Matthew 27:62-66
You heard Roy read earlier how the first plot of Satan was carried out.
Satan devised a scheme and it was a murder plot.
In his mind the way to ensure victory was to kill the Messiah.
And so the plot was set.
He bated the Pharisees and Chief Priests
and fanned the flame of their jealousy until their rage was at an all time high and they desired to kill the Christ.
He bribed the weak-minded Judas
and for 30 pieces of silver he had his inside traitor.
He then used a mob to intimidate Pilate
and just like that the murder of Jesus was underway.
In the middle of the night Jesus was arrested.
He was tried before the Chief Priests and then taken to Pilate.
Pilate had him scourged and beaten and brought back to the pavement.
Upon intimidation Pilate succumbed to the mob to have Jesus crucified.
The cross was then placed upon Jesus back
And he began the long trek up the hill to Golgotha.
On the way, He crumbled under the weight of the cross, and Simon was forced to help Him carry it the rest of the way.
And all along Satan held a smirk.
At the third hour (9am) they drove nails through the hands and feet of Jesus and they dropped the old rugged cross into the hole.
And for the next 6 hours
Jesus would hang in agony and torture upon the cross.
Gasping for every breath…
Mocked by those who are watching…
Seeing the pain of His mother…
Feeling the sin of the world, and the rejection of His Father…
And finally during the 9th hour (3:00pm) Jesus would breath His last
AND SATAN WOULD REJOICE!
They would lower the body of Jesus off of the cross, and a man named Joseph of Arimathea would muster up courage to ask Pilate for His body.
A stone would be rolled over the entrance, and by the end of the day, the entire following of Jesus was two women sitting at the grave.
So much for the great following of Jesus.
So much for this all-powerful healer.
So much for this self-proclaimed Messiah.
JESUS WAS DEAD
And all the forces of evil rejoiced as the plot of Satan
Had seemingly been carried out to perfection.
But I want you to know, that was the only the first phase of his plot.
There was a second phase to the plot of Satan.
Killing Jesus was only part of the deal,
Here this morning we learn about the second aspect.
Our story picks up on Saturday (Sabbath) the day after Jesus was crucified, and there are three things we see here.
#1 A WICKED CONVENTION
Matthew 27:62
Matthew tells us that the day after Jesus was crucified
That the plotting and scheming had not yet come to an end.
Despite their supposed love of God, reverence for the Sabbath,
We find these religious leaders still at work in their scheming.
They had pretended to hold this day in high esteem.
John 19:31 “Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath ( for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”
Yet apparently worship and focus on God was not what was important to them, for here we find them locked in a new convention.
AND WE LEARN A LOT WHEN WE SEE WHO WAS PRESENT
“the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,”
Now first I want you to know how bizarre this is.
We read over that like this meeting is no big deal,
But this is a monumental meeting.
“the chief priests”
This group was mostly made up of the group we call the Sadducees.
They rejected all things spiritual. They didn’t believe in the resurrection, they didn’t believe in angels, the final judgment, and they only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as Scripture.
They were the white collar aristocrats,
They were also comprised of mostly Hellenistic Jews.
These were the Jews who had adopted Greek culture and worldliness.
To put it plainly, these were the LIBERALS.
It was to them that Jesus would say:
Matthew 22:29 “But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
ON THE OTHER HAND
“the Pharisees”
These were exact opposites of the chief priests. They arose during the days of the Maccabean revolt.
The term Pharisee means “separated one” and it was because while many Jews were falling into a Hellenistic influence, they sought to hold themselves aloof. They were dedicated to obedience to the Law and worship of God.
Not only did the view the entire Old Testament as authoritative, they also added to that law with hundreds of oral traditions that were just as binding.
While the Sadducees were liberal, these were the LEGALISTS. Everything was according to works and merit, and looking religious men on the outside.
Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”
The chief priests and Pharisees were not only opposites, but were in strict opposition to one another. They did not run together at all.
AND THEN THERE WAS:
“Pilate”
Pilate wasn’t a Jew at all, he was a Gentile, and to make matters worse, he was a Roman. He worked for the country that set in dominance over Israel. Not only to mention Pilate was exceptionally vile.
