Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 27 – 31

• Truly the depth of depravity of creation is felt by Jesus. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  What’s done to Him is   He’s been scourged…so Jesus is unbelievably wounded…and yet a Garrison gathers…only four soldiers or so would be required to prepare Him for crucifixion, but Matthew says a Garrison gathered around Him…many joined in on this…and here is the depth of depravity > none of them chose to see the innocence of Jesus…none of them cried out for mercy…
• None of them considered that He was just like them…a Man…none of them brought to mind that He was once a child, little and innocent. None of them considered His intense hurt or His intense need.  None of them cared for His tears, or for His pain, or for His state of such great loss…I mean on display, right now, happening to Jesus…is the full brunt of the brutally blackness of heart that has become of man because of sin…
• Just a few weeks ago in Florida, this same numb brutality appeared in that a group of teenagers laughed and filmed with their phones as a man, Jamal Dunn (31), drowned…the video is ultra-disturbing…his body being found days later…
• They stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on Him. Kings and rulers wore this color because at that time it was very expensive…this was meant to be some sort of cruel irony…and Jesus looks down at His mangled skin that He wrapped Himself in and sees the scarlet…reminding Him of the offering required by man to bring to the sanctuary of God in Exodus 25, the thread used to make the tabernacle, the veil, the screen opening to the tabernacle, the breastplate of righteousness, the garments of ministry (Exodus 25, 26, 27 and 39). 
• The Book of Leviticus speaks of scarlet being required as well as cedar wood and hyssop to cleanse a person or a home…He would think of Rahab who flew the scarlet cord in her window for the salvation of her family…all of these things would rush into His mind as they mocked Him with this color…and His own words would ring still true in this moment, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,” (Isaiah 1:18)
• And so He accepts and embraces the display of the true condition of man…hopeless brutality…and they twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head…thorns which were not there from the beginning…only fruit and vines and creation profitable to us…but out of the ground came thorns after Adam sinned…
• And a reed they placed in His hand…kings hold scepters…instruments of great beauty and authority but a thin, week reed is given to Jesus to mock Him…to declare to Him that He is powerless…and then they bowed.
• This is a scene that fully encapsulates the loss that is resident in the hearts of all men…that in the presence of Jesus, a God who thought them, created them, loves them, has come for them, to save them, to bring right back … they mock and they abuse…even in the light of His great wounds, suffering and innocence. But pause the scene for just a minute…those that claim the presence of Jesus in your life…be careful that you do not go down the path of this blinded battalion.
• What do I mean by that…? You know the Word of God, you attend church and fellowship with the saints…but have you also fallen prey to your own heart in that this pattern shows up in your own life?  First they put a false/fake robe of a king on Him…not to respect or fear Him…then they put a crown on Him but that crown is not of gold or silver (precious and perfect) but thorns (as marred as us/you)…In your mind, have you crowned God with the thought that His commandments hurt you…are burdensome to you?  Are you in faith now that His commandments are…perfect and precious…?
• Then they gave Him a scepter to rule them but that scepter is weak, flimsy, loose, powerless…do you have a form of godliness…love God, believe His Word and yet your life pattern doesn’t walk in obedience to Him…having a form of godliness but denying its power…and finally, is that the Jesus you bow to…the one that His Word hurts you, His robe offends you and His scepter has no power over you? Watch out for this Christians…We ought to simply bow…He already had a robe…He already had a crown…He already had a scepter…they just refused to see…We ought to just bow > start there lest we be ourselves in danger of being lost to our own darkness…the Bible would call that self deceived.

Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 32

• A Roman cross in its entirety would weigh upwards of 300 pounds but this was probably only the crossbar which was probably around 100 pounds…at any rate, Jesus was so very weakened that He could not bear the weight and so Simon comes into the scene…now this is interesting. Mark tells us that Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander and then Paul mentions Rufus “chosen in the Lord” in Romans 16.  And so it could be that because of this interaction, Simon becomes a prominent early Christian…

Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 33 – 34

• Think about this…this is along a road entering into the city…how many times did Jesus pass by or near this place in His lifetime…haunting isn’t it…this place, in Latin it’s called “Calvary,” and being about to be crucified they tried to give Him something to numb the pain…but He refused.

Matthew Chapter 27 Verse 35

• He was crucified…for what? The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a historical fact (Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, the Babylonian Talmud, Lucian of Samosata, Thallus, Julius Africanus, Mara Bar-Serapion (Syrian philosopher), Phlegon, Suetonius, even historical figures from the first century writing hostilities against Jesus like Celsus > How about this one…Your calendar!   HA)…a Biblical truth…and anyone simply observing today, not a follower of Jesus, ask yourself…for what?  He had done no evil.  No accusation had been found adequate.  No insult, no complaint, allegation, denunciation, indictment…no crimination had found pay dirt with Jesus…nothing stuck.  As He was questioned, He needed no defense.  As He was scourged, He offered no confession.  As His betrayer came clean, again Jesus was pronounced pure…so why was He crucified.  The only answer…the answer that in light of the facts makes any sense at all…He was crucified for you…

Matthew Chapter 27 Verses 36 – 44

• Humiliation at its peak, right in the middle of two condemned, the literal midst of the center of human depravity…I love what Guzik says, “God descended all the way down the ladder to save us.” There is nothing God would not do for you…You may think otherwise…that you’ve been praying, wanting, waiting asking for so long…but you have to realize what He’s already done.  You pray and beg for a morsel when you are starving…when He has already provided fullness for you for the rest of your life…and even into eternal significance…
• Spurgoen said, “Nothing torments a man when in pain more than mockery.” They said to Him, “He saved others, Himself He cannot save.”  True statement…if He had saved Himself, all of us would be lost…but His choice…Himself or you?  You…