During the Deep Darkness

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Don Filcek; Matthew 27:57-66 During the Deep Darkness

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You're listening to the podcast of Recast Church in Mattawan, Michigan. This week, Pastor Don Filsak takes us through his series on the book of Matthew called
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Not Your Average Savior. Let's listen in. Good morning and welcome to Recast Church.
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I'm Don Filsak and I'm married to Linda, so I got a new intro line here all of a sudden.
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And I am the lead pastor here. I am really glad to be gathered together with all of us this morning. It is a privilege to be together.
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God has been faithful to continue to grow this gathering through his word and through his spirit.
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Amen. It's like that is the thing. It is the word of God and his Holy Spirit that grows us deeper, grows us wider.
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I know that we're a gathering of people united by a common desire to worship and honor our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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We are united in his sacrifice as revealed to us in the scriptures, in the Bible, and we're united in community in the practical sense that we're gathered together in the same room today.
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There's something to that gathering, the physical gathering of the church that is beneficial and valuable for our hearts and souls.
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You see, God has placed us, church and community, to practice loving our neighbors as ourselves.
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We are together for encouragement. How many of you would just say there are times and seasons and maybe recently that you needed some encouragement?
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Raise your hand. I mean, that's a reality for us, and we are together because worshiping him alone would start to feel lonely.
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Right? Like if all we ever did was just had our own personal time in the morning and that was it, eventually we recognize that we need more than that.
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We need an outflowing of practical places to give our gifts and to receive from others, and so that's a part of how he's put us together.
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Thinking about the message that we're going to be looking at this morning in the passage, there's a common adage that goes something like this, it's always darkest before dawn.
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Have you heard that before? It's always darkest before dawn. Of course, that adage is a metaphor. It's not a scientific observation.
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So it's not like scientists got together with instruments and figured out that, yes, immediately just before the sun rises over the horizon is the darkest time of the night.
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No. Obviously, we know that's not the case. It's rather actually, if you think about it, it's meant to be a statement of encouragement.
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It's meant to be something that we would say to somebody who's going through dark times, who's going through the depth of some kind of crisis or something like that.
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If you're going through dark times, know that the brightness of light is coming is kind of the idea. You're not going to be left in the darkness.
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There is hope coming. For those of us in the church, we understand, maybe you already have an idea.
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You're already going there, right, in your mind. You know where I'm driving toward this because we know the end.
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We know that light wins over darkness. We might not understand all the nuances of the book of Revelation, but we do know one thing to be sure.
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He wins. He wins. We know that good conquers evil, that love conquers sin.
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David in writing the Psalms said it this way, and maybe in English we get the adage, it's always darkest right before dawn because of things like this that we have some level of biblical understanding.
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David in writing the Psalms said, weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Weeping might last for the night, the season, the period, the epic of darkness, but light comes, joy comes in the morning.
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Our text this morning is going to be the blackest of nights. Jesus has died.
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He has been unjustly slaughtered. Judas betrayed him. His disciples scattered and abandoned him.
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Peter denied him. The religious leaders falsely accused him. Pilate compromised with injustice and sentenced him.
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The crowd shouted, crucify him. The soldiers mocked him, and the soldiers abused him, and the soldiers crucified him.
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The heavenly Father poured out the wrath we deserved on him. And there alone, in pain and suffering, both emotional, physical, and spiritual, he cried out, it is finished, and committed his spirit to his
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Father and gave up his life for sinners like you and me. Jesus has died as we enter this text, and there he hangs on a cross of wood suspended between heaven and earth for us.
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And in the season of darkness, hope flickers in strange places here in our text.
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But also, while in the darkness, evil seeks to double down on the removal of the influence of the
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Son of God. Our text will show what happens during the deep darkness of the foray of our
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Lord and Savior into death. The text will highlight an unlikely disciple, and will also highlight and put a spotlight on the dark deeds of dark men in the darkness who love to do dark things.
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The religious leaders will take extra efforts to be sure that Jesus remains silent even in death.
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Even though he's dead, they want to double down and make sure his influence is waning. His influence will go away.
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So let's open our Bibles or devices to Matthew chapter 27, and we're going to be looking at verses 57 through 66, and if you don't own a paper copy of the
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Bible, I recognize that you can grab an app and there's all kinds of free ways, but we would love for everybody to have a copy of the
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Bible, so if you don't have one that's at your home or that you can take back and forth, I encourage you to stop by the welcome table back there and we would love to give you, free of charge, just take one, we would love to give you a copy of God's Word this morning.
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But let's read together Matthew chapter 27, verses 57 through the end of this chapter together.
