Speaker 1: 0:14

Thanks, leo. Leo's a junior. We've been getting different seniors to come up here. Those of you who've been here the last couple of weeks We've been highlighting them. Next week we're going to have a senior back. It's going to be awesome, but I did want to highlight actually a senior. I want to thank you personally for your generosity. We learned this last week that there is a senior high schooler at Benicia High that has found themselves homeless and nowhere to live and has been like sleeping like in the bushes and this young girl, and so we got connected and through your generosity, we were actually, and some other people were able to find her a room to stay in. Last night she stayed there for the first time. We covered her rent through the end of the year so she could finish high school. So it was great, you guys. So she doesn't come here, but she came here today actually because she wanted to meet people and say thank you, because she slept in this new space. You guys helped furnish some of that, even with dishes and food. So thank you for your generosity. Just by being a part of this faith community, you know we're living this out, representing to the community and to the young ones. So just specifically thank you for that. So there's a highlight of a senior Before I get into this.

Speaker 1: 1:20

We have a gazillion things going on. I sent out an email this last week Over the next two weeks. So many things going on. So I'll just say it really quickly. Right now we have a prayer room experience going on. It's literally happening right now. It's in the Commons building. You can check that out if you want to. We have space. There's prompts in there. You don't even have to know what you're doing. You can go after this service if you want to. It's 24 hours a day through this entire week up to our Good Friday experience. There's also a table out there. You can sign up for different times If you want to pick a slot. Those of you who are a night owl, go check it out. Do the crazy middle of the night stuff. It's a great experience. Don't miss it. On that, that all leads up to our Good Friday experience.

Speaker 1: 1:59

This is like a reflective moment, like Stations of the Cross. This room's going to be emptied out, there's going to be different stations and this is at a go-at-your-own pace. So I believe your stuff says anytime between four and seven. You can just drop in and participate in that. It's very powerful, very reflective. It's a somber, apparent note. It's like PG-13, just as a heads up for that Reflective. And then that's in preparation then for Easter service Doing three services on Easter.

Speaker 1: 2:27

We're going to have to knock down some walls to make all the room for everybody. This is going to be great. We're going to have those three services 7 o'clock that all of you are so excited to come to. The seven o'clock service. It's going to be awesome. Then we have nine o'clock and 11 o'clock. Right now we have over 70 people currently signed up to get baptized, which is going to be amazing. And this is what I'm going to say about that. Yeah, for sure, I'm excited. It's going to be invited. Someone come to whichever service is best and most comfortable for them. But two, don't just like stay at home because you're like, oh, there's so many people, or like I want to make space. Do not miss out on the holy moment that's going to take place as we celebrate the stuff that's going to go on in here, like as a faith community, let's gather. Let's gather in person. So those of you online, I'll see you next week in the room. It's going to be great. So it's Easter service baptisms not too late to sign up for that, you can do that. And then the week after, this is incredible Today, including today, there's only three weeks left.

Speaker 1: 3:26

In the book, according to Matthew, we've been going through this for like 17 years. It's awesome. We're wrapping up no, literally almost four. And so the week after, mark it on your calendar as the 27th. Come here, we're going to do some celebrating, like we're going to finish this thing. I don't care if you just caught two, just come for the last two, like let's go, and then we're going to see what kind of goes next from there. But we're going to end that, too, with a picnic. We got like a shaved ice place coming. We got some iPhone person. If you make your phone go like this against it, it works. If you're an Android, you just have to, like I don't know bang it or something like that, but anyways, it pops up and there's a place to sign up for, like a park, because we have parking spots to reserve there. Also, you can sign up for any of the stuff that I told you about. So there, all right, let's hop in.

