Sermon
#40 Through The Bible Series
Title: MATTHEW ― Christ The King
Text: Matthew 1:21
Date: Tuesday
Evening—February 10, 2004
Tape # Y-3a
Readings: Lindsay Campbell and Bobbie Estes
Introduction:
I cannot stress this fact often enough or forcefully enough. ― This Book, the Word of God, is in its entirety a book about Christ. It is a Him Book. It’s all about Him who loved us and gave himself for us. I do mean by that that the Bible is a Christ centered Book. I do not mean that Christ is the primary aspect of divine revelation in these pages. I mean that Christ is the message of Holy Scripture.
This is exactly what God the
Holy Spirit tells us in Luke 24:27. Our Savior said to those two disciples on the
Emmaus road, “O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken” (v. 25). Then, we read in verse 27…
(Luke
24:27) "And beginning at Moses and
all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself."
The message of this Book is Jesus
Christ and him crucified. This Book is not a book about history, or a book
about morality, or a book about religious dogma. This is a Book about Christ
and redemption by his blood. That is exactly what the apostle Peter tells
us in Acts 10:43.
(Acts
10:43) "To him give all the
prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins."
The apostle Paul states
exactly the same thing, declaring that the one message he preached, everywhere to all people,
was Jesus Christ and him crucified. This message, he declares, is “all the
counsel of God,” the whole of divine revelation (Acts 20:27; 1 Cor. 2:1-2).
·
Look at 1 Corinthians 2.
(1
Cor 2:1-2) "And I, brethren, when I
came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto
you the testimony of God. (2) For I determined not to know any thing
among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
·
Now, look at Acts 20.
Paul is about to leave his brethren at Ephesus,
never to see them again. They urged him not to go to Jerusalem, for fear that
the Jews would kill him. Yet he declares, “I go bound in the spirit unto
Jerusalem…that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus.” And he tells us exactly what his course and
ministry were, which he had received from the Savior. It was “to testify the
gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:22-24). Now, look at verses 26 and 27.
Here Paul defines what it is to preach the gospel.
(Acts
20:26-27) "Wherefore I take you to
record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. (27) For
I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."
The Book of God is a Book about Christ. In the Old Testament, the law, the prophets, and the psalms declare, “Someone is coming.” When we open the book of Matthew, that blessed Someone steps onto the stage and identifies himself as the incarnate God, our Savior (Matt. 1:18-23).
(Mat
1:18-23) "Now the birth of Jesus
Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. (19) Then
Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a
public example, was minded to put her away privily.
(20) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost. (21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (22) Now all
this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, (23) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being
interpreted is, God with us."
One
Object of Faith
The Old Testament saints believed God just as we do, trusting
Christ just as we do, and were saved by grace trusting the crucified Lamb of
God in exactly the same way we are. Christ was not then fully revealed. He was
not personally identified. Yet, he was known and trusted as God the Savior, the
Christ, the Anointed One, the promised Seed.
Beginning with the Gospel of Matthew we move
from the realm of shadow, type, and prophecy, into the full sunshine the Sun of
Righteousness, the Son of God.
As we have seen, the Old
Testament speaks of him on every page, but speaks in shadows, in types, in
symbols, and in prophecies ― all looking forward to the coming of that
Someone whom Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham trusted. You cannot read the Old
Testament without a sense of anticipation, thinking to yourself, this Book is
talking about Someone who is yet to appear…
·
A Woman’s Seed.
·
An Ark of Salvation.
·
A Sin-atoning Lamb.
·
A Man Who is God!
·
A Redeemer.
·
A King.
·
A Prophet.
·
A Priest.
·
A Divine Substitute.
·
A Savior.
Mathew, Mark, Luke and John
say, “Here he is!” When we come to read the four gospels, we
say with Andrew and Phillip, “We have found the Messiah…the Christ…We have
found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets did write, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:41-45).
(Mat
1:21) "And she shall bring forth a
son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from
their sins."
(John
1:14) "And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
(John 1:18) "No man
hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, he hath declared him."
Here we see Christ as he is.
Remember that what he was is what he is; and what he is is
what we have. All the fullness of his character and being and life is ours.
That makes the four gospels uniquely important. They tell us exactly who our
Savior is.
