The Crucifixion and Burial...The Crucifixion and Burial The Gospels/The Life of Christ Terry C. ulert Th.D. ofo o o o o Let’s pray as we begin. Our Father, as we stand now before

Transcript - NT504 The Gospels/The Life of Christ

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LESSON 22 of 24NT504

The Crucifixion and Burial

The Gospels/The Life of Christ

Terry C. Hulbert, Th.D.Distinguished Professor Emeritus at

Columbia Biblical Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina

Let’s pray as we begin. Our Father, as we stand now before the cross on which Jesus died and, more particularly, as we watch Him there suffering in our place, I pray that You will give to us the perception, the understanding, and the deep thanksgiving for this event. Even that which would parallel the record of it in that 22nd Psalm, predicting it 1,000 years before the event. And now, Lord, 2,000 years after the event, I pray that You will make it just as real to us as to those people who stood around and watched. Watched their hopes dashed, watched their expectations frustrated, as they watched their beloved leader and Lord put up on that cross. We thank You, Father, for the record of this. We thank You for the opportunity to study it, and I pray now that You will make it very significant in our lives as well as in our comprehension, for we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we concluded our previous session, we noted the climax of the civil trial, the third civil trial, which was before Pilate in which he was intimidated, pressured, and pressed by the leaders of the Jewish people to declare Jesus ready for crucifixion, to actually give the verdict of crucifixion. And we recall that this was contrary to his actual decision in the case that probably for one of the few times, if not the only time in the vaunted Roman justice system, a person was declared innocent on a number of occasions by the presiding officer and yet the death sentence was carried out.

Some of the pressure of that is indicated in Matthew 27:24 and following: “And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting (you remember that the Roman government had given him the mandate to keep peace in Palestine), he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, ‘I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.’” And, of course, Pilate’s verdict on himself was not valid. Either he or Christ was innocent, but not both. And all the people answered and said, “His blood be upon us and




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upon our children” (Matthew 27:25).And so, in effect, Pilate was seeking to visually wash the blood from his hands and the Jewish nation was, in effect, saying, “We’ll take the blood! We’ll take the responsibility on us.” And, of course, the concept of blood “being on a person” [was] an Old Testament concept for being responsible for his death. And that goes along with what they have just said when Pilate said, “Shall I crucify your King?” (John 19:15). They said, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15).

This is not to say that the Jewish people were personally and only responsible for the death of Christ. Jesus Himself said, “I lay down My life, no one takes it from Me” (John 10:18). In Isaiah 53, we read that “He was stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.” He would not have died if we had not all been sinners, because He died in our place. So we have that responsibility.

The Romans actually did the act of the execution. And the Jewish people, as the fifth element in all of this, pressed for it. So it was a combination that we cannot just lay at the feet of any one person. And this must be taken into account as we think who crucified Christ. It was certainly not a simple answer, but having said that, there certainly had to come from heaven some kind of a response to a statement that said, “His blood be upon us and upon our children” (Matthew 27:25). So he [Pilate] delivered Jesus to be crucified.

This brings us to section 236, the mockery by the Roman soldiers. In Matthew’s account in 27:27-30:

Then the soldiers of the governor (that is, of Pilate) took Jesus into the praetorium, gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. And they stripped Him and put on Him a scarlet robe (now they’re treating Him like a mock king through all of this). And they wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head for a crown, and a reed in His right hand as though it were a scepter of authority and power. They kneeled down before Him (as though they were His subjects) and they mocked Him, and they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spat on Him, and then someone took the reed out of His hand and beat Him on the head with the reed again and again.

We can only just begin to comprehend the awful humility and degradation of the Son of God as He took our place in this.




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Just prior to this, it said that Pilate had Jesus scourged (Matthew 27:26). This scourging was done by a leather whip that had metal or bone tied at the ends of the strands. And it was called “the intermediate death” because really it was almost to anesthetize the person. It was to bring so much pain that the pain of the crucifixion would, in perception at least, be diminished.

