Closing In On The Cross Of Jesus Christ - Part 8: Victory Belongs To The Lord! Series

Closing in on the Cross of Jesus Christ

Part 8: Victory Belongs to the Lord!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 27:1-10

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared April 26, 2023)

MESSAGE:

*Here in God's Word we are very close to the cross of Jesus Christ. Lord willing, next time we will see the Lord's trial before the Roman Governor Pilate. And by the end of Matthew 27, Jesus will be dead and buried in the tomb. But even when things seemed the worst, victory belonged to the Lord! And it always will.

*One of the Scriptures that has blessed me the most over the last few years is Isaiah 46:9-10. There the LORD says, "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'"

*Psalm 98:1-3 also urges us to "Sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has openly shown in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

*Praise the Lord! Victory belonged to Jesus, even on the darkest day in history. And we can see this truth in today's Scripture.

1. BUT FIRST, GOD SHOWS US THE HATEFUL PLOT AGAINST THE LORD.

*We see this plot in vs. 1-2, where God's Word says:

1. When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death.

2. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

*In their kangaroo court of an illegal, nighttime trial, these Jewish rulers had already condemned Jesus to death. Now they were plotting about how to quickly carry out the sentence.

*Under Jewish law, the normal way of executing prisoners was by stoning. And it is true that the Romans had taken away the authority for the Jews to carry out executions. But that didn't stop this same high council from stoning Stephen the deacon a few months later in Acts 7.

*John Gill tells us that they could have also turned Jesus over to a group of the religious zealots. They were very well-known for their hatred, violence, and murder of those who opposed man-made laws and traditions of the Jews. Gill suggested that the Jewish rulers chose to send Jesus to the Romans, because they executed their criminals by crucifixion, and the cross was the most painful, humiliating way to die. (1)

*Except for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, the bottom line for these rulers was hatred for Jesus. They totally rejected the Lord, and they wanted Jesus to suffer. The more people reject Jesus Christ, the more cruel and hateful they will be toward the Lord's people and His ways. The more government rejects the true and living God, the more evil it will become.

2. AND TODAY GOD SHOWS US THE HATEFUL PLOT AGAINST THE LORD. BUT HE ALSO SHOWS US HIS HEAVENLY PLAN.

*In vs. 1-2, those ungodly rulers thought they were in control. They were not, and they are not! The cross was God's plan from before the beginning of time.

*So when those chief priests and elders "took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death," they were fulfilling a prophecy that King David had written a thousand years before they were born. The early church quoted this Scripture in Acts 4. There, Peter and John had been threatened by this same high council, and God's church began to pray.

*Acts 4:24-30 tells us that when they heard Peter and John's report:

24. . .they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,

25. who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?

26. the kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'

27. For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together

28. to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

29. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,