Speaker 1: 4:15

There is so much, as you heard, there's so much to cover today, that we are unpacking and Jesus was dead. Remember that's how we ended. Jesus is dead. That is the first thing that we have to understand as we approach the text this morning that Jesus was dead after six long, torturous hours hanging on the cross, life slowly ebbing out of him, moment by excruciatingly painful moment, and finally, as we ended last week, he cried out again in a loud voice and gave up his spirit, and with that Jesus was dead. Now, having described this moment when Jesus died on the cross, matthew actually calls upon his readers, or, at the time, his listeners, to consider four phenomenon that occurred at this terrible moment which supernaturally now marked the Messiah Jesus's death. Now I'm going to talk first about the first three, and those words start in today's verses, starting in verse 51.

Speaker 1: 5:20

At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. So the first, the veil of the temple, was torn in two from top to bottom. Now the temple veil was described in Exodus 26. This is in the Old Testament, and it's divided. The temple there is divided into like a main sanctuary and it divided those into two separate rooms. The first chamber was called the holy place. The second chamber was located behind the veil, which is called the holy of holies. God's presence on earth was thought to reside in the holy of holies because this is where the chamber that originally housed and held the Ark of the Covenant in the mercy seat, and no one was allowed to go beyond the temple veil and enter the Holy of Holies, except for one person, who was the high priest, and they were only allowed to do it on one occasion per year, on Yom Kippur, or this is known as the Day of Atonement.

Speaker 1: 6:20

Not only that, but the temple veil was massive. The Mishnah, which is this ancient oral tradition of the Jews. It actually describes the dimensions. It says that the curtain has the thickness of a hand breath. And with regard to the dimensions of the curtain, its length was 40 cubits as the height of the ceiling of the sanctuary, and its width was 20 cubits to match the width of the entrance. Now these ancient measurements approximately convert to 60 feet high, which is almost twice as high as this building, and 30 feet wide, with a thickness of four inches or more. So I mean, this thing is massive. It is so heavy, and the Mishnah actually goes on to explain that, when the priests would make a new veil, that the curtain was so heavy and you can imagine this, it was so heavy that more than 300 priests had to carry it. So let's just imagine this for a minute.

Speaker 1: 7:16

I mean putting it into perspective that the tearing of the temple veil in two from top to bottom would have been deeply disturbing to the Jews. Like it would have likely. They would have interpreted it in a couple different ways. I mean, first, they would have interpreted this as they experienced this, to signify, maybe, that the Lord's presence was no longer with Israel. Another way the Jews could have also interpreted the tearing was to signify the Lord's displeasure with Israel. But what this was was God showing how his earthly temple home was no longer going to be a room of bricks, but rather he was going to dwell in human hearts. So the significance of the veil in the temple being torn in two is actually the opposite of fear and dread. It signified something like marvelous and wonderful that was taking place. The tearing of the temple veil indicated that the barrier between holy God and sinful man was no longer going to be the obstacle in a relationship between the creator and the image bearers and Jesus removed the veil. The temple of the veil being torn in two was also a result, actually, of Jesus's fulfillment of the law and the yielding of his spirit, which Matthew had just mentioned, which completed the perfect and everlasting sacrifice. Now what we can do is notice how Matthew links the Messiah's death and the yielding of a spirit immediately to the tearing of the veil by making it the first thing that he records after the death of Jesus, where God shows how the manifestation of his divine presence is no longer going to be confined to a temple stone, but God was moving out. God's new earthly temple would be human hearts, and we actually see and read later in Scripture that God sent his spirit 50 days later to live in the hearts of believers. And that's just a teaser as a heads up more on the Holy Spirit this summer.

Speaker 1: 9:27

The second phenomenon that Matthew lists that marked Jesus the Messiah's death, it says, and the earth shook. Matthew is the only one of the four gospels to mention these next three phenomenon the earth shaking, rock splitting. And then we'll get to the last one in just a few moments. Matthew's mentioning of the earth shaking was connecting, which he often tried to do, as we've read throughout the entire gospel connecting to the fulfillment of prophecy. As we've read throughout the entire gospel connecting to the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Messiah's death.