Then in section 237, the little procession begins to move on toward Calvary. In 27:31 of Matthew’ account: “And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off, put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.” “They led Him out to crucify Him,” Mark 15:20 says. And in John’s account: “He went out bearing His own cross” (John 19:17). The prisoner going to execution in this kind of situation was commanded to bear the crossbar of the cross. And this was to show that he was bearing his own guilt. And, in this sense, Jesus was showing that He was bearing our guilt. And yet, as we know, apparently Jesus stumbled (Luke 23:26). Apparently even this was too heavy for Him. As God, of course, He had infinite strength, but the humanity of Christ comes through at the cross as perhaps at no other place. We’ll see several instances of this. Without that we would say, “He was God and so He really didn’t suffer.” But He was a human body. And He suffered the fullness of all the suffering that would come to a human body in the process of crucifixion.

Then one comes along to help in this, Simon of Cyrene, which is actually Libya today. And this man was across the water. Perhaps [he was] coming to Jerusalem for worship or whatever. And he is taken in and they said to him, “You help bear the cross” (Luke 23:26). He is probably the father of Alexander and Rufus. You might note two references on this. They were Christians at Rome in Mark 21:15 and in Romans 16:3. These two verses seem to tie together the fact that he was the father of these two Christians who are mentioned later in the book of Romans. Jesus, of course, had had no sleep for two days. There was a great physical and psychological strain—the flogging and the scourging—and then being called upon to bear this part of the cross.

So they arrive at Golgotha. And as they are just coming to Golgotha on this journey from the Praetorium—probably going west from the Praetorium; we are not sure where the Place of the Skull was—to the place of crucifixion. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is said today to be over this spot. Many of us have a problem with that. But on the other hand, this was built




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there in the third century as the place identified as crucifixion and of resurrection, and we must not dismiss it casually just because there is a shrine there. Because there are many churches that worship there and actually clamor and fight with each other concerning the right to have that spot sacred. We must not eliminate it from our thinking and possibility, because they remembered places very, very well. For instance, the woman at Samaria knew exactly where Jacob’s well (John 4:12) was and that was many years before that—1,500-1,800 years before that—and she remembered where that well was. So I would think that very likely The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is in the area of that because it was done only two or three centuries after the death of Christ.

In any case, they moved on out. “And the women were mourning and lamenting Him,” in 23:27 of Luke’s account. It’s interesting that they were lamenting Him whereas five days before He Himself had wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). But what He did that day would, of course, make it possible “to wipe away all tears from all eyes,” in Revelation 7:17. He says, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28). Children? Yes, because the children of these women—perhaps that they were carrying on their backs at that moment—would be 35-40 years old at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. They would be in their prime at the very time that the Roman soldiers would come in and destroy that whole city of some 1,000,000 people. “For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breast that never nursed’” (Luke 23:29). What are they saying? It is a reversal of values. Usually it is: “Blessed [are] those who have children.” And there is a problem with not having children, the barren. But in this case, they’re saying, “I wish we’d never had children.” Why? Because of what’s going to happen in AD 70. And this, in my mind at least, relates the crucifixion of Christ and what’s happening that day to the destruction of Jerusalem. In Luke 23:31: “For if they do these things in the green tree, what will happen in the dry?” In other words, if this kind of thing is happening to Me as one person—being put to death by the Romans at the beginning of this period—at the end of this 40 year period how much more serious will it be later on.

Also there were two criminals taken along with Him. And they were taken to this Place of the Skull (Matthew 27:33). It was called this not because skulls would be lying around—this would




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be very offensive to the Jewish people to have parts of bodies on the surface—[but because it] probably appeared as a skull. Perhaps the limestone rock gave it that appearance. It is also possible they called it the Place of the Skull simply because it was the place of crucifixion. It was public and on a main road. Apparently, it was on a little hill so it would be visible and you could see the silhouette of it from all around. They would not have very high buildings in that city to block the view.

Then in Matthew’s account, “They gave Him wine mingled with gall” (Matthew 27:34). And after tasting it, “He was unwilling to drink” (Matthew 27:34). This has always intrigued me, because if He is God and He knows what’s in the hearts of men, would He not know what was in this vessel that was handed to Him? Yes, He would. But He waited until after He tasted it. And then He rejected it. And I think this is very good illustration of His humanity. Because the humanity of Christ is being emphasized here in terms of His suffering and in terms of the extent of His suffering, and this is a good way to, shall we say, illustrate His humanity.

