Teaching (no posting) The Book of Matthew

[SpiritPsalmist]

Yeshua Sentenced to Die
Matt 27:15-26
(see also Mrk 15:6-15; Lke 23:13-25; Jn 18:39-19:16)

So at Passover it was the custom to release a prisoner, but it was not the practice to release one that was guilty of death. Bar-Abba was a terrorist murderer during the Roman-Jewish Insurrection and had been taken prisoner.

• (v 15) In the Mishnah (Jewish oral tradition, written in around AD 300) it records that “they may slaughter the passover lamb for one….whom they have promised to bring out of prison”. Now its not exactly clear but this certainly records a prisoner being released specifically at Passover. ~DJR~

Barabbas, as it is written in many Bibles was actually Bar-Abba, meaning, "son of the father". His full name was Yeshua Bar-Abba. His name and the name of Yeshua the Messiah make a theological point: the innocent "Yeshua, son of the Father'" pays the ransom for the guilty Yeshua, son of the father.

While considering what to do, Pilate's wife told him of a dream she had and warned Pilate to not have anything to do with the innocent Yeshua. I don't think that Pilate preferred to release Yeshua out of compassion but that Bar-Abba was a dangerous criminal.

The crowd that shouted, "crucify him" before Pilate was NOT the same crowd who just a week before had shouted "Hosanna" as he rode into Jerusalem. The crowd shouting "crucify him" was made up of chief priests, , scribes, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Hellenistic false witnesses. (See "The Crowd Was Not Fickle").

Roman crucifixions were humiliating, cruel and very public. It was a lingering death by asphyxiation. The victim becoming exhausted made it progressively more difficult, and then impossible to raise the body in order to breathe. See Bible History Daily.

I think Pilate "washing his hands" was a move of mocking the Jews. Washing of the hands was linked to purification or redemption (Deut 21:1-9; Ps 26:6; 73:13) Of course the act did not relinquish him from his guilty part in the killing of Yeshua.

"His blood be on us and on our children", this statement recorded by Matthew has resulted in Jews throughout history being blamed for killing Yeshua. Many have used this verse too justify the persecution of Jews . Many think that the Jewish people had invoked a curse on themselves and willingly accepted responsibility for what they were doingo. Jpwever. a mob cannot speak in an official capacity for anyone. According to Eze 18, no one can bring a curse on unborn generations. Also, even if the curse were effectual, Yeshua prayed, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing". (Lke23:34) Everyone, Jew and Gentile is guilty of Yeshua's death. He gave his life for the world. See Jn 3:16; Rom 3:23; 5:7-8; 1 Jn 2:1)

So Pilate released Yeshua Bar-Abba and had Yeshua. the Messiah flogged and handed him over to be executed.

• My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Soldiers Mock Yeshua
Matt 27:27-31
(see also Mrk 15:16-20; Jn 19:2-3)

Pilate turned Yeshua over to his soldiers. They led Yeshua back to the praetorium (archaeologist believes he's found the site) where they gathered together the rest of the cohort, anywhere from 300 to 600 men.

While some began to weave together thorns to make a crown for Yeshua the rest of them put a robe of royal color , Matthew says scarlet, while Mark and John say it was purple The differing renditions are fairly simple to explain. After the thorns were braided into a crown they put it on his head and shoved a staff/reed in his right hand and began to mock him. They spit on him, and fell on their knees as if worshipping him, used the staff to beat him over the head and mocking him as "king of the Jews". (Mic 4:14; Is 50:6-7)

When they had tired of their mocking of him, they stripped the robe off of him and put his own clothes back on him and then they led him away to be crucified.

• My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

Questions and Comments

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Crucifixion of Yeshua
Matt 27:32-44
(see also Mrk 15:21-32; Lke 23:26-43; Jn 19:17-27)

As Yeshua was led from the praetorium and through the streets toward his place of crucifixion he was so weak and battered, that a man just passing by, Simon of Cyrene, was grabbed by the soldiers to carry the cross that was laid on Yeshua. There were many following, some were mourners and some were the Jewish priests, scribes, Pharisees, Saducees, and false witnesses. While those who loved him mourned, the others mocked him and his words about tearing down the temple and raising it again in three days and said things like, "you said you were equil with God, so save yourself", etc. (Ps 22:17; 109:25)

They came to the place called Golgatha, which means "place of the skull". He was offered some cheap Roman wine mixed with gall. He tasted it then refused to drink any more. (Ps 69:22)

After Yeshua was nailed on to the cross and they hoisted it up they began to gamble for his clothing. (Ps 22:19) Then they just sat around keeping watch over hiim. Above his head, nailed to the top of the cross was a sign of the charges against him, "THIS IS YESHUA, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

There were also two criminals crucified with him, (Is 53:12) one on his right and the other on his left (places of position in the Kingdom that James and John had requested). Even they mocked him, yet one had a change of mind and asked Yeshua to remember him in his Kingdom.