The Sun of Righteousness has
arisen with healing on His wings (Malachi 4:2). In the 39 books of the Old
Testament we have been watching the unfolding of the dawn of that day which Abraham
rejoiced to see, the rising of the Star of whom Balaam spoke and of the great
Light promised in Isaiah. We have been watching one cloud after another cleared
away by the rising Sun. Now, the King of Glory, of whom David sang, has come. “We
have seen his star in the east” (in the Old Testament) “and are come”
(in the New Testament) “to worship him.” We have “seen the Lord's
Christ.” As we pick up the New Testament, we say with old Simeon, who
waited for the Consolation of Israel…
(Luke
2:30-32) "For mine eyes have seen
thy salvation, (31) Which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people; (32) A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy
people Israel."
Why
Four Gospels?
People sometimes wonder why we
have four gospel narratives. The reason is really very simple. ― Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John, show us our Savior’s full character, his full person and
work from four angles. They do not give us four different pictures, but four
different views of the same picture. Really, they present the Lord Jesus like a
statue, each allowing us to view the statue from a different side. I say that
because, in some ways, a statue is better than a picture. A statue allows us to
see the image it represents from all sides.
The four gospels have been
compared to the four cherubim of Ezekiel and Revelation.
·
Matthew shows Christ as the King, as the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who has come to save his people from their sins.
·
Mark presents him as Jehovah’s Servant, who
has come to fulfil his Father’s will, the ox ready to serve and ready to be
sacrificed upon the altar.
·
Luke, the beloved Physician, presents him
as the Son of Man, full of human sympathy and tenderness, as the cherub with
the face of a man suggests.
·
John, like the eagle soaring into the
heavens, sets the Savior before us as the Son of God, with a majesty that
transcends all our thought and imagination.
Christ
the King
Let’s take a brief view of
Matthew’s gospel, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, our King. Here we see the
royal majesty of our heavenly King and his great kingdom. Matthew, more so than
all the other gospel writers, sets forth the Mosaic law, referring constantly
to the Old Testament Scriptures, and shows that both the law and the Scriptures
of the Old Testament find their fulfillment in Christ, the King.
The
Genealogy (Matt. 1:1-17)
Matthew 1:1-17 gives us our
Lord’s genealogy, tracing it back to Abraham. We read in verse 1, “The book
of the generations of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”
·
He is set before us in verse 1 as the Son
of Abraham, to show is that he is that One with whom God’s covenant was made
and Abraham’s promised Seed in whom all the covenant is fulfilled.
·
He is set before us as the son of David (v.
6), to show us that he is the rightful Heir to David’s throne, and that he has
come to take possession of David’s true kingdom and throne.
The Jews carped about many
things, raised many questions, and made many accusations in their attempts to
discredit our Savior’s claims as the Christ, as God’s Messiah; but never once
did they question his genealogy. Why? Because it was a matter of public and
biblical record that could not be disputed.
The
Sinner’s Savior
There is something especially
precious in our Savior’s genealogy that is commonly overlooked. Here, just
before we are told that he came to save his people from their sins, three of
his ancestral mothers are named who had a smear upon their names.
·
Thamar,
Judah’s daughter-in-law, who played the harlot and committed incest.
·
Ruth, the Moabitess.
·
Bathsheba, the adulteress wife of Uriah.
Add to that the fact that our
Savior is here identified specifically as the son of David by Bathsheba, and
you can almost hear him saying, “Behold, I have come to save poor sinners!”
The
Incarnation (1:18-25)
Our Savior’s wondrous divinity
is immediately presented in Matthew’s record of the incarnation and virgin
birth (1:18-25).
(Mat
1:18-25) "Now the birth of Jesus
Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before
they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. (19) Then
Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a
public example, was minded to put her away privily.
(20) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost. (21) And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (22) Now all
this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, (23) Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted
is, God with us. (24) Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the
angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: (25) And
knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his
name JESUS."
Here is a picture of the New
Birth. The Lord Jesus Christ was…
·
Conceived in a Sinner
·
Conceived by the Holy Spirit
·
Conceived without the Aid of A Man
·
Here is our Savior’s Name
― “Jesus”
·
Here’s His Mission
― “He shall save his people from their sins.”
·
Here’s the character of his people ―
Sinners!
·
Here is the certainty of his success Our
Savior is himself God in human flesh, Emmanuel!
Old
Testament Prophecies
Matthew 1 and 2 set before us a
number of Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by our Savior’s incarnation.
