Author: JC Ryle

These verses form the conclusion of the Gospel of Matthew. They begin by showing us what absurdities blind prejudice will believe, rather than believe the truth; they go on to show us what weakness there is in the hearts of some disciples, and how slow they are to believe; they finish by telling us some of the last words spoken by our Lord upon earth — words so remarkable that they demand and deserve all our attention.

Let us observe, in the first place, the honour which God has put on our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and earth.”

The principal subject of these verses is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. It is one of those truths which lie at the very foundation of Christianity, and has therefore received special attention in the four Gospels. All four Evangelists describe minutely how our Lord was crucified: all four relate, with no less clearness, that He rose again.

We need not wonder that so much importance is attached to our Lord’s resurrection: it is the seal and headstone of the great work of redemption which He came to do. It is the crowning proof that He has paid the debt which He undertook to pay on our behalf, won the battle which He fought to deliver us from hell, and is accepted as our surety and our substitute by our Father in heaven. Had He never come forth from the prison of the grave, how could we ever have been sure that our ransom had been fully paid. (1 Cor. 15:17) Had He never risen from His conflict with the last enemy, how could we have felt confident that He has overcome death and him that had the power of death, that is the devil? (Heb. 2:14) But thanks be unto God, we are not left in doubt: the Lord Jesus really “rose again for our justification.” True Christians are begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” They may boldly say with Paul, “Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died — yea rather, that is risen again.” (Rom. 8:34; Rom. 4:25; 1 Pet. 1:3)

These verses contain the history of our Lord Jesus Christ’s burial. There was yet one thing needful in order to make it certain that our Redeemer accomplished that great work of redemption which He undertook. That holy body, in which He bore our sins on the cross, must actually be laid in the grave, and rise again. His resurrection was to be the seal and headstone of all the work.

The infinite wisdom of God foresaw the objections of unbelievers and infidels and provided against them. Did the Son of God really die? Did he really rise again? Might there not have been some delusion as to the reality of His death? Might there not have been imposition or deception, as to the reality of His resurrection? All these and many more objections would doubtless have been raised if opportunity had been given. But He who knows the end from the beginning prevented the possibility of such objections being made. By His overruling providence He ordered things so that the death and burial of Jesus were placed beyond a doubt. Pilate gives consent to His burial; a loving disciple wraps the body in linen and lays it in a new tomb hewn out of a rock, “wherein was never man yet laid.” The chief priests themselves set a guard over the place where His body was deposited. Jews and Gentiles, friends and enemies, all alike testify to the great fact that Christ did really and actually die and was laid in a grave. It is a fact that can never be questioned. He was really “bruised”; He really “suffered”; He really “died”; He was really “buried.” Let us mark this well: it deserves recollection.

In these verses we read the conclusion of our Lord Jesus Christ’s passion. After six hours of agonizing suffering, He became obedient even unto death, and “yielded up the ghost.” Three points in the narrative demand a special notice: to them let us confine our attention.

Let us observe, in the first place, the remarkable words which Jesus uttered shortly before His death: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?”

These verses describe the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ after His condemnation by Pilate, His sufferings in the hands of the brutal Roman soldiers, and His final sufferings on the cross. They form a marvellous record. They are marvellous when we remember the sufferer — the eternal Son of God. They are marvellous when we remember the persons for whom these sufferings were endured. We and our sins were the cause of all this sorrow! He “died for our sins.” (1 Cor. 15:3)

Let us observe, in the first place, the extent and reality of our Lord’s sufferings.

These verses describe our Lord’s appearance before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. That sight must have been wonderful to the angels of God. He who will one day judge the world allowed himself to be judged and condemned, though “He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isa. 53:9) He, from whose lips Pilate and Caiaphas will one day receive their eternal sentence suffered silently, an unjust sentence to be passed upon Him. Those silent sufferings fulfilled the words of Isaiah: “as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” (Isa. 53:7) To those silent sufferings believers owe all their peace and hope. Through them they will have boldness in the day of judgment, who in themselves would have nothing to say.

Let us learn, from the conduct of Pilate, how pitiful is the condition of an unprincipled great man.

The opening of this chapter describes the delivery of our Lord Jesus Christ into the hands of the Gentiles. The chief priests and elders of the Jews led Him away to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. We may see in this incident the finger of God: it was ordered by His providence that Gentiles as well as Jews should be concerned in the murder of Christ; it was ordered by His providence that the priests should publicly confess that “the sceptre had departed from Judah”. They were unable to put anyone to death without going to the Romans: the words of Jacob were therefore fulfilled. The Messiah, Shiloh had indeed come. (Gen. 49:10)

The subject that principally occupies the verses we have read is the melancholy end of the false apostle, Judas Iscariot. It is a subject full of instruction: let us mark well what it contains.

We see, in the end of Judas, a plain proof of our Lord’s innocence of every charge laid against Him.

These verses relate a remarkable and deeply instructive event: the apostle Peter’s denial of Christ. It is one of those events which indirectly prove the truth of the Bible. If the Gospel had been a mere invention of man, we should never have been told that one of its principal preachers was once so weak and erring as to deny his Master.

The first thing that demands our notice is the full nature of the sin of which Peter was guilty.

We read, in these verses, how our Lord Jesus Christ was brought before Caiaphas, the high priest, and solemnly pronounced guilty. It was fitting that it should be so. The great day of atonement was come: the wondrous type of the scapegoat was about to be completely fulfilled. It was only suitable that the Jewish high priest should do his part, and declare sin to be upon the head of the victim, before He was led forth to be crucified. (Lev. 16:21) May we ponder these things and understand them. There was a deep meaning in every step of our Lord’s passion.

Let us observe in these verses that the chief priests were the principal agents in bringing about our Lord’s death. It was not so much the Jewish people, we must remember, who pushed forward this wicked deed, as Caiaphas and his companions, the chief priests.

We see in these verses the cup of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sufferings beginning to be filled. We see Him betrayed by one of His disciples, forsaken by the rest, and taken prisoner by His deadly enemies. Never surely was there sorrow like His sorrow. Never may we forget, as we read this part of the Bible, that our sins were the cause of these sorrows! Jesus was “delivered for our offences”. (Rom. 4:25)

Let us notice for one thing, in these verses, what gracious condescension marked our Lord’s intercourse with His disciples.