This brings us, then, to the first hours on the cross, from 9:00 in the morning until noon. There was ordinary daylight, and He was on the cross suffering. And certain events take place. And then at noon, “all the world becomes dark” (Matthew 27:45). And He is, from noon until 3:00 in the afternoon of that Passover day, in the dark. The darkness covers the earth.

In section 238, we see the third stage of this. “And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves, casting a lot” (Matthew 27:35). Let’s just say a word about the crucifixion itself. There would be a hole dug in the ground and the upright post would be dropped into the hole, either before or after the crossbar being put on. And Jesus would perhaps be tied to the crossbar and then have the nails put in His hands and in His feet. There would probably be a little shelf in which He would sort of slump and sit and that was necessary because if the full weight of His body came down, He would have died almost right away. This is what happened when the soldiers broke the legs of the two other people that were being crucified. They broke their legs so that they would have no way of supporting themselves and then they would just drop down and the fluids would fill their chest. But the height of the cross would not be such, as we often see in diagrams—probably they could just reach up to it. Although they said they reached up




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with hyssop (John 19:29). We are talking about maybe seven or eight feet high.

There was the centurion and four soldiers that would guard each of these prisoners—not to keep them from running away because obviously they were not physically able to do that, but rather—to keep them from being rescued. And they, of course, were thinking in Roman terms, defensive terms. It would be likely that somebody would come in and try to perform a coup and rescue them.

This brings us to the casting of lots for His garments [which is] fulfilling prophecy, as we see in John’s account here (John 19:24). But the two are crucified, one on the left and one on the right (Matthew 27:38). And Jesus says in 23:34 of Luke’s account, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” I’m trying to sort of work through the whole scene here in chronological order. Often we read one Gospel on this and we get parts of it, so if we can just move straight through we will see how the tension builds up here.

Then in 27:37 of Matthew’s account: “And they put up above His head the charge against Him which read: ‘This is Jesus the King of the Jews.’” And Mark’s account also records this (Mark 15:26) as does Luke 23:38 and John 19:19. We put them all together and it says, “This is Jesus the Nazarean, the King of the Jews.” It was customary for the officials in that day to indicate what the crime was that was being punished by death. So in this little procession, the first person in the procession probably would be a man who was carrying a tablet. And on this tablet would give (1) the name of the person, (2) the town that he came from, and (3) the crime for which he was being crucified. This becomes very important when we think of what was put on this tablet for Jesus. Then when the whole procession arrived at the place of crucifixion, that tablet would be put up on top of the cross. So they would see who he was, where he came from, and what he had done.

So you compare that with what is on Jesus’ and it said, “This is Jesus the Nazarean (that is, He came from Nazareth; and what’s His crime?), the King of the Jews.” So on the others, perhaps, it would say their name and their town. And then it would say, “murderer” or “insurrectionist” or whatever. In this case, it says, “King of the Jews.” Of course, that was a real problem to the Jewish leaders.




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And this comes out in John’s account, in John 19:20-21. “Therefore, this inscription, many of the Jews read” (John 19:20). And they were appalled when they read it. “For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city (that means there were lots of them that read it). And it was written in Hebrew and Latin and in Greek” (John 19:20). So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate—now this would be the top leadership; this would probably be Annas and those closest to him—“Do not write, ‘King of the Jews,’ but that He said ‘I’m king of the Jews’” (John 19:21). And at last Pilate does something right and he stands his ground. He has got nothing to lose now. He says, “What I have written I have written” (John 19:22). And, of course, even at the cross, even at arguing about the wording of this, we come to the exact issue of what this whole thing was about. Who is He? Is He “The King of the Jews” or is He not? They said He wasn’t. And Pilate let the statement stand: “King of the Jews.” Perhaps Pilate smiled as he stood his ground on this one. Because he had said, “Are you a king then?” And Jesus said, “Yes, I am a King, but I’m a King of a different kind of kingdom than you are accustomed to” (Matthew 27) and so on.

