The Closing Scenes Of Anguish In Matthew 2

Message 2: Jesus Christ The Righteous

Scripture Verses: Matthew 27:1-26; Matthew 26:36-44, 63-66; John 17:12;John 18:31-38; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:1; Romans 14:17;2 Peter 3:13

We have been going through the last three chapters of Matthew very slowly and have also taken portions from the other Gospels to retrace the Lord’s last days on the earth. I was reminded of Hymn 87:

O Lord! When we the path retrace,
Which Thou on earth hast trod,
To men Thy wondrous love and grace,
Thy faithfulness to God.
By James G. Deck

In the past, we thought that since we knew that the Lord suffered greatly on His way to the cross to accomplish redemption, it was alright for us to go through these chapters quickly. It is very significant that this time we went through it slowly ‘to retrace the path that He trod’. 

Matthew 27:3-10 can be considered an ‘insertion’ within Matthew 27:1-26 just because verse 2 ends with the Jewish leaders ‘delivered Him up to Pilate the governor’ and verse 11 begins with ‘now Jesus stood before the governor’ to be questioned by him. Matthew 27:3-10 says:

Then Judas, who betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented himself, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, (Matt 27:3) 

Saying, I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood. But they said, What is that to us? see thou to it. (Matt 27:4)

And he cast down the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. (Matt 27:5)

And the chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood. (Matt 27:6)

And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. (Matt 27:7)

Wherefore that field was called, the field of blood, unto this day. (Matt 27:8)

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was priced, whom certain of the children of Israel did price; (Matt 27:9)

And they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. (Matt 27:10) 

Every word in the Bible has a special meaning. So don’t jump from Matthew 27:2 to 27:11. In order to understand why these 8 verses were inserted, we need the context from Matthew 26 and John 18.

No One was Righteous  

 (a) Judas

When the Jewish leaders took council and decided to kill the Lord Jesus, they were very clear that it was not lawful for them to kill anyone. Metaphorically, they had to ‘borrow somebody else’s hand and knife’ to do it. To accomplish this they first had to deliver the Lord to the Roman governor because the Jewish nation was under the rule of the Roman Empire at that time. I believe this took Judas by surprise and he realized that things have now gone too far.

When Judas took the initiative to approach the Jewish leaders to deliver the Lord to them, they were happy to oblige. It was for personal gain because he knew it was unlawful for them to kill anyone. He may have thought that the most they could do was to 'beat Him up' and let Him go. But instead, their evil plot was to ‘borrow the Roman hand’ to deal with the Lord. Once this was set in motion, Judas realized it could not be stopped or reversed.

In his regret Judas acknowledged that ‘I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood’ (Matthew 27:4), but he could not do anything about it. When Judas tried to return the money the chief priests and elders said ‘no’, they could not accept it. So Judas threw the money into the temple and went and hanged himself. The Jewish leaders knew that this was ‘blood money’ and could not be put into the temple treasury. So they decided to use it to buy a potter’s field to bury strangers. Seemingly they did something good but nothing could undo the evil they did.

 We need to see this paints a picture of unrighteousness. They were all unrighteous, Judas as well as the Jewish leaders. Matthew 27:9-10, ‘Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, and they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was priced, whom certain of the children of Israel did price and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me’  was a prophecy recorded in Zechariah 11:12-13. (Bible scholars explain that Zechariah prophesied in the spirit of Jeremiah). My point here is to paint the black background that everyone was unrighteous. 

(b) The Jewish Leaders

How the Lord Jesus was judged by the Jewish leaders and by the Roman Empire was based on different issues. The issue brought up by the Jewish leaders was to accuse Him of blasphemy. They hired false witnesses to accuse the Lord of many things but He remained silent.

But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest said unto Him, I adjure Thee by the living God, that Thou tell us whether Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. (Matt 26:63).

 To them, no man can say that he is God because there is only one God. They thought they could use His answer to accuse Him of blasphemy. But they did not anticipate how the Lord would answer them:

Jesus said unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matt 26:64)

Yes, the Lord was God, He was one with God, He was God incarnated to become a man, and they said it correctly. Moreover, they would see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Then the high priest tore His garment and said:

Then the high priest rent his garments, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy: what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard the blasphemy: (Matt 26:65)

What think ye? They answered and said, He is worthy of death. (Matt 26:66)

The religious leaders were tricky. They not only brought up the issue of blasphemy but they also used this to stir up the religious fanatics. So when the Jewish leaders posed this question, ‘what think ye’ (or in today’s English, ‘what do you think’), they replied, ‘He is worthy of death’.

