The Undeserved Crucifixion of Jesus
Matthew 27:27-44
March 31, 2013
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That verse really encapsulates the point and the beauty
Of the cross of Jesus Christ.
On one hand we have the DIVINE STANDARD.
Isaiah 28:17 “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”
God was very clear in the Old Testament that His standard was perfection.
If a man wanted to be pleasing to God, he must be perfect.
Psalms 24:3-5 “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
Psalms 15 “O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.”
The reality is without this sort of perfection,
No one ever enters the presence of God.
Jesus really summed this up better than anyone when He said:
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Or again:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
So we have this divine standard.
God demands righteousness of every single human.
In fact, anything less than righteousness
Brings about the sure and certain wrath of God.
Romans 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”
I recently heard a Rabbi on television saying how he believed that at the judgment God doesn’t expect perfection, only a passing grade like 65% or possibly even 62%.
But that is not what Scripture teaches.
Scripture teaches that God’s wrath is on all unrighteousness.
If Adam and Even can be removed from a garden just for eating a piece of fruit, then certainly we understand that God is serious about perfection.
So we see the divine standard.
The problem is that this divine standard runs directly into THE SINFULNESS OF MAN.
Every man is a sinner.
Romans 3:10-18 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”; “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”; “THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.” “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
Paul even summed that up in:
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
And we know this is true.
Whether you are a Jew with God’s Law given to you.
Or you are a Gentile with God’s Law written in the heart.
Every man must acknowledge that he has been less than perfect.
Maybe we all have different degrees in which we miss perfection,
Some being worse than others, but the reality is that none are righteous.
That really is the problem of humanity.
We have a righteous God who refuses to tolerate sin.
We have sinful men who cannot appease a holy God.
And this puts us in a terrible predicament.
Couple that with the fact that no unrighteous person will inherit the kingdom of heaven and we realize what we are up against.
Based on that reality, every single human
Is destined for eternal destruction, separated from God.
BUT:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
According to that verse, one who is sinless, took sin that wasn’t His own upon Himself, and then gave His perfection to those sinners in return.
1 righteous man traded places with many unrighteous sinners.
1 took the wrath of God for many,
So that they could enjoy the full presence of God.
It is the most glorious reality of all humanity.
The question we ask is: WHO IS THIS RIGHTEOUS MAN?
Well, as we have been studying through Matthew’s gospel,
That is precisely what Matthew has been showing us.
Everything surrounding Christ’s death pointed to His innocence.
In the garden, we saw THE STRANGE ARREST OF JESUS.
1 innocent man, being arrested by 1,000 soldiers.
Matthew 26:55 “At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did not seize Me.”
“Do you even know why you are arresting Me?”
Then we saw THE CORRUPT TRIAL OF JESUS.
The trial of Jesus before Caiaphas broke numerous Jewish laws
In regard to what a legal trial had to be.
• They couldn’t meet in secret
• They couldn’t meet during a feast
• They couldn’t listen to false witnesses
• They couldn’t force a man to testify against himself
• They couldn’t sentence him for 3 days.
All of those laws were broken to condemn Jesus.
• They met at 2am in Caiaphas’ house.
• They met during the Passover
• They actually recruited false witnesses
• They forced Jesus to testify
• And then immediately condemned and sentenced Him
It was a corrupt trial, and all it did was reiterate that Christ was innocent.
Matthew 26:59-60 “Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward.”
Then we had AN UNEXPECTED TESTIMONY.
We actually have Judas, the one who betrayed Him,
Returning to the priest and declaring that what he did was wrong.
Matthew 27:3-4 “Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
Of course they didn’t listen and Judas eventually hanged himself.
And then AN IGNORED VERDICT
The chief priests escorted Jesus to Pilate,
And through the course of interrogation,
Pilate (no less than 4 times) publicly delivered a verdict of
“NOT GUILTY” in regard to Jesus.
And yet that verdict was routinely ignored.
The angry mob instead wanted the murderer Barabbas to be released.
Matthew 27:22-23 “Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”
THE POINT?
• Jesus is that innocent man we have been looking for.
• Jesus is that righteous one that we needed to be saved.
He was so righteous:
• The soldiers didn’t know why they were arresting Him
• The chief priests had to lie to convict Him
• His betrayer couldn’t bear the guilt of betraying Him
• And Pilate continually tried to set Him free
Jesus is the righteous One we need.
And so now we move into the 4th section on the death of Jesus.
We’ve seen the PLOT (it was God’s plan)
We’ve seen the PURPOSE (it was forgiveness)
We’ve seen the PARTICIPANTS (Soldiers, Caiaphas, Judas, Pilate)
Now we look at THE PICTURE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST
Here is the event.