Then moving on we find that this is the strongest possible indictment of the Sanhedrin. Why? Because if He were not king of the Jews, then Pilate should have taken it off. It would be an error. It would not be proper to put it up there. It would not be accurate. It would not be official. But if he lets it stand as an official statement, “King of the Jews,” then that is an indictment against the Sanhedrin because they are actually crucifying their king. And that’s what he said. He said, “Shall I crucify your King?” (John 19:15). And he followed through with what he put on this tablet. So this was very serious.

Now this is exactly where Peter picks up on the day of Pentecost because he shows that they crucified their King (Acts 2:36). He picks up exactly at this very point, and this is what they’re convicted of. And, I think, this is really the basis of why 3,000 of them turn around and get saved on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) because this is the key issue before them. [It was] not something vague or nebulous or that they didn’t quite understand—or that there was a difference of doctrinal opinion or something—but one crucial issue. Actually it’s an outworking of the origin issue. Where did He come from? He was sent from God to be “King of the Jews.” He came to reveal the Father, to redeem and to reign. And He came as “King of the Jews.” And there was no question about it in Peter’s mind obviously and in




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their minds after they heard Peter preach this sermon in Acts 2:36. This becomes the title for Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost.

Then in 23:39, of Luke’s account: “One of the criminals that was hanged there was hurling abuse and saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save yourself and us.’” Obviously [he was speaking] in ridicule. Notice: “Are You not the Christ?” That’s what the whole issue is about. “If you really are the Christ, then save Yourself and us.” And the other one said, “Do you not even fear God since you’re under the same sentence of condemnation” (Luke 23:40). And he had a reverential fear. I think it is certainly not a matter of coincidence that there were these two criminals that were crucified with Jesus. And both died. And one believed. And the other didn’t believe. How many times throughout history have we pointed back to the fact that one could still be saved, even at that last moment. And He [Jesus] said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). “Today you will be in Abraham’s bosom.” “Today you will be in a place of eternal security.” And he had everlasting life. He had eternal life given to him because, even at that moment, he was ready to believe who Jesus Christ was and what it was all about. And obviously in believing who Christ was, he was coming out of the darkness into the light and being saved. The other one, of course, rejected it and stayed in the darkness, and very sadly, will be in darkness forever and forever.

We move on, in John’s account. In chapter 19: “Standing at the cross was His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25). I won’t take time here to go into who these Marys were. I would encourage you to look them up. There have been some very interesting speculations as to the relationship that this now produces between some of this disciples and Jesus as perhaps being cousins and so on. I don’t think it is something that is terribly important, but something of at least passing interest. But it names the people; and, of course, Mary Magdalene was there. Mary Magdalene is undoubtedly the most devoted enthusiastic follower that Jesus ever had. I really say that without any hesitation. She is just there! Ever since she got those demons cast out of her (Luke 8:2), she has been at Jesus’ feet. She has been at Jesus’ side. She has been a model of devotion.




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In John 19:26: “Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby.” That would be John. I think I’ve mentioned the fact that throughout the gospel of John, written by John the apostle, he never refers to himself by his own name. He always refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Incidentally, on that, we may, from our standpoint, think that “That’s a bit proud to say, ‘I’m the one that Jesus loved.’” Implying that: “He doesn’t love the others as much as me,” and “I’m a special person.” But I don’t think it’s that at all. I think especially from what we read of John’s concept of love in I John that what he’s really saying is, “I feel loved. I understand I’m loved. I’m the recipient of His love.” So the emphasis is not on Jesus loving him in some exclusive way but in John’s appropriation of that love and understanding of it. And perhaps that’s one of the greatest lessons we can learn about God’s love. Not just that “God loved the world and gave His Son” (John 3:16). That is important. That’s the basis of it. But rather that we understand and accept His love. I think two of the hardest things for us to do sometimes is (1) to love other people and for that matter to love God, and (2) to understand that other people love us and that God loves us. To give love and to receive love—this perhaps is an acid test of who we are and what we’re really like. And he said, “This is the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 19:26).