Luke 13:1 “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.”
Pilate was a tyrant who did hideous things to Jews suspected of revolting from Rome, including the incident we just read about.
While the chief priests represented liberalism…
And the Pharisees represented legalism…
Pilate represented LEWDNESS.
He was vile and worldly in every sense of the word,
Even if chief priests and Pharisees didn’t get along,
They certainly would neither have bonded with Pilate.
Yet, we find these men all meeting together.
Nothing in this world could possibly have united them,
Except their unified desire to kill the Son of God.
These men had differing ideals in every sense of the word,
And the only common bond was that they all hated the truth.
Liberalism
Legalism
Lewdness
This was literally a convention of the wicked.
YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL WHEN SATAN IS AT WORK,
HE STARTS UNITING PEOPLE FOR THE PURPOSE OF EVIL.
But there is a second thing I want you to see this morning.
#2 THE WORRIED CONSPIRACY
Matthew 27:63-64
It seems like they just want to keep the disciples from stealing Jesus body because they don’t want the people to be deceived.
At least that is what they say,
But common sense teaches us that is not at all what they are concerned about.
THINK ABOUT IT:
HOW HARD IS IT TO PROVE A DEAD MAN IS ACTUALLY DEAD?
Ask the Centurion that stabbed His side…
Ask the Centurion that was breaking the legs…
Ask Joseph, who buried Him…
There are tons of witnesses to prove that Jesus was dead, AND THEY ARE WORRIED THAT THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO PROVE IT?
Yeah right.
THAT IS NOT WHAT THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT.
THIS IS THE 2ND PLOT OF SATAN
NOT JUST TO KILL JESUS, BUT TO KEEP HIM DEAD
They know they killed Him, But
They must have gone to bed Friday night haunted by JAIRUS’S DAUGHTER.
They must have woken up in the night thinking of the WIDOW’S SON.
They must have awakened Saturday morning with LAZARUS on the brain.
And now, although they know they killed Him, they are worried,
And so their focus now shifts to keeping Him dead.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING?
There were many who wanted to kill Hitler, but I’ve never heard of a single person who was worried about keeping Hitler dead.
But their concern is now to keep Jesus dead.
WHY?
I’ll let Paul answer that question for you.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
If Jesus stays dead:
There is no point to the apostles preaching: “our preaching is in vain”
The Christians believed in vain: “your faith also is vain”
The disciples are liars: “we are even found to be false witnesses of God”
Faith has no value whatsoever “your faith is worthless”
Forgiveness is a farce “you are still in your sins”
Dead believers are in hell “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished”
Christians are the most pitiful people in the world “we are of all men most to be pitied.”
I THINK YOU SEE WHY THIS WAS SO IMPORTANT TO SATAN
In order to thwart the plan of God,
Satan simply had to kill Jesus and keep Him dead.
So Satan gathered his workers together one more time to do his bidding, and this time it was to make sure Jesus stays dead.
BECAUSE COULD YOU IMAGINE IF HE AROSE?
MY GOSH, if He were to rise from the dead,
Then that would prove everything that He said was true.
If He rose from the dead that would prove He was the Son of God.
If He rose from the dead, that would mean all the religious leaders were wrong.
NO IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY KEEP HIM DEAD
And so that is precisely what this meeting is about.
We see a wicked convention We see a worried conspiracy
#3 A WORTHLESS CONSTRAINT
Matthew 27:65-66
Now is where the story gets really good.
The plot is once again underway.
“You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
In other words, you do whatever it takes
To make sure that Jesus stays in the grave.
And the liberals and the legalists rise to the occasion
To do all they can to keep Jesus dead.
(66) “And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”
“seal” translates SPHRAGIZO (sfrag – it – zoe)
“to seal, is used to indicate security and permanency”
So they completely seal up this tomb, and just to make sure no one attempts to break this permanent seal, they post a guard at the tomb.
YOU SEE SATAN WANTED TO MAKE SURE JESUS STAYED DEAD
And while Satan’s puppets are at work outside the tomb,
Satan’s demons are at work inside the tomb.