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Recast, this is God's holy and precious Word. What he desires to speak to us together in this gathering.
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When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.
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He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock, and he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.
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Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there sitting opposite the tomb. The next day, that is, after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the
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Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said, while he was still alive, after three days
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I will rise. Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead.
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And the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard of soldiers.
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Go make it as secure as you can. So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
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Let's pray. Father, we come to a text this morning that is, it's just dark by nature.
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Our Lord and Savior hanging lifeless on a cross. Not dying a death like we will die one day, but a death that is with purpose, with intention, with force, with impact.
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Dying in our place, dying for our sins, and entering the darkness of death on our behalf.
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Father, I pray that as we think about and contemplate and even to some degree are moved to remain in the darkness this week, we do so knowing that there is hope, knowing that there is resurrection, knowing that there is life, but also equally dealing with the darkness, recognizing what our sin costs, recognizing what it deserved.
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So Father, I pray that as we look at this passage this morning and as we enter into a time of worship and we rejoice and we're glad in Christ, that we would also recognize the corruption of our own flesh, the brokenness of our own sin, the things that it cost you in order to redeem us.
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Father, I pray that you would move in our hearts with a deep gratitude because of the darkness, because of knowing what we deserve.
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And that none of us would be moved in any way, shape, or form, left in a place where we think you've got a bargain with us, but Father that all of us would be moved to deeply recognize the gravity of our sin and the darkness of our depravity and the hope that is only found in this sacrifice we talk about in this text.
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Father, light our hearts on fire with worship. Give us joy and gladness in this gathering because the darkness is real and it is gross and our sin is just heinous before you and we are rebels and enemies against you, but in Christ we are made well.
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In Christ we are redeemed and have hope. So receive these songs in this gathering this morning as worship to you, in Jesus' name.
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Amen. All right, go ahead and be seated. Super, super thankful for Dave and the band leading us in worship.
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Hopefully you were able to enter before the throne of God and praise him as he's revealed himself.
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I encourage you to get comfortable during the remainder of our time together. Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 27 verses 57 through 66.
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If you lost your place or in your device, you need to re -navigate to that place so that you can see the things that I'm saying are coming from God's word, not stuff
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I'm making up on the fly here. I would start off by just identifying what I think we know to be true in our lives.
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There are different species of darkness, are there not? There's the darkness of suffering, right? And some of us have gone through seasons of that, maybe are going through that now.
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There is a darkness of betrayal, that relational darkness that sometimes, quite honestly, can be some of the darkest seasons of life when there's betrayal, there's broken relationships, there's fractures within families, all of those kinds of things, a darkness of betrayal or relationship.
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There is darkness of fear, just the specter sometimes over our lives of impending something, right?
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And how many of you have just experienced a little bit of that in the last few years? It always just feels like there's a heavy cloud over our news cycle, right?
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It feels like there's a heavy cloud over our politics, a heavy cloud over all of these things, and there's a darkness of fear.
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But I suggest to you that the brand of darkness that we're taking in this morning, the brand of darkness associated with the death of the
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Son of God is indeed a very unique and distinct darkness. Now, Jesus was not absent from the cosmos during these three days, and time wouldn't permit me to get into the details of what
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I think he was doing during that time, and you may have some curiosity about that. This text is not going to address it, and so I'm not this morning.
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But if you want to talk about that, I'd be willing to do so over a cup of coffee or something, but that's not the point. The point isn't where was
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Jesus in these three days. But I want to point out what is distinct, and that is since that baby was born to the
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Virgin Mary in Bethlehem, the world had, from that point forward, carried the weight of God in flesh.
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Think about it. He was here in light. He was here in life. He was here in healing and blessing and wisdom and deliverance and provision and all of the goodness that God in flesh could bring to humanity, and he is, as of our text, gone.
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His body hangs lifeless at the start of our text, and his body will be entombed at the end.
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He yielded up his spirit, according to the text last week, around 3 p .m., and now evening is fast approaching, and the next day is going to be a
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Sabbath. I believe that that Sabbath is actually a unique Sabbath. It's the Passover that's going to be happening the next day.
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In this year, there were back -to -back Sabbaths. There was the Sabbath of the Passover, and then the next day was a
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Saturday, which made it so that there were two Sabbaths in a row. That's another detail that is neither here nor there, but factors into some timing issues and things like that.
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But he yielded up his spirit, so the Jews had to do all their work right before sundown on the day before the
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Sabbath, before a Sabbath, and so they've got to get their work done, and many of you have already heard that. They have a limited time to work with to prepare the body of Christ.
