STUDY THEME: LET’S TALK ABOUT JESUS. MATTHEW 27: 57, 1 JOHN 4: 7-10.
MATTHEW 27: 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35-37, 50-51; 1 JOHN 7, 8, 9, 10.
The four lessons in April center around Jesus. The study theme is “Let’s Talk About Jesus.” We’ll study about His suffering on our behalf then we will study about His resurrection on Easter Sunday. Then we will study about Jesus’ building His church and His return.
We Christians need constantly to remind ourselves of the incredible love which Jesus had for us. By understanding how profound His sufferings were, perhaps we can understand how profound His love is.
At a Promise Keepers rally in the 1990’s, one of the speakers made a memorable point by asking the crowd to shout their denominational affiliation at the count of three. “Ready?” He prompted, “one…two…three!” As you can imagine, ten thousand men screaming out the name of different denominations all at the same time resulted in gibberish.
Then he asked us, on the count of three, to shout out the name of Jesus. ‘One…two…three,” and the crowd shouted in unison the Name above every name. The result was a stimulating moment as Jesus’ name resonated throughout that arena. “Here’s the point.” He said. “The world needs to know about Jesus, not our denominational differences. Let’s go away from here remembering it’s all about Jesus.”
On one of the occasions when the enemies of Jesus sent officers to arrest Him, the officers found Jesus teaching in the temple. They heard Him say in John 7: 37 “If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and drink.” The officers returned without arresting Jesus. When they were asked why they failed in their assignment, the officers said in vs. 46, “never man spake like this man.”
The same formula would fit everything about Jesus. No one was born like this man. No one lived like this man. No one died like this man. No one was raised from death like this man. No one established the church like this man. No one will return like this man.
This April study focuses on four aspects of the unique Jesus: His death, His resurrection. His church, and His future coming. Each of the four lessons includes verses from Matthew’s Gospel and at least one N.T. Letter.
The four Gospels are all about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and promised return; serve, as the subjects of these historical accounts. Our lessons in this unit focus on the Gospel of Matthew as we explore the life and ministry of our Savior. We will examine Jesus as suffering Savior, risen Lord, church builder, and returning King. Remember---it’s all about Jesus.
This study theme is designed to help us on Apr. 4 to believe Jesus demonstrated God’s love by dying to provide eternal life and to respond to that love in our daily life.
On April 11 we are lead to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, be sure we are experiencing the new life God gives to those who believe in Jesus, and share this message with others.
April 18 we are to be involved in the church as a way to live out our spiritual commitment and to fulfill Christ’s divine plan. April 25 we are to be ready for Jesus return.
Today’s lesson “The Suffering Savior,” is based on selected verses from Matt. 27 and 1 John 4 and looks at the suffering and death of Jesus. The Theme of this lesson is that Jesus’ death on the cross is evidence of God’s love.
You already know that many people have no particular concept of sin. They do not understand how serious sin is and what it has done to our world. They do not realize that sin separates us from God and causes people to spend eternity in hell. Consequently, they do not realize their need for someone to provide a way of salvation.
Thinking that they can achieve salvation by doing good works or being religious, they are not aware that God provided the only way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Sin is so serious to God that He allowed His Son to die on the cross in our place and thus take our penalty for sin on Himself. All people who receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, experience God’s love and forgiveness.
Please look with me at Matt. 27: 27. “Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into headquarters and gathered the whole company around Him.”
The governor was Pontius Pilate. The emperor had appointed him as procurator of Judea. He was the chief Roman official in Judea. One of his duties was to maintain order, and to see that all criminals were appropriately punished. Because of political unrest in Judea, Pilate was expected to be hard on revolutionaries, especially terrorists.
Three condemned terrorists were scheduled for crucifixion when the Jewish religious leaders brought Jesus and accused Him in Luke 23: 2 of claiming to be a king whom the Jews should follow instead of Caesar. The Sanhedrin already had condemned Jesus of blasphemy, a capital offense under Jewish law but not under Roman law. Therefore, they accused Jesus of sedition, a capital crime under Roman law.
