Preached October 4, 2009
from
Matthew 27:55-66

Theme:  God sovereignly preserved the precious, crucified body of our Lord for the day of His resurrection..

As we continue our study of the Gospel of Matthew, we come this morning to Matthew’s description of the beginning of three very remarkable days—days like no other in all of history. They were the three days in which the precious body of our Savior, through which God had made full atonement for our sins, was separated from His spirit and rested in the tomb.

Matthew writes about how these three days began. After Jesus had cried out from the cross and yielded up His spirit; and after the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves of the saints were opened; and after the centurion who observed it all declared, “Truly this was the Son of God!”, Matthew goes on to say,

And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard (Matthew 27:55-66).

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You might be wondering what happened to our Lord’s spirit while His body was in the tomb. And the Bible gives us the answer. Do you remember what Jesus said to the believing thief on the cross who was crucified next to Him? Jesus told him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). And if you were to then ask where this place called Paradise is, we’re given the answer to that as well. A short while after speaking those words, Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46); and with those words, He breathed His last.

So that’s where our Lord’s spirit was during those three days—safe in His Father’s hands in a place called Paradise. It is a place that all those who believe on Jesus will go—just as the believing thief did—to remain with Him until He returns to this earth with them in glory. As the Bible says, “absent from the body . . . present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). And so, this morning’s passage also tells us what happened to His body during that time—while His spirit was safe in Paradise.

Now it may seem, at first appearance, that this portion of Scripture is simply filling in some historic details—and that what it says isn’t all that vital. It may seem that our attention ought to be drawn instead on the great event that happened three days later—when His spirit was reunited to His body, and He was raised in glory. But what this morning’s passage says is of far more than mere ‘historical’ value. These words are important because they tell us about something that is vital to our salvation.

We sometimes think that our salvation depends upon the death of our Lord on the cross alone. And of course, our salvation does indeed depend upon His death on the cross. But our salvation doesn’t depend alone on the fact that His body died. It also depends on the fact that the very same body in which He died was also gloriously raised from the dead! As Romans 4:25 puts it, He “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”.

If Jesus’ body—the very body in which He was crucified—had not also been literally, physically raised from the dead three days later, you and I would have no assurance whatsoever that His death truly atoned for our sins; and that we were truly made righteous in God’s sight by His sacrifice. We would not have any assurance of our own future resurrection to glory in Him, because the Bible tells us that He is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). But because He was raised from the dead in what was—manifestly—the self-same body that was put to death on the cross, we can now know for certain that God the Father has completely accepted the atoning sacrifice of His Son on our behalf; that by faith in Him, we are declared 100% righteous in God’s sight; and that we can now rest confidently in the hope of one day being raised by the power of God just as He was!

This means that the dead body of our crucified Lord—placed in a tomb for that short three-day period—was the most precious dead body on earth! Our eternal destiny depended on what happened to that body. And that helps to bring the importance of this morning’s passage into perspective. In it, we’re told of how God sovereignly preserved the precious, crucified body of our Lord for the day of His resurrection—and thus, the declaration of our justification and hope in Him!

So please pay careful attention to this passage, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Our salvation is assured to us because of what it tells us happened to the body of our Lord!

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The first thing this passage tells us is of how God preserved our Lord’s body for resurrection by . . .

1. PROVIDING A RELIABLE WITNESS TO IT’S BURIAL (vv. 55-56, 61).

We’re told of how there were, at the site of the crucifixion, “many women”. They weren’t simply passers-by. They had been closely connected to Him for some time. They were, as Matthew tells us, women who “followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him” (v. 55).

Did you know that the twelve disciples weren’t the only ones who followed along with Jesus wherever He went? Luke, in his Gospel, tells us of how our Lord

went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance (Luke 8:1-3).

Our Lord had graciously ministered to these women; and in grateful love, they gave themselves over to ministering to Him full-time ever since His ministry in Galilee. And here, Matthew tells us that they were even where He was at the time of His death—”looking on from afar”. Among them was Mary Magdalene; and Mary the mother of two of Jesus’ disciples James the Less and Joses; and the mother of the disciples James and John, whom Mark tells us was named Salome (Mark 15:40).