And he was “standing nearby” (John 19:26). Notice that he was near the cross. And his mother, of course, would be near. Can you imagine what’s going through Mary’s mind? Is she remembering now what Simeon had said when she had held that little Baby, that same Person as a little Baby, in her arms, and he had said that “A sword will pierce into your heart, and this would be for the rising and falling of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34-35)? And He [Jesus] says, “Woman, behold your son” (John 19:26). In other words, “Mary, you consider John to be your son.” And to the disciple He said, “Behold, your mother” (John 19:27)—“You treat her as your mother.” This, of course, would be a final indication that Joseph was not alive at this time or this would have been redundant. “And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household” (John 19:27).

Historians tell us that John the apostle eventually ended up in Ephesus [and] was pastor there. And perhaps Mary went there. Perhaps she stayed in Jerusalem for some time with Mary. It’s interesting to speculate about how Mary would react to all this.




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How would she feel about the resurrection? What would she do on the day of Pentecost? Where would she be? And we don’t hear of Mary after this. But I really would encourage you to try to, in your mind, get into not just the sandals of people but of individual people and look out on the events from their standpoint. Look out through their eyes and listen with their ears. It provides, I believe, a very interesting study of the life of Christ.

That brings us, then, to noon on that day, section 239, [and] the last three hours of the crucifixion. In Matthew’s account it says: “From the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45). The ninth hour, by the way, would be the time of the afternoon sacrifice. So it’s quite likely that Jesus died at the very same time that lambs were being killed and offered as the sacrifice. The people doing it would not realize that this was “The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). And at the instant He died, the instant, He said, “Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit” (Luke 23:46). And He gave up His Spirit. And at that very instant, from that point on, all of the sacrificial system was invalidated. They could kill 1,000,000 lambs after that, but it would have no effect whatsoever in terms of spiritual reality. There may be several reasons for the darkness and these are not necessarily Scripturally supported, but I’m suggesting them.

First of all, it would allow God to deal with His Son, Jesus, alone as He bore our sin. It would sort of put a cover down, put a curtain down over the whole event, so that the Father could deal with the Son alone in that darkness.

A second possibility is that it would provide relief from the heat of the sun. At that time of year, the sun would get very, very hot by noon hour. And from 12:00 until 3:00 would be the hottest time. So just physically, He [The Father] may have relieved Jesus somewhat in that way. I think more likely, it’s one of these latter two.

That the third reason might be to impress the crowd [and] the Sanhedrin. That what they had done came very close to putting out the light of the world. In other words, they lived in darkness. Do you remember how many times before this, in the later ministry of Jesus, we had this concept of light and darkness and “You are blind” and “You don’t see” and “You are in darkness” and “Come from the darkness,” and so on. And here, the




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darkness comes over this whole scene. And they are physically in the darkness, even as they had been spiritually in the darkness. And He was “The light of the world” (John 8:12).

But more particularly, a fourth reason is to remind them that something infinitely unusual and awesome had occurred. Certainly, if we were to have darkness for three hours from noon until 3:00 on any given day, it would be the talk of the news media for a long time. A scientific investigation [would take place] and generations later they would still be talking about “The Dark Day,” about what happened. Perhaps this is to specially mark it; especially, when the judgment of God is often seen as a time of darkness and of changes in the heavens and so on. Perhaps even a preview of the judgment of the Tribulation Period. Certainly, Jesus was taking on Himself the sin of the world at this particular time. It was a very serious moment.

Then He cries out. He says, “My God, why has thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). This has been the subject of much debate: How could God have forsaken Him? Well, of course, at this point, we must realize that Jesus is taking our place. And that this separation, though in the terms of all of history, is almost instantaneous. That is, just for a moment. It’s absolute. It’s infinite because He was infinitely righteous, and He was taking all of our sin on Him, and He was paying for sin to an infinite extent. And so, it’s not a question of doing this for five hours or five years or five months or 50 years or whatever. It’s either done or it’s not done. But even in this moment there is that separation. And if He is to take our place and our penalty, then in that moment, He takes what we would take if that had not happened—what we would have taken in that separation from God for all of eternity: “Depart from Me into outer darkness, forever and forever.” So this separation, I believe, is because of the identification of Jesus with the sinner.The separation started in the Garden of Eden. You remember as Adam and Eve sinned, they were put out of the garden (Genesis 3:23), and there was a guard there to keep them from going back in (Genesis 3:24). And then eventually, in Revelation 20, we read that they will be separated from God, the unbeliever, forever and forever. So it’s this separation, I think, that is the case here. “It actually had to take place,” we might say, “theologically.”