For the Bible teaches that when Jesus died He went where our sins warranted Him go. He went to hades.
1 Peter 3:18-19 “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; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,”
You see the demons had a great thought.
They thought they would encircle Him and keep Him dead.
And this was a good plan, after all, no one else had ever beaten it.
Remember the rich man?
Luke 16:22-26 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’”
One worked the outside, and the other worked the inside.
SURELY THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP A DEAD MAN DEAD
WRONG!
1 Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”
Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
DEATH NEVER NEW WHAT HIT IT
They never tried to bind anybody like this before.
He put hell on it’s knees, and the stone was no kind of a barrier.
JESUS BROKE THE BINDINGS
As we sing in the Easter son, “He tore the bars away”
He stole the keys of death and hades and came bursting out of the tomb,
As soon as victory was achieved,
The angels of God rushed to share the knews!
Matthew 28:1-7 “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
Victory was achieved, and Satan was proven the fool.
They tried to do everything they could to keep Jesus dead.
GOD HAD SEEN THEIR SCHEMING
AND 1,000 YEARS AHEAD OF TIME
HIS RESPONSE WAS ALREADY RECORDED.
Psalms 2:1-6 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
Psalms 37:12-13 “The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.”
As God them seal the tomb, and laughed out loud,
saying, “Yeah, that’s gonna work.”
And we are once again confronted with the ineptness of Satan.
HE COULDN’T EVEN KEEP A DEAD MAN DEAD
THE CHIEF PRIESTS, PHARISEES, AND PILATE
COULDN’T EVEN KEEP A DEAD MAN DEAD
That’s because God on His weakest day,
Is stronger than man ever thought about being.
1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
And what I want you to know this morning,
Is that despite the desires of the wicked,
I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT JESUS IS ALIVE.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
And I’m also here to tell you that He can change your life.
Romans 6:4-11 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Because Jesus rose from the dead,
EVERYTHING HE SAID IS PROVEN TO BE TRUE.
He proved He is God by stepping out of the tomb.
BUT SO MANY TODAY, FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF THE PHARISEES AND CHIEF PRIESTS,
IN THAT THEY DON’T WANT TO LET JESUS OUT OF THE TOMB.
He makes for a good story,
He makes for a good sermon,
He makes for a good moral example,
But to countless thousands across our world,
Jesus might as well still be in the tomb,
Because they have never received the power of His resurrected life.
I’m asking you this morning to let Jesus out of the tomb!
Adrian Rogers said,
”To demons were speaking to one another, and one demon said to the other, ‘If these liberal theologians ever really let Jesus out of the tomb, hell help us, all of heaven’s going to break loose.’”
I’m asking you to believe that Jesus really is alive,
And that He really lives, and that He really can change your life.
DON’T FALL PREY TO SATAN’S 3RD PLOT
Oh yes, there was a third plot.
His first plot was CRUCIFIXION
His second plot was CONTAINMENT
His final plot is COVER UP
Matthew 28:11-15 “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”
You see Satan couldn’t keep Jesus in the tomb,
So instead he tries to convince you that He is still there.
He wants you to believe that He is dead…
He doesn’t want you to see that your life should be changed…
He doesn’t want you to see that your life could be changed…
And so he spreads the lie that Jesus is dead.
BUT I KNOW IT’S NOT SO.
I still remember the night that I let Jesus out of the tomb.
I remember the night I died with Him,
And how He caused me to be resurrected to new life.
I remember when Jesus became more than a story…
I remember when Jesus became more than words on a page…
I remember when Jesus arose in my heart
And set me free from sin and gave me a new nature.
HE CAN DO THE SAME FOR YOU, BUT YOU MUST BELIEVE
Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
You must confess Him as Lord, and believe that He is.
AND JESUS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE
That is what Easter is all about.
It is about the day when death was forced to give way to life.
It is the day when liberals and legalists became a laughingstock.
It is the day when the demons trembled.
It is the day when Satan went down in flames.
It is the day when those who confess Jesus as Lord
Found everlasting life.
“Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
HE AROSE!
HE AROSE!
HALLELUJAH CHIRST AROSE!
Pray