• My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Yeshua Laying His Life Down
Matt 27:45-56
(see also Mrk 15:33-41; Lke 23:44-49; Jn 19:28-30)

At noon, darkness fell on the whole area and the darkness lasted until 3pm. At about 3pm Yeshua cried out loudly, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?” (Ps 22:11) Eli, Eli is Hebrew. lemasabachthani is Aramaic.

Many standing around watching thought Yeshua was calling out for Elijah. One of them quickly got a sponge and dipped it in bitter wine and put it on a stick and lifted it up to Yeshua to give him a drink. Many were still taunting and said, "leave him alone, let's see if Elijah shows up to save him." Then Yeshua cried out again and he "gave up his spirit".

It was then that the curtain of the inner court in the Temple (Ex 26:31-35), which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies and could only be accessed once a year at Yom-Kippur by the High Priest to make atonement for his sins and the sins of the Jewish people was ripped in half from top to bottom. The tearing of it from top to bottom symbolized that God was now giving access to all who would come, at any time, and receive forgiveness of their sins.

I'd like to note that the ripping of the curtain did not undo the solemness of the act of coming before God with a contrite heart. We are never to treat the act of seeking the forgiveness of the God who created heaven and earth with a "trivial" attitude. He knows the heart and "trivial attitude" signifies that we don't mean it. Yes, He's our "Abba" but we don't treat Him disrespectfully.

The earth quaked and rocks were split and tombs opened and many bodies of saints who had died came out of the graves and were walking around. It does not say what they were doing as they were walking around but I think maybe they were proclaiming the glory of God. Or, maybe they were bringing to remembrance things Yeshua had spoken and the fear in the hearts of the guilty was growing. Those priests, scribes, pharisees, Sadducees, and false accusers and the looky-loos and also those of his followers all standing around watching all this. They reacted with a great deal of fear...I think I would have too..darkness, earthquake, previously dead people walking around Those who had made the accusations that put Yeshua on that cross were terrified, they knew they had just killed the Messiah.

Matthew takes time to point out that there were many women standing at a distance. Women who cleaned, brought food, cooked, made his clothes, cleaned his clothes, etc.. Among them were Miriam from Magdala, Miriam the mother of Jacob and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

• My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Burial of Yeshua
Matt 27:57-61
Mrk 15:42-47; Lke 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-42)

Per the scripture, "the Passover is on the 14th and the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins the 15th; they are back-to-back. The first day (and the last day) of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a Sabbath. This is a “special” Sabbath, also called a “high Sabbath”. Therefore, the Sabbath for which Y’shua had to be removed from the cross was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, not the weekly Sabbath. (The weekly Sabbath does play a part in Y’shua’s timeline, which we will shortly see.) Unlike the weekly Sabbath that is every Friday night to Saturday night, this special Sabbath can fall on any day of the week. ~The Two Sabbaths of Passover~

Our portion today starts out with "when it was evening" (somewhere between afternoon and night). No work is to be done on Passover, so when it became evening, Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for the body of Yeshua. This Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin (Mrk 15:43) and was secretly a follower of Yeshua. He had NOT voted in favor of Yeshua's death. It's important to note this because only "some" of the high ranking officials and only "some" of the Jews had him killed, not all, as many religions and churches falsely teach.

Pilate granted Joseph's request and scripture shows that he and Nicodemus (Jn 19:39), who brought a mixture of spices, hurriedly wrapped the body in linen and quickly put him in a tomb which Matthew records as being the personal tomb of Joseph and it was nearby. They had to do all this quickly before nightfall when the Sabbath of Unleavened bread would begin.

Many churces traditions say that Yeshua died on a Friday, however, since scripture is very specific on the day of the week of his rising and says nothing about the day of the week he died, it's impossible that it was a Friday. Yeshua was to be in the grave for three days and three nights. Between Friday evening and Sunday morning, there is only 2 days. See more detailed explanation here.

Following them then sitting near the tomb were Miriam of Magdalina, and the other Miriam.

• My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

Guarding the Tomb
Matt 27:62-66


On the next day which was after preperation day (Day of preparation refers to the "making ready". It/s the day preceeding the Sabbath where you do all the things you need to do before Sabbath begins so that you do not have to do any work on the Sabbath), the High Priests and Pharisees are gathered before Pilate and they are telling Pilate that they remember Yeshua teaching that he would die but after three days he would rise again so they were asking Pilate to supply a guard at the tomb so that the disciples could not steal his body then bring about a greater deception than the first.

I scratch my head at this. In just a short period of time, they seem to have forgotten the three-hour darkness, earthquake, rocks splitting, and people coming out of graves and walking around the city. They were in terror, knowing fully that obviously, Yeshua was the Son of God but they are back to calling his teachings a deception. I just find that a bit on the bizarre side. Or, maybe they had not slept all night and were now trying to figure out a way that they thought might work to keep him from coming out of the tomb if he did rise. Who knows! They were wicked leaders. Wicked leaders do crazy things to keep those who trust them in the dark but their wickedness is always, at some point, revealed.

