CRUCIFIXION, PROPHECY, AND SIGNIFICANCE

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Matthew 27:33-56
Lesson # 71

CRUCIFIXION, PROPHECY, AND SIGNIFICANCE

• Memory verse: Gal 3:13
• Read Mat 27:33-44 The first hours of crucifixion
• Read Mat 27:45-56 The last hours of crucifixion
  • Remember:
    • The Passover lamb was tied to the altar for sacrifice at exactly the same hour Jesus was tied to the cross: The third hour = 9 a.m. (Mar 15:25)
    • The Passover lamb was killed at exactly the same hour Jesus died: At the ninth hour = 3 p.m. (Mar 15:34)
  • The history of crucifixion:
    • The practice of crucifixion began in Persia with a pagan belief that the earth belonged to the god Ormuz. The criminal was not worthy to have his feet touch the earth so his body was elevated above the earth. From Persia the practice travelled to Carthage in North Africa and then to Rome. Rome performed the punishment only on the worst prisoners, and no Roman citizen was to be crucified.
    • The Roman practice of crucifixion:
      • At the beginning of crucifixion, the accused was offered a mixture of vinegar and wine containing a grain of frankincense. This was a narcotic to deaden the pain. It was mercifully prepared by the women of Jerusalem.
      • Jesus refused it because he needed to experience all the pain of sin and death for us. (Mat 27:34) Later He was offered a drink which He accepted because redemption had been accomplished. (Joh 19:28)
      • The body was hung naked on the cross and not the way Jesus is usually pictured in paintings.
      • The nails were long spikes placed in the joint at the top of the hand at the wrist. Because of the weight on the cross, the shoulder and arm bones were usually out of joint (Psa 22:14). A person usually died of asphyxiation on the cross. Because of the weight of the body, the accused could not breathe unless he pushed the whole body upward to take a breath. When a person became too weak to push his body upward, he died of suffocation.
        • Jesus did not die that way. He gave up his life by determining the exact moment when he would die.
        • If a person was not dead by the Sabbath or a religious holiday like Passover, a soldier would break the leg bones so the accused could not push his body upward to get a breath.

The soldier did not have to break Jesus’ legs because he was already dead. This was to fulfill prophecy and because the Passover lamb was to be perfect without broken bones.

Jesus hung on the cross for 6 hours. The first 3 hours were during daylight. The last three hours were during a mysterious darkness. Perhaps God made it dark to give Jesus privacy as He became sin for us and died.

• • • • • The soldiers would pierce the side of the accused to prove that he was dead. (Joh 19:31-37)

This is proof that Jesus was truly dead.

Some today say He did not really die but only pretended to be dead.