They knew they had no right to kill the Lord on their own even if He was guilty of blasphemy. So they stirred up a 'lynch mob' before delivering Him to Pilate the Roman governor. This sets up the dark background of unrighteousness that followed the Lord every step of the way.

To be righteous means to be right with God and right with men. This takes the whole last stage of the Lord’s life and earthly ministry to demonstrate it. When the Lord and His disciples went to Gethsemane, He prayed three times Himself and asked His disciples to watch and pray with Him, but they could not. This shows that in the midst of that grave situation, He was righteous, that is, right with God. No one else was. His prayer was ‘not as I will, but Thou wilt’. He was always for the Father’s will and thus always right with God.    

The Lord was also right with men, particularly with His disciples. The disciples were totally overwhelmed by the situation. In John 18:7-8:

Again therefore He asked them, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. (John 18:7)

Jesus answered, I told you that I am He; if therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way. (John 18:8)

In the midst of all this darkness and unrighteousness the Lord not only remained faithful to the Father’s will, He was also kind and gracious to His disciples. He protected them and did not want them to be arrested nor any sufferings to come upon them. It was for the fulfillment of the scriptures:

While I was with them, I kept them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John17:12)

© Pilate

 The Lord was brought to Pilate the governor for questioning. The account of the exchange is more detailed and clearer in the Gospel of John:

Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, and called Jesus, and said unto Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews (Thou art the King of the Jews, Darby)? (John 18:33)

Jesus answered, Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning Me?  (John 18:34)

Pilate’s question was seemingly innocent but it was actually loaded and tricky. Literally, as in Darby's translation, Pilate’s question was, ‘You are the King of the Jews’? This is both a question and a statement. We need to see Pilate’s ‘question’ was a very unrighteous and political one.

The Jewish nation was under the domination of the Roman Empire at that time. If there was a king of the Jews, it meant that there was a rebellion fermenting. Although the Jewish uprising and the  destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. had not yet happened, the Romans were very sensitive about rebellion within the Empire. For fear of implicating themselves politically, the Jewish leaders knew they could not deliver the Lord to Pilate because He said He was the king of the Jews less they themselves are implicated.

Jesus Christ the Righteous

(a) Right with God

The Lord’s answer was brilliant. When the Jewish leaders delivered Him to Pilate, they could only accuse Him as ‘a problem case with our religion’. However the Roman government, represented by Pilate, had little interest in dealing with religious issues. So Pilate had to shift the focus to a political one. This was unrighteousness. But the Lord’s answer in John18:36 was:

My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence.  (John 8:36)

The Lord was unafraid to bring up the heavenly kingdom. But it was not the kingdom Pilate would be concerned with nor could he use it to advance his political issue. This shows the Lord was righteous.

(b) Right with Men

This answer was also very important because it protected and spared all His disciples. He was not only faithful to God but also gracious and loving to His disciples. He bore this responsibility alone without involving His disciples. In the midst of all the darkness, the Lord Jesus stood alone. He was right with God and He was right with men.

Peter and John must have both reflected on this scene some thirty to sixty years later to see that in the midst of all the unrighteousness, there was only One who was righteous. I believe what it happened, they both had no clue what was going on. But while writing the Epistle of 1John, and the Epistle of 1 Peter, I believe both the apostles reflected on these scenes and were able to write:

My little children, these things write I unto you that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1John 2:1)

Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit (1Pet 3:18) 

It is good for us to ‘retrace the path He trod’ to see the dark background and the only righteous One.

© Speak the Truth

Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice. (John 18:37 )

This showed that the Lord spoke the truth of the kingdom of heaven without any fear.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must know the truth. We must be able to stand for the truth because the church is ‘the pillar and base of the truth’ (I Timothy 3:15, Darby). Then John 18:38 continued:

Pilate saith unto Him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find no crime in Him’. (John 18:38)

Without waiting for an answer Pilate went out to the Jews to say he could find nothing wrong with the Lord. But what he did right after this was pretty unrighteous: 

Now at the feast the governor was wont to release unto the multitude one prisoner, whom they would. (Matt 27:15)

And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. (Matt 27:16)

When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ? (Mat 27:17)

For he knew that for envy they had delivered Him up. (Matt 27:18)

Furthermore Pilate’s wife had urged him to have nothing to do the Lord and even called Him a righteous man in Matthew 27:19. But Pilate ignored the truth and continued:

Pilate saith unto them, What then shall I do unto Jesus who is called Christ? They all say, Let him be crucified. (Matt27:22)

And he said, Why, what evil hath He done? But they cried out exceedingly, saying, Let Him be crucified. (Matt 27:23)

So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. (Matt 27:24)

Then released he unto them Barabbas; but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified. (Matt 27:26)

(d) For the Fulfillment of the Prophesies

I would like to speak a little about crucifixion.  It is no longer used as a means to carry out the death sentence today. In fact, death by crucifixion was not a common practice in history.

