Matthew 27:32-56: “Simon Carries Jesus Cross / Jesus Is
Crucified”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study we looked at Jesus as He was brought
before Pilate who was the governor of Judea
1.1.1.
Pilate found no guilt in Jesus
1.1.2.
Pilate asked Jesus if He was a king, and Jesus told
him that it is as he was saying
1.1.3.
Pilate knew Jesus was innocent of any charges, and
though Pilate had a chance to make a difference and keep an innocent man from
being killed, he chose the easy way out and sought the Jew’s favor by allowing
them to have Jesus crucified
1.2.
In our study today we are going to look at the crucifixion
of Jesus
1.2.1.
We will see many prophesies of the Old Testament
fulfilled in these accounts from Matthew concerning Jesus
1.2.2.
We will see the supernatural activity of God that
occurred during that time
1.2.3.
We will observe the 7 utterances of Jesus from the cross
1.2.4.
We will talk about the importance of the crucifixion
of Jesus
2.
VS 27:32 - “32 And
as they were coming out, they found a man of
2.1.
Because of having been scourged and beaten, Jesus was too physically weak
to carry out the demand of the Roman soldiers to carry His cross up to
3.
VS 27:33-34 -
“33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of
a Skull,34 they gave Him wine to drink mingled with gall; and after tasting it,
He was unwilling to drink.” - At
Golgatha Jesus refused to drink the
intoxicant He was offered
3.1.
‘Golgatha’ is a word which means ‘skull’.
In Luke 23:33 the word ‘
3.1.1.
The New Bible Dictionary tells us that there are three possible reasons for
why this place is called the Golgatha, the ‘place of the skull’, “Three possible reasons for such a name have
been propounded: because skulls were found there; because it was a place of
execution; or because the site in some way resembled a skull. All we know of
the site from Scripture is that it was outside
3.1.2.
There are two sites outside of the city of
3.2.
The ‘gall’ which was mixed with the wine drink was very bitter. It is also translated ‘hemlock’ in some
translations, and it was a narcotic which would provide some dulling of the
pain that Jesus was to endure in being crucified. This drink was offered as a show of some
amount of compassion for Jesus however after tasting it and realizing that it
was very bitter and contained a stupefying narcotic, Jesus refused to drink it.
3.2.1.
The details of Jesus’ suffering including the very words which He spoke
from the cross were very important and have been recorded in the
scripture. Jesus’ story would have lost
much of it’s significance if He would have been inebriated upon the cross of
4.
VS 27:35 - “35 And
when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves,
casting lots;” - The Roman soldiers
divided up Jesus’ garments after crucifying Him
4.1.
In Psalm 22:14-18, we read that many details of Jesus’ crucifixion were prophesied several
hundred years before the events occurred, “My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are
the words of my groaning…14 I am poured out like water, And all my bones
are out of joint; My heart is like
wax; It is melted within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws; And
Thou dost lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me; A
band of evildoers has encompassed me;
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.”
4.1.1.
Jesus quoted verse 1 of these section on the cross just before He cried,
“It is finished!”, and died.
4.1.2.
Jesus’ bones were out of joint.
4.1.3.
Jesus’ mouth was very dry and His tongue was cleaving to His jaws.
4.1.3.1.In John
19:28-30,
we read that just before Jesus died upon the cross that He cried out saying
that He was thirsty and they gave Him something to drink, “28 After
this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, *said, “I am thirsty.”29 A jar full of
sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a
branch of hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth.30 When Jesus therefore had
received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and
gave up His spirit.”
4.1.4.
Jesus could actually see His bones.
4.1.5.
Jesus’ garments were divided up by the casting of lots by those who
crucified Him.
4.1.5.1.In Mark 15:24 we read that the soldiers
actually cast lots for Jesus’ garments, “24 And they *crucified Him, and
*divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them, to decide
what each should take.”
4.1.5.2.In John
19:23-24,
we read that the reason that the soldiers cast lots for Jesus’ garments was
that His tunic was one piece and therefore rather than cut it in pieces they
cast lots to see who would get it, “23 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified
Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and
also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.24 They said
therefore to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide
whose it shall be”; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “They divided My
outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.””