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Our text is going to have two primary movements in the text. Friends in the darkness, verses 57 through 61, for those of you who enjoy taking notes or some structure.
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Friends in the darkness, 57 through 61, and then enemies in the darkness, verses 62 through 66, and our text breaks down into those two, describing those two groups.
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So we might as well start with the first movement, agreed? Might as well begin with the start, and so that's friends in the darkness will be our first point, and so in verse 57, we are introduced to a man named
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Joseph of Arimathea, the first friend mentioned in this text. Now the various gospel accounts share different details to give us a better vision of this guy.
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There are four different guys reporting on who Joseph of Arimathea was. Four different gospel accounts record something unique about this dude.
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So Matthew here is going to tell us something that the other gospels don't tell us, and that's just simply that he is rich. Luke tells us he was a member of the
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Sanhedrin. Luke also goes on to say he was a man looking for the kingdom of God. He had a forward sight and expectancy.
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He was living a life expecting God to do something and bring forth a kingdom. And the third observation that Luke tells us about this man,
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Joseph of Arimathea, is that, and this is key, he did not consent to their conviction of Jesus.
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He's a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling body, the elites of the elites among the Jewish people during this time.
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He lived where he wanted, he ate what he wanted, he had authority, power, prestige, all kinds of influence over people's lives, but he did not consent to the conviction of Jesus there that night, the night before these events.
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In other words, he was the dissenting vote in the actual trial of Jesus, or at least a dissenting vote, and John calls him in the text, in the gospel of John, a secret disciple.
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So this guy wasn't out front as a follower of Jesus. Now obviously it kind of put him in a category to say, no, don't crucify him, no, don't find him guilty of blasphemy, no,
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I don't think I'll cast a vote for him. So that would have been a little bit of a clue to the religious leaders, however,
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John says he kind of remained in secret. He wasn't a guy who was walking around with Jesus around the countryside following him.
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So when you think about it, here in the text, when we're introduced to Joseph, we have a an anomaly, a strange guy, a fascinating character, what
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I would say is an unlikely, significantly unlikely disciple. And I want to point out what the narrative of the gospel records, all four gospels, record for us regarding the very first signs of faith specifically placed in Jesus among humanity.
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Another way to ask that question is who is it that has moved to believe in him during the events of the crucifixion?
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While Jesus is paying the price, who are the first to actually go, there's something significant going on here, there's something big.
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I want you to think about it because it's informative to thinking about what kinds of people Jesus saves.
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The first that is recorded for us of a man actually identifying, there's something unique about this guy, who is he?
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He's a thief on the cross, dying next to the Savior, having just mocked him and ridiculed him.
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Early in the crucifixion, he's mocking him and making fun of him. And over the course of those six hours hanging on the cross next to Jesus, this thief's heart is changed and he requests that Jesus remember him when he comes into his kingdom.
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Can you imagine that? Can you imagine? How many of you would just say, that sounds like a supernatural gift of faith for this man?
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That sounds supernatural because you're dying with him. He's dying right next to you. You're seeing him suffer.
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And there was something so unique about Christ's suffering and something so unique about the faith given to this man that he literally goes, dude,
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I think you really are a king. I think you really are significant. I think you really are
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Messiah. And when you come into your kingdom, would you remember me? And that is the act of faith on the part of the thief on the cross.
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It's crazy to think about who Jesus reached at the very beginning of his sacrifice.
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Jesus pledged to that man, today you will be with me in paradise. Second is the centurion and his cohort, right?
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You have the thief on the cross, but the second is an extremely unlikely convert, right? This is a
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Roman soldier who has participated in the crucifixion of the Son of God and probably didn't just participate, probably was in charge.
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Probably was the highest ranking official at the foot of the cross who was there to make sure Jesus died.
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And after a few hours watching Jesus suffer, after a few hours of watching and listening to the things that he said, after observing the darkness and the unnatural things going on around and surrounding this crucifixion, the centurion utters a statement of faith as the earth quakes underneath him.
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Truly this is the Son of God. Truly this is the Son of God, says the centurion, who's responsible for crucifying the
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Son of God. And then Matthew reiterates twice, more unlikely disciples that a bunch of women continue to follow
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Jesus through this scene of death and despair. They're there at the crucifixion, standing off at a distance.
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They're going to be in our text here in just a moment, sitting at the tomb, while the eleven disciples barely get a passing reference and it's only in that reference of John where Jesus says, take care of my mom.
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That's the only mention of the eleven disciples in the entire scenario of the crucifixion. But women are there at every single step of the way.