· Virgin Born ― Immanuel ―
(Isa
7:14) "Therefore the Lord himself
shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel." ― (Mat 1:22-23) "Now all this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (23) Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call
his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
· Nazarene ― (Judg
13:5) "For, lo, thou shalt
conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child
shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he
shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." (1 Sam
1:11) "And she vowed a vow, and
said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine
handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto
thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of
his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head." ― (Mat 2:23) "And he came and dwelt in a city called
Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall
be called a Nazarene."
· Weeping in Ramah ― (Jer 31:15) "Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard
in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel
weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they
were not." ― (Mat 2:17-18)
"Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,
saying, (18) In Rama was there a voice heard,
lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."
· Called Out Of Egypt ― (Hosea 11:1) "When Israel was a child, then I
loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." ― (Mat 2:15) "And was there until the death of Herod:
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Out of Egypt have I called my son."
· Born at Bethlehem ―(Micah 5:2) "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting." ― (Mat 2:5-6) "And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of
Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, (6)
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda,
art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out
of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."
Wise
Men (2:1-13)
Matthew alone describes the
visit of the wise men (ch. 2). The whole world at this time was expecting the advent
of some Great One. These wise men came to Jerusalem asking, “Where is he
that is born King of the Jews?” Their adoration of the new born King
foreshadowed his universal dominion (John 17:2; Rom. 14:9). Matthew alone tells
us how Herod, the usurper of David's sovereignty, sought to slay the heir
(2:14-23).
John
The Baptist (3:1-17)
In this Gospel, John the
Baptist appears preaching repentance and introduced the Lord Jesus as the
mighty Judge, Who shall purge his floor with tremendous judgment (3:10-17).
(Mat
3:10-17) "And now also the ax is
laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (11) I indeed baptize
you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I,
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost,
and with fire: (12) Whose fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will
burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (13) Then cometh Jesus from
Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. (14) But John forbad
him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (15)
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus
it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he
suffered him. (16) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway
out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (17) And lo
a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased."
·
Christ was baptized to fulfill all
righteousness, symbolically.
At first John was reluctant to
immerse the Savior because he recognized who it was that stood before him, and
was humbled in his presence. But, when the Master said, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered
him,” and immersed the incarnate God in the Jordan River.
The question is sometimes
asked, “How did Christ’s baptism fulfil all righteousness?” There can be but
one answer. By his baptism, and by believer’s baptism today, righteousness is
fulfilled symbolically. By our baptism (immersion) we symbolically testify how
it is that sinners are made righteous before God. Our sins are washed away and
we are made righteous by our death, burial and resurrection with Christ, our
Substitute.
·
This man is owned as the Son of God.
When our Lord was immersed John
saw the Spirit of God descending and abiding upon him, thereby identifying him
as the Son of God and the Messiah.
·
This is he in whom the Father is well
pleased.
When he came up out of the
watery grave, the Father spoke from heaven, declaring, “This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased.” This same word from heaven was heard at the
transfiguration (17:5). By these two things, the Lord God tells us that Christ,
our ascended, exalted Savior is that One
in whom alone we find acceptance with God. As the Holy Lord God is well pleased
with his Son, so he is well pleased with his elect in his Son, our Substitute.
The
Temptation (4:1-11)
Matthew's account of the
temptation is detailed and instructive (4:1-11). He was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. The devil came and found nothing in him. The
word “tempted” would be more accurately translated “tested.” Temptations
(tests and trials) do not make any change in anyone. They simply reveal what
the person is.
Illustration: Testing
Water for Acidity or Impurity
There is some debate about
whether our Lord’s temptations were real, and whether it was possible for him
to sin. The temptations were real. Yet, there was no possibility of the holy,
incarnate God sinning. The temptations proved that there was no evil in him (John
14:30). If you run a test on water, the test is real; but the fact that the
test is real does not imply that there is impurity in the water. The testy will
simply show the water pure or corrupt. So it was with our Master’s temptations.
They showed that he is indeed “holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners.”
Christ’s
Kingdom (4:17-7:29)
Beginning in Matthew 4:17, our
Lord began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
The word “Kingdom” appears fifty-three times in Matthew. Thirty-five times
Christ’s kingdom is called, “the Kingdom of Heaven,” an expression found
nowhere else in the Gospels.