Speaker 1: 10:01

Jesus' death right here is the day of judgment and the earth shook and when he died, this actually fulfilled the prophecy that was written in the Old Testament by Joel foretold what would happen on the day of judgment. Actually, in Joel 2.10, it says before then, the earthquakes, the heavens tremble, the sun and the moon grow dark. Remember, the earth grew dark in those moments and the stars lose their brightness. Now it's interesting. If you do your historical research, you can actually find this event was recorded outside of Scripture as well. At that time, the Olympics were taking place in Philegon of Triales, the chronicle of the Olympiad. That takes into account the historical and major natural events stretching all the way back to the time of the first Olympic Games, and Jerome quotes Philegon as saying this. However, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, an eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any had happened before it, at the sixth hour. Recall the last week when this took place. Day turned into dark night, so that the stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many buildings of the city of Nicaea.

Speaker 1: 11:20

The third phenomenon Matthew lists that marked Jesus, the Messiah's death was that the rocks were split. So this is important for us to understand that the rocks splitting upon Jesus's birth, jesus's death, was only found in Matthew. But when Jews heard this or would read this that was written, this gospel that was written to them, they would have immediately connected a dot, and that dot was to Moses in the wilderness. We don't do that necessarily as quickly because we're not as familiar, and this was something that they constantly were learning and reading about and they understood deeply. And this was about when Moses was leading Israel through the desert wilderness. And what had happened was Moses struck a rock and the Lord miraculously caused life-giving water to gush forth, allowing the people and their livestock to actually drink freely. And these events were talked about and retold numerous times throughout all of the Old Testament, not just in the narrative when it took place, but King David talks about it many times through the Psalms and immediately upon hearing this or reading this, the listener would have jumped right away to that moment. Now there's no reports that we see in history of physical water flowing when the rocks split at Jesus's death, but we do know that Jesus, who Matthew is painting as the second Moses, provides living water, spiritual water for spiritual life in a desert of sin, and this spiritual drink of eternal life became freely available to everyone upon Jesus' death, and its availability actually signified it was signified by the splitting of the rocks. Another way people can interpret it is you look at that, and Jesus himself talked about. When they won't speak up about who I am, even the rocks will cry out, and in this moment of splitting could be the rocks crying out as well.

Speaker 1: 13:17

Now the fourth phenomenon this is the one we've been waiting for lists that marked Jesus the Messiah's death was the tombs were opened and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised. Get this, here we go, verse 52. The tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus's resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people To which we go. Wait, what, right? How many of you guys have heard this or read this? And you just skin right back and you're like wait, I do not remember that zombie moment, right? Like we're like what in the world is going on right there. Even as I was like sitting on this for the last couple weeks, I'm like what is going on here, Like this is cray, cray, so like what I'm just saying there. Just to clarify some stuff. One is that, again, matthew's the only one who records this. It's such an odd flyby statement where you're like, why isn't anyone else talking about the zombies, right, like what's happening right now? And then it's so fascinating because he's talking about these four things.

Speaker 1: 14:27

Now, remember, one of Matthew's big points is to point back to fulfillment of prophecy, right? This is to prove to the readers, like, hey, you have been preparing for a Messiah, you've been waiting for a Messiah, here's the evidence of who the Messiah is. So he's constantly going oh my gosh, here's a fulfillment, here's a fulfillment, here's the evidence of who the Messiah is. So he's constantly going oh my gosh, here's a fulfillment, here's a fulfillment, here's a fulfillment. So the same thing is taking place here Now. It's also kind of fascinating and odd at the same time, because it's almost like he's writing this, and again he's writing this decades later, as he's writing this and he's like, oh yeah, and then this happened and the earth shook, and then the rocks split. Oh, yeah, rocks split. That reminds me that tombs opened and people woke up. And then they walked around and they saw people after the resurrection. Now, remember, he hasn't even been buried yet, so he's like spoiler alert he's going to resurrect, but we need you to know that after that, these other things happen. Now again, remember, this is a fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, which says in Isaiah 26, says your dead will live, their corpses will rise, you who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your due is as the due of dawn, and the earth will give birth to departed spirits. Crazy, okay, let's keep going. We have a lot more to unpack. And some of you are like whoa, whoa, no, no, no, we're not going to keep moving. We are sorry, go talk about that with somebody else. Okay, verse 54.