It would be hard to imagine the trauma these women were under. Their precious Lord and Master had been brutally crucified before their very eyes. And yet, we’re told by Matthew that they were “looking on from afar”; and the word that he uses means that they were gazing upon the scene as careful spectators—contemplating what they saw. It may even be that we have them to thank for much of the testimony contained in Scripture of what happened to the body of our Lord!

If you read on to verse 61, you also see that two of these women—Mary Magdalene and the other Mary—were also nearby when our Lord’s body was placed inside the tomb. We’re told by Matthew that they were “sitting opposite” it. Mark, in his Gospel, tells us that they “observed where He was laid” (Mark 15:47). Luke, in his Gospel, tells us that they “observed the tomb and how His body was laid”; and that they then “returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils” in order to come back and anoint His body after the Sabbath (Luke 23:55-56).

Now; there’s a reason why all of the details about these women are important to you and me today. It’s because God was letting us know that—through them—that He was preserving for us a reliable witness of the resurrection of the very same body of our Lord that was crucified! The body of our Lord was never, at any point, lost track of! There was no switching of one body for another! And there was no ‘going to the wrong tomb later on’ either! These women made careful observation of what had happened to our Lord’s body, where He was placed, and how He was left—all the way up to the time His body was sealed in the tomb! When they returned three days later to find the tomb empty—and when Mary Magdalene heard the voice of our Lord speaking to her and assuring her that He was alive—there was no mistake that it was truly Him!

This was so that a sure witness of the three days that our Lord was in the tomb would be provided for us; so we could have the full assurance of our salvation in God’s sight through both His death and His resurrection. It was so that you and I could know that the very same body that was crucified was also raised from the dead three days later—and that He truly was “delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”!

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Another way we see that God sovereignly preserved the body of our Lord for the resurrection three days later was by . . .

2. PROVIDING AN HONORABLE PLACE FOR IT TO BE KEPT (vv. 57-60).

Matthew tells us that when evening had come—probably sometime after 6:00 pm—a man named Joseph came to the governor Pilate and asked that the body of our Lord be given to him.

This man came from Arimathea, which was twenty-miles northwest of Jerusalem—”a city of the Jews” (Luke 23:51). And though the only thing we know about him is from this incident, we nevertheless know much about him. Matthew tells us that he was a follower of Jesus. But we also learn from John’s Gospel that he was a “secret” follower “for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). Mark 15:43 tells us why he might have had reason to be afraid; because he was “a prominent council member”—that is, a member of the very council that had condemned the Lord to death. Luke 23:50-51 tells us that he was “a good man” who “had not consented to their decision and deed”. What’s more, He was “himself waiting for the kingdom of God” (Mark 15:43).

Another thing we know is that he was rich. He had a position of respect in the community; and apparently had enough money to prepare for himself a very splendid burial place for the day of his death. The burial places that people used in those days were not like the places we have today. They buried their family members in a cave in which were carved shelves within; and the bodies of loved ones were placed on those shelves. Joseph, however, had prepared for himself a “new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock”. This was no pre-existing “cave”; but something carved out of the rock for specifically for Joseph. It must have been a very fine looking burial place; because it was one that a wealthy man had prepared for himself.

Now; I believe that Joseph saw that, in spite of his objections, the council had crucified His Lord as if He had been a common criminal. And as far as Joseph was concerned, it just wouldn’t do for Jesus’ body—the body of this good and righteous Man—to be treated in the common manner that the body of a crucified criminal would be. So, working up courage, he went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. And since the high sabbath of the Passover was the next day—and because the time was short—he chose to lay our Lord in the tomb that he had already prepared for himself.

Matthew tells us that Joseph “had taken the body” and “wrapped it in a clean linen cloth” (v. 59). In Scripture, fine linen was a sign of honor (Genesis 41:42). It was, in fact, the sort of fabric that the garments of the priests of Israel was made of (see Exodus 39). Clearly, Joseph was treating the body of our Lord with the utmost honor.