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And now here we find that Joseph, good old Joe, and his friend
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Nico, Nicodemus. Another secret disciple among the elite Jewish leadership was
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Nicodemus, and that's recorded for us in some of the other gospel accounts, so when you harmonize and you bring these together, you find that it's not just Joseph taking care of the body of Christ, but his friend
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Nicodemus was helping, another one of the Sanhedrin, and they are the ones who risk their life and limb to give
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Jesus a proper burial. Jesus said that it's more difficult, I want you to think about this, what makes
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Joseph such an unlikely disciple? Jesus said it's more difficult for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
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How many of you remember that? How many of you feel a little convicted by that? How many of you are like, whoa, wait, because we might very well identify ourselves as rich.
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And yet here Matthew makes sure we understand that this Joseph, who is showing himself to be a disciple of Jesus, is a rich man.
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And I want to say to that, I want to exclaim, oh joy, oh glory, glory church, there is hope for rich people, there is hope for thieves, there is hope for women subjugated by society, there is hope for soldiers, hope for the healthy, and hope for the dying.
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There is hope. The ragtag nature of the diverse people who are the first to respond to Jesus in his death is intentional in the text.
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Sinners, men, women, soldiers, religious elites, and yes, even the rich.
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So here in the deep darkness of his death, he is looked after by two men who go against their own religious traditions and at great and significant and heavy personal risk and cost seek to honor
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Christ in his death, putting at risk the most prestigious positions of authority in their entire community.
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To go and take care of the body of Jesus in this moment is to risk repudiation of all of that privilege, all of that social standing, all of that clout that comes with being a member of the religious elites, and they risk it all.
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Now we know that everything that happened in this text must have happened before sundown because the next day is a Sabbath day, and that's well recorded in the gospel accounts.
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So Joe goes to Pilate, and even at the risk of identifying with an executed
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Roman criminal, he asks for the body of Jesus. Now you don't picture in your mind a private conversation with Pilate.
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He's got soldiers around him at all times. He's got bodyguards and elites. And when Joseph comes into the presence of Pilate, according to other gospel accounts like Mark, it's actually recorded for us that Pilate is like, what?
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He's dead already? You've got to be kidding me. Go back and check. There's no way that this guy is dead.
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People were known to hang on the cross for up to three days still alive. Terrible.
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So he's like, there's no way he's dead. Go back in. That's where we get his surprise in the gospel of Mark, and we actually get the spear, not recorded for us in Matthew, but recorded for us in a couple of other gospel accounts including
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Mark that he goes and he confirms that he's dead. And then Joseph is given the body of Jesus.
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Well, we know, like I said, with the help of others, Joseph with the help of Nicodemus and maybe some servants,
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I think it's probably, just seems pretty unlikely that these guys are actually physically up on a ladder getting
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Christ down from the cross, that they had helpers who were there working with them. But they did indeed acquire the body of Christ from the cross, and they wrapped the body in a clean linen shroud, not cheap during this era in this time.
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Cloth was expensive, linen was pricey, and they get a clean linen shroud, a brand new one to wrap the body of Christ.
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And he laid the body in a new tomb that had never been used according to the text. Now some of you have some ideas about, like you've seen pictures, you have some ideas, some of you have even been to the
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Middle East and you've been to Israel where you've actually identified, how many of you have ever been there and seen the empty tomb? Any of you in the room?
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Nobody here at this point. I really would love to do a trip to Israel someday, anybody with me on that, like let's go on a missions trip to the
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Holy Land or something, that would be super awesome to see. But these cave style graves were common during this era, and they were used by families down through the ages, and that's significant to our understanding of what
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Joseph of Arimathea is doing here. A body was placed with all kinds of ointments and fragrances cut down on the smell, and sealed away for a couple of years, wrapped in linens, and then the tomb would be reopened.
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This is gross, yeah I know. The tomb would be reopened at a point when only the bones were left, and the bones would be put in an ornate box called an ossuary.
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And you see that's an actual picture of a real legitimate ancient dated ossuary, a little stone box that the bones would be interred in.
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And then the tomb would be reused. You had these stone like slabs carved into the rock, and that's where they would lay the body for a couple of years to decompose, and then they would reuse it.
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Two things make this a significant sacrifice on the part of Joseph of Arimathea. First is the reality that this was a brand new burial site for Joseph's family.
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Now the fact that he's called Joseph from Arimathea, not Joseph from Jerusalem, indicates that he's probably recently relocated.
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He's known as a man who grew up in this place called Arimathea. Why in the world does he have a family tomb in Jerusalem?
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A brand new one that he's commissioned? Probably because he's a new and up and comer in Jerusalem who's recently moved there, and is establishing his family in a new location.