And when we look at the cross through Matthew’s eyes
An obvious theme develops.
Matthew is overwhelmed by the wicked people surrounding Jesus
And is literally appalled by the way they treat Him.
This account really shows humanity at their worst.
We have a righteous man dying for them,
And yet all they can give Him is scorn and rebuke.
And Matthew shows us this scorn from 4 areas.
#1 THE BRUTAL MOCKING OF THE SOLDIERS
Matthew 27:27-37
Here we are once again reminded of the absolute brutality of crucifixion.
The cross was designed for enemies of Rome.
(A Roman couldn’t be crucified)
It was the most excruciating way imagined to kill Rome’s enemies
And thus squash any notions of rebellion by those who watched.
It was brutal.
And that is precisely the word for what these soldiers did to Jesus.
1) DESCRIPTION OF THEIR BRUTALITY (27-30)
(27) “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.”
A “Roman cohort” was 600 men.
And they have all found a new victim to brutalize.
This many soldiers could have their way with someone,
And that is precisely what they are doing.
Bear in mind that at this point Jesus has already been flogged severely.
It is quite possible that His back
Is already ripped open and He is bleeding heavily.
Now they gather around Him to mock Him further.
(28-29) “They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
• They make a mock robe out of a Centurion’s cape and put it on Him.
• Then they make a mock crown out of thorns and press it on His head.
• Then they take a reed to make a mock scepter and give to Him.
He must have been a humiliating site at this point.
“they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
You can hear them laughing, you can see their smirks.
It would have been humiliating.
And then in a moment:
(30) “They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.”
It was the picture of this king being overthrown.
They yanked His scepter away and began to beat Him with it.
It was mocking and it was brutality.
2) DEGREE OF THEIR BRUTALITY (31-32)
Jesus would have had to carry His own cross through the streets
To the place where they would crucify Him.
This cross would have weighed at least 200 pounds.
But they have beaten Jesus so severely
That He no longer has the ability to carry it.
(32) “As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.”
The story is included to show you that the beating has taken such a toll That He does not have the physical strength to carry His own cross.
3) DETACHMENT OF THEIR BRUTALITY (33-37)
(33-35) “And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.”
When they got to the site of His crucifixion
They offered Him “wine to drink mixed with gall”.
This wasn’t to numb the pain (the whole purpose was pain),
This was to make Him easier to nail to the cross without a fight.
But Jesus refused it.
And then they “crucified Him”.
They drove nails through His hands, they drove nails through His feet,
And then they raised that cross up and dropped it in the hole.
And when the cross hits the bottom,
The shoulders are pulled out of socket,
And a man literally dies of suffocation.
Only he can prevent his death
By raising up by pulling against the nails to get a breath.
The cross was designed to torture a person
Using their own innate will to live against them.
And according to Mark’s gospel they crucified Jesus at 9am,
He would hang there in agony until His death at 3pm.
So we have a brutally beaten man, hanging, cramping, and struggling, in agony on the cross.
And those soldiers are so sympathetic, what are they doing?
(35-37) “And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
They are sitting there watching Him and gambling for His clothes.
Talk about being detached!
Talk about being calloused!
They were brutal and didn’t even care.
What Jesus was going through didn’t even spark
The slightest hint of compassion or mercy.
It was brutal mocking.
They were killing Him and could care less as they did it.
The Brutal Mocking of the Soldiers
#2 THE BASELESS MOCKING OF THE TRAVELERS
Matthew 27:38-40
Here we find that two criminals were also crucified with Jesus.
It is highly likely that these were Barabbas’ partners in crime
Since Jesus was hanging on Barabbas’ cross.
And then the most peculiar scene
(39-40) “And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads 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.”
These travelers would have been those traveling into Jerusalem
For the Passover feast.
Because it was so crowded many people had to stay outside of the city
Or in surrounding towns during Passover.
As they are taking their lambs in to the priest to have them killed
They take the time to stop and throw a little scorn at Jesus.
Undoubtedly these people had seen Him before.
• He had preached in their towns,
• Worked miracles among them,
• Many of these had probably eaten of the food when He fed the 5,000
And one has to wonder, why did they feel the need to add to the scorn?
I mean, what reason did they have to mock Him?
At the very least you would think that upon entering Jerusalem,
If you saw something like that occurring,
You’d want to pass by on the other side of the road and ignore it.
Not these people, they jump right in with the mocking.
It is really unwarranted.
It is the baseless mocking of the crowd.
#3 THE BITTER MOCKING OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
Matthew 27:41-43
Now this we would probably expect.