4.2.
In Mark 15:35 we read that it was the third hour in which they crucified Jesus, which
would be about 9:00am, “25 And it was the third hour when they crucified
Him.”
4.3.
Isaiah prophesied much about the events that would occur when the Messiah
would come to earth, and concerning Jesus’ experience in going to the cross to
pay the penalty for our sins the following prophesies were fulfilled:
4.3.1.
Isaiah 50:6, “6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My
cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”
4.3.2.
Isaiah 52:13-53:12, “13 Behold, My servant will
prosper, He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, My
people, So His appearance was marred more than any man, And His form more than
the sons of men. 15 Thus He will
sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will
see, And what they had not heard they will understand. 1 Who has believed our message? And to whom
has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of
parched ground; He has no stately form
or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be
attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and
forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face,
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He
was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our
iniquities; The chastening for our
well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each
of us has turned to his own way; But the
Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet
He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb
that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth. 8 By
oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the
land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was
due? 9 His grave was assigned with
wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no
violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. 10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him,
putting Him to grief; If He would render
Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His
days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He
will see it and be satisfied; By His
knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear
their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will
allot Him a portion with the great, And
He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the
transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the
sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”
5.
VS 27:36-37 -
“36 and sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.37 And they
put up above His head the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE
KING OF THE JEWS.”” - Tremendous
irony: the charge for which it was
written that Jesus was crucified was that He was the king of the Jews
5.1.
We read in John 19:21 that the after Pilate had written on Jesus’ cross,
‘This is Jesus the King of the Jews’, that the Jewish leaders tried to get
Pilate to change the writing to say that Jesus said that He was the king of the
Jews, however out of vindictiveness against the Jewish leaders with whom he had
a mutual hatred, he told them that he had written what he had written on Jesus’
cross, and he would not change it.
5.2.
In John 19:20 we read that the inscription was written in three different
languages so that the most people possible could read it: Hebrew (or Jewish Aramaic, not the pure
Hebrew spoken by King David), Latin, and Greek.
6.
VS 27:38-44 -
“38 At that time two robbers *were crucified with Him, one on the right and
one on the left.39 And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging
their heads,40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild
it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the
cross.”41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and
elders, were mocking Him, and saying,42 “He saved others; He cannot save
Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we
shall believe in Him.43 “He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes
pleasure in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”44 And the robbers also
who had been crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him.”
- We see here the extent of the mocking
made against Jesus as He was upon the cross
6.1.
Jesus’ mocking occurred at the hands of these groups:
6.1.1.
Chief priests, elders, and scribes in
6.1.1.1.Jesus had in the most open
and blatant way condemned the chief priest and scribes of the Jews for their
hypocrisy and sins that their hatred and jealousy of Him had led them to
forsake all sense of justice and even decency in having Jesus condemned,
beaten, and crucified, and now in defiance of Him they were mocking Jesus
telling Him to come down from the cross and then they will believe in Him.
6.1.2.
Passers by
6.1.2.1.The Jewish people were so
fickle in their treatment of Jesus, for one minute they were willing to hail
Him as the Messiah as He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the
beginning of the last week of His life, and yet now the same people are hurling
abuse at Him telling Him to save Himself if He is able ‘to destroy the temple
and rebuild it in three days’ (as He taught the people He would do).
6.1.3.
Robbers
6.1.3.1.At first the two thieves
crucified on either side of Jesus are mocking and taunting Him echoing the choruses
around them calling Jesus to come down from the cross if He was the Son of God
as He claimed. Later on we read that one
of the robbers was converted while on his cross next to Jesus when He asked
Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom, and Jesus said to Him, “Truly I
say to you today you shall be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
6.1.4.
Roman Soldiers
6.1.4.1.In Luke
23:36-37 we
read that the soldiers were also mocking Him, “36 And the soldiers also mocked Him,
coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,37 and saying, “If You are the King of
the Jews, save Yourself!””
6.2.
Jesus did not mock anyone in return, nor did He threaten or speak out
against those who were mocking Him, and thus was Isaiah’s prophesy fulfilled in
Is.
