Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19970525.htm

MATTHEW: JESUS AS ISRAEL'S MESSIAH AND HIS MESSIANIC KINGDOM
Part XII: The Postponement Of Messiah's Kingdom
C. The Passion Of The King
5. Viewing Life's Events Through God's Eyes Instead Of Unbelieving Man's Eyes
(Matthew 27:45-28:15)
  1. Introduction
    1. Though Romans 8:28 informs us that God works all things, including the bad, out to the good for them who love God and are called according to His purpose, the viewpoint a faithless party has of life's events so drastically differs from God's view that one's view makes or breaks how well he handles such events.
    2. Nowhere else is this more evident than in the events surrounding Christ's death, burial and resurrection.
  2. Viewing Life's Events Through God's Eyes Instead Of Unbelieving Man's Eyes, Mtt. 27:45-28:15.
    1. On the one hand, those in unbelief viewed Christ's death, burial and resurrection as a series of bothersome interruptions in the smooth sailing of Israel's history:
      1. Unbelieving onlookers saw Christ's cross as a chance to discredit Jesus' claims for good, Mtt. 27:45-50.
        1. Unbelievers hearing Jesus cry out the Aramaic words, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" thought He might be calling Elijah's name out in Greek, which sounds much like "Eli", the Greek rendering being "Elian," cf. UBS The Greek New Testament, p. 113; B.K.C., N.T., p. 90.
        2. Accordingly, they gave Jesus a drink of wine vinegar so he could moisten His vocal cords and speak more plainly so they could be more sure if He was asking for Elijah's help, Ibid., B.K.C., N.T.
        3. Thus, these unbelievers were using the cross of Christ as a vehicle to disprove once-and-for-all Jesus' Messianic claims so they could get on with their history as they had before He had arrived, 27:49.
        4. When Jesus then died, they were satisfied that He was a false Messiah, and felt relief, 27:50, 63a.
      2. When Jesus died, unbelievers saw it as a chance to end what they felt was a cult by sealing the tomb to protect against the body's disappearance and negate former predictions of Christ's resurrection, 62-66.
      3. After the body of Jesus was found to be missing against their efforts to keep the tomb sealed, the religious leaders paid large sums of money to the soldiers to say that the disciples had stolen the body, thus supposedly keeping a cult going with the lie that Jesus had risen from the dead, Mtt. 27:11-15a.
    2. On the other hand, those in belief viewed Christ's death, burial and resurrection as a series of apparent temporal setbacks turned triumphant as God's invasion into sinful man's hopeless historical decadence:
      1. The events of Christ's death from the viewpoint of one who believes causes the believer to triumph:
        1. Jesus' cry in Aramaic was not a request for Elijah's help, but His quotation in Aramaic of Psalm 22:1, a psalm predicting Christ's passion which He was fulfilling that very instant!
        2. When He died, Jesus shouted with a great cry and died suddenly unlike other victims on the cross.
        3. Also, the temple vail, representing His body, was torn from top to bottom, signaling the completion of Christ's work to give man access to God the Father, He. 10:19-22 with Mtt. 27:51a.
        4. In addition, there was an earthquake and the rocks rent, signaling great power, Mtt. 27:51b.
        5. Besides, people rose from the dead and appeared to others after He arose, Mtt. 27:52-53.
        6. Knowing how uniquely Jesus had died coupled with the sign of the earthquake, etc. the centurion and accompanying soldiers who had crucified Jesus became believers on the spot, Mtt. 27:54.
      2. The absence of Christ's body from the tomb for the believer argues for His triumph via resurrection:
        1. Had the disciples really stolen the body, the religious leaders could have tortured them to produce the body, for it is impossible that Jesus' disciples would have risked their lives to keep His body hidden since they no longer would have considered Him a real Messiah since he had died on them!
        2. Thus, the chief priests' claims that the disciples had stolen Christ's body gives evidence Christ arose in that Matthew could tell his readers Christ's enemies still held out such a self-incriminating story of Christ's missing body in case his readers wanted to check it out for themselves! (27:11-15a,b)
Lesson: People who were there at the trying death, burial and resurrection of Jesus came away with totally OPPOSITE conclusions all because of their presence or absence of FAITH regarding Christ.

Application: Likewise, today, we make all the difference in our trials in life by trusting versus not trusting God and His Word in the challenging events we face!