The Gospel Of Matthew 12

The anticipation of contact with
sin caused His holy soul the keenest suffering. We cannot understand
what it meant to Him. We are sinful; He is holy. It pains us to resist sin; it
pained Him to anticipate being made sin for our sake (2 Cor. 5:21). Who
could He turn to in His anguish but His Father? No one else could share
His suffering or pray His prayer: “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (v. 39). In case
we think that this prayer expressed reluctance or a desire to turn back, we
should remind ourselves of His words in John 12:27-28: “Now My soul is
troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for
this purpose came I to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

The new, unconditional
covenant of grace would be confirmed by His precious blood shed for
many for the forgiveness of sins. In one sense His blood was shed for all
mankind; it was sufficient to provide forgiveness for all. But here it was
shed for many in the sense that it was only effective in removing the sins
of those who believe.

Not only so, it was perfectly timed. There
will always be poor people, and they can
be helped at any time. But only once in the
world’s history could the Savior be anointed for burial. That moment had
struck, and one lone woman with spiritual discernment had seized it. She
had believed the Lord’s predictions concerning His death. She must have
realized that it was now or never. As it turned out, she was right. The
women who planned to anoint His body after His burial were thwarted by
the resurrection (Mark 16:1-6).

The angel spoke reassuringly to the women. There was nothing for
them to fear. The One they were looking for had arisen out from among the
dead, as He had promised! “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” The
stone had been rolled away—not to let the Lord out, but to let the women
see that He had already risen.

Judas was not foreordained to betray the Lord. It
was prophesied that someone would do it, but Iscariot did not have to be
the one. He deliberately chose to sell Jesus and was thus held personally
responsible.
When Judas finally asked point-blank if he was the one, Jesus answered,
yes.

In the book of Hebrews we learn that the veil represented the body of
Jesus. The rending of the veil pictured the giving of His body in death.
Through His death, we have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through
the veil, that is, His flesh” (Heb. 10:19-20). Now the humblest believer can
enter the presence of God on any day, at any hour, in prayer and praise. But
let us never forget that the privilege was purchased for us at tremendous
cost—the sacrificial death of Jesus

Prior to His being impaled, the soldiers offered Jesus a drink of vinegar
and gall. This was given to condemned criminals as a drug. When the
Lord tasted it, He would not drink it. For Him it was necessary that He
bear the full load of man’s sins with no impairment of His senses and with
no alleviation of the pain. Matthew’s restraint in describing the actual
crucifixion is noteworthy

Centuries before, Isaiah predicted, “And they made His grave with the
wicked—but with the rich in His death” (53:9). His enemies had no doubt
planned to throw His body into the Valley of Hinnom where it would be
consumed by dump-fires or eaten by foxes. But God overruled their plans
and used Joseph to ensure that Jesus was buried with the rich.

Actually there were two main trials of the Lord Jesus. There was a
religious trial before the Jewish leaders, and there was a civil trial before
the Roman authorities. Each of these trials had three stages, as follows:

Then the high priest said, “I put You
under oath by the living God: tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!”
According to the law of Moses, Jesus was required to answer him (Lev.
5:1), and so He replied, “It is as you said” (v. 64). This was an idiomatic
expression meaning, “Yes, you have spoken correctly.” In other words Jesus
was saying, “I am the Messiah and I am the Son of God.”