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And so he has a brand new burial site for his family. And I want to make clear,
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I don't think he took a hammer and chisel and carved this out. As a wealthy man he commissioned it to be cut from the rock.
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And I imagine this was no small expense. Can you imagine how much it would cost to have somebody chisel all the way into a cave and make these flat spots for burial sites?
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No small expense. But the other thing that makes this a significant sacrifice on his part is the reality that all throughout ancient documents it is very clear that for the
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Jews the burial of a criminal in a tomb desecrated it for future use. He's given this away.
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According to Jewish law, by burying Jesus in this very brand new tomb, never had a body in it,
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Joe ensured it could not be used by anyone else ever again, including his own family. He would have to start over again with a new cave.
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Talk about expensive. The reality of this sacrifice is substantial, even for a wealthy man like Joseph.
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And his actions here could not be further from the routine of what likely happened to the thieves on either side. I want to use them as a contrast, a comparison, an understanding.
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So Joseph comes to Pilate and says, I want that body off that cross. I want to get that body.
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Now that's very rare during this time. And actually Pilate's response is probably goodwill in light of Passover.
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He's probably only responding out of some level of like, okay, I don't know where all this mess is going, but I just want to be done with this
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Jesus thing and get this out of the way because I don't want a riot on my streets. I don't know what they're going to riot about.
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I don't know if they're going to riot if I say no to this whole body request. I'm just going to give it to them. I don't know all the motives. I'm guessing a little bit, but there's probably good reason in Pilate's mind for doing something that's kind of against tradition with Jesus.
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Somebody's requesting it. But what would have happened to the thief on either side of Jesus? Their bodies may have been left out by the
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Romans as an example, and it's not clear from the text of Scripture what actually transpired. It was commonplace for the
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Romans to leave bodies on the cross for days or even weeks, and you go, well, wait, wouldn't they take it down for the
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Sabbath? Only if they felt kind, which they didn't very often, but only if they felt respectful, and I mean, it's quite possible that the thieves' bodies were taken down just simply because it is indeed a
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Passover, and maybe out of an act of goodwill, Pilate said, yeah, get those bodies off of there, too.
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We know that their legs were broken in order to make sure that they died before the Sabbath, and so it's quite possible they had every intention of following the
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Jewish law at this time. But what was commonplace is either they were left there, or if they needed the cross again, we got somebody else to hang on there, they would have taken the body down from the cross and disposed of them at the local garbage dump.
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And if loved ones, if there was anybody who loved that criminal, if there was anybody, if they had a mom, if they had a dad, if they had a sibling who cared, then they can go to the garbage dump and get the body if they want.
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That's the Roman way of doing this. So how rare is it that Pilate says yes to this request is pretty crazy.
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But Joseph is said to be, in the text, all the verbs look like he's the one responsible for all the actions listed in these verses.
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He's the one who takes initiative. But I want to point out, he didn't do everything that is in this text.
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He didn't roll the massive stone over the cave all by himself. And as I said, at least his friend
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Nico helped him if he didn't have more servants or helpers. And they likely had many people being wealthy men to assist.
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But verse 61 reminds us why I use the word plural for friends in the darkness, not just friend, like Joseph of Arimathea mentioned in our text, but here we see
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Mary Magdalene and the other Mary from verse 56, previous message.
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They were there at the cross, now they're here at the tomb. And they followed along with Joseph to see where they put the body of Jesus.
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And it's obvious from the flow that by the fact that they come the next morning, or they come a couple mornings later to finish the job carrying the nard and the expensive ointments and things like that, that they had probably participated, quite likely, in the preparation of the body this night as well.
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And so, they remain at the, according to verse 61, the words that are used there in Greek imply that they stay longer, like Joseph, Nico, servants, all leave, and the women stay there in grief, sitting opposite some bench or sitting on a wall or sitting on the roadside opposite the tomb.
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Verse 61 is a verse of loyalty, it's a verse of grief. It's a verse of loss.
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And I want to point out that it can sometimes be hard to apply narrative portions of Scripture in our lives, right? I believe that all
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Scripture has an application. All Scripture is meant for our benefit. It's all meant to draw down into our lives in a way that changes us.
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But what are we to make of these moments of darkness recorded for us here? We know what happens in the text, but what does it mean?
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What does it mean for us? That there were friends who, even in the darkness of the sacrifice of Christ and in His death, are there seeking to honor
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Him. I would like to point out that even in the deep darkness of His death, Jesus is still drawing all kinds of people to Himself, and this is the meaning.
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Even the darkness doesn't stop the movement of people toward the Son of God. He predicted, by the way,
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He prophesied in John 12, verse 32, what would have been a very cryptic message to His disciples at that time, that I think comes to light here in our passage.