Chapters 5-7 give us our
Savior’s Sermon on the Mount. Here he tells us the nature of his kingdom. The
Jews, because of their perverted understanding of the Old Testament, expected
the Messiah to establish a physical, Jewish kingdom in the earth. Our Savior
dispelled that notion at the very outset of his public ministry in this
tremendous sermon.
He opens his sermon (5:3-13) with
the beatitudes, declaring that those who are his servants, his people, those
who enter into his kingdom are identified not by out ceremonies but by inward
grace (Phil. 3:3). The kingdom of heaven is inward, not outward.
The service of his kingdom
(chap. 6) is inward, heart service, not an outward show. Every form of religion
with which I am familiar tells its adherents to show their religion to men by
outward deeds. The Son of God tells his disciples never to attempt to show our
religion by outward deeds that are seen, approved of, and applauded by men. Our
giving, our prayers, our fastings are to be things arising spontaneously, kept
in strict secrecy, and performed for God and before God.
True religion is a matter of
faith in Christ, a matter of the heart. The only thing our Savior tells us to
show is mercy, love and grace. That is what is discussed in the latter part of
chapter . The law of his kingdom is love; and love is best displayed in
forbearance, forgiveness, and uprightness.
Chapter 7 continues with the
same subject, teaching us to guard against rash judgment concerning other. We
ought to embrace as brethren all who profess faith in Christ (who profess to
believe the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in him), without doubtful
disputations (Rom. 14:1). Then, our Lord brings his message to a pointed
conclusion, urging all to make certain we trust him alone, to make certain we
have entered in “at the strait gate.”
Miracles
(chaps. 8-9)
In chapters 8 and 9 our Lord
performed numerous, unparalleled miracles, displaying his omnipotent grace. He
healed a leper, who came worshiping him, with a touch. He healed the
centurion’s servant by the mere exercise of his will. He touched Peter’s
mother-in-law and raised her from her sickbed.
(Mat
8:16-17) "When the even was come,
they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the
spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: (17) That
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself
took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."
He calmed the raging tempest by
his mere word, healed a paralyzed man and forgave his sins, raised a man’s
daughter from the dead, healed a woman who had been diseased with an issue of
blood for twelve years, and gave two blind men their sight. There can be no
question about it, this man was and is God the Son!
Conversion
(chap. 12)
In chapter 10 our Lord names
his apostles and sends them out to preach the gospel. In the 11th
chapter he confirms himself to John the Baptist’s disciples. In chapter 12 he
shows himself to be Jehovah’s Servant spoken of in Isaiah 42:1-4, that is the
Lord of the sabbath, and declares that the sabbath was made for man, not man
for the sabbath. Healing the man with a withered hand on the sabbath, he hints
that the sabbath of the Old Testament portrayed the believer’s experience of
grace, finding life and rest in him. Then, our Lord shows us that conversion is
nothing less than his own entrance into a man’s heart, casting Satan out and setting
up his own throne in the heart by omnipotent grace.
Parables (chap.
13)
We have seven parables of the
Kingdom in chapter 13, each beginning with “The Kingdom of Heaven is like,”
except that of the Sower, where we have the word Kingdom in verse 11. Numerous
other parables are recorded by Matthew, all describing the spiritual nature of
Christ’s kingdom and the establishment of it by grace alone.
The parable of the sower tells
us of the necessity of the Holy Spirit’s work, making the heart as good ground
to receive the gospel, and warns us of those things that rob men’s souls of the
blessings of the gospel.
The parable of the tares
teaches us that we must never try to separate the tares from the wheat. That
work is performed by Christ himself through the preaching of the gospel.
The mustard seed and leaven
parables tell us that the kingdom of God grows secretly, almost imperceptively,
but constantly until all God’s elect are gathered into it by his grace.
The parable of the treasure hid
in the field speaks of Christ’s purchased dominion over and possession of the
whole world as the God-man Mediator (John 17:2), that he might obtain the
treasure of it, the church of his elect.
The parable of the pearl of
great price teaches that we must forsake all for Christ, who is the Pearl of
Great price.
The parable of the great net,
like that of the tares, tells us that as long as time stands the kingdom of
heaven (the outward, visible kingdom and every local church) is a mixed
multitude of good fish and bad, true believers and those who merely profess to
be believers.
The parable of the lost sheep
(18:10-14) portrays our Savior’s determination to save his elect and his joy in
saving them. That of the wicked servant (18:23-35) portrays our Redeemer’s
teaching (18:15-22) on the necessity and blessedness of believers forgiving
those who offend them.