Speaker 1: 15:50

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake which is nuts, not just felt, it saw it. So this is a big one, and all that had happened is a big one. In all that had happened, they were terrified and exclaimed surely he was the son of God. Now, remember, we just talked a moment ago a little bit about Moses. Well, the imagery of Jesus on a cross connects to this image of Moses with a bronze serpent on a pole, and they both relate to the concept of salvation. Jesus, lifted up on a cross, is seen as parallel to Moses rising a serpent up, where looking at this serpent led to healing and to life. Both scenarios illustrate God's provision to humanity's spiritual, physical needs, respectively. See, this story actually comes from Numbers 21. You can read about it. It's a fascinating story.

Speaker 1: 16:51

In the narrative of Moses, where the Israelites were afflicted by poisonous snakes I mean, they were coming out of the woodworks, they were coming into their tents, they were biting people and people were dying because these were poisonous snakes and they're begging. Like Moses, help us. Like what's going on? What do we need to do? And so Moses turned to God and God's command to Moses was erect a bronze serpent on a pole and then tell them to look upon the serpent which will bring healing, representing God's grace and forgiveness, because this was all also happening, because they were wild children, right, they were just doing their own thing.

Speaker 1: 17:29

Then you jump all the way to the New Testament and Jesus actually talking in John, chapter 3. And he actually draws parallel to this moment. Jesus is now having this conversation with a Pharisee, actually in the middle of the night with Nicodemus. This is a Pharisee he had a conversation with, like a secret convo about who he was, and he's telling Nicodemus this is a Pharisee he had a conversation with, like a secret convo about who he was, and he's telling Nicodemus in chapter 3, verse 14, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be lifted up that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. Now, this is a fun one. That's verses 14 and 15. But then we turn to verse 16.

Speaker 1: 18:12

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, to which some of us are like whoa, whoa, whoa. That's on cardboard, right, that's like hanging in our house. Well, did you maybe not know that this was actually a parallel back to the time of Moses and a conversation that Jesus was actually having with Nicodemus about who he was? That he was to be lifted up like a snake in the wilderness that everyone who believes in him. Because God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Speaker 1: 18:47

For he says God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. That whoever believes in him, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only son. This is the verdict. Jesus says Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil, and everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will actually be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. So Jesus's crucifixion here is presented in a similar act of salvation, where looking on him in faith offers eternal life and forgiveness. This atonement that we talked about last week, that this serpent represents sin and the curse of death, while this pole or cross symbolizes God's way of dealing with sin through sacrifice. Jesus who was forsaken, where sin and death are now placed upon him. And now looking at the serpent in Jesus is an act of faith and trust leading to healing and salvation. And then the centurion says and surely he was the son of God? This statement made by the centurion standing directly under the cross, looking up at Jesus, was actually the first time in all of scripture that this statement was made, that he was the son of God. Looking up at this man hanging on a pole, this was not said by a disciple, a follower of Jesus, but an outsider. A man who most likely just got done mocking Jesus, who most likely actually participated in the nailing of him on the cross, gambling for his clothes, spitting on him Friends, is now having himself a moment face to face with the Son of God.

Speaker 1: 21:09

Verse 55. There's so many Marys. Why are there so many Marys? Everybody's Mary. So first you have Mary Magdalene. She was from the town of Magdala. This is her namesake. This is a small town or village just in the Sea of Galilee, right along the water. There. Some of you actually came with me a couple years ago. Beautiful place. This is where Mary had an encounter with Jesus and became a devout follower and caregiver of Jesus, even funding some of his ministry and what was taking place, where he had cast demons from her.