Pilate agreed with them. He gave them their guard. The tomb was ealed shut so that no one could just roll the stone away and steal the body without it being known.

• Pulpit Commentary
  Verse 66. - So they (οἱ δὲ, and they) went. They left the procurator's presence, relieved at having gained their request and precluded all fear of collusion. Sealing the stone, and setting a watch (μετὰ τῆς κουστωδίας, with the watch; cum custodibus). The last words are variously rendered. Thus: "scaled the stone by means of the watch" (Alford); "scaling the stone, the guard being with them" (Revised Version); "as well as having the watch" (Webster and Wilkinson); "in concert with the guard" (Morison). This last expositor has best seized the complex notion contained in the evangelist's language: "They made the sepulchre sure by sealing the stone in concert with the guard (and thereafter leaving the guard to keep watch)." The stone was sealed probably in this manner: a cord was passed round the stone that closed the mouth of the sepulchre to the two sides of the entrance; this was scaled with wax or prepared clay in the centre and at the ends, so that the stone could not be removed without breaking the seals or the cord (comp. Daniel 6:17). Thus carefully did Christ's enemies obviate the possibility of any fraud or collusion; thus did they themselves prove unanswerably the truth and reality of the resurrection of that same Jesus whoso dead body they so carefully guarded. "Everywhere deceit recoils upon itself, and. against its will supports the truth. It was necessary for it to be believed that he died, and that he rose again, and that he was buried, and all these things are brought to pass by his enemies .... The proof of his resurrection has become incontrovertible by what ye [his enemies] have put forward. For because it was sealed, there was no unfair dealing. But if there was no unfair dealing, and the sepulchre was found empty, it is manifest that he is risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. Seest thou how even against their will they contend for the proof of the truth?" (St. Chrysostom, in loc.).

• My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Resurrection of Yeshua
Matt 28:1-10
(see also Mrk 16:1-8; Lke 24:1-12; Jn 20:1-10)

Iit was early morning of the first day of the week; Yom Rishon in Hebrew and it means, "first day" and corresponds to our Sunday. The date was Nisan 18 (being as Passover is Nisan 14 and Yeshua was in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights) We don't know the year.

Now when the Sabbath was over the two Miriam's were going to the tombe with the spices they had prepared, Both men and women were allowed to visit tombs to attend to them. We don't really know why the women were coming to add to the spices that Joseph had put on Yeshua's body but just that they were. I personally think it was an activity of honor and love for their Master. They were discussing about how the stone would be rolled away so that they could get in. I'm guessing that since it was Sabbath and the guards and sealing of the tomb happened during Sabbath hours (by the Romans) they did not know about the seal and guards.

It says "suddenly" there was a great earthquake and an angel decended from heaven and rolled away the stone. The angels appearance was like lightening and his clothing as white as snow. (Eccl 9:8) The guards were so terrified they literally froze with fear.

Combined with the story of the events in the other gospels, we don't really know whether the women actually witnessed this or not. But we do know that when they arrived at the tome the angel was there and he spoke to them. He said, "Yeshua is not here, he is risen, just as he said".

The angel invited the woman to look at the place he had been laid. All they saw was the linen. Then the angel told them to go quickly and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dad and that he will meet them in Galilee. They quickly left the tomb with great fear and great joy and ran to tell the disciples.

While on their way to tell the disciples, Yeshua met them on the road and greeted them, Shalom". They drew near enough to grasp his feet and worship him. Yeshua told them to not be afraid, then told them to go tell the other disciples and that he would meet them at the Galilee.

Comments and Questions


My information is gleaned from One New Man Bible, The Jewish Annotated New Testament, Jewish New Testament Commentary, as well as varied websites whom I've linked to as possible.

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Report of The Guard
Matt 28:11-15

The women have gone to find the disciples to tell them that Yeshua has risen from the dead and in the meantime, the guards have gone to the chief priests to report to them all that had happened. The chief priests called a meeting with the elders and decided to give the guards a large sum of money to report that the disciples stole the body while they were sleeping. It must have been quite a large sum of money since they would have been killed for sleeping on the job. The chief priests and elders told them though that they would appease the governor if he heard they were sleeping. The guards took the money. So, the fake story of the disciples stealing the body was the story that hit the papers.


Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

The Commissioning of the Disciples
Matt 28:16-20
(see also Lke 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-23; Act 1:6-8)

The eleven disciples were now in a place at a mountain somewhere in Galilee where Yeshua had told them he would meet them. It does not say whether it was a pik-nick spot on the side of the mountain, a cave, a shack, or what. It was just the place that he'd set up ahead of time to meet up with them.

He appeared to them and some of them worshiped him while others were a bit leary. Yeshua came close to them and spoke, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. (Is 9:5-6; Dan 7:14 ) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

• Make disciples of ALL nations...all nation means all nations.
• Baptize in the name of the Father, the son, and the Holy Ghost IOW in the authority of.
• Teach them to observe ALL I have commanded. All, means all.
• Remember he is with us always...even to the end.

Comments and Questions

 

[SpiritPsalmist]