They are mocking because they are trying to save face.
• Jesus had humiliated them.
• Jesus had exposed them.
• Jesus had openly called them hypocrites.
And now is their chance to get even.
Now is their chance to save face.
It is the old “He who laughs last…” mentality.
Sure He had had His day on Wednesday humiliating them in the temple,
But who’s laughing now?
They are proud to mock Him, they are proud to point out to the crowds
That Jesus was just another phony.
“He saved others; He cannot save Himself.”
(Ha Ha Ha Ha)
“He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.”
(Ha Ha Ha Ha)
“He trusts in God; Let God rescue Him now, If He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
They were asking, “Where’s your dad?”
“I thought your dad was God?”
“Where is He?”
Does your dad not love you enough to come help you off the cross?
It was all meant to destroy His reputation and save theirs,
It was the bitter mocking of the religious leaders.
The Brutal Mocking of the Soldiers
The Baseless Mocking of the Travelers
The Bitter Mocking of the Religious Leaders
#4 THE BLIND MOCKING OF THE THIEVES
Matthew 27:44
And this one really has to blow the mind.
Here were two criminals hanging on crosses next to Him,
And they actually join in on the mocking.
• Were they blind?
• Could they not see that they were also hanging on crosses?
• How could He be mocked even by those who were being condemned with Him?
This was the worst case of sinners throwing stones we have ever seen.
Now Luke’s gospel does reveal that one of the criminals comes to his senses and eventually confesses Christ, but it didn’t start out that way.
Matthew wants you to see that everyone around Jesus mocked Him.
He was innocent yet He was mocked by everyone, sinners, passersby, and bitter priests, even those dying with Him.
It was scorn, scorn, scorn, scorn
Mocking, Mocking, Mocking, Mocking
IS THAT REALLY HOW YOU TREAT AN INNOCENT MAN?
NO
That is how you treat the worst of sinners.
THEN WHY DID THEY DO THAT TO JESUS?
Because He was bearing our sin.
And bearing our sin also meant bearing our SHAME.
Isaiah 53:3 “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.”
Sinners aren’t just supposed to die for their sin.
Sinners are supposed to die humiliating and shameful deaths.
That is why Christ was shamed and humiliated.
He was treated as the worst of sinners because He was carrying our guilt.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 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. 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.”
That means when you and I read of the mocking,
Just know it is what we deserve.
Because of our sin, we deserve to be brutally mocked, beaten and humiliated.
Because of our sin, we deserve to be baselessly mocked,
Even by people who don’t know us.
You don’t have to know a rapist to be appalled at his sin.
You don’t have to know a thief to be appalled at his sin.
And so the world doesn’t have to know us to be appalled at our sin.
We deserve to be mocked even by the outside world.
Because of our sin, we deserve to be bitterly mocked.
Our sin hurts people.
If you lie, or steal, or murder, or hoard, or malign, there is always a victim.
And those victims should rise and bitterly mock us
For all that we have done to them.
Because of our sin, we deserve to be blindly mocked.
Even other sinners should join in the attack.
Just because they are sinners also
Doesn’t mean our sin doesn’t deserve their scorn.
As a liar can I not scorn murder? As a murderer can I not scorn adultery?
The point is we are sinful and our sin deserves shame
From every person in the world,
Ranging from those who personally offended,
To those who just read about it in the paper.
Sin comes with enormous shame.
And that is the shame that Christ is bearing.
He is bearing the reproach that you and I deserve.
God imputed our sin and guilt to Him,
And God imputed His righteousness and glory to us.
Romans 3:21-24 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
He received our condemnation, we received His justification
He gets scorn, we get righteousness
Colossians 2:13-14 “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, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;”
That really is the unfathomable grace of Jesus Christ.
He was innocent, yet
• He took our sin
• He took our shame
• He took our separation from God
• He took our sentence to hell
We were sinful yet He gave us
• His righteousness
• His glory
• His access to the Father
• His home in heaven
“This the power of the cross, Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross.”
It really is more than the human mind can conceive
Or the human heart can fathom.
But it is real none the less.
And this morning His offer of salvation still stands.
To all who will repent of their sin and trust in His atoning work,
They will receive His righteousness and be saved forever.
“Where the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small, love so amazing, so divine, demands my sole, my life, my all.”
This morning if you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ,
I invite you to do that.
If you have never placed your life in His hands,
I invite you to do that.
If you have never let Him have your sin, so that you can have His righteousness,
I invite you to do that.
And if you have, I don’t have to tell you what to do.
No doubt the gratitude is already overflowing in your heart.
And that is why we are here.
We come to worship Christ for bearing our shame.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