Speaker 1: 21:56

Then you have Mary, the mother of James and Joseph. So we're like which Mary is this? Well, it's actually the mother of Jesus. And so we're like, why wouldn't we just say that's Mary the mother of Jesus? Well, remember, jesus had just died. And so, as Matthew's writing this, he's saying Mary is now next of kin, the mother of James, the half-brother of Jesus, and Joseph, the half-brother of Jesus. So this is his mom. You have Mary, magdalene and Mary's mother, and then the mother of the Zebedee sons. These were also known as the sons of thunder. This is the mother of James and John. And John was there, he was the beloved one. And last week we saw like, hey, mom, that's now your brother, brother, that's now your mom. But also this woman was the sister of Mary. Which one? Right, the mother of Jesus. This was her sister. So these were her cousins, this was his cousins that were there as well. Then it says in verse 57, as evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus, and, going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus's body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. So now, remember, jesus is dead. And what has to happen now? Now, he needs a burial, and I know that seems rather obvious when I say it out loud like of course Jesus needs a burial, but here's the deal.

Speaker 1: 23:23

In those days, the Romans tended to leave the body of executed criminals hanging on the cross for an infinite period of time to be scavenged and torn apart by vultures, or else afterwards they would eventually take the bodies down and they would throw them into a cart, and then they would throw them into a garbage pit that they were no longer worthy of a proper burial, that they now were criminals, and they were just thrown and tossed away. Either way. The idea with this, of just this site that was taking place, was actually to serve as a warning to others. This is why people were executed outside the gates as this warning as they came in to be like if you want to do that, this is what you get. If you're going to be a revolutionary and push up against us, this is what's going to happen. If you're going to be a criminal and take from us, that's what's going to happen. And then they would leave them dead and rotting there for days to continue to show that's what you get. You are nothing, you're nothing.

Speaker 1: 24:20

And so Joseph of Arimathea decided he can't hide any longer, he can no longer be a secret follower. And so what does he do? He does actually the unthinkable. After he had watched Jesus bleed to death and die on the cross proven by the fact that the Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear he did the unthinkable and went to Pilate himself to ask for the body of Jesus. Now, this wouldn't have been unprecedented, like if you had enough money, you could bribe your way into getting the body of a crucified loved one. You had to pay a lot, but generally you would not go to Pilate. You went to a Roman officer and went to the person who was actually then taking the wagon down to Gehenna to dump those bodies and say like you would say like hey, can you stop the wagon and be like hey, for a few denarii could I take the body? And so he would look left, you would go right and you'd get a body if you needed to. But it was unthinkable to go to the person who had someone crucified to come out openly and to say I am so committed, I care so much for that one criminal that I would like for you, pilate, to give me permission, the authority, to actually take his body.

Speaker 1: 25:35

And so Matthew tells us that there was a tomb that Joseph of Arimathea he took Jesus to. That he had a tomb that he had created for himself, for his family, for his family members, and he took the body of Jesus. And he tried to do this quickly, before Shabbat started, which was Sabbath. And the Jews, they were concerned about getting bodies of their dead into tombs underground, since touching the dead could make one ritually unclean. So even in the case of an execution, there were faith-based procedures that needed to be followed, and soon, since it was the day of preparation. Now, why is it the day of preparation? Well, they're preparing and getting all the things that they need because they're going to go ahead and like, sit on the couch all day, like this is a day of rest, they're not going to work for anything, so they prepare to be able to rest and take that off. And they have to get all this done before sundown. And sundown is getting ready to take place, because that's when it started, sundown to the next sundown. That was the day of Shabbat.

Speaker 1: 26:33

And the fact, biblically speaking, is that we don't actually know that much about Joseph Arimathea. He doesn't even show up in the gospel story until this point in the passion narrative, and then he's never heard about again. But he's mentioned in all four of the gospel accounts and that's because he's the one. He's the one that actually comes forward to serve as the undertaker, so to speak, to retrieve and care for Jesus's body. And based on these accounts, we know that he was from Arimathea, which is in the city outside of Judea. We also know that he was a respected member of the council of the Sanhedrin. This was the body of religious elites in Jerusalem that actually conspired to convict and ultimately rid themselves of Jesus. But Luke, the gospel of Luke, actually puts it this way. He throws it in there. He said that he, joseph of Arimathea, had not agreed to their plan and action. Luke goes on to describe actually Joseph as a good and righteous man, and Matthew makes the point, as we just read, to call him a rich man, while Mark said that he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.