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And He said this, And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself. And in that context, you might be thinking
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His ascension, right? Like when He was lifted up from the earth and taken out of their sight into heaven? No. John defines lifted up in that very context as the manner of His death.
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How was Jesus lifted up? He was lifted up on a tree, lifted up on a cross. And there is a great paradox that the lifted up, cursed one would draw all peoples to Himself.
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The one who was lifted up as a sign of His being cursed is the one who draws people to Himself.
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This is an ultimate paradox. People don't follow crucified people. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, there's nothing attractive about that.
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Why don't you just say, that's not attractive. Like, it's like, I mean, how in the world, unless you understand what He's doing for you, and then it's like, oh man, that is glory.
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When you get what He's doing for you, that's the draw. And so this is an amazing prophecy that would have been completely and utterly perplexing to anybody in that day.
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You're going to be crucified and that's going to draw people? How's that going to work, Jesus? I got some questions.
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But the power of Christ to draw people in loyalty is complete. How many of you could testify that He grabbed your heart in a way that you're just not letting go?
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He's got you. Raise your hand if He's got you. It's like, He's got me, and He died on a cross, and He's got me.
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Like, whatever darkness He faced and whatever He endured and whatever curse He bore, He's got me.
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The power of Christ to draw. The one who can save a dying thief next to Him.
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The one who would draw into faith the centurion, the very man responsible for His death, and He, by the end of it, would say, this surely, truly, without a doubt, is the
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Son of God. The one who would rescue someone like Joseph from among his own political enemies, his own rivals who despised him.
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This is the Son of God. This is our Savior. So, ask yourself this morning, do you trust
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His power to rescue? Do you trust that He can redeem anyone? Even in the darkness of death,
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Jesus draws friends to Himself. Joseph, here in our text, is taking risk and offering sacrifice as he seeks to honor the
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Lord in burial. But there are always other forces at work in a fallen world, are there not?
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How many of you knew that there's not just friends in the world? You knew that already. It's not just friends.
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I encourage you, though. There are other forces at work, but there are friends in the darkness. Cling to that hope that you are not alone, that in the deepest darkness there is for us now always a friend.
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There is one who sticks closer than a brother. And though all the world let you down, there is a friend there with you in your darkest moments.
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But we also see the second movement in the text, verses 62 through 66, the enemies in the darkness. The chief priests and the very self -righteous
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Pharisees set up a meeting with the Roman governor Pilate, interestingly, the next day. The day of preparation is the day to get ready so you don't do any work the next day for a
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Sabbath. But it says, the next day. They're working on the Sabbath, making plots and schemes, getting together.
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Pilate doesn't have any qualms. He doesn't practice Sabbath. They're supposed to. They're not. They get together with him and warn him that Jesus might not be done with his influence.
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He's dead. He might not be done. They don't seem to have any genuine fear that Jesus is going to rise from the dead.
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They don't believe any of that, but they do fear what might happen if that rumor is allowed to spread that he's risen.
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And note the derogatory words used by the religious leaders in verse 63 and 64.
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Now, they are quick to feign respect to political authority, quick to act like they're on Pilate's side.
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Sir, sir, they say in his presence. Oh, gross.
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Sir, while calling Jesus an imposter and implying that his entire ministry has been a fraud.
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The latter fraud will be worse than the first. What's the first fraud that they're talking about? The entire ministry of Jesus.
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Calling him a fraud, calling him an imposter. I find it interesting that these religious elites grasp something here in the text in understanding about his resurrection.
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That it seems like it was something that was lost on the disciples that the actual religious leaders get. He had predicted and prophesied that his resurrection, and he had done that in a variety of ways over the course of his life.
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He had used metaphors, parables, veiled references, and even direct speech to say, I'm going to rise. He had,
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I'll give you an illustration of one that was kind of metaphorical. He said, I'm not going to give you any sign except the sign of Jonah. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, and so will the
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Son of Man be in the soul of the earth, will be in the grave of the earth, three days and three nights.
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Well, how many of you think there were multiple interpretations running around about that? A bunch of people like, all of a sudden the bloggers are going wild, and there's all kinds of podcasts about what he meant about it, and everybody's got an opinion, but none of them probably matched quite reality.
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He's going to literally be in the grave, three days and three nights. It's going to happen. It was a mystical parable, and he said it in a variety of ways, but also more explicitly he said things like this.
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When I rise, I will go before you into Galilee. I can't get more direct than that.