In Numbers 21, when the children of Israel were in the wilderness and began to speak against God, He sent fiery serpents among them and bit them and many died. Then the children of Israel repented and God instructed Moses to make a brass serpent, put it on a pole and lift it up. Whoever was bitten by the fiery serpents, when they looked up at the brass serpent, will live. That was a picture of Christ being crucified. In John 3:14-15, the Lord said,

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; (John 3:14) 

That whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life. (John 3:15)

At the time of Numbers 21, there was not such a practice of crucifixion. The practice started around 500 B.C. and became common practice during the time of the Roman Empire. It was an extremely cruel form of punishment and was considered the most shameful form of death. Crucifixion was used only on slaves and rebels. I read somewhere that Roman citizens or free men could not be sentenced to death by crucifixion unless it was for treason.

This practice lasted only for a few hundred years. At around 320 A.D. Constantine the Great in his dream saw a flag of a cross and heard ‘by this conquer’. He became a Christian, baptized his troops, made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire and abolished crucifixion. So crucifixion as a practice lasted only for a relatively short period of time.

Although there are many places in the Old Testament, way before the practice of crucifixion began, showed the types and prophecies of what would happen to the Lord Jesus. My point is crucifixion was a Roman practice, not a Jewish one. The Jewish punishment for blasphemy was death by stoning as in Acts. Stephen was martyred by the mob who cast him out of the city and stoned him. But in the Lord's case, even though it seemed as though His crucifixion came about through a combination of unrighteous acts from Judas, the Jewish leaders and Pilate. In reality, it was altogether the fulfillment of the prophecies.   

Righteous for the Unrighteous

So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. (Matt 27:24)

And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.  (Matt 27:25)

Then released he unto them Barabbas; but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified. (Matt 27:26)

Pilate declared himself innocent by washing his hands but he did not realize that he was not. No unrighteous man can be innocent of a righteous man’s blood. The record here is dark, ugly and corrupt. It was religion and politics at its worst. But this only served as an unrighteous background to bring out the only One that is righteous.

I believe when Peter wrote the Epistle of 1Peter in the mid-A.D. 60’s, about 30 years later, he was reminded by the Holy Spirit that this whole scene was one of 'the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God' (1 Pet 3:18). I don’t think we realize the gravity of what Peter wrote. I believe   Peter was also brought back to scene in the Garden of Gethsemane and the last hours of what the Lord went through.

I would like to read hymn 87. It describes my burden this morning as we retrace the Lord’s path in His final hours:

1.    Lord when we the path retrace
Which Thou on earth hast trod,
To men Thy wondrous love and grace,
Thy faithfulness to God.

2.    Thy love by man so sorely tried,
Proved stronger than the grave;
The very spear that pierced Thy sid
Drew forth the blood to save.

3.    Although Thou passed through woes and grief,
Thy works were ever good;
Although midst sorrows all Thy life,
Thou spak’st no murmuring word.

4.    Faithful amidst unfaithfulness,
’Mid darkness only light,
Thou didst Thy Father’s name confess,
And in His will delight.

5.    Unmoved by Satan’s subtle wiles,
Or suffering, shame, and loss,
Thy path uncheered by earthly smiles,
Led only to the cross’

6.    We wonder at Thy lowly mind,
And fain would like Thee be,
And all our rest and pleasure find
n learning Lord of Thee’

Based on the burden this morning, I would like to read stanza 4 this way:

Righteous amidst unrighteousness,
’Mid darkness only light
Thou didst Thy Father’s name confess,
And in His will delight.

This week, a number of verses have been made much more meaningful to me. For example, Romans 14:17 and 1 Corinthians 1:30:

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17)

But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. (1Cor 1:30)

If we let Him be the King and are really under the heavenly rule, there will be righteousness. When we first believed in the Lord Jesus, He became our righteousness as our righteous robe to cover us before God. Now we need to live a life that will have the stitched wedding garment of fine linen mentioned in Revelation which is ‘the righteous acts of the saints’ (Revelation 19:8).

Today He has set an example for us. Righteousness is to be right with God and right with men. May we be the ones to give ourselves to the Lord to do the Father’s will, to be right with the Father and also be the ones caring for one another by expressing His life to each other.

Next: Matthew Message 3: All Inclusive Death of Christ >