53:7, “7 He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And
like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His
mouth. ”
6.3.
There were also some people before the cross who came to be with Jesus
and support Him in this hour.
6.3.1.
In the midst of the mocking and taunting which was going on towards Jesus
as He was upon the cross, in John 19:25-27 John relates that there were some others present
there with Jesus as He was upon the cross, and these did not mock Him, “25 Therefore
the soldiers did these things. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus
His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary
Magdalene.26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He
loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”27
Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the
disciple took her into his own household.”
6.3.2.
Mark tells us in Mark 15:40-41 of others who were there with Jesus when He died
upon the cross, “40 And there were also some women looking on from
a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the
Less and Joses, and Salome. 41 And 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
7.
VS 27:45-47 - “45
Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.46
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”47 And
some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This
man is calling for Elijah.”” -
Darkness came upon the land for three hours
7.1.
We read already in Mark 15:35 that Jesus was placed on the cross at the 3rd
hour, which was 9:00am, and now we read that after being upon the cross for
three hours that darkness came upon the land from the 6th hour until
the 9th, or noon to 3:00pm.
7.2.
I was talking with my wife’s elderly grandmother a couple of years ago
about an event that she had experienced.
She is a godly woman who has served the Lord her entire life, having
been raised in a Christian home. In fact
her and her husband actually started a couple of churches several decades
ago. She made it a point to tell me one
day that in the 1920’s when she was a young gal that there was a day of
darkness that came upon the general Pittsburgh, PA area where she was
living. All of the news stations
reported that in the late morning that a very deep darkness came upon that area
for several hours, yet there was no explanation that any of the scientists
questioned could come up with for why this had happened. She told me that if I looked in the libraries
that I could find stories to corroborate this event. She said that the preachers at that time were
saying that the event had come about by the Lord and His dealings with people
in that area.
7.3.
In Montana there are some caverns near the city of Butte, and people take
tours down 600 feet inside of the earth where there are good size stalactites
and stalagmites, and one of the things that the tour guide always does when
everyone is at the bottom of the caverns is to turn out the lights so that you
get to feel just how dark it really is down that deep where no light can come
near. When I went on the tour and
experienced this darkness it was quite an experience. It was eerie, and it seemed like you could
cut the darkness with a knife. The guide
told us that people kept in complete darkness such as this breakdown
psychologically very quickly. I imagine
that this darkness that came upon the land while Christ was upon the cross was
just like that, very unnerving.
7.4.
Here we read that darkness came upon the land for at least 3 hours, and
that it occurred about 3 hours after Jesus had been placed on the cross. Bible commentators have often mentioned how
that after the sins of the world had been placed upon the Son of God that God
the Father could not look upon Him any longer and thus God the Father had
darkened the land to hide this event. I
personally do not think that this accounts for all of the reasons for this
darkness occurring.
7.4.1.
Surely, the Lord used this darkness to impress upon those present at this
time that God was working supernaturally in these events so that they might be
willing to seriously consider what the work of Christ upon the cross was really
about, and what Jesus was accomplishing on the world’s behalf.
7.4.2.
I have often wondered also if the covering of darkness came about from
the Lord to preserve some of the dignity of the Lord Jesus during the horror of
the agony of His death. This is perhaps
similar to when a person has died people cover their bodies with a blanket out
of respect for their dignity.
7.5.
We read here of another saying of Jesus upon the cross, “My God, My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me?’
7.5.1.
These words are actually a quote from Psalm 22:1, the Psalm which we
already read and which contains other prophesies concerning Jesus which were fulfilled
in His death upon the cross.
7.5.2.
Some present on that day thought that when Jesus cried out these words to
God that He was actually crying for Elijah the prophet to come and rescue Him.
8.
VS 27:48-49 -
“48 And 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.”” - One of the people present immediately ran up
to Jesus and put some sour wine on a sponge attached to a reed and gave Jesus a
drink from it
8.1.
There was a sense of wonder and amazement along with a horrible sense of
doom that accompanied that darkness upon the whole land during those last three
hours which Jesus spent upon the cross.