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When I rise. When I rise, I'm going to go before you into Galilee. Guys, you're going to scatter tonight, and it's not going to go well for you tonight, and you're all going to desert me, but when
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I rise, don't worry, I'm coming to. How many of you think that after he died, you might go like, what did he mean by rise?
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I'd like to think that I could make some connections. The disciples were just running for their skin, right? They were just, save my skin, hide out, and let's go back to fishing.
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That sounds safer. I want to point out what's really weird in this text, but it's actually right here.
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Often our enemies have a tendency to pore over our teaching more than we do. They often understand the word better than we do.
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In this case, the Pharisees and the scribes had analyzed his teaching, looking for loopholes, obviously, and looking for heresy, and looking for things to indict him with, to such a degree that they may well have been more familiar with his teaching than his own disciples.
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They get that he said, three days, I'm coming up out of the tomb, and they're like, we know that he said this.
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All the disciples are like, what did he say again? We can be kind of thick, can't we?
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At least here they understand that while he was alive, he prophesied the resurrection in three days. And so they warn
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Pilate, they come to Pilate, and they say, sir, we're just looking out for your interests. The problem will not be resolved about the insurrection here in Jerusalem.
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On this, isn't Jerusalem full? It's just packed full. Can you imagine what a riot would be like today,
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Pilate? Ooh, got his attention. So, really, we just want to make sure that he's silent here.
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And so they warn Pilate that that problem's not going to be resolved unless the body is proven to be dead -dead.
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Not just mostly dead, but really dead. Like, what if they take him to Miracle Max for a pill?
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No. They fear that the disciples will steal the body and spread rumors that he is raised. And so they request a guard of Roman soldiers.
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And in English, the response of Pilate can be a little lackluster and a little confusing. I like that the English standard version just goes forward and records what's written there, but then in the bottom, under the footnotes, actually records for us what the intent is behind it or what the force is behind the
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Greek. So the literal words, you have a guard of soldiers, go make the grave secure, sounds like a little bit of a patronizing, you got your own soldiers, go.
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But it's not that. You can see in the bottom there, it says in the footnotes in the
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English standard version, take a guard. Two ways of understanding that phrase that Pilate says. And he's like,
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I mean, you can imagine a way of saying, you have a guard now, go. That's kind of the gist of what he says here.
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He's eager to make sure that this doesn't result in riot and insurrection in Jerusalem on this day.
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But with his authority, this is all permission to take the guards. And the reason we know this, by the way, just to clarify, you go like, why do you go this way when the
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ESV records it this way? And it said in chapter 28, these soldiers are afraid of Pilate's response when the body of Jesus is missing.
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They are his soldiers, and they are ultimately responsible to him, and they actually, the soldiers themselves are afraid.
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They go to the religious leaders and say, help us cover this. The tomb was empty. The angels came.
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And they share that with the religious leaders to help cover their rears when they have to report to Pilate. And so, our text ends with a guard set over a dead body.
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They made it as secure as they know how. With a guard set to be sure nobody came and took the body in the night.
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Setting up a Roman guard is tantamount to having somebody always watching, always awake, always aware.
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Their very lives were at stake in this. Further, they sealed the stone with what was likely a
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Roman wax seal. It would have borne the emblem of Pilate, the highest ranking official in the community.
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Meaning that he was the only one with the authority to command that the seal be broken. No one else has the authority, unless it comes through Pilate, to break that seal.
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So what are we to make of this darkness before the dawn? I want to point out that not only are there friends in the darkness, but there are also enemies in the darkness as well.
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There is a real darkness in the hearts of mankind that doubles down on seeking to silence the Savior. Scripture isn't just a static thing that happened.
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Scripture records for us things that happened that keep happening. How many of you know what I'm talking about? This stuff is living.
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This stuff follows humanity. The characters have different names, but they keep doing the same thing.
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How many of you know that there are some voices that are out there in the darkness with the intent of silencing the Savior? They would love nothing more than for Jesus' influence to go away and never be seen again.
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They would love his influence to wane to nothingness. They would love for his memory to be forgotten. They would love for his life to amount to nothing.
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There are haters. Just jump on a comment section who do nothing but hate.
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And here in the darkest point, we should allow the application of this passage to be eyes wide open.
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Eyes wide open look to reality. What is true? What is real in our world? In the darkness there are those who
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Christ has drawn to himself, friends. They remain bold and brave in the face of darkness and despair. They risk to honor him.
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They are those who are promised paradise. Those rescued by his grace and kindness. Those, there are those who have been turned from mocker to friend by his grace, by his kindness, his mercy, forgiveness and love.
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And that's what we are if we've asked Jesus Christ to save us. Church, that's where we stand in this text. And if we are indeed those who have come to know
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Jesus through the darkness of the cross, then no dark night of the soul will be able to separate us from his love.