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In 27:48, of Matthew’s account, “Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.” It would be interesting to know who this man was [and] why he did this. Was he a follower of Jesus? Was he some person who felt he should do something in this case? Will we meet him in the glory? I don’t know. But certainly it was a very humane act. And Jesus had said, in John’s account, “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). It’s, of course, one of the great paradoxes of the Scripture—the One who said, “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35) and “The One who comes to Me will never thirst” (John 6:35) and to the woman at the well, “I’ll give you water” and “You will never thirst” (John 4:14)—that He Himself said, “I am thirsty” (John 19:28).

In Matthew 27:49, we get a lot of contrasts here. We’ve seen them all the way from chapter 7 on about two groups of people, or sometimes three. The one says, “this,” and the other says, “that.” And here is another case of it. In 27:48, there is one person who is running to help Him. In 27:49: “But the rest of them said, ‘Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.’” This tells me that most of the people there, except for his immediate followers, were rejoicing in this crucifixion. Certainly, the Sanhedrin was rejoicing. This was a high moment for them. They had succeeded in getting done what they wanted to have done.

In 19:30 of John’s account, this comes first—He said, “It is finished.” More than that, as I’m sure you have noted, that this verb was used for payment of debt. And as we would stamp “paid in full” on a bill, Jesus was saying, in effect, “Paid in full.” [He was] stamping that on the whole debt of sin. [This is] a very significant statement. No wonder He could say to the person let down through the roof (Luke 5:19-20) and to the woman who anointed Him and washed His feet with her tears (Luke 7:38-48) and so on, “Your sins are forgiven you.” And how many times He said, “Your sins are forgiven you,” and this is why. Because they’re “paid in full.” He would pay in full. Again, I remind you of Romans 3:23-25 in which Paul reminds the people there that “in times past” God had, as it were, forgiven sins on credit. But none of the animals, none of the blood in the Old Testament, could take away sin. It was all a credit arrangement. But this is the paying off of all of the debts at this very moment. [This is a] very significant verse. [It is] just three words in the English text, but highly significant theologically. Then the next event is, “Father, into thy hands I commit My Spirit” (Luke 23:46). He gave up His




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Spirit. He yielded up His Spirit. And as He had said, “No man takes My life from Me, I give it up of Myself” (John 10:18).

As Jesus dies then, we have, in section 240, in Matthew’s account, a little summary of some of the events that surrounded that death. These go actually all the way from the time that He died, through until after the resurrection, as we’ll see in these first few verses of section 240. Matthew 27:51: “Behold, the veil of the temple was torn from the top to the bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split.” So this is the first of two earthquakes. One is going to be on Friday afternoon, and the other is going to be early Sunday morning, just a few hours later. And as these two earthquakes take place, they mark the death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. People would never forget that earthquake. [They would] never forget that day: the earth shakes, the rocks were split. And this may also be in reference to the earthquake on Sunday morning, because it says, “The tombs were opened” (Matthew 27:52). Now it doesn’t necessarily mean that that earthquake took place on that Friday. But it implies that because he’s speaking of the time that the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. We know that took place on Friday, but we also know that what took place in verses 52 and 53 took place on Sunday. So I would not be able to conclude 100 percent whether this earthquake was at both times or was on Sunday morning because for the Sunday morning one it says, “The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matthew 27:52). So we have only believers here being raised. “But a number of them coming out of the tombs.” But notice, “After His resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:53).

