seen to by a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph. In fulfillment of Isaiah 53:
9, Jesus made His death with the rich. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, who had become a disciple. His
wealth enabled him to own a tomb at Jerusalem even though he lived nealry 20 miles away. With help from
Nicodemus, a believing Pharisee (cf. John 3), he took the body from the cross and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth or
shroud, in the typical burial custom of the day. The body was then placed in Jospeh's own new tomb... hewn out in
the rock and covered with a great stone, generally rolled in a groove and into place securely over the opening of the
tomb.
Matthew Chapter 28
28:1-7 See also Mark 16:1-20; Luke 24:1-2; John 20:1-31. All four Gospels essentially agree in reporting the facts of
the Resurrection. The variety of details in each account supplement rather than contradict one another. The empty
tomb was discovered in the end (Gr. opse, used as improper preposition for “after”) of the Sabbath, agreeing with the
other evangelists. By Jewish reckoning the day ended at sunset and the new day began at the same time. Thus,
Saturday night by our reckoning was actually Sunday by their calendar. Accordingly, the Resurrection actually
occurred sometime during the night, for by the time the women arrived as it began to dawn He had already risen from
the dead. The earthquake and the angel (Mark’s “man…in…white”) who rolled the stone away, did not come to let
Jesus out of the tomb, but to reveal that it was empty and that He was already gone.
28:8-15 Running ahead with fear and great joy they actually met Jesus and worshiped Him. We cannot imagine their
emotions at this moment when fear and joy gripped them simultaneously. Again, they were instructed to go before
Him into Galilee. Here Matthew’s account is considerably briefer and less detailed than other Gospels (where we
have specific accounts of Peter and John running to the tomb; Mary meeting Jesus; the walk to Emmaus; the
appearance in the Upper Room: the appearance to more than five hundred believers at once; and the incident on
the seashore, John 21). Pilate had put the soldiers at the disposal of the Jewish Sanhedrin, so the soldiers reported
first to that body. The assemblage gave large money (a large bribe) to the soldiers to hide the truth of the
Resurrection with the lie, saying…his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept, a ridiculous
statement in view of the disciple’s earlier defection in the Garden of Gethsemane. Also, the soldiers would have been
unable to testify about what happened while they slept!
28:16, 17 Now instead of sending His disciples back to the house of Israel, they are sent into all the world. The
kingdom rejected by the Jews will now be offered to the Gentiles in accordance with Jesus’ earlier parables. This
appearance in Galilee is not to be confused with the appearances at Jerusalem and is probably the same as the
appearance to “above five hundred brethren” (cf 1 Cor. 15:6), with the eleven being among them. This is further
implied by the statement they worshiped him: but some doubted, which would be unlikely of the Eleven after the
earlier appearances and the “doubting Thomas” incident. The Greek verb distazo may also be translated “hesitated”
in the sense that while they obviously sa Him, they hesitated to offer Him such unbounded worship.
28:18-20 The Great Commission brings the first Gospel to its grand finale. Christianity is not represented here as the
mere reverential devotion of disappointed men who honor their martyred leader, Here is a far different scene. The
triumphant, living Lord sends forth His ambassadors to proclaim His gospel throughout all the world. The Great
Commission is not just and order but a pronouncement of victory (mundus regium Christi) by the risen Savior through
His disciples. All power or authority (GR. exousia) is now in the hands of Christ, in heaven and on the earth. On the
basis of that authority and power the Christian disciple is to carry out the Great Commission of the church. Go ye,
though a participle, conveys the force of a command: “Go” In other words, the idea expressed is that you must go
and make disciples. Teach all nations can be translated “disciple all nations.” Thus the converting influence of the
gospel is indicated here. The “all nations” clearly indicates that the commission to the church is a worldwide one,
encompassing the entire missionary effort. The church is not to be merely “missionary-minded.” The church is the
vehicle of Christ’s mission to world.
Baptizing the converted disciples is the first step of outward obedience to the Lord. “Baptize” (Gr. baptizo) is an
English transliteration, and means to “dip”, or “immerse,” thus indicating its proper mode. Nowhere does this term
ever indicate “sprinkling” or “pouring.” These converts are to be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. The “name” is singular, followed by an elliptical clause indicating that one name is the name of
each person of the Trinity. While baptismal references in Acts refer to being baptized in Jesus’ name (emphasizing
His deity as Savior), they in no way eliminate or contradict the significance of this formula given by Christ Himself.
The closing promise, though given to the apostles, is transmitted by every generation of believers (cf John 17:20).
Christ’s promise of His presence, I am with you alway, guarantees the success of the church’s mission because it is
really His mission carried out by His called-out disciples. The phrase unto the end of the world means until the end of
the “age” (Gr. aion). Therefore Christ’s empowerment of the church to evangelize the world is available in every age,
even unto the end of the church age. In comparing the great Commission with Jesus’ promise to continually build His
church (ch.18), we must conclude that He intended His church always to be spiritually militant and evangelistically
aggressive as we take His claims of lordship to the entire world of our generation.