Session 14
Matthew 27:27-31,45-54
Memory Verse: Matthew 27:50-51
Jesus was arrested and tried by both the Jewish Sanhedrin
(the nation’s governing council)
and Roman authorities (namely, Pilate and Herod Antipas).
Then, He was handed over to the governor’s guard for crucifixion.
This military cohort used the occasion to mock Jesus.
They put a scarlet robe on Him,
placed a crown of thorns on His head,
gave Him an imitation scepter,
and then hailed Him as they would Caesar.
After they had their fun, the soldiers led Jesus to the place of crucifixion.
Hanging on a cross as the sacrifice for human sin,
He felt abandoned by His Father.
The darkness over the land reflected the darkness Jesus felt.
When Jesus died, more supernatural events occurred:
the temple curtain was torn, an earthquake split boulders,
and tombs were broken open.
All this led the centurion in charge to confess Jesus as the Son of God.
Biographers will spend hundreds of pages describing the life
of their subjects, but generally limit the pages about their death
to just a few.
For example, the three-volume biography of Winston Churchill,
The Last Lion, by William Manchester and Paul Reid
devotes 2,622 pages to Churchill’s life and only three to his death.
This is not the case with the Gospel of Matthew’s account of Jesus.
Jesus’s death was central, and Matthew devoted
seven chapters out of twenty-eight to chronicle the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. (PSG, p. 122)
Today’s session, along with the Easter session studied earlier in the quarter, conclude Matthew’s Gospel.
Emphasize that all of Jesus’s teaching, preaching, and healing had pointed to this moment.
Summarize the following content from Understand the Context (PSG, p. 123) to overview this session’s focal passage:
“With the transition between Matthew 26 and 27,
the ordeal of Jesus’s arrest and trial shifted from Thursday
to Friday.
During the night, Jesus endured an illegal trial.
Jewish law prohibited nighttime trials.
In addition, most likely the entire Sanhedrin was not present.
This, too, made the trial illegal.
At daybreak, another hasty trial finalized charges against Jesus.
Initially, Jesus was charged with blasphemy.
No doubt, discussion was held concerning what charges to present to the Roman procurator that would prompt the death penalty.
Once those charges were agreed upon, Jesus was taken to Pilate for the trial intended to end in His death.”
Matthew and the other Gospel writers emphasized Jesus’s death
because it opened the door to salvation
and a new relationship with God.
As we study this session, examine your thoughts about Jesus’s death and what it means to your life.