A King dies for His Subjects
Theme: The Crucified King
Objectives: (from the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson Book)
Know: Jesus’s death united a holy God to sinful people who trust Him.
Think: Live conscious of the fact that Christ’s death made salvation and a relationship with God possible.
Do: Trust in Christ’s sacrifice and live for Him in appreciation for what He has done for me.
Scriptures: Matthew 27:11-54
Notes and questions:
B1 Outline
- Pilate
- Pilate’s questions to Jesus Matthew 27:11-14
- Pilate’s release of prisoner Matthew 27:15-26
- Pilate’s soldiers mock Jesus Matthew 27:27-31
- Soldiers
- The Crucifixion Matthew 27:32-44
- The Death Matthew 27:45-56
B2 Pain
- Types
- Physical
- Emotional
- Spiritual
- Financial
- Eternal
- Many others
- Characteristics
- Severe pain activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal–thyroid–gonadal system. This releases many hormones with many effects.
- Source of following image: https://www.slideshare.net/Hunyady/the-physiology-of-pain
- Points to consider from the image above
- Pain leads to dysfunction of many areas of the body.
- Effects on person
- Stress
- Release of cortisol
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Digestive problems
- Headaches
- Heart disease
- Sleep problems
- Weight gain
- Memory and concentration impairment
- More in depth information from a nursing viewpoint: https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/pain-management/anatomy-and-physiology-of-pain/1860931.article
- Effects of crucifixion
- Wrist
- Source of image: http://littleguyintheeye.com/good-friday/
- Nails
B3 Jesus
- Suffered for our sins. "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit," (1 Peter 3:18 NKJV)
- He carried our sins. "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24 NKJV)
- He was tortured in many ways. "Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6 NKJV)
- He was cursed by God. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")," (Galatians 3:13 NKJV)
- The physical suffering was great but His spiritual suffering was even greater. "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"" (Matthew 27:46 NKJV)
B4 Some points
- Brian Williams in the D6 Fusion Teaching Guide for March to May 2017 points out three crimes that Jesus was accused of
- Misleading the nation
- Forbidding the payment of taxes
- Claiming to be a king
- Romans allowed no rival king/kingdoms. Jesus answers with incredible wisdom. "Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews? "Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me? "Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done? "Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here. "Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."" (John 18:33-37 NKJV). He is a king but of a different kingdom.
- Jesus was innocent.
- King Herod said so ""no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him." (Luke 23:15 NKJV)
- Pilate said so "So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no fault in this Man."" (Luke 23:4 NKJV)
- Pilate’s wife said so "While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."" (Matthew 27:19 NKJV)
B5 Matthew 27:11-14
- Why did Pilate ask the question “Are you the King of the Jews?”
- Why didn't Jesus answer the accusations of the religious crowd of Jews?
B6 Matthew 27:15-26
- Do you think Pilate was surprised that the Jews choose Barabbas?
- In verse 23, Pilate asks, “Why, what evil has he done?” Why didn’t the religious crowd answer Pilate?
- What are the implications of "And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children." (Matthew 27:25 NKJV)
- Is there a problem with the religious leaders say, "saying, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!"" (Acts 5:28 NKJV)
B7 Matthew 27:27-31
- Why were the soldiers making fun of Jesus?
- Consider
- The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. (Psalms 129:3 [KJV]
- I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. (Isaiah 50:6 [KJV])
- But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5 [KJV]
- Are people today still working at killing the Lord Jesus? How?
B8 Matthew 27:32-44
- The things that the Lord Jesus experienced--I deserved, but He willingly, lovingly, died for all humanity.
- Cyrene
- Many Jews lived here
- About 800 miles from Jerusalem
- Simon was there probably celebrating the Passover
- The drink
- On Bible.org (https://bible.org/seriespage/38-death-deaths#P3868_1183722 ) it is mentioned in footnote 190: “It is good to know that it was customary for a drug to be offered to the crucified so that some of the pain was mitigated. We read of the custom in Sanh. 43a, ‘When one is led out to execution, he is given a goblet of wine containing a grain of frankincense, in order to benumb his senses, for it is written, Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto bitter in soul. And it has also been taught: The noble women in Jerusalem used to donate and bring it.’” (Ioncino edn., pp. 279f.) Ibid., p. 814, fn. 72.
- The “wine” is a mixture of grape vinegar and water.
- The “gall” is probably understood as something bitter, so too the “myrrh” of Mark 15:23
- It is thought it was something to dull pain and/or anxiety.
- Jesus refused to drink it. Why?
- The blasphemy
- The onlookers, the chief priests, scribes, elders, and the robbers all blasphemed Jesus.
- What words are the blasphemous words?
- Is it blasphemy to cuss, diss, Jesus?
- How are these words blasphemy?
B9 Matthew 27:45-56
- Did Jesus really die? How do we know?
- The sixth hour is our 1200 (noon) and the ninth hour is our 1500 (3PM).
- Did God really forsake Jesus?
- How can God forsake God?
- Did satan kill Jesus?
- Did Jesus die a natural death, that is, from natural processes?
- See
- “...even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd. Therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father.” (John 10:15-18 [WEB])
- who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father— (Galatians 1:4 [WEB])
- even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 [WEB]
- Why is the Temple Veil torn in two?
- The purpose of the Temple Veil
- The Holy Place was a place where the priests ministered daily, but the Most Holy Place, Holy of Holies, was entered only once a year by the High Priest.
- The Most Holy Place was the room where God’s Presence was located.
- The doors to the Most Holy Place were always open, but the veil separated the two rooms.
- Any who entered there would die. No one could enter there to pray. This is because people are evil with unclean hearts.
- The rending of the Veil opened the way for believers to come and pray boldly in His presence.
- See
- Exodus 26:31-37
- Leviticus 16:11-14
- Thus we are taught
- Full atonement is complete (Hebrews 10:19-20).
- Jesus had completed the Passover atoning sacrifice in the true tabernacle in heaven (Hebrews 9:12 and Hebrews 9:24).
- Jesus is the Messiah, the one and only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5 and Hebrews 7:23-28)
- Believers can directly come and pray without a human priest (Romans 5:2, Ephesians 2:18, and Ephesians 3:12).
- Was the raising of some Old Testament saints for real or a non-inspired embellishment in the Scriptures?
- It is this real history? If not, then we don’t know what miraculous events are real or embellishments.
- God cannot lie.
- The centurion’s words literally read “Truly, God’s Son was this.”
- Why do we know that the Lord Jesus was truly dead?
- What benefit do believers have because of Jesus’s death?
Next Week:
- Death Defeated
- Theme: The Risen King
- Scripture: Matthew 28:1-15