Speaker 1: 27:50

But I think maybe perhaps one of the most telling thing about Joseph actually comes from John's version of the story, and he says that Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews. So in essence, then, joseph is pretty much a secret disciple, is pretty much a secret disciple, a follower in the shadows, as it were. An admirer of Jesus who opposed his crucifixion, who actually had some opportunity to speak up about his opposition, but kept it to the background rather than risk his own life or his reputation to stop it than risk his own life or his reputation to stop it. And yet it's Joseph, and Joseph alone, who, at this moment of Jesus's death, steps in and does what is right. It says he went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, an act that in itself, friends, was dangerous to the point of possibly being considered treasonous. It's Joseph who, perhaps along with Nicodemus, another secret disciple who'd first come to Jesus by night in John chapter 3, carried Jesus' body down from the cross and then, according to faith tradition, wrapped his body in fresh linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock. And it's Joseph, it's Joseph, who brings this part of the story to an end when he then rolls a stone against the door of the tomb, thus saying to the world, in a way that it is unmistakable and undeniable, and as believers still proclaim as part of our faith and creed, that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate and was crucified, dead and buried. If this did not happen, he would have never been laid in a tomb.

Speaker 1: 29:49

It was Joseph who did all of this, and it was Joseph, the secret disciple, who became the very caretaker of Christ when Jesus' own public disciples had failed to do so. Remember, they had all scattered, they had all bailed for fear of their own life, or they're just in chaos, not even knowing what's going on. And so the question is like why Do you ever wonder? Like why? What made him do this? Was it an overwhelming feeling of guilt or remorse on Joseph's part, the nagging feeling that if he had just said something, that if he had simply spoken out that, perhaps that it would have gone differently? Was it the piercing realization deep down within his heart that, by virtue of his position, he too was culpable for what had happened to him? Was it an effort to pay some kind of penance for a sin of omission? Or was it to make up for his mistake by doing something now, after the fact? Or could it be that in those hours standing before the cross of Jesus, watching this man die, did Joseph of Arimathea finally understand the truth of who Jesus was, of all the prophetic things that are now taking place, the truth of his teaching what the kingdom of God was all about, the truth of what had just happened on that hill that was so aptly called Valgatha, the place of the skull.

Speaker 1: 31:24

There is a reason, you see, why a man like Joseph of Arimathea came to this particular moment and was moved to act and to proclaim to the world, by his very act, his true allegiance. And it is because, ultimately, there is a great difference between being merely a admirer of Jesus and a follower of Jesus. And at the end of the day, literally, literally at the end of the day, in this case, joseph of Arimathea was no longer an admirer, he was a follower. Now, what I think is so interesting in the gospel according to Matthew, is this is a man who he mentions was rich. Now, if you remember, as we've spent years going through this, rich people kind of get a bad rap right, like it's very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of the God. They're always struggling with stuff, and Jesus was very much about the poor or the fringe, or the outsider.

Speaker 1: 32:27

Joseph of Arimathea was also very powerful. He was a person of a powerful position which Jesus was always talking about, the least of these, a servant. And what's also interesting is he was a secret follower. He wasn't out about his faith, he wasn't walking around like I'm a disciple of Jesus. He kind of kept things close and quiet because of fear of what others might think about him or even do to him fear of what others might think about him or even do to him.