Pilate quickly realized Jesus was not guilty of sedition and saw that the religious leaders were merely trying to use the governor to get rid of Jesus. Pilate really wanted to have nothing to do with the whole matter; in fact he was “greatly amazed” at Jesus.” Pilate offered to release Him in a custom that followed each year between him and the people. To his surprise, the crowd asked for Barabbas, a notorious prisoner, to go free rather than Jesus. Still not wanting to put Jesus to death, he asked the crowd to consider another punishment. But they threatened Pilate in John 19:12-13 with blackmail, and being a spineless politician he “washed his hands” in Matt. 27:24 and tried to plead innocent in the ugly affair. Then he had Jesus publicly flogged and delivered Him to the executioners.
The soldiers took Jesus into headquarters and prepared to take Him to the site of the crucifixion. The governor’s residence, which should have been a shelter to the wronged and abused, became the stage of this dreadful act.
The whole company that gathered around Jesus included the Sanhedrin, the soldiers, and the blood-thirsty throng of Jews who had been incited to riot by the religious leaders. With the disciples now dispersed, Jesus stood all alone; with no friend at his side.
On the night leading up to this event, Jesus had been betrayed by Judas and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. The crowd took Him first to appear before Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. The appearance before Annas was brief but the brutal treatment of Jesus began there. He was sent in the darkness of the night to Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin assembled at his home. You will remember it was Caiphas who gave counsel in John 11: 50 that it was expedient for one man to die for the people. He sought a way to dispose of Jesus from that time
Let’s look now at Matt. 27: 28-29.
The Gospels show that Pilate made several unsuccessful attempts to release Jesus. But he finally gave into the political pressure and sentenced Jesus to be crucified in the place of the chief terrorist Barabbas. In Matt 27:24 Pilate washed his hands in public, claiming that he was not responsible for ordering the execution of this innocent man.
Earlier, in Matt. 27:26 Jesus had been scourged or severely beaten with a whip with metal pieces in the leather thongs. Now he was in the hands of those who would actually carry out the brutal task of crucifying Him. These torturers and executioners had done this before. That kind of work would make anyone callous and cruel. We see this in their mockery of the condemned prisoner. Jesus bore in silence the cruel mockery of the soldiers, who, ironically were mocking the King of kings.
They took Jesus into the common hall or headquarters. The place included the barracks for the whole band of soldiers. The whole band referred to a military unit of about 600 soldiers.
Vs. 28-29 describe the shameful ways in which the soldiers mocked Jesus. They mocked Him in seven ways. (1) They stripped him. Jesus’ clothing, stripped from Him at the scourging, had been replaced, but it was now removed to wrap Him in a mock royal robe. This act was intended to ridicule Jesus since He claimed to be the King of the Jews. They put on Him a scarlet robe. Purple was the color of royalty, and the faded red of an old army robe was a parody of true purple. (3) When they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head. The thorns were for torture. Thorns in Palestine can be several inches long, so one can only imagine the pain when such thorns pierced Jesus’ scalp and forehead. (4) They put a reed in his right hand, to serve as His scepter. The reed or cane was nothing more than a bamboo stick and was intended to serve in scorn as a royal scepter, which kings would normally carry.
(5) Having thus arrayed Jesus in a “royal” robe, a “crown” of thorns, and a “scepter,” the soldiers knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. They had no idea that Jesus really was the King of kings and that they would kneel before Him one day and proclaim Him “Lord.” (Phil. 2: 10-11.)