“Jesus Christ,” as said in I Corinthians 15:20-22, that He was “the first fruits of them who slept.” So what happens here is that “Other Lazaruses appear,” you might say. These are not alive today. They did not have resurrection bodies. They were resuscitated. How long had they been dead? I don’t know. They might have been dead for 24 hours, they might have had funerals earlier that week as in Lazarus’ case before this, or they might have been dead for two months or six months or six years. But it would cause quite some consternation to the Sanhedrin to have these people come back and walk up and down the streets of Jerusalem after the resurrection of Christ. And they had more on their hands to think about then just the resurrection of Christ and where that body had been taken. They not only could not place Jesus’ body, but they had other bodies alive that they




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didn’t know what to do with. And if they wanted to put Lazarus to death— because he was such a problem walking around in the area—surely this would cause them some consternation too.I think this is to illustrate, in the first place, the explosive significance of Jesus’ resurrection. And even though these obviously were not resurrection bodies, as we’ll have, I think they do parallel the concept of “the first fruits of them that slept” (I Corinthians 15:20). That there will be others like Him that will be raised from the dead, and He is a sample of the larger resurrection.

The second purpose, at least impact of this, obviously would be a challenge to the Sanhedrin. We’re not told any more about it. It is a very interesting thing. We may certainly meet these people in heaven, because it says that they were saints. But to go back for a minute to “the temple being torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). This, of course, is highly significant. This goes with, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And since the debt of sin was paid, then all of the visual aids, the visualized theology, all of the typology of the Old Testament was now invalidated. And the simplest, most direct, straight forward way of demonstrating visually that all of that typology was finished was to simply have the veil split from top to bottom, the veil that separated the holy place from the Holy of Holies. Because, you’ll recall, that the Holy of Holies was the place that was symbolic of the presence of God. That was where the ark was. That was where the Shekinah glory was. That was where the high priest, and only the high priest, went once a year with the bells on his skirt and the rope around his ankles—because if he died in there, or something went wrong, no one could go in and get him. They had to pull him out. That was a picture of how sacred and holy that was. That was the presence of God.

Now if that curtain is split, that’s all open. Anybody can look in there. And this, of course, is the reference in Hebrews 10 that “He has provided a new way for us into the Holy of Holies, even through His flesh.” That is, through His flesh as sacrificed on the cross. Incidentally, it was right at this very spot in front of this veil—the place of the altar of incense—that this whole thing started with Zechariah seeing the angel that was announcing the birth of the forerunner (Luke 1). We are told by Josephus that this veil was some 60 feet across and some 30 feet high. Can you imagine that? And [it was] six inches thick. “And it took,” he [Josephus] says—now he’s not given to careful arithmetic—that it took, “some 300 priests to move this,” to manipulate it around.




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And, of course, we notice that it was split “from top to bottom,” (Matthew 27:51) probably indicating the fact that it was God’s initiative to do this. This didn’t just happen. Some people said it happened with the earthquake. If it happened with the earthquake, God arranged the earthquake to do this. This was His way of doing it. But in any case, this ends the sacrificial system. There is nothing that could more visibly and specifically invalidate the Old Testament system. That doesn’t mean it was wrong. It doesn’t mean it was bad. It simply means that now the antitype is invalidated because the type is here. Jesus Christ has done all of that.

Notice the reactions to this. “The centurion, and those who were keeping guard over Jesus,” when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened (Matthew 27:54). Now these were Roman officers. And Roman soldiers said, “Truly this was the Son of God,” (Matthew 27:54). They had no doubt as to who He was. “And many women were there looking on from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him (Matthew 27:55).” Here, I think of Luke 8:3. There were many of these women who followed Him and ministered to Him. “Among them was Mary Magdalene (you knew she would be there), and Mary the mother of James and Joseph” (Matthew 27:56). Interesting, [there also was] the mother of James and John (Matthew 27:56). She was the one who had said, “Let my sons sit one on the left and one on the right in Your kingdom” (Matthew 20:21). And now she’s looking at the King with a crown of thorns on that cross.

Over in Mark’s account, in 15:41: “When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem.” I believe that women saw in Jesus, obviously, the perfect man—the man of gentleness, of concern, of consideration, of respect. And I think that’s one of the things that the woman of the well saw. [It was] probably the first man she’d ever met that respected her. Whereas today, many have suggested that the Scriptures are not in favor of women and the women’s place and so on. Certainly, in the case of the Lord Jesus, He was very, very kind to women. And they respected that. And we find many, many women involved in this ministry, receiving this ministry.