Then, we’re told that he “laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed” (v. 60). This large flat stone—a stone that weighed as much as one-and-a-half to two tons—was round in shape; and it rested in a trench carved in the ground so that it rolled into place to close the tomb in a permanent way. Joseph was not intending for it to be opened ever again, or for anyone else to ever be placed in it but our Lord.

Now; once again, God is letting us know something of the precious value of our Lord’s crucified body—even in its burial. Did you know that, seven centuries before our Lord was crucified, God’s word promised—in Isaiah 53:9—that this very thing would happen? Isaiah wrote there of our Lord and said, “And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”

Jesus was crucified as if He were a criminal. But He wasn’t a criminal. He had no sin in Him. And so, His body wasn’t simply buried in “the potter’s field” that the chief priests and elders purchased with Judas’ money “to bury strangers in” (Matthew 27:7). It was the most precious “dead body” that could ever have rested upon the earth; and God providentially arranged that it would be put in a place of honor—kept in an honorable manner during those three days of waiting.

This is told to us because God wanted us to know of the precious value of that body. He wanted to assure us of the care and protection that crucified body was given; because it was the body of Him who was “delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”!

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Finally, notice how God sovereignly preserved the body of our Lord for the resurrection three days later by . . .

3. PROVIDING FOR ITS SAFE-KEEPING UNTIL IT WAS RAISED (vv. 62-66).

Matthew tells us what happened on the next day (which would have been Saturday), “which followed the Day of Preparation” (which would have been the Friday on which our Lord was crucified. That Friday was called “the Day of Preparation”; because on it, the Jewish people were to prepare everything in advance for the High Sabbath of the Passover on that Saturday. They wanted to spend that special sabbath day in quiet and solemn rest.

And yet, we’re told that it was on this very important Sabbath day that the chief priests and Pharisees gathered before the Gentile governor Pilate to make a request of him. “Sir,” they said; “we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise’” (vv. 62-63). And just as an aside; do you remember the accusation they made about our Lord at His trial? Do you remember how they twisted His words? He had said, back in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple (meaning His body), and in three days I will raise it up”? At His trial, they accused Him of blasphemy; saying, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days’” (Matthew 26:61). But look at the concern they now bring to Pilate—that He had said that, after three days, He would rise! As it turns out, they had understood what He meant all along!

“Therefore,” they said, “command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first” (v. 64). In other words, they wanted to make absolutely sure that the body of Jesus remained in the tomb. They didn’t want anyone to tamper with it, or to do anything that would make it possible for people to think that He truly had risen as He said.

And as a result of their request, look at what Pilate did! He said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how” (v. 65). It may be that Pilate was referring to the Roman soldiers who had already stood guard at the cross, and was commissioning them to also stand guard over the tomb. No one would have messed around with anything those Roman soldiers were guarding! Or it may be that Pilate was referring to the temple guard that the Jewish leaders already had at their disposal to guard and protect the temple area, and was telling them to use their own guards. And the temple guard was no push-over either!

In either case—even though it was a high Sabbath day—these Jewish leaders went to the tomb and made it secure. They “sealed” the stone—which means that they probably wrapped cords around the stone and “sealed” it with a wax seal that stamped with the official Roman signet so that no one would dare to open it. Then they set the guards around the tomb to make sure no one thought of breaking the seal and stealing the body before the three days had passed.

So try to imagine what a strange scene that must have been—soldiers standing guard around a government-protected tomb! And when you do, you’ll quickly realize that those chief priests and Pharisees were unwittingly being used by God to protect the body of Jesus for the very thing that they were trying to prevent from happening! Through them, God sovereignly preserved our Lord’s body from being stolen or lost from view; so that all the world would know that the same body that died on the cross is the body that rose from the dead in resurrection glory!

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So; God has sovereignly preserved the body of our Lord for the day of His resurrection by (1) providing a reliable witness to its burial, (2) providing an honorable place for it to rest, and (3) providing for it’s safe-keeping until it was raised on the third day.

And why did God do all this? It was so that you and I could know for certain today that Jesus Christ truly has risen from the dead, and that we now stand 100% justified before God by faith in Him, and that we now can rest secure in the hope of being raised by God as He was—who was “delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification”!

Praise God for protecting for us the precious and crucified body of our Lord!