LOOK AT MATT. 27: 30-31. Then they spit upon Him, took the reed, and kept hitting Him on the head. When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the robe, put His clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
Here we find the lowest point in human history, and we see just how dreadful the human heart can become. How could the King of Glory suffer such shame? How could the very embodiment of love be treated so cruelly? How could the One who is robed in majesty be stripped of His clothes by mortal hands? How could the Creator be crucified? This is the mystery of God’s amazing love for sinners. Paul said in Rom. 5:8, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is the story of how our sins, yours and mine, took Jesus to the cross. True, our hands did not commit these atrocious deeds, but our sins were ultimately why He had to die. In order to show even more contempt, the soldiers spit at Him and kept hitting Him on the head. The scene is one in which the soldiers and the crowd had worked themselves into a violent, blood-thirsty frenzy. Because of the American judicial system, it is hard for us to imagine someone being subjected to such public brutality. Most of these men probably did even know who Jesus was, but their violence toward him was unchecked nevertheless. They hit Jesus in the head with a stick over and over again. Jesus bore in silence the cruel mocking of the soldiers, who ironically were mocking the King of kings.
The vicious company of soldiers, led by a centurion, led Him away. They led Jesus outside the city gates to a place called “Golgotha.” This is a Hebrew word meaning “skull.” It was so named because as one stands near the bus station outside the wall you can see the face of a skull eroded into the rock cliff below the crosses.
I had never fully realized the brutality of the soldiers who had charge of Jesus scourging until I viewed the movie “The Passion of Jesus Christ.” I suppose we had passed over this brief record so many times that I failed to appreciate as we should. But remember that Jesus’ suffering and death are directly tied to His love for us. One way that helps me worship and remember Jesus’ suffering for me is to sing hymns to the Lord. One of them that I’ve cherished through the years is in the Baptist Hymnal:
Ruined sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah! What a Savior.
PLEASE READ MATTHEW 27: 35-37.
Between Matt. 27: 34-35 the crucifixion took place. The Gospel writers do not dwell on the horrible torment of this kind of death. The Gospels give us much information regarding the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and they are fairly detailed about Jesus’ words and actions while He was on the cross. But one incident that the Gospels do not describe in detail is the actual crucifixion itself.
Perhaps God did not wish to record the gory particulars about what happened to His dear Son at that moment. Or it could be that people in the ancient world knew all too well what crucifixion was all about, so details were not necessary. Crucifixion was the most dreadful, terrible, and shameful death known to antiquity. . The Romans adopted it from the Phoenicians. Usually the victims died within two or three days from thirst, exhaustion, and exposure.
The victim’s hands were normally tied, sometimes nailed, to a crossbeam that was then raised and attached to a vertical pole. The feet were then bound to the pole. A peg, which was nailed to the vertical pole, was provided to support the weight of the victim The Jews never crucified Jews, nor did the Romans crucify Romans. For the Jews to demand that the Romans inflict it on Jesus shows the intensity of their hatred.
Suffice to say, crucifixion was one of the most painful ways to die every conceived by sinful humanity. It was not just a method of execution but also a way to torture and humiliate the condemned person. The other reason for the restraint was because Jesus suffered more than just the physical pain of crucifixion. We see this in His Gethsemane prayer that this cup of suffering might pass from Him.
Jesus was no coward, but He knew that His cup of suffering included the pain of bearing the world’s sins. This is also seen in His cry from the cross in 27:46. This was the time of propitiation. None of us can conceive how much Jesus suffered on our behalf.
John 19:23-24 tells us there were four soldiers involved in casting lots for His clothes. The victim’s garments were confiscated by the soldiers; they could keep them, sell them, or dispose of them in whatever way they wished. According to John, Jesus’ outer garments were divided into four parts, one to each soldier. But the tunic, an inner garment, was seamless, woven in one piece, and probably made of wool. It would have been ruined by dividing it, so the soldiers decided to cast lots for it, thus fulfilling the prophecy in Psalm 22: 18.
Matthew is the only Gospel that describes how “sitting down they watched Him there.” The soldiers were expected to be sure that no one rescued Him and to remain on watch to ensure that He died.