• • The place of crucifixion:
    • Just outside the city walls was the top of a hill shaped like a skull. This mountain top was Mt. Moriah. Mt. Moriah was a mountain ridge that extended from south of the temple mount through the temple mount to Calvary.
    • The Jews did not build their temple on the highest point of the mountain ridge because the heathen did that.
    • God told them not to be like the heathen peoples. However, Abraham had offered Isaac on the highest point of this mountain exactly where Jesus died on Calvary. (Gen 22:2)
  • The inscription: King of the Jews
    • Remember that the emphasis of Matthew’s gospel was to prove that Jesus is the King of the Jews. It was Pilate that wrote the inscription that was placed above Jesus’ head on the cross. The Jewish authorities objected to the inscription but Pilate would not change it. (Joh 19:19-22)
    • Pilate wrote the inscription in three languages: Aramaic, Greek, and Latin.
    • In reality, Jesus is the King over all people and languages.
  • Jesus’ words from the cross:
    • There are 7 statements Jesus made from the cross:
    • (Prophetically, seven is God’s complete number)
      • =1= Father forgive them (Luk 23:34)
      • =2= Woman behold thy son (Joh 19:26-27). All the disciples had fled except John and a group of women who loved Him the most.
      • =3= Today you shall be with me in paradise (Luk 23:43)
      • =4= I thirst (Joh 19:28)
      • =5= My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me. (Mat 27:46) Because He became sin for us (2Cor 5:21), God could not look upon Him at that moment. (Psa 22:1)
      • =6= It is finished (Joh 19:30 a victory shout!)
      • =7= Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. (Luk 23:46)
  • Other events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection:
    • Unusual and untimely darkness from 12 noon to 3 p.m.
      • The purpose perhaps was to give Jesus privacy at the height of his suffering when He became sin for us.
      • God could not look on Him nor could man.
    • The veil of the temple (Mat 27:51)
      • At the moment Jesus heart burst, the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was split from the top down. This veil was about 4 inches thick. Only God could have torn this veil from the top down.
      • It is very significant in that it means we now can approach God directly. We do not have to go through a priest as they did in the Old Testament. Only the high priest went into the holy of holies one time a year. Now we personally can enter spiritually into the Holy of Holies in heaven and meet with God there because Jesus opened the way with His death on the cross.
    • An earthquake
      • There are physical effects in the earth and nature when important things happen spiritually.
      • Remember that there was a physical effect when Jesus was born…the star of Bethlehem.
    • The resurrection of other people.
      • Who were these people, how many were there, and what happened to them after that?
      • Were they raised to the same physical body, or did they get their new resurrected body?
      • The Bible does not say. The important point is proof that Jesus conquered death.
  • The testimony of the centurion at the cross.
    • “Truly, this was the son of God”. (Mat 27:54)
    • He is the first witness to believe in the finished work of redemption.
• Read Psa 22:1-25 A prophetic view of Jesus on the cross
  • Because of the scourging, he could not be recognized as a man (vs. 6).
  • This tells us how badly he was beaten before he was crucified.
    • The fulfillment of prophecy:
      • We have discussed some of the list of the 333 prophecies about Jesus coming to earth.
      • Here are more that Jesus fulfilled during the crucifixion and immediately after.

Old Testament Prophetic Scriptures	The Event of Jesus’ Fulfillment	New Testament Scripture Proof
Psa 109:24	He fell carrying the cross	Luk 23:26 Joh 19:17
Psa 109:25	People shook their heads at Him	Mat 27:39
Psa 22:17	People were astonished	Luk 23:35
Psa 31:5	He committed His spirit to God	Luk 23:46
Psa 38:11	Friends stood far away	Mat 27:55 Luk 23:49
Psa 22:17	He was naked on the cross	Luk 23:35 Joh 19:23
Psa 22:14	His heart burst	Luk 22:44 Joh 19:34
Amo 8:9	Darkness over the land	Mat 27:45
Isa 53:12	Crucified with sinners	Mar 15:27-28 Mat 27:38
Psa 22:16	His hands and feet were pierced	Luk 23:33 Joh 20:27
Psa 69:21	Gall and vinegar were offered to him	Joh 19:29
Psa 22:8	Prophetic words repeated in mockery	Mat 27:43
Psa 109:4 Isa 53:12	A prayer for his enemies	Luk 23:34
Psa 22:1 Psa 31:5	His words on the cross	Mat 27:46
Zec 12:10	His side was pierced	Joh 19:34-37
Amos 5:20 Zec 14:4,6	Changes in nature	Mat 27:51
Psa 22:18	They cast lots for his robe	Joh 19:23,24 Mar 15:24
Psa 34:20 Psa 22:14,17	Not a bone was broken	Joh 19:33
Psa 40:6-8	He endured a voluntary death	Joh 10:17,18
Isa 53:9	He was buried with the rich	Mat 27:57-60
Psa 16:10 Psa 30:3 Psa 41:120 Hos 6:21	He raised from the dead	Mat 28:9
Psa 68:18 Psa 16:11 Psa 24:7 Psa 110:1	He ascended into heaven	Luk 24:50 Act 1:9

Homework

Matthew 27:57-66

• Application of Mat 27:33-56
  • After you have learned the extent to which Jesus suffered in the crucifixion, how does that affect your degree of love for Him?
    • …Your level of commitment to Him?
    • …Your amount of trust in Him?
• Preparation for Mat 27:57-66 The burial
  • Read Mat 27:57-66
    • What do you think Jesus did during the three days and three nights in the tomb?
      • Read Eph 4:8-10
      • 1Pet 3:18-22
      • Heb 8:1-2
    • For background, read Luk 16:19-31
• Memory verse: Luk 23:43