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We are those who know the cross and we are those who know the way to the tomb. We are those who have picked up our crosses to follow in the footsteps even into the darkness with our
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Lord and Savior. And as far as expectations go, it's mystifying to me.
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How we could ever expect only prosperity and only peace and only good days full of sunshine and gumdrops by reading this.
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By understanding what our Savior did for us. How could we ever be knocked off into that realm of expectation that everything is going to just be fine when the very foundation of our faith is his suffering and death for us.
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And that leads to a final expectation. Why would we ever be surprised by haters who just keep loving to hate, hate, hate, hate?
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Are we shocked at increasing opposition to Christ in our culture? Let's open our eyes and take in the scene in our text.
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There are those enemies in the darkness who are still attempting to suppress his voice while he hangs lifeless on a cross.
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While his body is laid out cold and blue on a stone slab in a cave with a stone rolled in front of it and they're still trying to keep him quiet.
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When do you see the doubling down of evil in that? Like it is real and that is our world.
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That is a world in opposition to Christ. Do not be surprised said Jesus when people revile you and hate you.
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Don't be surprised church when people are angry at you and try to push you down because you trust in his name.
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We are in good company when they persecute us. For if they persecuted our master why would they not persecute we who are his servants?
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Many have wandered away from their faith and I want to caution you. You've read about people deconstructing.
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You've read about people walking away and never coming back and I believe that most of them had a faulty expectation.
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They had faulty expectations and so they didn't really get it to begin with. If you have come to a savior who you think has only ever offered to you dawns and light and health and wealth and really super nice fulfilling relationships how many of you want some of those?
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Really good relationships all around. If that's what you have an expectation of then you are setting yourself up for disappointment and disillusion and deconstruction.
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What is your faith in? Is it in the one who went through this darkness? Is it a faith that he's gonna make everything great here and now or is it a resurrection?
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What are we looking for next week? What's the hope? That everything's gonna go smooth in the here and now?
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How did that go for him? How was his life? Constant persecution at every turn but where is he now?
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I'm stealing my thunder but where is he now? In glory but he went through the darkness to get there.
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What is your expectation of this life church? I don't want to get ahead of myself but we need to be reminded that light will dawn next week but the purpose of this message this morning is the darkness before the dawn it's real it's fine for us to end our time here in this gathering this morning with reasonably tempered expectations of this life in this world he has friends and oh boy does he have enemies so as we come to communion this morning please consider the darkness he endured for us he bled and died for you and me he hung there lifeless having yielded up his spirit for us church and now at the end of our text this week his body lies in a linen shroud cold blue lifeless on a cold stone slab we end with a dark image do we not and while we sit in the darkness we can only cling to the promises of his word we cling to a promise this week that death will not own him and we take it by faith the grave will not get the final word but we have to believe it by faith oh man
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I'm ready for Easter this year how many of you are ready for Easter this year? you ready? but for now come to the tables and consider his burial the very
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Son of God lifeless and cold laid out there why? because he loves you and me because he loves us and if you've asked
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Jesus Christ to save you then I encourage you during this next song to come to the tables to remember all that he endured for you skip communion if you've not yet asked
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Jesus Christ to save you still trying to figure out who he is then I encourage you sit down stay in your seat just take in the song that's fine and I would also just add another caveat that's further skip communion if you have unresolved conflict in the church this is communion we are unified together in this action and if you have disunity with brothers and sisters in Christ it might be well and good for you to get up out of your seat and go say
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I'm sorry for what I did to you last week I shouldn't have said it that way and I'm apologizing to you so that we can be okay and in unity together we can take communion encourage that but those who come to these tables this morning
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I encourage you to come and remember the darkness he bled and died taking on himself the wrath that you and I deserved and he has done so to draw all types of people to himself even people yeah really
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I'm so bad even people like you and me let's pray Father I thank you for the darkness endured there's a part of me that wants to bring us to next week right now but I believe there's something that's healthy and good about recognizing the darkness about seeing the depravity seeing what our sin cost and there the lifeless body of our savior laid out on that cold stone slab having suffered the condemnation that we deserved your very wrath poured out on the son on our behalf so Father I pray that from that place we would be glad this morning in taking the cracker to remember his body that he willingly allowed to be broken for us to take the juice to remember his blood that he willingly spilled out all for us we know that next week's coming but for now and for this week
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I pray that you would help us to deal and to reckon with the darkness in our own hearts the darkness in our world and to recognize that you and only you in your grace have drawn us to Jesus Christ and that is our hope