All four Gospels tell of a sign over the head of the crucified Jesus. John 19:20 says that the title was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, (The dominant languages in Palestine) so that all spectators would be able to read it. “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” This sign showed the crime for which the Romans crucified Jesus. The religious leader protested the wording. They wanted Pilate to change it to read, “He said, I am King of the Jews.” Pilate answered in John 19:21-11, “What I have written I have written.”
This placard thus was another way in which Jesus was seen to be King, even as He died. The sign was intended to accuse Him of sedition against Rome, but believers see it as another testimony to Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords. The wording of the charge drips with irony, making it appear as if the Romans believed that Jesus was the King of the Jews.
To the Romans the title “King of the Jews” would have been considered insurrection. Of course, the Jews were greatly inflamed by the charge because they did not believe Jesus was either King or Messiah.
The same irony is seen in the mocking taunts of the chief priests: “He saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let Him come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.” Jesus was the King who could summon legions of angels if He wanted them. He could have saved Himself at any point, but He knew there was ironic truth in the taunt. He could same Himself, but only by refusing to save Himself could He save others. You and I were there among those others whose sins crucified Jesus and for whose sins He died. I for one am grateful that He chose to die. PLEASE MOVE DOWN TO VS. 50-51.
PLEASE READ MATTHEW 27: 50-51.
Matthew and Mark record only one saying of Jesus while He was being crucified. Luke records three others, and John has three more for a total of seven. Matt. 27:50 says that as Jesus died He cried again with a loud voice. John 19:30 records Jesus’ final cry of victory: “It is finished.” Luke 23: 46 has His final prayer, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” To give up the spirit is an idiom for death. Jesus, the Lord of life, now hung lifeless on the cross. Man’s last and worst was done. The King is dead! Vs. 50 describes His death; Vs. 51 signifies the result of His death.
Matthew has the longest account of the phenomena that accompanied the death of Jesus. All three Synoptic Gospels record the tearing of the temple veil and the centurion’s confession of faith. Only Matthew tells of the earthquake and the appearances of resurrected saints. The veil of the temple was the large curtain that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple.
In the O.T. sacrificial system, the holy of holies contained the ark of the covenant, and signified the presence of God. Only the High Priest could enter this most holy place, and he could enter it only on the day of atonement, and then only after making sacrifices for himself and for the people.
The veil thus showed that sinful people were unable to come to the holy God. When Jesus died, the veil was torn from top to bottom to show that God tore it. The torn veil showed that in the death of Jesus, God opened access to Him through faith in Christ. Jesus is our High Priest who offered Himself as the once-for-all, all sufficient sacrifice for sins.
PLEASE TURN TO 1 JOHN 4:7. TEACHER READ AS TOPICS DISCUSSED.
Vs. 7: “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Here in vs. 7 John picks up the line of thought he left back in 3:24, which says, ‘and by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” Vs. 7-24 form the heart of the epistle. All the major ideas of 1 John are found tightly woven into a condensed summary. Each verse picks up highlights noted previously and the message continues in Ch. 5.
Agape Love is the principle that governs and motivates the whole Christian life. The word agape is self-giving love. This kind of love acts on behalf of others regardless of the cost. It is not a sentimental feeling, but a sacrificial action. Because God loved us, we can know and experience true love. It is a love rooted in the truth of God—the love of Christ that makes us want to walk in truth and do God’s will. John said “let us love one another”, which indicates that loving other Christians is an obligation. It does not imply that we can produce or manipulate this love. All we can do is to demonstrate the love that God puts within us. The words one another remind us that we are not to be lone rangers; islands unto ourselves. God wants us to be involved in a congregation of believers who help to build us up in the truth and who model for us what it means to walk in love.
The crux of the message is that truth is lived. And it is lived in love, the kind of love that can be seen by looking at Jesus Christ whom God has sent. In John’s thinking, love, like truth, is bound up in a Person. Jesus said in John 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Love flows from the father through the Son to those who know Him by faith.
Vs. 8 says “THE ONE WHO DOES NOT LOVE DOES NOT KNOW GOD, BECAUSE GOD IS LOVE.”