It seems that this person who gave Jesus the drink was sort of spooked
by the events that were occurring and didn’t really know what to do.
8.1.1.
In John 19:28 we read, “28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had
already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
*said, “I am thirsty.””
8.2.
Rather than have compassion on Jesus and try to help Him in His
suffering, others were hard-hearted and decided to just wait to see if Elijah
would come and rescue Jesus since Jesus had seemed to call out for Elijah to
rescue Him.
9.
VS 27:50 - “50 And
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” - Jesus died
9.1.
In Luke 23:44-46, we read of another saying of Jesus upon the cross, “44 And
it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until
the ninth hour,45 the sun being obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn
in two.46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy
hands I commit My spirit.” And having said
this, He breathed His last.”
9.2.
In John 19:30, we read of yet another ( and surely His last ) saying of Jesus upon the
cross, “30 When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is
finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.”
9.2.1.
When Jesus said that ‘it’ was finished, what He was referring to was the
salvation of mankind was procured. Satan
had been disarmed and his power and authority over fallen mankind had been
overthrown, for Christ had once for all broken the power of all of man’s
enemies sin, hell, death, the grave, and the devil.
9.2.2.
In Col. 2:13-15, Paul writes about how that Jesus disarmed the spiritual rulers and
authorities in the heavenly places and that He had cancelled out the
certificate of debt that each of us had amassed to God because of our sins, “13 And
when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our
transgressions,14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of
decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the
way, having nailed it to the cross.15 When He had disarmed the rulers and
authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them
through Him.”
10.
VS 27:51-53 -
“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 and 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.” - There is an earthquake and
the temple veil is torn and the tombs of many saints opened
10.1.
This must have been an incredible event.
An earthquake shakes the land, the huge temple veil that separated the Holy
Place from the Most Holy Place is torn in two, and many of the saints of old
who had died were suddenly resurrected and seen walking around the city of
Jerusalem.
10.2.
The veil of the temple was torn in two by the Lord to show that the Old
Covenant was once and forever done away with.
The veil was designed by God to keep everyone out of the
10.3.
From the scriptures we know that when Jesus died that He went down into
Hades. Hades at that time consisted of
two parts, Abraham’s Bosom for God’s people who had died, and The Place of
Torments for those who had died not being one of God’s people. Jesus went down to Abraham’s Bosom after His
death and took the people who were there and led them with Him to heaven. Some of these people from Abraham’s Bosom
were seen in resurrected bodies (though not glorified) walking through the
streets of
10.3.1.In Eph. 4:8-9, Paul wrote that Jesus had
descended into the center of the earth where Hades is located and led the
captives free, “8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He
led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this
expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended
into the lower parts of the earth?”
10.3.2.Daniel wrote in Dan. 12:2 about how there will be a
resurrection of the righteous as well as the wicked, “2 “And
many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to
everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”
11.
VS 27:54 - “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!”” - The centurion in charge as well as the other
Roman soldiers guarding Jesus acknowledged that Jesus must have been the Son of
God
11.1.
This is an incredible
account. It appears from the text that
all of the Roman soldiers actually came to believe in Christ for salvation
right at the foot of His cross when He finally breathed His last. There are New Testament scriptures that would
suggest that these soldiers must have come to salvation, including:
11.1.1.1 John 4:15 says, “15 Whoever
confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
11.1.2.1 Cor. 12:3, “3 Therefore
I make known to you, that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is
accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”
11.2.
True conviction of sin usually brings a sense of fear of God as these
soldiers had at this moment.
12.
VS 27:55-56 -
“55 And many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed
Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him,56 among whom was Mary Magdalene, along
with Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.”
- Matthew tells us that there were
family and friends who were there with Jesus as He hung upon the cross and died
12.1.
Matthew tells us that there were ‘many women’ who had followed Jesus from
12.2.
There was also the mother of the sons of Zebedee as well as Mary
Magdalene from whom He had cast out seven demons.
12.3.
It was from these friends and family members that Matthew got his
information about the events that occurred as Jesus was hanging upon the cross.