Speaker 1: 32:54

And I think it's just a beautiful story, a redemptive story in this moment that God ordained to use a rich, powerful secret follower to do what needed to be done. There are people in this room and in this community that are rich. You have affluence that can be used to do powerful things for the kingdom of God. You're in a powerful position and responsibility and leadership that can be used to do beautiful, powerful things for the kingdom of God. And some of you are even in that space where you struggle with being a secret follower, like I don't know. I don't want to be too pushy, I don't really want any people to know kind of what's going on, because I'm fear of what people might think or do with that information. I don't know what the Spirit's going to do with you connecting these dots.

Speaker 1: 33:44

But if God had not used a rich, powerful secret follower, I don't know if we would have had the resurrection. What do I mean by that? He'd still be hanging on a cross for a couple of days, he had to be buried, and it took a rich, powerful secret follower to to actively take steps to participate in this moment. Jesus probably would have been up there for a couple of days, just like the other criminals had been, and then ultimately thrown into a garbage heap, and then the resurrection would have been him come walking out of the garbage dump being like oh gosh would not have been from a tomb, but it was just as it was supposed to be. Verse 59, joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock, and he rolled a big stone in front of the entrance of the tomb and then he went away.

Speaker 1: 34:40

Verse 61, mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite the tomb. What a flyby sentence, right? You're like why are they just in there opposite the tomb? This is what Matthew does. He like lays these little Easter eggs. Let me fast forward you spoiler alert. Right.

Speaker 1: 34:55

Next week we're going to talk about something different. Who shows up at the tomb to go care for Jesus properly? That wasn't a rhetorical question, mary. Just say Mary, there's so many Marys, you're right. Right, mary and Mary are the ones who actually go to the tomb and show up and see that Jesus's body is not there, that he had risen Spoiler. That's going to be happening next week.

Speaker 1: 35:21

What Matthew's doing right here is he's saying like hey, this is how they knew where he was. None of the disciples knew. They all bailed, it was over, he was dead, he was gone. So how would they even know where he ended up? Like what tomb he was going to go to? For all they knew he was still going to be hanging up there. He was going to be in the garbage dump. That's where Jesus was going to be. And then Matthew gives us this little Easter egg right here. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting opposite of the tomb. Just hold on to that, because something else is gonna happen.

Speaker 1: 35:53

Then, the next day this is during Shabbat, the one after the preparation day for the Sabbath the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate, sir. They said remember that while we were still, remember while he's still alive. That deceiver said after three days I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day, because otherwise his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he had been raised from the dead and that last deception will be worse than the first. I mean, this is crazy. They had already kind of won, but they knew, they knew something. They're like we gotta make sure he stays dead, like he stays in there, like they're still scared about it. They ultimately got done what they wanted to get done Take a guard. Pilate answered Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how. And so they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal around the stone and posting guard. That's it, it's done, sealed Over, dead. Now we know that the story continues and we will see what has fallen asleep, wakes up in just a few short days.

Speaker 1: 37:16

But for now, as we leave this place and enter into Holy Week a week maybe even in the prayer room, as we prepare for the Good Friday experience or even Easter itself, what is it? What is it that you need to seal up and bury in the tomb? In a few moments, I'm actually gonna ask you to take a card. I'm gonna ask you to write that down. What is it that you need to seal up and bury in the tomb? What is it that needs new life? What is it that needs to be given up and buried? What is it that needs restoration to become something new in you, as a part of you, something new in you as a part of you?

Speaker 1: 38:12

There's tables around the room and along the back walls and there's these cards right here, and that's what I'm asking you to do. I'm saying, hey, let's write this down, and I'm asking you to seal it up. And then, during this next song, I'm asking you to come up to one of these baskets in here and I'm going to say bury it. To come up to one of these baskets in here and I'm gonna say bury it. So ask yourself what is it that needs to be put away? What is it that needs to be made new? What is it that needs to be redeemed? What is it that needs to be restored? Seal it up, leave it and then await my beloved friends for new life, for we know he has risen, and he has risen indeed, but for now, I'm gonna ask you to get up and go, grab one of these cards and not to leave the room as a distraction of this holy moment as you surrender and bury and await for new life. So, friends, may you go and participate now.