John makes a powerful and startling statement: the one who does not love does not know God. “How,” one may ask, “can John make such a blanket statement?” John’s point is that God’s love in us is the proof of His abiding presence, and His love manifested through us reveals God to others. The person who does not show God’s love to others does not have God’s love. God’s love for us prompted Him to action, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” And God’s love within us prompts us to action by showing it to others.
God is not reversible. John did not say, “Love is God” as a New Ager or a pantheist would say. Love does not define God: rather, God defines love. John meant that one of God’s attributes is love, that love is part of God’s nature. People know God not so much by thinking about Him as by experiencing Him and His love. God is personal. We know Him by what He does, and, though He has revealed His nature, through certain abstract qualities (such as omniscience and eternality), the main reason we get to know Him is because He initiated a love relationship with humankind through His Son.
Of all the biblical statements about God, this one from John has been prized as supreme. Because God is love, all of His ways with the world (creation, providence, redemption, eschatology) take on meaning and purpose. A Christian is one who has been “born of God” and thus shares God’s divine nature. Since God is love, we have an obligation to imitate Him and love one another.
Vs. 9: God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
Vs. 9 gives us further insight into what it means that; “God is love.” This verse is another way of stating the truth of John 3: 16. Because God is love, He was motivated to express His nature, not only in words, but, in deeds. True love prompts a person to action. Many people have a syrupy, sentimental notion about God’s love. His love expressed itself in the person of Christ and showed us the only place where love and holiness could meet—at the cross.
Two Greek words in this verse demand attention. Revealed means “to put out in the open; to manifest publicly.” Jesus revealed who God is and what He is like. He said in John 14:9, “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father.” The sphere where such love was manifested was not only in the earthly life of Christ but also among us, that is, in every Christian. Paul stated in Rom. 5:5 “The love of God is spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
The second Greek word we need to understand is monogenes, translated One and Only. This Greek word means “only” or “unique”, “one of a kind.” The N.T. is very clear that; Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin. Even if monogenes does not relate to this event, it is a truth firmly established by passages such as Matthew 1: 18-25. That Jesus is the “only begotten.” At the very least means that He is uniquely related to the Father in a way no one else could ever be.”
Vs. 10: Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
This is John’s way of saying what Paul stated in Romans 5: 8 “God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”
God took the initiative in establishing a relationship with sinners, which shows the height and breadth of God’s saving love. The word propitiation is important for understanding the nature of God’s redemptive work in Christ. Many people think that Christ’s atoning sacrifice had nothing to do with appeasing God. They think this is an idea that belongs to the cults of the first century world. They insist that the atoning sacrifice provided by Jesus was meant solely to commend us to God. In their view, Jesus’ sacrifice was strictly human-ward, for it took away our sins. It was not God-ward, for God did not need to be appeased.
However, the Scriptures clearly teach that all sin is offensive to God, and that God’s wrath against sin must be removed before a relationship with Him can be established. Romans 1:18 says “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Sinners need to be reconciled to God, but that could not be done until sin was paid for and then removed. Thus, the sacrifice of Jesus took away our sins but it also satisfied or appeased God’s wrath toward our sins. This is what propitiation describes. God’s wrath toward us because of sin has been appeased because of Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus’ death was “the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.”
Substitution---that’s the point of this passage. That is the heart of the Gospel. Jesus suffered and died in our place so we could be free. As another verse of Phillip Bliss’s hymn put it:
Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood
Seal’d my pardon with His blood; Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Too often we forget that Jesus is the lover of our souls who died to make a relationship with us possible. We need to pause in prayer right now to thank Him for dying for us.
NEXT WEEK, OUR LESSON FROM MATT. 28:1-10 AND EPHESIANS 2:4-9 PRESENTS “THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD” IN EVIDENCE OF GOD’S LOVE.
A.V. DAUGHERTY altav@swbell.net http://theweeks.org/av/ SS04-04-04.