Matthew 27:3 The text leads us to the contemplation of the conduct and fate of Judas under the remorse occasioned by his betrayal of his Lord. We cannot think any the better of Judas for feeling that remorse, nor will we for a moment admit it as an extenuation of his guilt. Peter wept bitterly afte... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:3 The Remorse of Judas on the Condemnation of Christ. We gather from the narrative of the Evangelists that the devil had much to do with the treachery of Judas. He became, as it were, given up to the will of the evil one, surrendering himself as an agent in effecting his purpose against... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:4 Judas and the Priests the End of Evil Association. Note: I. Judas, and the state of mind to which he is brought (1) The first effect of his sin is separation from human companionship. (2) His sin brought him to a state where he was deserted by himself. (3) His sin separated between h... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:6 The Field of Blood. I. The whole history of the transaction whereby our Saviour was betrayed into the hands of His enemies is brimful of awful interest and solemn edification. First, as proving to us that a man will sell his soul for an utterly vile and paltry thing and that thing, ve... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:11 I. Profoundly interesting is it to note, as traced by St. John, the mortal duel which is fought out between the Roman governor and the Jewish hierarchs; a duel which is not less real, nor waged the less fiercely, because carried on under forms which partially veil it from our eyes, so... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:19 The great practical truth which ought to be derived from the text is, that, however our actions have been foreknown and overruled by God, we shall be answerable for them, as resulting from our own will and wrought in opposition to sufficient warning and instruction. I. It may occur to... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:21 I. All of life is one great warfare. Every thought, word, and deed is a portion of it. All the history of our race, from Adam's fall until our Lord, shall, at His coming, destroy Antichrist with the spirit of His mouth, is one long attempt of the evil one to set up his authority in the... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:22 I. The Roman proconsul looks with a strange mixture of awe and surprise at the poor weary prisoner, and asks, "Art _Thou_a king?" His wife's dream had warned him that there was something uncommon about this man, and he was more than willing to set Him free, for he could find no fault... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:24 From this act of Pilate's, I suppose, has arisen a phrase which has passed into the common language of mankind. We talk of washing our hands of a business, and we mean thereby that we will have nothing to do with it. This is exactly what Pilate meant. But there are certain situations... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:24 The Character of Pilate. I. There is nothing in the Gospel account of Pilate which is repugnant to the representation of Philo and Josephus. A man of the world without principle is described in both. Nowhere can we fasten on Pilate one single conviction, whether moral or religious. Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:24 Behold the Man. I. Behold the Man, and see who He is. We see that He is a real and actual man. Men had been on the outlook for that Son of God who should come down in the likeness of man. Perhaps no one expected that the Coming One would prove to be a real man; perhaps even the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:26 _(with Mark 15:15)_ Christ on the Cross. Christ on the Cross is our subject. You know His history, And when you read, "The people stood beholding" you will be ready to add, "And no wonder." Here, before their eyes, was the tragic consummation of a life that was begotten by the Holy... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:29 Jesus and Tiberius. I. Consider the equity of mankind, which was at the same moment awarding to Jesus derision, torture, death, and to Tiberius the most servile and adulatory homage. The equity of mankind, did I say? May we with reverence ascend higher than mankind, and without impea... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:32 I. We could not spare this incident; it would leave a gap in the evangelical histories, which it would be quite beyond our power to fill. We have indeed evidence that Christ could hunger and thirst and be weary and all such evidence is precious, as testifying to the real humanity of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:36 The lessons that the incident teaches us may be very simply gathered together. I. First we infer from this the old truth of how ignorant men are of the real meaning and outcome of what they do. These four Roman soldiers were foreigners; I suppose they could not speak a word to a man i... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:39 The First Effect of the Crucifixion. Let us I. Identify the persons who uttered this taunt. They were, I think, not like the other people present, there on purpose for the show; no idlers, no loiterers, no sightseers were they. They were bound for the city, and we may fairly assume... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:40 The First Prayer to the Crucified One. I. Think of the speech as spoken by those who were passing by. Their complete phrase was, "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." It was no easy thing for these men to believe that Christ was the Son of God. When they had been in... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:42 The Patience of Christ on the Cross. I. It was a cruel aggravation of the sufferings of our blessed Lord to heap reproaches on His head, even after His enemies had secured His condemnation. Their revilings proved their malice. As to the motives of their conduct, Nature seems to plead... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:42 The Mockers at the Cross. I. The first remark that strikes me as deducible from the whole of these words before us is this, that Christ's cross apparently shatters to fragments Christ's claims. Either Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead, and then He is the Son of God, as H... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:45 Good Friday and its Lessons. There are two outward incidents recorded in connection with the story of the crucifixion which always impress the mind with a sense of solemnity: one is the rending of the veil of the Temple, the other is the darkness which is recorded to have passed over... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:45 The Cry from the Depths. I. We have to speak about the darkness. Note (1) that it was a darkness which science is unable to explain. It was not the darkness of night, for it began at twelve o'clock in the day. It was not the darkness of an eclipse, for it was then full moon, and it is... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:46 "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" May we dare to answer that desolate cry? may we presume to take up the question and say, "Lord, it was for us men, and for our salvation?" I. First, that we might learn what sin is, how deadly, to cause Thy suffering; how hateful in the sight of God, that... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:50 _(with John 19:30)_ I. The words "It is finished" are an expression of relief. Who can rightly conceive what a relief to Jesus, in His perfect human nature, it was to have passed through all His appointed sufferings? How much was finished when His course of suffering came to an end!... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:51 The rending of the veil proclaims (1) that man, as man, has access to the heavenly temple; (2) that the powers of the world to come have entered into and possessed man and his world; (3) the final overthrow and abolition of death. J. Baldwin Brown, _The Sunday Afternoon,_p. 386. Ref... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:51 The Language of the Signs. I. The earthquake. This was (1) a sign wrought by the direct and unusual interposition of the Creator. (2) It was a sign to alarm men, on account of the capital crime which they had just committed. There is no such alarum as an earthquake. When thunder is tr... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 27:57 Buried with Christ. I. There was an old heathen philosophy that taught deadness to this world; it required the thorough laying aside of all human feelings and passions; but what it inculcated partook of that awful and dread calm which nature itself derives from the grave of man; it h... [ Continue Reading ]