The parable of the laborers
(20:1-16) is our Lord’s picture of grace, displaying the fact that all God’s
elect are perfectly accepted in him. This parable is preceded by (ch. 18) and
followed by (20:20) strife among the disciples regarding who shall be greatest
in the kingdom of God. Because salvation is by grace alone, because there are
no degrees of acceptance with God, because the whole of our salvation is
bestowed freely for Christ’s sake, there can be no degrees of reward in heaven.
The parable of the vineyard
(21:33-34) portrayed the wrath of God to be visited upon the Jewish nation for
slaughtering his Son.
The marriage supper parable
sets before us the freeness of grace proclaimed by the gospel (22:2-14).
The parable of the ten virgins
warns us of the danger of religion without Christ, outward religion without
inward grace, and the great need of diligence in personally watching over our
own souls (25:1-13).
The parable of talents
(24:14-30) shows us our responsibility to be faithful stewards of that which
the Lord God has put in our hands to use for his glory.
Divine
Sovereignty
In all these parables the
absolute sovereignty of God our Savior over all things is clearly exemplified.
Our Savior declares that he has the right to do with his own what he will
(20:15; Rom. 9:15-18). In this opening book of the New Testament, he asserts
that he came specifically to redeem and that he effectually calls the many in this
world who are his own elect (20:28; 22:14; 1:21), and only them.
Promises
To The Church (chaps. 16 and 18)
In Matthew 16 and 18 the Lord
Jesus identifies himself as the only Foundation upon which his church is build,
and that the building of his church is his work alone. Immediately after making
this declaration, he tells us that the way he would build his church is by the
merit, power and efficacy of his sin-atoning sacrifice (16:13-21). Then, in
chapter 18 (v. 20), he promises that he is always with his assembled saints
when we gather for worship in his name. This church, this kingdom that Christ
builds he protects, provides for, and shall make triumphant over hell itself.
Transfiguration (chap.
17)
In common with Mark and Luke,
Matthew tells us of the unveiled glory of the King in the transfiguration,
foreshadowing his resurrection glory as Zion’s King. He adds this touch, “His
face did shine as the sun,” and these words, “in whom I am well pleased,”
showing how perfectly our Lord fulfilled God's Law as a Representative Man (Mat
17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).
Questions
(22:15-46)
In the22nd chapter the
Pharisees, Sadducees, and lawyers came asking meaningless questions about
political matters, the resurrection, and the law. Their questions were made
meaningless by the fact that they ignored the one great question ― “What
think ye of Christ?” (v. 42). In chapter 23 our Lord condemns them and all
who follow their path.
Crucifixion
(chaps. 26-27)
Chapters 26 and 27 gives us a
brief account of our Lord’s betrayal, his mock trial, and the agony of his
crucifixion and death as our sin-atoning Substitute. Forsaken by heaven and
earth, alone, he endured all the wrath of God for us, when he was made to be
sin. Darkness covered the earth for three hours. Upon the cursed tree, he
vanquished sin, death, Satan and hell. As Paul puts it in Colossians, made a
show of them openly, triumphing over them, and leading them behind him as a
conqueror would lead a train of captives in open display before the people.
When, at last, he gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple was ripped apart,
showing that he has opened the way for sinners to come to God; and many were
raised from their graves, showing that the sentence of death can never be
executed upon those for whom he died.
Substitution is beautifully
portrayed in the fact that Christ died in the place of Barabbas. Barabbas went
free because a Substitute died in his place; and God’s elect must and shall go
free because Christ died in their place (Rom. 8:1; 33-34).
Resurrection (chap.
28)
In his account of the
Resurrection (chap. 28), Matthew tells of the great earthquake, the angel whose
face was like lightning, for fear of whom the keepers did shake and became as
dead men, and of the Lord’s bodily appearance to his disciples after he arose.
He was sent to the tomb as a guilty criminal, worthy of death. He was released
as a free man, without sin, “justified in the Spirit” and “declared
to be the Son of God” our Savior, because he had accomplished our
justification by the sacrifice of himself (Rom. 4:25).
Commission
(28:18-20)
Finally, this Gospel gives us,
as no other, our Lord's last royal Commission. The risen Lord says to you and
me, “Go tell the world what I have done.”
(Mat
28:18-20) "And Jesus came and spake
unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (19) Go
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20) Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world. Amen."