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Then in Luke’s account, in 23:47, the centurion again, this same account: “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the multitudes who came together for the spectacle, when they had observed what had happened, began to return “beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48). Now they leave the scene. They walk back into the city. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance seeing these things. And what were they saying? Undoubtedly, they were standing there weeping.

This brings us now to the burial, and we turn to section 241. And I want us to notice that the burial of Jesus was not something that was incidental. The burial of Jesus was a very important event. The reason it was important was because the word was going to be spread that Jesus’ body had been taken away by His disciples. And in our own day, many are saying that “Jesus only swooned”—He did not really die. It was important that the body be put in a place where they could know that that was His body. It was there. It was definitely dead. It was in that body for parts of three days and three nights. And when it was raised from the dead, there could be no question about the authenticity of the events. And God arranged for two respected members of the Sanhedrin to be doing this, so they could not say, “His disciples buried Him,” or “Somebody from Galilee did it,” or “They exchanged bodies,” or whatever. They had the two strongest witnesses to His burial that they could possibly have—two members of the Sanhedrin.

You’ll notice that the Jews come to Pilate. They want to have the bodies taken down. I already mentioned the fact that they went out and broke the bones of the others so that they would die quickly. In Jesus’ case, He was already dead. And they pierced His side with a spear. It came out blood and water (John 19:34). And in 19:35: “He who has born witness (and that’s John, of course) and his witness is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.” This is the theme of John’s gospel. John 20:31: “These things are written that you might believe.” And here he emphasizes it again.

Now moving on to the actual event, notice down in 15:43, of Mark’s account: “Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council.” In Matthew’s account it said he was “a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph” (Matthew 27:57). Incidentally, he was a rich man that made it into the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because he did not count his riches as indicating




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that he had a spiritual standing before God. In Luke’s account, it says that he was “A member of the Council, a good and righteous man,” (Luke 23:50). He had not consented to their plan of action. “He was a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:51). In other words, he was a citizen of the kingdom. He had come to Christ.

Now the two of these, although they had not voted for the crucifixion of Christ—the death sentence—they knew of the intention of the group. So it appears to me that they had been assigned by God to prepare this tomb. It’s inconceivable to me to think that God would (1) arrange all of the events; and (2) keep them on schedule to the crucifixion of His Son; and (3) plan the resurrection and [then] leave unplanned, unattended, to where He would be buried. It seems to me that He spoke to Joseph of Arimathea. [God] directed him [Joseph] and Nicodemus. Joseph would provide the tomb and Nicodemus would provide the, as we will see, the burial materials. And they would come together and take care of the burial of Christ.

Notice in John’s account in 19:38: “He was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus.” Many have said he was “a secret disciple” in the sense that he was afraid to admit who he was. The word “secret” there is the perfect participle of the verb kruptó from which we get “cryptic” or “hidden.” And it literally means, “having been hidden.” It seems to me that it’s not saying he was a secret one because he was a coward—because he had more courage than anybody else when he went up and asked Pilate for the body of Christ (Matthew 27:58)—but rather, he secreted himself. He hid himself because he had an important mission to accomplish. And if he had been stopped in that or interfered with in that—for instance, if the Sanhedrin had found that one of their men was a follower of Christ—what would have happened to Joseph? And if they had done to Joseph what we suspect they would have done to him, then he would not have been available to perform this ministry. So in 15:44, of Mark’s account, he [Joseph] asks for the body, [since] “the body is already dead.” Incidentally, Pilate wondered if He [Jesus] were dead by this time. I’m sure he spent a difficult few hours. And then they bring the body to the tomb and they’re ready to prepare it for burial (Mark 15:46).



Christ-Centered Learning— Anytime, Anywhere

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The Crucifixion and BurialLesson 22 of 24

We will continue in our next session with the actual finalizing of the burial of Jesus’ body and getting ready for the resurrection.

Documents

The Crucifixion and Burial...The Crucifixion and Burial The Gospels/The Life of Christ Terry C. ulert Th.D. ofo o o o o Let’s pray as we begin. Our Father, as we stand now before